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 was still a lot like the original game, this one is clearly not.

The technical limitations of the SNES become 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 abilities 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. It is unknown why Origin did it nonetheless.

Essentially the port is nothing like 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 originall heard when finding a murder victim. Here is is always played on the overworld). Many other changes were made, as listed below.

In general, reviewers see this port as a total disappointment.

As an interesting fact, Electronic Arts made this bad port available in their PSP shop. As a response, Exult became available for the PSP, allowing players to play the real Ultima VII and even Serpent Isle, on it.

Changes
Listed are the changes to the game, apart from the graphical and audial representation. The list is quite long:


 * 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, 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 gone way down.
 * 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 sheme was changed and it now plays like a Zelda-clone (not that Zelda is bad, but is doesn't fit for an Ultima).
 * Only 16 instead of 64 spells.
 * Linear gameplay. For example, the Avatar doesn't want to use the Orb of the Moons for a long time, saying it could be useful later.
 * Story change, the Avatar kills Batlin at the end (meaning no Serpent Isle).

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. Essentially this censorships gives the port the final blow. Listed below are the things that are clearly censored:


 * No murders at all, instead the Fellowship kidnaps people (why isn't said), so the whole plot of the game changes a lot.
 * Avoidance of the "bad words" like "kill".
 * No blood at all. Enemies just vanish in a puff of smoke.
 * All the adult situations and dialogue are removed. This includes every situation someone under twelve wouldn't understand, eliminating all the subtle context.