Archon - for NES

Archon: The Light and the Dark is a strategy game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, converted by Bullet-Proof Software and published by Activision in 1989. First seen on home computers earlier in the decade, Archon takes the shape of chess and then refuses to behave like it: two sides, one light and one dark, line up eighteen pieces each on a board of nine by nine squares, but nothing is settled by position alone. When two pieces meet, the board falls away and they fight it out.

You win by holding all five power point squares, by removing every opposing piece from the board, or by imprisoning the last creature left standing. Captures are decided in a battle arena in real time, one on one, so a strong piece badly handled can still lose. The color of the square matters too: dark creatures gain a longer life bar on dark squares, light creatures on light, and some squares cycle through afternoon, dusk, night and dawn, which turns timing into strategy. The two armies are not mirrors of each other. Light fields unicorns, valkyries and a djinni while dark answers with basilisks, banshees and manticores, each with its own movement restrictions, and the light wizard and dark sorceress can cast spells that imprison a unit, shift the flow of time or bring a piece back from the dead.

Archon is still admired because the blend works: it asks a strategist's questions and then settles them with your thumbs. Two players make it sing, and no two matches play out the same way once the spells and the day and night cycle get involved. In a collection it stands as one of the more interesting conversions on the NES, a home computer classic adapted for a console audience, and still the clearest example of a board game that fights back. Archon rewards anyone willing to learn both armies.

• Genre: Strategy Board Game
• Players: 1-2
• Region: NTSC
• Release Year: 1989
• Developer: Bullet-Proof Software

Cartridge Only: No Box or Manual
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Condition & Authenticity
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