SNES-port of Ultima VII

Ultima VII was the last game which was given a console port by Origin, like the one for Ultima VI it was on the Super Nintendo. It was released in 1994. However, unlike the Ultima VI port, things went very different this time. While the port for Ultima VI is still a lot like the original game, this one is clearly not.

The technical limitations of the SNES became painfully obvious in the same way as when Origin tried to port Ultima V to the NES some years prior. By 1992, the PC technology had evolved beyond the capabilities of the gaming consoles of the time. Ultima VII on the PC used the technology to the fullest, being 20 megabytes big with VGA graphics, a full soundtrack and a very interactive world that demanded a 386 PC at least. All of these facts make a port on a barely one-megabyte module an unreasonable venture.

Essentially the port is very different compared to the original game. Apart from some sprites, all the graphics in the game were created for the SNES and look quite chunky compared to the PC. The sound also has little of the original music left, and the remaining pieces are in totally different places (for example, the "dead bodies" song was originally heard when finding a murder victim. Here it is always played on the overworld). Many other changes were made, as listed below.

In 2006, this version of The Black Gate was made available on the Sony PSP by Electronic Arts as part of their Retro Replay package, along with thirteen other older EA games. Around the same time, a port of Exult for homebrew-available PSP consoles was made available as well.

Changes
Listed are the changes to the game, apart from the graphical and audial representation.


 * There is no party. The Avatar travels completely alone.


 * The intro is drastically reduced. The only part left is the Guardian speaking.


 * There is no option for a female Avatar. Also the Avatar can't be named, he is always called "Avatar".


 * The game world is drastically shrinked and changed. For example: Britain now only consists of five houses. This also means that the number of NPCs has greatly diminished.


 * NPC dialogue for the remaining NPCs is simplified and shortened. Essentially, not much of the original dialogue remains.


 * The NPCs have no schedules, the day-night changes are only cosmetical.


 * Vastly reduced interactivity. Only a fraction of the objects can still be used in some way.


 * The overworld is broken up into indoor and outdoor maps.


 * The whole game control scheme was changed and it now plays more action-like, similar to the Zelda games.
 * Only 16 instead of 72 spells.


 * Linear gameplay. For example, the Avatar doesn't allow the player to use the Orb of the Moons for a long time, saying it could be useful later.


 * Story changes that not only eliminate many details, but also shuffle many items into caves and dungeons, causing the game to become a dungeon-crawler.

Censorship


Additionally, the game was heavily censored. This was due to Nintendo of America's censorship policies at the time, since they wanted to be a "family friendly" company. Listed below are the things that are clearly censored:
 * No murders at all, instead the Fellowship kidnaps people, with no clear reason.
 * Avoidance of words like "kill".
 * No blood at all. Enemies just vanish in a puff of smoke.
 * All the adult situations and dialogue are removed.