Elvira - Mistress Of The Dark

Title           Elvira - Mistress Of The Dark
Game Type       Adventure
Publisher       Horrorsoft/Accolade 1990
Players         1
Compatibility   ?
HD Installable  no
Submission      Richard Hoffmann, richy@hadiko.de

Review
Elvira appeared in 1990 and is an adventure/RPG classic from Horrorsoft
(licensing to Accolade at that time). The goal of the game is to free
Elvira from a spooky castle. As usual in RPG games, the player starts with
no experience and weak fighting skills, which improve after defeating
enemies. At the beginning the player has to solve several puzzles in the
castle, encountering only some knights. As the player has gained some
experience from the fights, more challenging opponents await in the
catacombs below the castle and in a maze located in the garden outside the
castle. Apart from the fighting, the player can also cast spells, which are
mixed by - Elvira! These include fighting and healing spells. The
necessary ingredients for the spells are scattered all over the castle.
Some oppenents can only be defeated with specific weapons or spells. In
general the adventure part is clearly dominating though, the fights are
more or less for a change.

The player walks through rooms and catacombs in the 1st person
perspective; like usual at that time, not smoothly but in steps. Whenever
enemies are encountered, the screen switches to a 2d view where the
opponents have to be fought in realtime.

The atmosphere of the game is great, as well as the graphics; infact
Horrorsoft are amongst the first ones who used digitized Pictures and even
Video Sequences with Elvira! These show up from time to time in the game,
for example when the player has solved a specific puzzle or enters a
certain place. The overall game concept is thought out well and neither
the fighting nor the adventure part are too tough in this game. The music
additionally supports the eerie atmosphere and is composed very well.

Elvira is available for the C-64 as well, but has not been ported to the
PC as far as I know.

Alphabetical list.