Home video game systems first started to become consumer products during the mid to late 1970s. The one with which I was most directly familiar with was the Atari 2600, first released in 1977. A year later, Magnavox released the Odyssey². There are two things I'll always remember about the Odyssey². The first is a series of commercials for it featuring Leonard Nimoy (or at least his voice). The second is 1981's
Quest for the Rings, a fantasy game cartridge/boardgame hybrid that was a genuinely interesting addition to the console (about which I should probably write more).
Quest for the Rings is notable for including the mounted map above, which is absolutely delightful. The names on the map are an odd mix of the banal (Valley of Fear, Forbidden Forest), the punny (Troubled Waters, Dire Straits), and the goofy (Riproaria, Zombia). Still, it's fairly attractive and actually useful in play. Mind you, I am a notoriously easy sell when it comes to maps of almost any kind, so my judgment on this score might be suspect.
Reminds me a lot of Birthright's map
ReplyDeleteMy mother sold our copy of Quest for the Rings years ago, but I bought a copy through eBay last year with several purposes in mind, one of which was to informally adapt it to role-playing. The physical components of the game are astounding.
ReplyDeleteI was hooked as soon as I read "Riproaria."
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