Perseus and Andromeda
Perseus and Andromeda is another text adventure that was released only on the C64. It takes the then standard form of a textbased interface with the upper half of the screen filled with a picture of the surrounding. The story is from ancient Greek mythology and it goed somewhere along the lines of this. Perseus is the son of the god Zeus and a human and thus he carries good favor with him but Zeus’ wife Hera isn’t so keen on him. One day Perseus wins the right to marry the princess Andromeda because he releases her from a curse but in the process he cuts of the hand of Hera’s son and thus earns the wrath of the goddess. After being insulted by the princess’ mother she demands that Andromeda be sacrifaced in thirty days or the kraken will destroy the entire town. Thus begins Perseus’ quest to find something that can stop the kraken and allow him to live happily with Andromeda.
As stated before the screen is half filled with a picture of the surroundings and underneath you can type in any commands. You can also disable the pictures by simply pressing enter without a command and the upper part of the screen will show a description of the surroundings, any items and possible exits. Commands are pretty standard like take and use so anyone who has played a text adventure game before will know how to get around. The game starts near the castle and you will have to find help in your quest. Luckily being the son of a god helps and if you pray to them and with a little patience you might gain some nifty items like a helmet that makes you inviseable which can help you complete your quest. Along the way you will come across mythical creatures like the harpies and medusa which you will have to find a way to get past. Can you succeed where other heroes have failed and defeat the kraken which is deemed invulnerable or will you join the ranks of the undead?
The story of the game is pretty solid but there are some problems with the game itself. For one thing the story isn’t told through the game which is quite a vital part of a text adventure so unfortunately most of the charm is lost. Technically there are also some problems as the pictures themselves don’t serve much purpose and it takes a long time to draw them. Add to that the fact that underneath the pictures are the most important parts like the items you can pick up and the exits and you realize that the best way to play is to do it in text only mode. Also the inventory limit is something that really annoyed me but pretty much every adventure had it in the olden days so it’s not really unique problem. That said I have some fond memories of this game as I was stumped when I first played it but now it doesn’t seem very difficult. Give it a go if you’re into text adventures.
Overal rating: 6.5/10
This game was released for several systems here are some notes:
| C64 | Released in 1983 . Game has been tested but not completed with CCS64 v2.0 win. There is no information whatsoever in the game about a release date but I found the info on the net. |
| ZX Spectrum | Released in 1983. Game has been tested but not completed with emuZwin v2.5. This plays a lot faster actually than the c64 version. |
| Others | These versions are not available. BBC micro released in 1983. Oric released in 1983. |
| Date added | Sep-28-2005 20:26 |
| Name | Perseus and Andromeda |
| Developer | Brian Howarth |
| Publisher | Brian Howarth |
| First released | 1983 |
| Genre | Interactive Fiction |
