Spellbound
1985 · Adventure · ZX Spectrum / Multiple
Overview
Spellbound (1985) is David Jones's Magic Knight adventure for Mastertronic, played through a pull-down "Windimation" menu, in which the knight rescues a wizard trapped by his own spell.
Deep Dive
The wizard Gimbal is trapped by his own "white-out" spell, gone wrong during a rice-pudding experiment. Magic Knight must free him and return everyone to their proper time and place. Commands are chosen from drop-down menus called "Windimation", and the puzzles mostly involve using or giving objects to the right characters and casting spells. The other characters grow hungry and fall asleep, and Magic Knight has to look after them, all within a 48-hour time limit.
Developer Story
David Jones designed and programmed the game as the second Magic Knight adventure, after Finders Keepers, and Mastertronic released it on its M.A.D. label in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. Knight Tyme followed in 1986 and Stormbringer in 1987.
Did You Know?
- Rob Hubbard wrote the music.
- Crime Busters (1986) was withdrawn after a dispute over its reported use of Spellbound's code.
Sources & further reading
- Spellbound (video game) — Wikipedia
