Alternate Reality: The City
First game in the Alternate Reality series, released 1985.
Alternate Reality: The City, published by Datasoft, launched the Alternate Reality series in 1985. Designed by Philip Price, it appeared on multiple platforms, with music composed by Gary Gilbertson. To save progress, players needed a blank, formatted disk as a "Character Disk."
Reception was mixed. In *Computer Gaming World*, Scorpia praised the detailed graphics and the expansive city to explore but criticized the lack of a clear objective. Once the city was fully mapped, she noted, the only remaining activity was repetitive combat to prepare for the sequel, *The Dungeon*. The 8-bit versions omitted features like joining guilds, and the Apple version’s graphics were singled out as poor. By 1993, Scorpia called the game "a fascinating premise that turned out rather poorly," suited only for players with great persistence and patience.
The game also received a mini-review in *Dragon* #131, where the Lessers gave the Macintosh version 3 out of 5 stars and the Atari ST version 3 stars. A feature review in *Dragon* #135 rated *The City* 3 stars, while its sequel, *The Dungeon*, earned 2½ stars.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Alternate Reality: The City
- Developer
- Paradise Programming
- Publisher
- Datasoft
- Designer
- Philip Price
- Composer
- Gary Gilbertson
- Released
- 1985
- Genre
- Role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Apple II, Mac, Atari ST, Amiga, MS-DOS, TRS-80 Color Computer
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Alternate Reality: The City was created by Philip Price and published by Datasoft in 1985. The game requires a blank, formatted disk to use as a 'Character Disk' for saving progress. Music for the game was composed by Gary Gilbertson. The game was released for a variety of systems, with 8-bit versions omitting certain features such as joining guilds.
Reader's Guide
Alternate Reality: The City holds significance as the first entry in the Alternate Reality series, introducing players to a detailed, expansive city environment. Its graphics were praised for attention to detail, but the game was criticized for having no clear goal, leading to monotonous combat after mapping the city. Scorpia, writing in Computer Gaming World, gave a mixed review, noting that the Apple version had poor graphics and that the game ultimately required great persistence and patience. The game received 3 out of 5 stars from reviewers in Dragon #131 for the Macintosh and Atari ST versions, and 3 stars in Dragon #135. Its legacy is that of a fascinating but flawed premise, remembered for its ambition and the foundation it laid for its sequel, Alternate Reality: The Dungeon.
Did You Know?
- Alternate Reality: The City is the first game in the Alternate Reality series.
- Music for the game was created by Gary Gilbertson.
- The 8-bit versions omitted certain features such as joining guilds.
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