User:BOZ/Dragon video game reviews

This page documents all the video game reviews from Dragon magazine. I have added at least a small blurb to each of the articles listed below. Any titles in bold are stubs that I created to add the review.

If you would like to add more information from a review to one of these articles, please contact one of the people listed below or post a request on this talk page. If you have a significant portion of the Dragon issues listed below and would like to help with any requests, please add your name to this contact list and/or add this page to your watchlist.

Contacts

 * BOZ (talk) 01:02, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

The Electric Eye
Dragon's early-80s computer column, The Electric Eye ran in most issues from Dragon #33-63 (1980-1982) and profiled aspects of computers including some video games. These are all issues that the column appeared in, although note that most of the time the column did not profile any video games:
 * 33:
 * 36:
 * 38: Civil War; Star Trek (text-based games)
 * 39:
 * 40:
 * 41:
 * 42: Scott Adams's "Adventure" series (Adventureland, Pirate Adventure, and Strange Odyssey
 * 43: Space Games-3 from the company Creative Computing Software, which contains four games: Ultra Trek, Romulan, Star Wars, and Star Lanes
 * 44: Dungeon of Death, Android Nim, and Time Traveller. Also briefly discussed Ghost Town
 * 45:
 * 46:
 * 47:
 * 49:
 * 50:
 * 51:
 * 53:
 * 54:
 * 55:
 * 57:
 * 63:

Interim
The Electric Eye column ended abruptly, and I found only a small number of reviews in the early 1980s, not appearing as part of any regular column. There was apparently a long gap after that with a whole lot of nothing.
 * 36 (Apr 80): Trek-80 (not part of "The Electric Eye")
 * 65 (Sep 82): Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Akalabeth: World of Doom, and Crush, Crumble and Chomp!
 * 71 (Mar 83): Dunzhin
 * 113 (Sep 86): Ultima IV (not part of "The Role of Computers")

The Role of Computers
Dragon's "The Role of Computers" was the second of three computer related columns that I'm aware of. It started in 1986 in issue #110 and was quite a bit more in-depth than "The Electric Eye" on computer games and ran for much longer. The column ran in most issues up through 1993 in issue #196 with "The Lessers" as reviewers. "The Role of Computers" usually tackled more than one game per issue; since it ran for some 70-80 issues, I'd say that safely puts us into the realm of over a hundred games from 1986-1993!

1986

 * 110: MacIntosh version of the original Wizardry
 * 111: No column
 * 112: Rogue
 * 113: No column
 * 114: Wizard's Crown
 * 115: No column
 * 116: Dragonfire II: The Dungeonmaster's Assistant and The Bard's Tale

1987
It's worth noting that up through #124, the column was semi-monthly, but #126 states that the column begins going monthly (probably due to its popularity at the time). Starting with issue #128, the reviewers began giving the games ratings of 1-5 stars; #126 featured a table of ratings for many of the games the column had reviewed previously.
 * 117: No column
 * 118: OrbQuest, The Search For Seven Wards, Roadwar 2000 and World Builder
 * 119: No column
 * 120: The Bard's Tale II
 * 121: No column
 * 122: The first Might and Magic, Realms of Darkness
 * 123: No column
 * 124: Black Magic
 * 125: No column
 * 126: does not contain a review, although it promises an upcoming one for Phantasie III; the column is mostly devoted to talking about the state of the computer gaming industry at the time
 * 127: discusses in detail the awarding of the AD&D license to Strategic Simulations, Inc.; mini-review for Earl Weaver Baseball
 * 128: Shadowgate; mini-reviews for S.D.I., Into the Eagle's Nest, and Delta Patrol

