Video games have come a long way in the 30 plus years that they have been in existence. Many have come and gone. Some were good, some not so good. But very few had the impact of the Might & Magic series, loosely based off the Dungeons & Dragons role playing and video games.
Might & Magic itself had a very long series with one loosely tying into the next. The original Might & Magic games were crude in comparison to the later versions. But one of the major differences was that the early Might & Magic games were turn based as opposed to the later games which were real time.
The turn based Might & Magic games were just that. You would make your way through the towns and mazes of the lands and when an encounter came against an evil creature or group of creatures, the action would turn from real time to turn based. During this phase the player would plan out his strategy of how he would attack the big bads. After programming in his attacks he would hit the attack button and the computer would compute the results. This continued until the battle resolved one way or another with the player either defeating the creatures or losing in the process, thus ending the game.
Real time based games were real time throughout. If during the course of making your way through the towns and mazes you ran into a creature or group of creatures, the action would continue. The attacks would come at you as you were walking, running or even flying. In return, you would attack the enemy while either advancing on them or retreating. This type of battle took more skill than brains. There are those who preferred the turn based games and those who preferred the real time games throughout.
The Might & Magic series lasted for quite a number of editions. Probably the greatest of these was Might & Magic VI, which at the time was the largest mapped video game ever. The adventure covered no less than 10 different cities and areas. A game could last from 6 months to a year or longer. The levels that your adventurers could reach were beyond counting. Eventually, if you lived long enough and gained enough power, which included finding some really powerful lasers, you could wipe out an island of red, blue and gold dragons in a matter of minutes.
To win the game, you had to defeat the evil queen who was surrounded by her minions from hell. The Hive, the last battle of the game, was guarded by just about every demon of the underworld. Not only did you have to defeat the queen but also had to make your way out of the hive with certain items or the world as you knew it would be destroyed.
If you are new to video games and want to play one of the most incredible games ever made, get a hold of a Windows 95 operating system and pick up an old copy of Might & Magic VI. You won't be sorry.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to GAMES
