Defender of the Crown

Cinemaware's strategy epic. Jousting, sieges, and romance in a game that showed the world what 'cinematic' meant in the 8-bit era.

Defender of the Crown was a revelation. It treated video games like movies. You aren just a sprite; you’re a Saxon lord fighting for control of England. The mix of genres is ambitious: strategy map conquest, action-based jousting, sword fighting raids, and catapult sieges.

For the C64, the graphics are astonishingly good, pushing the machine's color capabilities to mimic the Amiga original as closely as possible. It’s a slower paced game, one for savoring the atmosphere and the unfolding narrative of your conquest. It remains a landmark in presentation.