| The Runes of Virtue games were a special series
that Origin did specially for the Nintendo Game Boy. Unlike the
mainstream Ultima titles, which are basically role-playing games
with lots of character interaction, these two games are closer to
level-based puzzle games with a little combat thrown in. The
adventurer tries to get a rune from the bottom of each of eight
dungeons using tools they find along the way, reminiscent of The
Legend of Zelda. In both, your enemy is "The Black Knight" (who
threatens to destroy Britannia by using hackneyed dialogue and
silly facial expressions), and you have to fight your way through
various "bosses" to finally defeat him. And yes, you can even pick
up "hearts" to get your life energy back. Neither is particularly
Ultima-esque, but then what do you want in a Game Boy game? War and
Peace? The second game was ported to the Super Nintendo, but is
still basically the same. Both of these titles are still available
if you know where to look. (Hint: look online, at vendors such as
FuncoLand.) |
Ultima: Runes of
Virtue
Ultima: Runes of Virtue
II
Ultima: Runes of Virtue II
