Defender of the Crown

Did You Know?

• The game became the second game to ship on CD-ROM, after The Manhole, in 1989.
• A version for the X68000 was in development by Bullet-Proof Software but never released.
• The MS-DOS and NES ports have poor graphic and audio quality but more in-depth strategic elements compared to the original.

Gameplay

England, 1149. The king is dead, and the land is carved up by warring factions. You pick one of four Saxon lords—Wilfred of Ivanhoe, Cedric of Rotherwood, Geoffrey Longsword, or Wolfric the Wild—and set out to push back the Norman invaders while grabbing territory for yourself. Eventually, you’ll have to take on fellow Saxons too, if they turn hostile. The core loop is building armies, storming enemy castles, looting, and laying siege. You can also win land through jousting tournaments, rescue a damsel in distress now and then, or call on Robin Hood for a hand. It’s a war of attrition: you need bigger armies and better timing than your rivals. Cinemaware was under financial pressure, so the first release shipped without several planned features. Some were only half-finished and got cut to get the game out the door. Finished but unseen elements included flaming fireballs from catapults, a wider variety of castle layouts, and deeper strategic options. A few of these additions turned up in later versions. The game’s primary artist, James D. Sachs, demonstrated some of the missing content on the Amiga in interviews after launch.

Cover art

The cover art was put together by Peter Green Design and painted by Ezra Tucker. Randy McDonald, in charge of art direction for Cinemaware's first four games, explained that he or Peter Greene would sketch a general concept for each cover. McDonald rented costumes from Western Costume in Hollywood and hired models, who were posed in a photo studio to match the desired illustration. The initial artist was supposed to be Greg Winter, but the cover eventually went to Ezra Tucker.

Reception

The first public demonstration of Defender of the Crown occurred at the Los Angeles Commodore Show in September 1986, before its November release, and attracted a huge crowd. The game became a commercial hit; in 1989 Video Games & Computer Entertainment reported that it had been purchased by almost three-quarters of a million gamers worldwide, and sales surpassed 1 million units by 2001. Info gave the Amiga version four stars out of five, stating its graphics set new standards for computer games and praising the breathtaking animation and impressive color, but noting that gameplay was the weak link. The Australian Commodore Review gave the Commodore 64 version a total score of 96 out of 100, while Commodore User called it totally brilliant and one of the best games to date on the 64. Computer Gaming World praised the Amiga version's graphics and animation, calling it a showcase program to demonstrate the Amiga's power, and gave it a special award for Artistic Achievement in a Computer Game that year, though later surveys in 1990 and 1993 gave it two-plus stars out of five. Compute! stated it effectively demonstrated the Amiga's graphics but found gameplay oversimplified. CU Amiga said there were not many areas in which the game could be improved, citing sophisticated graphics with lush colours. Amiga Format was less kind to the CD rerelease, stating it had not stood the test of time due to weak gameplay. Power Unlimited gave the CD-i version 87%, noting it runs quite slowly. The One magazine in 1991 rated it four out of five stars for the Amiga, Atari ST and PC. In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared it the 92nd-best computer game ever released.

Legacy

Commodore International released Defender of the Crown II in 1993 for the CDTV and Amiga CD32. Cinemaware later went bankrupt, but in 2000, Lars Fuhrken-Batista and Sean Vesce bought its name and assets, founding Cinemaware Inc. Their first projects included a remake titled Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown, which arrived in 2003 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows, as well as Digitally Remastered Versions of classic Cinemaware titles like the original Defender of the Crown. In February 2007, a second remake, Defender of the Crown: Heroes Live Forever, came from eGames, which had acquired Cinemaware in 2005. It kept jousting, archery, castle raids, princess rescues, and catapult sieges, adding Hero and Tactic cards for army upgrades. During the late 1980s, inspired games like Joan of Arc (Rainbow Arts, 1989) appeared. The Danish band PRESS PLAY ON TAPE remixed the game's theme with medieval lyrics on their 2003 album Run/Stop Restore.