Ice Palace (1985 video game)
A prince seeks crown pieces to defeat the Ice Queen.
In 1985, Creative Sparks published Ice Palace, an action-adventure game for the Commodore 64 designed by Paul Norris. The story follows a crown prince on a mission to lift an evil curse, free his kingdom, and avenge his father. Despite its name, this game is not connected to the 1984 Commodore 64 title Ice Palace from K-Tel International or the 1988 game Beyond the Ice Palace. Critics largely praised it, but it was a commercial failure.
Quick Facts
- Publisher
- Creative Sparks
- Designer
- Paul Norris
- Released
- 1985
- Genre
- Action-adventure game
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Commodore 64
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The wicked Ice Queen has murdered the good king and placed the kingdom under a forever winter. The young prince ascends to the Ice Palace to collect scattered pieces of his father's crown, which can vanquish the forces of evil. The player navigates a honeycomb-like maze, finding seven crown pieces while fighting enemies and avoiding traps. Each piece found advances the player to the next level. Verbal commands are used during encounters. The player has limited time before the holy candle melts and the good-and-evil meter degrades to evil.
Development
Paul Norris later stated that pursuing technical excellence in a game can be a waste of time, as technical brilliance should not overshadow the final product. Crash reported that Norris reached this conclusion after spending excessive time developing a superior scrolling routine for Ice Palace when a simple page scroll would not have detracted from the overall effect. Norris later created a similarly themed game titled Wicked. Ice Palace was re-released in 1986 as a budget title.
Reception
Ice Palace was mostly received positively by gaming press. Computer Gamer awarded it four out of five stars. Computer and Video Games gave it 32/40, noting its good graphics, excellent sound, and totally addictive gameplay. Zzap! scored it 72%. However, Your Commodore opined that while quite appealing, the game was on the whole tedious. According to Computer Gamer, this excellent game appeared to be ahead of its time and did not do particularly well upon its original release.
More in Action-Adventure Games of the 1980s
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