1988

 * 129: Tower of Myraglen; mini-reviews for Pinball Wizard, GBA Championship Basketball. The Ancient Art of War at Sea, California Games, and The Eternal Dagger
 * 130: Wizardry IV (preview), Phantasie III, mini-review for Sanxion
 * 131: Legacy of the Ancients; mini-reviews for Mini-Putt, Alternate Reality: The City, Empire (Atari ST version), The Computer Edition of Scrabble, Marble Madness, Street Sports Basketball, and Harrier Combat Simulator
 * 132: Beyond Zork, Pirates!; mini-reviews for Hardball, Test Drive, Championship Baseball, On-Court Tennis, The Last Ninja, Wings of Fury, Earl Weaver Baseball (Amiga version), Skate or Die!, World Tour Golf, Winter Games, World Games, The Faery Tale Adventure, Superstar Soccer, Might and Magic (IBM version), Falcon, Soko-Ban, and Halls of Montezuma: A Battle History of the U.S. Marine Corps
 * 133: Quarterstaff, Dragon's Lair (C64 version), Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict, Indoor Sports, and Monte Carlo
 * 134: Dream Zone, Strike-Fleet, The Naval Task Force Simulator, and The Pawn
 * 135: Alternate Reality: The City and Alternate Reality: The Dungeon, Airborne Ranger, Power!, Decisive Battles of the American Civil War Volume 1: Bull Run to Chancellorsville, Tetris (IBM version), and TNK III
 * 136: Dungeon Master, Basketball Challenge, and Fantasy Zone
 * 137: Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny , Oids, Out Run, Ebonstar, and The Universal Military Simulator
 * 138: Star Command, Questron II, The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate, Power At Sea, Shanghai, and Wooden Ships and Iron Men
 * 139: No column
 * 140: F/A-18 Interceptor, Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer (MacIntosh version), Global Commander, Road Runner, Might and Magic (MacIntosh version), Penguin Land, and PT-109

1989

 * 141: Roadwars, Rockford, AAARGH!, Dive Bomber, Epyx VCR games (Play Action VCR California Games, Play Action VCR Golf, Play Action VCR Football, Head-On Baseball, Head-On Football), Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony, Alien Syndrome, Solitaire Royale, Tetris (MacIntosh version)
 * 142: Empire (MS-DOS version), Ikari Warriors, Karnov, Contra, Rush'n Attack, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, Battlehawks, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Version 2.0, PT-109 (MS-DOS version), Falcon (MS-DOS version), Final Assault, Star Saga One: Beyond the Boundary, Pharaoh's Revenge, Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna, Shufflepuck Café
 * 143: Pool of Radiance
 * 144: Arkanoid, Zany Golf, The Legend of Blacksilver, Battle Chess, Space Harrier 3-D, Wonder Boy in Monster Land
 * 145: Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom, Gold Rush!, Star Wars
 * 146: Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World, Hostage
 * 147: J. R. R. Tolkien's War in Middle-earth, Hillsfar, Abrams Battle Tank. SimCity Terrain Editor
 * 148: Prophecy: The Fall of Trinadon, The Magic Candle
 * 149: Curse of the Azure Bonds, Space Quest III
 * 150: Populous, Axe of Rage, Hidden Agenda, Gauntlet, Trust & Betrayal: The Legacy of Siboot, Barbarian
 * 151: Silpheed, Thud Ridge, Strider
 * 152: Dragon Wars, The Kristal, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure, Beyond the Black Hole

1990

 * 153: Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain, Sword of Aragon, Space Rogue
 * 154: Mines of Titan, David Wolf: Secret Agent, M1 Tank Platoon, Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander
 * 155: Citadel: Adventure of the Crystal Keep, TaskMaker, Lynx, Knights of Legend (Apple II version), Savage
 * 156: Champions of Krynn, Harpoon (PC/MS-DOS version), Populous: The Promised Lands, The Computer Edition of Risk: The World Conquest Game, Tiger Road, Manhunter 2: San Francisco
 * 157: Knights of Legend (PC/MS-DOS version), A Boy and His Blob, Day of the Viper, Dr. Plummet's House of Flux, Keef the Thief, Knight Force
 * 158: Bomber, Breach 2, War of the Lance, Time Bandit, Fire King, Laser Squad, MEGA Pack (10 games, contains Rebounder, Monty on the Run, Jack the Nipper II, Bulldog, Krakout, Future Knight, Cosmic Causeway, Trailblazer, Northstar, and THING Bounces Back)
 * 159: Loom, Gunboat (PC/MS-DOS version), Iron Lord, Welltris, Nuclear War
 * 160: Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail, Drakkhen, Phantasy Star II
 * 161: DragonStrike, Mechwarrior, Budokan
 * 162: Ultima VI: The False Prophet
 * 163: Secret of the Silver Blades, Centurion: Defender of Rome, The Keys to Maramon, Dungeon Explorer, The Revenge of Shinobi
 * 164: MegaTraveller 1: The Zhodani Conspiracy, Flood, Bloody Wolf

