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Archon

By Phil May on 23/06/2009 at 13:50:31 - 2 comments
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Stay away from the light!
The C64 offers up a rich seam of untapped retro classics ripe for revival...

...and the iPhone / iPod Touch offer the perfect platform for quite a few classic games from an era when 38911 bytes free was "more than you'd ever need".

Looking at Archon back in the days when my head was being turned by action games like Racing Destruction Set and Spindizzy on the C64, I couldn't really understand the appeal of a game that "looked a bit like chess" and had "some really naff fighting bits". I borrowed a copy from a kid at school and realised that not only had I been missing out, but Archon had sabre-toothed fangs of addiction and sunk them into me, not letting go for months.

Archon is a turn-based strategy game that does indeed look a lot like chess from a first glance, but plays more like a simplified version of some of the modern classic strategy games like Advance Wars or Uniwars. Each player takes up position on one side of the checkerboard either as light or dark. As with Chess, each of the mythical pieces you control can move in a different way - but unlike chess, once those pieces come into contact with each other, the game changes to a more realtime-based combat system where a fast trigger finger and ninja-like reactions can alter the entire game's outcome.

EA originally published the game back in 1983 and it received a great deal of favourable critical acclaim. With any retro revival there's always the tinge of fear that developers might just ride roughshod over the original core gameplay, or completely mess up the graphical look and feel of any retro retread. In Archon's case, React Games have obviously decided against messing around too much with a successful formula and have stayed true to the original game's heady mix of strategy and combat.

Archon suits the iPhone / iPod touch so well that you'd think it was made for it. The developers have used touch and tap manipulation of pieces a breeze on the main gameplay screens, but have also done a fairly good job of giving you plenty of options when it comes to controlling the realtime portions of the game (either with a virtual on-screen DPAD which works relatively well, or by the less successful tilt-control method).

Presentation-wise React Games have done an excellent job of updating the original game's rather monochrome appearance with some jazzy visuals in both board and combat views. I'm not usually a massive fan of developers taking it upon themselves to muck around with the visual look and feel of games just for the sake of a few bells and whistles, but what they've done in Archon works superbly and captures the original game's semi-mythical premise and legendary beasts and combatants really well (everyone will end up with their favourite units but the Balrog rocks).

All in all, another game has successfully been brought back from near obscurity to reign supreme on the iPhone / iPod Touch. React Games have done an excellent job here, and the price isn't too crippling at £2.39 either. If you're after something strategic that will exercise your grey matter as well as your trigger finger, Archon is nicely executed and offers good value for money as well as plenty of "just one more go" longevity.

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#1 - HairyArse - on 23/06/2009 at 16:47 wrote:

#2 - peej - on 23/06/2009 at 16:54 wrote:

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