Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance
System: NES
Release Date: January 1991
Developer: Natsume
Publisher: FCI
Genre: Action
Take an adventuring party into Xak Tsaroth to recover the Disks of Mishakal in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance! Set in the realm of Dragonlance, Goldmoon leads the Companions of the Lance to restore cosmic balance. The wicked goddess Takhisis has stirred the dragons to do her bidding. The Companions must find their way to the black dragon Khisanth and defeat it with the Blue Crystal Staff.
You enter the castle with the cleric Goldmoon as your lead character. Anyone with a modicum of D&D experience knows this is suicide. You must quickly press the Select Button and rearrange the party. The front four can be injured if attacked, while the rear four are safe. Your party contains a variety of character classes and races. Other than Goldmoon the cleric, you have her husband Riverwind the ranger, Sturm Brightblade the fighter, Raistlin the wizard, Caramon the fighter, Tanis the half-elf, Flint the dwarf fighrer, and Tasslehoff the kender rogue.
Goldmoon and Raistlin generally need to be kept in the front ranks because that gives you access to their spells in the main menu. Goldmoon will be your healer and protector as a good cleric is, while Raistlin will be using all sorts of spells to immobilize and injure enemies. The downside is that Raistlin has incredibly few hit points and can die very quickly if you aren’t cautious. There are some defensive items, like shields, that are found and can be equipped by the party. Different colored potions have different effects. Treasures found through the castle are only good for points.
There are three levels that consist of you walking around, fighting enemies to move forward, finding doors to go through, and picking up treasures found along the way. Fighting enemies can be quite irritating, as hit rolls are taking place behind the scenes and can lead to you missing, even though you’re obviously connecting with your weapon. Each companion is equipped with a melee weapon and others also have ranged weapons that must be readied before you can use them. You can run by pressing an up diagonal, which is necessary to leap over the occasional pit.
If you’re not familiar with what the spells are supposed to do, you’ll have a harder time getting through the levels. Baby dragons will wipe the floor with you if you don’t have protection against dragon breath active. If a party member dies, you must cast raise dead before changing screens or they’re lost forever. Though Goldmoon equips the Blue Crystal Staff, other party members can take it if she dies. When you make it to the dragon, you’re in for the easiest final boss battle you could imagine, as you just use Goldmoon’s staff and throw it at the dragon for the win.
Graphics: 1.0
Overall, the graphics are trash. Everything is muddy, poorly animated, and small.
Sound: 1.5
Music is alright, but the loops are pretty short.
Gameplay: 1.0
Character movement is slow. Casting mage spells sometimes sail past the enemies. Attacks miss more than they hit.
Difficulty: 1.0
Run into a baby dragon and prepare to die if you don’t quickly cast protection from dragon breath.
Fun Factor: 1.0
I didn’t enjoy myself very much and was happy to be done after one playthrough.
Overall Rating: 1.1
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance earns a D. This is a game you can pass without feeling bad, even if you’re a big D&D fan. Dragonlance is kind of a lame setting anyway.