NES-Port of Ultima V

Like Ultima III and Ultima IV before, Ultima V was ported to the NES as well. However, unlike the two previous games, Origin decided to go a different way with this one. After all, work on the conversion began in 1991. By then, Ultima VI had been out and changed things significantly.

It would have been very difficult to explain to players why the game looked like the original Ultima V, which was well within the abilities of the NES, and not like the newer installment, which looked much more realistic. So Origin decided to change the game to look like Ultima VI, meaning one single-scale map, isometric perspective and character portraits (something the original game didn't have). It does look like Ultima VI... in a way. Also the game is a break with its predecessors on the NES in that it doesn't use cute, colorful and manga-like graphics. Instead the graphics are made to look more realistic.

However, after the game was finished, it turned out to be a technical disaster, combined with things that had to be removed from the game because of technical limitations (limitations that wouldn't have applied if the original tile-based system had been used). Reviews generally see it as totally inferior to the original.

The shortcomings of the port
The shortcomings include:


 * The game is slow... REAL slow. It is practically impossible to proceed further in a reasonable time. This is the result of the isometric engine really straining the hardware of the NES.


 * There is no way to name the Avatar. Also, there is no option for a female Avatar.


 * Even considering the technical limit the game still looks bad. It is very difficult -especially on a TV- to make out what the various objects are.


 * After the title screen and the character creation, there is only one song through the entire game (the same error as in the Amiga port). Even worse, the song is very annoying after only a short while. Also there is no sound FX at all.


 * Because of the single-scale map, Britannia had to be shrinked and deformed to fit everything in. It just isn't that obvious during gameplay because of the limited viewing window and the game being so slow.


 * The controls are surprisingly complicated for a two-button controller and there is an annoying delay for every command.


 * The maximum size of the party was reduced from six to four (since you start with three men, it means you can only have one extra).


 * An example of how technically limited this port is, is, that all the swamps are represented by poison fields.


 * The intro is vastly reduced and a good part of it no longer makes any sense. Much information is missing as well.