The Legend of Kyrandia: Book One is a 2D point-and-click adventure game, and the first game in the Fables & Fiends series. It was developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Games in August 1992.
| The Legend of Kyrandia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Westwood Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Virgin Games |
| Director(s) | Brett Sperry |
| Designer(s) | Michael Legg Rick Parks Paul S. Mudra |
| Programmer(s) | Michael Legg |
| Artist(s) | Rick Parks |
| Writer(s) | Coco |
| Composer(s) | Frank Klepacki |
| Series | Fables & Fiends |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, DOS, FM Towns, Mac, PC-98 |
| Release | August 1, 1992 (DOS)[1] 1992 (Amiga) October 1993 (FM Towns) 1993 (Mac) February 15, 1994 (PC-98) |
| Genre(s) | Graphic adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The game proved a commercial success and was praised for many of its elements. Its success spawned two sequels: The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate in 1993; and The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm's Revenge in 1994. GOG.com released an emulated version for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2013.[2]
Design
Kyrandia was originally a MUD for MajorBBS programmed by Richard Skurnick & Scott Brinker. Westwood Studios purchased the Kyrandia intellectual property. The story was adapted by Rick “Coco” Gush, who called the original designer “a jerk” who “tried to make a stink” after Westwood’s franchise became financially successful through their publisher at Virgin.[3]
The Legend of Kyrandia utilizes a point-and-click interface which is more simple than similar games of its era, which relied on more complex multi-action interfaces. The player solves a variety of puzzles by collecting objects and casting spells. Hazardous obstacles and traps can kill the player character.
Plot
After the King and Queen of Kyrandia are murdered by the court jester Malcolm, the Mystics imprison him in the royal castle. Eighteen years later, Malcolm escapes and terrorizes Kyrandia. Brandon, the son of the murdered King and Queen, is tasked with defeating Malcolm and restoring peace to the land. With the help of the Mystics, Brandon learns about his true lineage and his destiny as the rightful king.
Reception
According to writer Rick “Coco” Gush, The Legend of Kyrandia was commercially successful. He noted that it was "a solid A-minus or B-plus" title that helped to secure Westwood's "new relationship with Virgin". Later bundles with its sequels continued this success.[3] The Legend of Kyrandia series as a whole, totaled above 250,000 units in sales by August 1996.[4]
In 1992, Computer Gaming World's Robin Matthews described The Legend of Kyrandia "as a cross between Loom, King's Quest V and Secret of Monkey Island 2", praising the "beautifully drawn" VGA graphics and humor. The magazine concluded that the "storyline is hardly original ... but the presentation of the game, the general quality and the feel, make this a promising debut and a welcome addition to the world of graphic adventures".[5] In April 1994 the magazine said that the CD version "is a quality product throughout" that added digitized voices to the "excellent, if somewhat short" game's "Stunning graphics and sound", and advised Westwood to "just release the CD version of their titles first".[6] The first installment in the series received 5/5 in Dragon[7] magazine.
References
- ^ "Kyrandia Advert". Computer Gaming World. No. 96. Software Publishers Association. July 1992. p. 115.
- ^ "Release: Legend of Kyrandia". GOG.com. CD Projekt. September 12, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
- ^ a b Dickens, Evan (May 20, 2002). "Rick Gush, designer of the Kyrandia games". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on November 22, 2002.
- ^ "Westwood hits GENCON 96" (Press release). Westwood Studios. August 28, 1996. Archived from the original on June 5, 1997.
- ^ Matthews, Robin (November 1992). "Westwood Studios' The Legend of Kyrandia". Computer Gaming World. No. 100. pp. 34, 36. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
- ^ "Invasion Of The Data Stashers". Computer Gaming World. April 1994. pp. 20–42.
- ^ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (March 1993). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (191): 57–62.
External links
- The Legend of Kyrandia at MobyGames
- Fables & Fiends: Book One - The Legend Of Kyrandia at Hall of Light
- Review in Compute!