Ultima: Exodus

"Perhaps the best RPG for NES ever made!"

In the TRACK AND FIELD 2 Nintendo Power (issue 3), I remember drooling over two games featured one after another; Legacy of the Wizard and Ultima Exodus. This game was the first true RPG on the NES and one of the best. The lack of straight forward-linear play made Ultima an original game. Your vague job description of "saving the world" was all you had to go on. This version is light years better than the old PC Ultima 3. Another good feature of this game was how interactive the townsfolk were; you could literally whomp any one you came across: little girls, old women, people who gave you bad hints, kings, you name it! Long before the RPG became a staple genre, Ultima set the platform standard. the one bad thing about this game is that it made me believe that FCI made lots of good games; not true (Hydlide, Magmax, etc.) I won't even get into the other games Pony Canyon made! (NOTE: after a little research I found out FCI released Ultima but Origin systems programed it--makes sense!)

Play Control=8.4 It is easy enough to make your little party roam around. The dungeons can be a little confusing ( scrolling like Phantasy Star would have looked nice). Plain and simple; it's easy to move around and go through the menus.

Sound=8.2 I like the mood the music sets and it is very well done given the time of the release. The Overworld and Ambrosia themes are very cool and sound almost baroque.

Graphics=7.2 Sometimes good, sometimes bad. The still pictures of the characters are decent for the day. The dungeons also are plain but effective. When moving over the land and in towns, the people look rather stiff and rigid but STILL LOOK BETTER THAN THE PC ULTIMA!

Fun=9.6 Here's where Ultima is a juggernaut; it's a blast to play through. The creation of many characters was the first NES game to have so much player input and it was great to try to have them all find the Ankh of Life or whatever it was you are questing for! Even when you don't know exactly what is going on, this is a fun game

Replay=7.5 It's good to play with other characters, but after playing through or getting stumped this game only has about average replay.

Challenge=9.1 Because it is not all that linear, Ultima is a very challenging game. In this day and age of the Internet and Gaming magazines, it's easy to find someone to hold your hand through games. Back in the day this was not the case. The only other game I remember being as elusive in meaning ( RPG wise) was Sega Genesis's Might and Magic.

Overall=9.0 Sounds and graphics don't always make a game! Ultima is an addicting RPG and to this day and age is still more fun than many newer games. The animation is relatively smooth and the characters you interact with have some interesting things to say. A unique and well done game for the NES given the capacity of the system.

Ultima is the grandfather of the RPG. I have enjoyed the NES Ultimas as much as the PC games ( talk about un-linear! Those PC games were really confusing!) This game really made me love the RPG theme in general; the so-so graphics also left some of the game to your imagination. I put this baby in the upper echelon of NES games. If you pick this one up, check out my tips for REPLACING NES BATTERIES on the main video game haven page!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/15/00, Updated 01/15/00