By Jim Rossignol on November 11th, 2009 at 11:29 am.
Older gamers with elephantine memories will recall Archon: The Light & The Dark, which first graced out existence back in the 1980s. It’s being remade for PC by React Games, and can now be pre-ordered, if you’re feeling like a strange kind of fantasy adventure chess is your thing. I’ve posted their brief teaser below.
11/11/2009 at 11:41 rei says:
Best game on C64? Possibly. That tractor racing game gave it a run for its money, though.
Granted, I never got around to some of the classics like M.U.L.E. and such. Either way, I think I’ll wait for it to find its way to Steam before considering buying it.
11/11/2009 at 11:42 zipdrive says:
Yay! Archon was one of my favorite games in those ancient days.
If I remember correctly, is has already been remade once… (a quick google later) yup: Archon Ultra.
11/11/2009 at 11:52 Red Avatar says:
Hmm $20 is a bit steep for this. $10 would have been more tempting considering this IS a remake. And let’s be honest, the new graphics aren’t exactly that great.
11/11/2009 at 11:54 Nero says:
Yeah one of my favorite games on the C64. Might have lost some of it’s charm with updated graphics though, but hopefully there’s a demo soon to try out.
11/11/2009 at 12:04 Id says:
Now gimme a good remake of M.U.L.E., a good remake of Seven Cities of Gold, and some motherfuckin’ Starflight already. Let me relive my childhood the way I always wished it had been!
11/11/2009 at 12:49 Risingson says:
7 cities of gold actually had a VGA remake baaaack then, I remember that because it was included in a cd that came with a Creative CDROM drive, I think.
Archon has actually been remade officially (Archon Ultra) and unoficially (Magic & Mayhem,Dark Legions) many times.
Trivia time off.
11/11/2009 at 16:50 Moot says:
M.U.L.E! M.U.L.E! M.U.L.E! M.U.L.E! M.U.L.E! M.U.L.E! M.U.L.E! M.U.L.E!
I would like some M.U.L.E please.
11/11/2009 at 12:06 Jeremy says:
I’ve been waiting for this for decades, literally. Although, yeah, $20 is a bit much, the graphics look like they’re out of Doom2. But, it’s Archon!!!!
11/11/2009 at 13:19 Obdicut says:
Nifty. This is one of the few games I’ve never gotten to fully work under XP.
I preferred Adept, though.
11/11/2009 at 13:26 duncanthrax says:
“The game is over. The dark side won.”
11/11/2009 at 14:30 KilgoreTrout XL says:
Nice! This was one of my favorites. Now remake Driller and The Guild of Thieves.
11/11/2009 at 15:31 RobF says:
Well, I laughed: (from the media page)
http://www.archonclassic.com/wp-content/gallery/in-game-art/basilisk_icon.jpg
11/11/2009 at 15:43 Ginger Yellow says:
React have already released this on the iPhone, if you want to check it out before the PC version is released.
11/11/2009 at 15:47 Urthman says:
Teasing with the very first bit of the original Archon music was a nice touch.
http://www.vgmusic.com/music/computer/commodore/commodore/Archon.mid
11/11/2009 at 16:48 LewieP says:
I still have my Archon T Shirt that EA gave out at PAX last year.
They had loads of them. I was utterly baffled, but happily took one.
11/11/2009 at 16:49 Moot says:
I had it on cartridge for my Atari 800XL.
I recall hours of fun playing two player with friends, though there were always fights as to who got the “good joystick”.
I am…torn as to whether buying this version will offer me anything akin the enjoyment of the original – I think perhaps it is rather of it’s time.
Hmm.
11/11/2009 at 17:28 Scott says:
I’d rather this be released on consoles…360 Live DLC for $10-$15 would hit the sweet spot.
11/11/2009 at 17:33 Psychopomp says:
FINALLY
11/11/2009 at 17:41 LintMan says:
Definitely one of the best C-64 games made. I like the sequel (Archon 2: Adept) as well.
I don’t see any power points in the screenshot above… Were those only in Archon 2?
11/11/2009 at 19:15 Krikey! says:
$20? Sign me up! Archon was, and still is, awesome!
12/11/2009 at 01:42 vagabond says:
Except the iphone version seems to be $3, so I’d kind of feel a bit hard done by paying $20 for it on PC (I assume the PC version has extra game modes or something, but still).
Dammit, now even indie devs are shafting the PC.
It always starts this way, dumbing their games down for a less technically capable platform, with a worse control system. I won’t be surprised when their remake of Archon 2 isn’t even available for the PC. It’ll serve them right when I pirate the original on a C=64 emulator…
11/11/2009 at 19:37 Mike says:
“I don’t see any power points in the screenshot above… Were those only in Archon 2?”
I distinctly remember getting the message “Power points are proof against magic” when you tried to cast a spell on a piece that was on a power point in Archon 1.
My guess is that they are just not implemented, since this is a pre-beta. Or maybe you can turn them on or off.
11/11/2009 at 19:39 David Gentle says:
There was a mod for Q3A at one point that was based on this though i forget the name.
11/11/2009 at 19:40 Mike says:
Archon already has an awesome spiritual successor in Wrath Unleashed, and a not-so-awesome one in Unholy War, but I’m looking forward to this relatively straight remake nonetheless.
12/11/2009 at 07:52 Risingson says:
Now I see that you people are at least as old as me :/ :)
12/11/2009 at 14:42 Patrick says:
Isn’t this coming out on Wiiware?
http://wiiware.nintendolife.com/games/wiiware/archon_classic
Probably a whole lot less than $20 on there, too. I don’t get this: the console makes/app stores are taking a big chunk of the price, but they charge more on the PC where they are free to distribute it however they wish, usually at a far lower cost?
13/11/2009 at 07:38 R says:
The poor gaming offerings on the IBM PCjr still haunt me, but I was able to get this one!