1991

 * 165: Railroad Tycoon, BrainBlasters (compilation of Xevious 2 and Bombuzal), Imperium, Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula, Ishido: The Way of Stones
 * 166: Wing Commander, Armor Alley, If It Moves, Shoot It!, King's Bounty, Tangled Tales: The Misadventures of a Wizard's Apprentice
 * 167: Tunnels & Trolls, Battletech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge, Hard Nova, Stellar 7 (PC/MS-DOS version)
 * 168: Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge, PowerMonger, The Secret of Monkey Island, Faces, Harpoon (MacIntosh), Mega Man III
 * 169: The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I, Elvira, Eye of Horus, Archipelagos, Secret Missions Expansion Disk for Wing Commander, Shadow of the Beast, Shadow of the Beast II, Blazing Lazers, Command H.Q.
 * 170: King's Quest V, Rise of the Dragon, Space: 1889
 * 171: Eye of the Beholder, BUCK ROGERS Countdown to Doomsday, Dungeon Master: Chaos Strikes Back (Expansion Set #1), Lemmings, Spirit of Excalibur
 * 172: Darkspyre, RoboSport, Warlords, Shadow Dancer, Y's Books I and II, Zombie Nation
 * 173: Death Knights of Krynn, Space Quest IV, Zarlor Mercenary
 * 174: Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire, Cybergenic Ranger: Secret of the Seventh Planet, F29 Retaliator, Sonic the Hedgehog, Gunboat (Amiga), Harpoon (Amiga), Railroad Tycoon (MacIntosh), Wizardry: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (MacIntosh)
 * 175: Castles, Dragon Crystal, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, The Faery Tale Adventure (Sega Genesis), King's Bounty (Sega Genesis), Might and Magic (Sega Genesis)
 * 176: Heart of China, J.B. Harold Murder Club, Phantasy Star III, A-10 Tank Killer (PC/MS-DOS version), Thexder (Macintosh & PC/MS-DOS versions), Space Quest III (Macintosh & PC/MS-DOS versions)

1992

 * 177: Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra, Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Martian Memorandum, Wing Commander II, Space Quest I (PC/MS-DOS version), Spider-Man (Sega Genesis)
 * 178: Pools of Darkness, SimAnt, Gunship 2000, Police Quest III, Swamp Gas Visits the United States of America, Shining in the Darkness, Vapor Trail, Arcus Odyssey, The Immortal (PC/MS-DOS version)
 * 179: Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood, Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon, Neverwinter Nights, Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers (MacIntosh version), The Simpsons: Bart’s House of Weirdness
 * 180: Castles: The Northern Campaign, Castle of Dr. Brain, Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus, Hyperspeed, Nova 9, The Simpsons' Arcade Game (PC/MS-DOS version), V for Victory: Battleset 1, D-Day Utah Beach—1944, Back to the Future III
 * 181: Warbirds (Atari Lynx version), Shanghai (Atari Lynx version), Block Out (Atari Lynx version), Ishido (Atari Lynx version), Danger Zone (Top Gun) 
 * 182: Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed, Planet's Edge
 * 183: Civilization, The Bard's Tale Construction Set
 * 184: Out of This World, Spectre, Treasures of the Savage Frontier
 * 185: No column
 * 186: No column
 * 187: A-Train, BattleToads, The Four Crystals of Trazere, King's Bounty (PC/MS-DOS), Super Space Invaders, Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
 * 188: Aces of the Pacific, Darkseed, Falcon 3.0, Minotaur, Prince of Persia, Red Baron

