You are the Avatar. By stepping through a mysterious moon gate, you are transported into the mythical land of Brittania. All appears well on first glance, however a seemingly benevolent charity named The Fellowship has infiltrated all aspects of society. This group, veiled in mystery, may just be responsible for a string of sudden jailings and kidnappings. Their objective: Revive an extra-dimensional being set on conquering all life. Perhaps that awful, sassy Guardian bloke has an idea. Ultima VII: The Black Gate on SNES is a PC portover delivered by FCI and Pony Canyon. This cart features revamped and improved graphics and controls from the previous outing on home console, even in its tiny box.
Ultima VII tries its darndest to mesh its top-down action gameplay with the traditional dungeon-crawler and puzzle elements that the series is known for. Combat is mindless, real-time button-mashing as opposed to anything too imaginative. Traversing dungeons can be tough with various types of locked doors and dead ends. Not to mention, the areas and treasures reset once you leave, opening the door to easy riches. You must interact with everything to progress, which can be a pain due to the mouse-controlled interactions. On the upside, dialogue trees are extensive, and a Fast Magic system can create instant spell access and speed up the battling. Still, it's a marked step-down from PC.
Printed in Issue #25, May 1995
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