Image: Cinemaware
Cinemaware’s debut, Defender Of The Crown, was truly groundbreaking when it launched on the Amiga back in 1986.
Designed by Kellyn Beeck, with gorgeous pixel artwork by James D. Sachs and a rousing score composed by Jim Cuomo, it was one of the first games to reinforce the notion of an ‘interactive movie’ thanks to its stunning cutscenes and high production values.
A commercial and critical hit that was ported to a wide range of systems (including the NES and, much later, GBA), the game would inspire a sequel on the ill-fated CDTV in 1993 and has been ‘remade’ twice – Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown (2003) and Defender of the Crown: Heroes Live Forever (2007).
It has now been revealed that Defender of the Crown will be getting a remaster to mark its 40th anniversary, thanks to developer Black Tower Basement and publisher Nordcurrent Labs.
Images: Black Tower Basement / Nordcurrent Labs
Defender of the Crown: The Legend Returns – which has been confirmed for Steam, Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X – will include three gameplay modes. Retro Mode is “the original Amiga classic, preserved with near-perfect authenticity and quality-of-life enhancements,” while Classic Mode offers the “Amiga classic reimagined for today. A completely new visual identity, refined mechanics, and smoother systems.”
Finally, there’s Kingdom Mode, which is described as “an entirely new challenge” with “procedurally generated maps, special dice mechanics, unlockable abilities, and multiple difficulty levels to keep every run unpredictable.”
The developers promise that “everything that made the original special is intact: the ruleset, the pacing, the atmosphere. What’s changed is everything around it – cleaner systems, improved balance, a modernized interface, and quality-of-life updates throughout.”
[source x.com]
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Damien has been writing professionally about tech and video games since 2007 and oversees all of Hookshot Media’s sites from an editorial perspective. He’s also the editor of Time Extension, the network’s newest site, which – paradoxically – is all about gaming’s past glories.