There is no video game that’s going to cause more of a stir than GTA6. None is going to generate more headlines. None is going to get more publicity. And the reason isn’t that it’s going to be the best video game of the year, but that it’s going to be the most spectacular and most expensive video game in the history of the medium so far. Will it be of all time? No: it will be until the next one surpasses it. But it will be until that happens and that’s something that always makes headlines.
That means that before GTA6 there were others. And one of the first to be marketed this way was a title that, forty years ago, claimed it would revolutionize what was possible on home computers in a way no one could have imagined. Its name was Defenders of the Crown and it was a game as spectacular as it was unmemorable to play.
An absolutely astonishing game
Defenders of the Crown is a game developed by Cinemaware and by Kellyn Beeck. Originally published on Commodore Amiga in 1986, its main selling point is that it defined a new standard for the quality of computer graphics at the time. And it was true. In its colors, design, and presentation it’s what we’d now call a cinematic game. Because even if it was a strategy game, its presentation seemed straight out of a movie.
Its colors were impressive. Its animations were spectacular. And all of this showed in its sales. By 1989 it had sold 750,000 copies, an impressive figure at the time, and it was considered a great success. Quite a success for the time. But it had one great weakness: as a game it was rather poor.
While it’s true that it included elements of strategy, action and romance, none of them was especially remarkable. Graphically it was spectacular and that drew attention, but playing it wasn’t especially interesting or rewarding. This caused the game to lose some of its appeal over time until it became, as it is today, a historical piece that doesn’t have cult status. It’s simply considered an important technological artifact of its era, but not a great game.
What’s the point of a remake?
Now the developers Black Tower Basement are making a remake of the game called Defender of the Crown: The Legend Returns. While it’s graphically very pretty and based on the original game, naturally it isn’t the same cutting-edge piece of technology the original game was. So then, what is its appeal based on? For two main reasons: nostalgia and polishing the aspects where the game can have more depth.
This remake has three modes. Retro mode is the Amiga classic, but with some tweaks so it’s easier to play and feel that everything works as it should. Classic mode is a more refined version, with modern standards and updated systems and mechanics to make the game much more polished. Kingdom mode is a completely new game that, starting from the original, adds what you could call a whole roguelike layer to create a completely new take on the original game.
This is where the game shines. No longer just in being digital candy, a graphical delight, but in being a video game in its own right. By refining those aspects and taking the game beyond technical merit, it becomes genuinely interesting.
And besides, you won’t have to wait to see it. Defender of the Crown: The Legend Returns has been available since August 13 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.
