Honourable Mention 1: Defender of the Crown

Honourable Mention 1
Defender of the Crown

It's time to introduce my first Honourable Mention. With the complete list of games chosen for the Top 100 lists numbering 292, and with certain notable games absent, I thought it worthwhile to round it up to a neat 300 by choosing eight games worthy of inclusion in an Amiga set. My criteria for inclusion does not necessitate that the games are among the best on the platform - indeed, the Amiga Power team did a good job of that already. Rather, I wanted to choose games that were either looked over by the team due to age, or left out because of the rules the team set, or because they're games that, despite not being the best, you cannot tell the complete Amiga story without.

So, my first choice was a real no-brainer: Defender of the Crown was the first 'killer app' for the Amiga. If you bought a new Amiga in 1987 and wanted to prove to others why it was worth it, this was the game you would show them.

It's a strategy hybrid of sorts, where you play the role of a Saxon in mediaeval England, fighting off the Norman invaders. You amass armies, take control of territories, and engage in mini-games, including jousting and attacking enemy castles, either by catapult or in sword combat. You may find the opportunity to save a damsel in distress, too. Your ultimate goal is to conquer every region and become King of England, sending the Normans back from whence they came.

The significance of Defender of the Crown is in the graphics. It's no exaggeration to say that it was both a revelation and a revolution when it was first shown in 1986: there was nothing on computer, console or arcade that could rival its graphical fidelity, and it represented a paradigm shift in the industry as developers realised that they needed to up their game. Perhaps it's not the most engrossing or mature strategy game in hindsight, but its importance to the story of the Amiga cannot be overstated.

Recommended TOSEC disk(s):
Defender of the Crown (1986)(Cinemaware)(US)(Disk 1 of 2)
Defender of the Crown (1986)(Cinemaware)(US)(Disk 2 of 2)