Initial release date 1982 Publisher Carnell Software Ltd | Developer Carnell Software Ltd Genre Adventure | |
Designer(s) Roy CarnellStuart A. Galloway Platforms ZX Spectrum, ZX81, Dragon 32/64 | ||
Volcanic dungeon
Volcanic Dungeon is a role-playing video game designed by Roy Carnell and Stuart A. Galloway and released by Carnell Software for the ZX Spectrum, Dragon 32/64 and ZX81 computers in 1983. It is a sequel to 1982's Black Crystal and was itself followed by The Wrath of Magra in 1984. The BASIC source code listing of the game is available online.
Contents
Plot
A war between the forces of good and evil has been won by the light, and the dark goddess Lamhar and the Snow Queen were both defeated. But the witch Magra has managed to escape with some of her army into the titular volcanic dungeon, taking with her a captive elfin princess named Edora. The task of a hero known as the Knight of Star Jewel is to hunt down and kill Magra, and to rescue Edora from her glass coffin.
Reception
According to a Sinclair User ZX-81 retrospective in 1985, "Volcanic deserves recognition as the first graphics adventure for the ZX-81, and therefore one of the very first of all adventures. Unfortunately, the game mechanics are rather crude and it is frequently a matter of good fortune." In a "Favourites of Yesteryear" article that same year, Sinclair User rated it 5/10, complaining of the game's slowness and how "death is always too swift. It is as if the computer is playing the player and not the other way around."