The Faery Tale Adventure

MicroIllusions

Industry	Video game publishing
Founded	1980s
Fate	Acquired by New World Computing
Key people	David Joiner (creator of The Faery Tale Adventure)
Products	The Faery Tale Adventure and other video games
Parent	New World Computing (after acquisition)

The Faery Tale Adventure is an action role-playing game released in 1987, created by David Joiner and published by MicroIllusions initially for the Amiga. It was subsequently adapted for platforms including the Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and Sega Genesis. The MS-DOS edition is known as The Faery Tale Adventure: Book I. MicroIllusions intended to develop a series beginning with the Amiga "Book 1" edition; however, financial difficulties prevented continuation. Upon its debut on the Amiga 1000, it featured the most extensive game environment available at that time. A follow-up titled Faery Tale Adventure II: Halls of the Dead was released in 1997.

Gameplay

The gameplay bears resemblance to Ultima VII (1992), boasting over 17,000 individual screens, making it the largest game world at its launch.

Players assume control of three brothers, each possessing unique attributes that influence gameplay dynamics:

• Julian's elevated Bravery enhances Vitality ("Vit"), which increases through defeating foes.
• Phillip's Luck affects how frequently a brother can be resurrected after dying before another sibling must continue the adventure.
• Kevin's Kindness impacts critical story segments and grows as players perform charitable deeds such as giving alms.

The vast game world was constructed by piecing together small map segments that are reused seamlessly to create larger regions. Loading of new areas happens asynchronously near boundaries without disrupting scrolling, animations, or background music.

Plot

The narrative centers on three brothers tasked with recovering a stolen talisman and returning it to their home village of Tambry in Holm. The journey begins with Julian, the eldest; if he fails, control shifts to Phillip, then to the youngest brother, Kevin. Beyond retrieving the talisman from a malevolent necromancer, players must accomplish essential objectives including rescuing the king’s daughter, securing assistance from a sea turtle, defeating a wicked witch, and gathering artifacts necessary to enter the necromancer’s realm.

Development

Conceived by David Joiner—who also worked on titles such as Defender of the Crown II and SimCity 4: Rush Hour—The Faery Tale Adventure first appeared on the Amiga before being adapted for other systems. Versions for the Commodore 64 and MS-DOS featured downgraded graphics attributed to hardware constraints. The Amiga edition uniquely presented dual screens with a palette of 64 + 16 colors.

An enhanced Macintosh port featuring 256-color graphics was developed in 1988 but never launched due to limited demand for color Macs like the costly Macintosh II. After MicroIllusions was acquired by New World Computing, a port for the Sega Genesis was produced in 1991 and published by Electronic Arts.

In November 2024, the original source code for the Amiga version was made publicly available on GitHub, enabling potential future development and preservation efforts.

Reception

Jerry Pournelle recounted his son Phillip’s experience with Faery Tale Adventure in BYTE, noting that while the character eventually becomes nearly invincible, traveling between locations can take hours in real time, which might feel monotonous. A review from Computer Gaming World commended the game’s intuitive and straightforward user interface along with its overall playability. The Sega Genesis adaptation received recognition for subtle enhancements such as an improved teleportation system while maintaining high-quality graphics. Dragon magazine rated the computer version 4½ out of 5 stars and awarded the Genesis edition 4 out of 5 stars. In 1996, Computer Gaming World ranked it as the 63rd greatest game ever made, describing it as "Real time adventure at its Amiga best."

Reviews

• Casus Belli issue 44 (April 1988)
• Jeux & Stratégie issue 47

Legacy

Following the original, the sequel titled Faery Tale Adventure II: Halls of the Dead was created by The Dreamers Guild and published by Encore, Inc. in 1997 for MS-DOS and Windows platforms. This installment showcased gameplay and visual elements reminiscent of Ultima VIII: Pagan. Although an Amiga version was in development, it was ultimately cancelled due to the financial collapse of publisher Hollyware Entertainment.

References

Notes

Footnotes