"Not your ordinary door game.."

The BBS age may be long gone, but the memories of some of the greatest BBS Door games still lives on in the hearts of many BBS fanatics. I was fortunate enough to experiance Usurper many years ago on a local BBS...

In Usurper, you are a hero-in-training. Your task? To reach the bottom of a very, very, deep cave. Of course, the plot isn't the reason why people played this game. There were so many other things to do, that there just wasn't time for to save the world. I bet you're just dying to know what was so great about this game that people completely blew off the story, and just had fun, right? :P Well, how about creating your own gang (complete with gang wars, turf control and initiaion rites), performing good deeds (such as giving money to the church, delivering food to the poor, and healing those that were ill) to build your character's light status, or walk down the evil path (murdering innocent people in the alleyway, "visiting" prostitutes, stealing barrels of beer from the tavern, and using drugs) which raised the darkness of your soul. Swinging too far in one direction often held dire consequences. Don't like how things are going? You can always take the easy way out, and hit the (S) key while on the main menu. Your character, not wanting to feel the pain of life, will "kill himself". The sky was the limit for what you could do with your character.

Another unique feature not found in any other RPG BBS door game was it's second battle engine, used for bar and alley fights. When your character gains a level, he is given a certain amount of points in which he can distribute and add to any of 15 different fighting tactics, such as punching, kicking, biting, knifehands, choking, and so forth. You could take these skills to the bar, and pick a fight with another customer. Or, if you were really looking for trouble, there was always a way to cause an all out barfight, in which 30 NPCs will be duking it out with each other using knives, broken bottles, and anything else they could get their hands on. :)

All in all, this had to be one of the best BBS door games ever created. There are ways in which you are able to play any BBS door game locally, and legally. There are literally hundreds of games which have been untouched, unplayed, and relatively forgotten since the early 90's. I think it's time we give these games a chance again, and port them to our TI Calculators!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99