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Battle Chess

 
Games: Battle Chess
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Game Description

Chess is actually a game of battle, with the worth of pieces on the board equivalent to the worth of their counterparts in real life. Perhaps the material used for carving or casting the pieces has changed, but it remains a game of battle and strategy. Not much else has changed in this board game until now! Battle Chess from MacPlay adds an amusing addition to the game. Opposing pieces actually come to life and do battle. Watch a queen blast an opposing piece with a bolt of lightning, or a pawn stab another. Each piece has its own unique scenario that plays when it moves.
~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

For many people, Chess has never been a very engaging game. It's more complicated than Checkers, has more kinds of pieces to move in separate and complex ways, with rules only understood by veteran players. No wonder many people think only geeks play chess! While Battle Chess may not change your perception of Chess, it certainly gives it a good try by transforming each game piece into an actual person or thing with a special theme played when it moves. And movement is fluid, except when the rook turns into a brick giant lumbering across the battlefield. When one piece takes another, a battle erupts between the two pieces. It can be very amusing to watch your opponent's queen eaten headfirst by a rook, and seeing the King beating the heck out of another piece with his scepter can be funny. However, these very same animations can make the game unsuitable for younger players. While Chess has always been a game about battle, seeing pieces beating one another in Battle Chess may disturb the youngest players, fortunately, animations may be turned off.
~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

This game might just make you enjoy Chess; certainly more enjoyable than most.
~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

The animations are more cartoonish than lifelike, but very good nonetheless.
~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

The special music of the pieces can be very enjoyable. I especially like the music of the black king -- royal with undertones of evil.
~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

As with any chess game, the replay is endless.
~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

The manual gives a brief history of {*Chess}, explains the game, the pieces, movements, and some strategy.
~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide
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Wikipedia: Battle Chess
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Battle Chess
Battle Chess box cover
Developer(s) Interplay
Publisher(s) Interplay
Designer(s) Todd Camasta, Michael Quarles, Jayesh J. Patel, Bruce Schlickbernd
Platform(s) 3DO, Amiga, Amiga CDTV, Amiga CD32, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, NES, Mac OS, Acorn Archimedes, Windows 3.x
Release date(s) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994
Genre(s) Board game
Mode(s) Single player, two player

Battle Chess is a computer game version of chess in which the chess pieces come to life and battle one another when capturing. It was released for the Commodore Amiga and subsequently on the 3DO, MS-DOS, Apple IIgs, Commodore 64, Amiga CDTV, CD32, Atari ST, Apple Macintosh, Acorn Archimedes, FM Towns,Windows 3.x and Nintendo Entertainment System.

Contents

Features

There are 35 battle animations.[1] The rook, for example, turns into a rock monster and kills a pawn by smashing his head. Some battle sequences like Knight versus Knight or King versus Bishop are direct references to the black knight fight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the short battle between Indiana Jones and a swordsman in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The game can be played in a 2D version with no animations, and the Amiga CDTV version features a fully-voiced introduction describing the movements of the pieces for the benefit of beginners. Digitized sound is utilized in the DOS version for all battle sound effects and is played through the PC speaker, without the need for a sound card, using a technique akin to RealSound.

The game could be played against a human opponent (by hotseat, or by null modem or over a local area network in some ports) or against the computer's artificial intelligence (AI).[1] The game has an opening library from over 30,000 moves (which were not available for the C64 and Apple versions).

Reception

Screenshot of Battle Chess (Atari ST)

The Amiga version received favourable reviews from magazines due its comical battle sequences which were advanced (for the time) in terms of graphics, animation and sound. The German game magazine ASM, however, criticized the weak chess AI.[2]

Magazine ratings:

Over a period of time Battle Chess spawned imitators such as Star Wars Chess and Terminator 2: Chess Wars. Interplay won "Best Graphics Achievement In A Non-Graphics Product" from Software Publishers Association (later renamed to Software and Information Industry Association) for their efforts.[7]

Battle Chess producer Brian Fargo expressed his fondness for the game in a 2006 interview, although he added that he did not think there would be much of an audience for it today.[8]

The game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon #144 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.[9] The Lessers reviewed the Battle Chess Enhanced CD ROM in 1993 in Dragon #192, giving that version 5 stars.[10]

Sequels and legacy

Battle Chess was the first title developed and published by Interplay themselves after ending their relationship with Electronic Arts, besides Neuromancer.

In 1991, Battle Chess Enhanced was released for the PC, which features improved VGA graphics and a symphonic musical score that plays off of the CD-ROM. The same year a sequel was released titled Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess, based on Xiangqi, commonly known as "Chinese chess." The next year Battle Chess 4000, was released, which spoofs science fiction movies and television series (such as a battle sequence that involves the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey).

The game was featured in the 1992 film Knight Moves starring Christopher Lambert and Diane Lane, about a chess grandmaster who is accused of several murders.[11] The Chessmaster series of chess computer programs began to include animated chess piece battles when capturing with Chessmaster 10th Edition. In the Harry Potter book series Ron and Harry play a game called "Wizard's Chess" which seems to have aspects that are very similar to Battle Chess.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b St. Andre, Ken (Feb 1989), "Low Blows and Other Winning Moves", Computer Gaming World: 27 
  2. ^ http://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=584
  3. ^ Battle Chess review from AUI Vol 2 No 12 (Dec 1988) - Amiga Magazine Rack
  4. ^ Battle Chess review from Commodore User (Nov 1988) - Amiga Magazine Rack
  5. ^ Battle Chess review from ST Amiga Format 6 (Dec 1988) - Amiga Magazine Rack
  6. ^ Battle Chess review from Computer + Video Games 87 (Jan 1989) - Amiga Magazine Rack
  7. ^ Battle Chess - Cover Art - MobyGames
  8. ^ inXile Entertainment Update - News and Siteseeing
  9. ^ Lesser, Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk (April 1989). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (144): 60-68. 
  10. ^ Lesser, Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk (April 1993). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (192): 57-63. 
  11. ^ Knight Moves Chess in the Cinema

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

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