1993

 * 189: The Dagger of Amon Ra, Global Conquest, Gods, Mission: Thunderbolt, Pacific Islands, Prophecy of the Shadow, Siege, Warrior of Rome II
 * 190: Darklands, The Ancient Art of War in the Skies, Goblins, Plan Nine From Outer Space, Shinobi (Sega Game Gear system), Alisia Dragoon, SpellCraft: Aspects of Valor
 * 191: Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen, Discovery: In the Steps of Columbus, Legend of Kyrandia, Ultima VII: The Black Gate and Forge of Virtue
 * 192: King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow, Battle Chess Enhanced CD ROM, Cobra Mission, Kingdoms of England II: Vikings, Fields of Conquest, Quest for Glory III: Wages of War, Shadowlands, Waxworks, Wolfenstein 3-D
 * 193: Amazon: Guardians of Eden, Castles II: Siege and Conquest, The Incredible Machine, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Lemmings (MacIntosh version), M4, Push-Over, Space Legions, Carriers at War, Eric the Unready, Paladin II, Task Force 1942
 * 194: Conquered Kingdoms, Lure of the Temptress, Realms, Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender, The Summoning
 * 195: Night Trap, Dungeon Master (PC/MS-DOS version), Empire Deluxe, Road Avenger, Star Control II, Who Killed Sam Rupert? 
 * 196: Challenge of the Five Realms, The Journeyman Project, Legends of Valour, Pax Imperia, S.C.OUT, Spaceward Ho! v. 3.0

Eye of the Monitor
The new column "Eye of the Monitor" began in the very next issue after "The Role of Computers"; reviewer Sandy Petersen wrote the column from #197-209, and after that the column was either by "Jay & Dee", Lester Smith (once), or any or all of the trio of Ken Rolston, Paul Murphy, and David "Zeb" Cook, and ran in that schizophrenic fashion sporadically from #211-223. Not sure what Dragon did after this column went kaput, but my guess is that they realized other magazines were doing a better job handling computer games, and decided just to just stick to pen and paper.

1993

 * 197: Wolfenstein 3-D, Commander Keen (Invasion of the Vorticons, Goodbye, Galaxy!, and Aliens Ate My Babysitter!), Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, Waxworks
 * 198: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Zelda, Link
 * 199: Final Fantasy II, Ken's Labyrinth, Betrayal at Krondor, Day of the Tentacle
 * 200: Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos, Dangerous Dave, Monster Bash I, II, and III, Soul Blazer

1994

 * 201: The 7th Saga, Might & Magic: The World of Xeen (comprising Clouds of Xeen and Dark Side of Xeen), Faceball: 2000
 * 202: Master of Orion, Spaceward Ho! (solo version and multiplayer version), Bram Stoker's Dracula, Biomenace
 * 203: Doom, Sam and Max: Hit the Road, Phantasie I, Phantasie III, and Questron II (re-releases), Mario All-Stars
 * 204: Companions of Xanth, BloodNet, Xargon, World of Xeen: CD-ROM, Escape from Monster Manor
 * 205: Gateway II: Homeworld, The Hand of Fate, Dungeon Hack, Dark Sun: The Shattered Lands
 * 206: Lufia, Isle of the Dead, Archon Ultra, Epic Puzzle Pack (Robbo, Heartlight, and Electro)
 * 207: Fantasy Empires, Walls of Rome
 * 208: Secret of Mana, Ultima: The False Prophet, Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse, Ultima VIII: Pagan, God of Thunder, Raptor
 * 209: Inherit the Earth, Equinox, Castlevania IV, Serf City
 * 210: No column
 * 211: Civilization, Heaven & Earth, Reach for the Stars, Bandit Kings of Ancient China, Jewel Box, Pipe Dream, Aladdin
 * 212: The Seventh Guest, Gadget, Quantum Gate

1995

 * 213: Ultimate Domain, Genghis Khan II, Master of Magic, Space Hulk
 * 214: Space Hulk (rebuttal and re-review by Lester Smith)
 * 215: Inferno, Wyatt Earp's Old West, SpaceKids, Dreamweb
 * 216: Doom II, X-Com
 * 217: SimTower, D!Zone, Heretic, Landstalker
 * 218: Jump Raven, Cosmology of Kyoto
 * 219: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, 1830: Railroads & Robber Barons, Citadel of the Dead, Realms of Arkania: Star Trail
 * 220: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Machiavelli, Blood Bowl
 * 221: Hammer of the Gods, Machiavelli the Prince, Toh Shin Den, Ridge Racer, High Seas Trader
 * 222: No column
 * 223: Discworld

Silicon Sorcery

 * 269: Majesty
 * 271: Nox
 * 274: Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
 * 319: Salammbo
 * 321: The Temple of Elemental Evil

Leftovers
Computer game reviews found outside of one of these three columns were few and far between, especially once "The Role of Computers" really got going. However, we do have at least one example:
 * 148 (Aug 89): Sniper! (not part of "The Role of Computers")