Pool of Radiance
| Developer: Ubi Soft | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: SSI | Sound: |
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| Year: 1990 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Role-playing game | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
7/10 | |
Released in 1988 for the Commodore 64 and Apple II, this was the first game to officially bear the AD&D (Dungeons & Dragons) license, adapting the rules and world of the famous tabletop RPG—specifically, the Forgotten Realms setting. It spawned about a dozen sequels and spin-offs, all sharing the same interface and game engine (notably, Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday in 1990). The series also stood out for its packaging: gold-coloured boxes, which led to these games collectively being known as the Gold Box series.
For fans of Dungeons & Dragons, the character creation phase felt instantly familiar: selecting races, classes, moral alignments (lawful, chaotic, good, evil), and assigning stats randomly. Many hours were also spent customising the appearance of avatars—meticulously tweaking tiny 10-by-10-pixel sprites. This effort wasn’t wasted, though, as these characters could be imported into subsequent games in the series. The storyline and illustrations were also faithful to the boxed sets of the tabletop version.
True to the era, the game came with a companion adventure book, which you’d often consult to uncover quests or puzzles. It required a bit of effort, sure, but that was part of the charm of a true role-playing experience—the feeling of being deeply involved in your story, even if it meant spending a bit more time on it. After all, back in the day, it’s not like we had a new game to download every week, cré vin diou!
[Somehow I didn’t quite trust the offered translation. – Ed.]
As expected: dungeons to explore, maps to sketch, and goblins to dispatch. The interface remains usable, though it hasn’t aged gracefully. Tactical combat sticks to the basics—move, strike, cast spells—but it’s that simplicity that many players cherish in older games. That said, the battles are slow as molasses. Maybe we’re just not used to that anymore…
To sum up, this is a game for die-hard RPG enthusiasts only: all in English, looks about as appealing as a tax form, quite punishing early on (especially if you create only four characters instead of the six the game is balanced for), and annoying at times (clunky menus, sluggish combat, endless 3D mazes … how exhausting it is to maze around).
Fans of the genre might also check out its sequels: Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silver Blades, Pools of Darkness, and, in a different setting, Champions of Krynn (Dragonlance).
There’s also an NES version (with a bit of a makeover) and, much later on PC, a spiritual successor titled Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (2001).
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