Battle Chess

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The game, as in real chess, needs strategy, patience and skills. What actually makes Battle Chess unique compared to the rest of chess video games is that the chess pieces come to life and battle one another when engaging; there are 35 battle animations for this awesome feature. Some battle sequences like “Knight versus Knight” or like “King versus Bishop” are direct references to the black knight fight in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” movie and the short fight sequence between Indiana Jones and a swordsman in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. The animations vary depending on the piece combinations. Some pieces, like the rooks, are castle walls that actually transform into a giant golem that moves around the chess board. It’s truly a very nice thing to watch! Note that in the NES version, all animated battles are done on their own screen (scene) rather than “live” on the chess board. Also, the action on this version is quite slow and you cannot skip the animated sequences, so your next move needs to wait until the battle sequence is finished. So we have a Battle Chess that’s rather slow paced but with some nice twitches!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The game on DOS based PCs runs on either EGA or VGA graphics and features 16 colors or little more than 40 colors on screen, with detailed sprites in their full armor. The animated battle scenes are smooth and nice to watch. Every pawn type has its unique way to kill or defend itself. For example when the Queen is challenged, she uses magical power by raising her arms and firing lighting towards an enemy! The rook, transforms into a rocky monster and kills the enemies by smashing their heads with a blow! The sound features some in-game effects but not digitized as on Amiga, ST and Apple IIGS Battle Chess versions.