Mars Saga
Encyclopedia
Mars Saga is a computer role-playing game developed by Westwood Associates
and published by Electronic Arts
. It was released in 1988
for the Commodore 64
/Commodore 128
, Apple II
and DOS
.
after crashing his ship. While searching for jobs to make enough money to get back off the planet, he discovers a conspiracy hiding contact with what seems to be alien life.
The player visits the four Martian cities of Primus, Progeny, Parallax, and Proscenium, as well as traversing the Martian surface and visiting abandoned mines.
The combat system features a bird's eye view of the battlefield. The player queues instructions for the characters of his or her party to perform in real time.
described the game as accessible to newcomers to the genre, including features like auto-mapping, allowing the player to save without switching disks, and allowing the computer to control the player's characters during combat.
, the game was completely fleshed out, retitled Mines of Titan
, and released on PC platforms. The setting of the game was moved from Mars
to Titan
, a moon of Saturn
.
The previously useless mining skill was fixed, and in Mines of Titan it is used to avoid cave-ins while adventuring in mineshafts. The other 5 skills were deleted.
The differences between Mars Saga and its sister game are mostly plot related. There are more side quests to complete in Mines of Titan as well as more things that must be completed to forward the main plot. City layouts are the same and so are the enemies that are encountered, although there are more enemies in Mines of Titan.
Westwood Studios
Westwood Studios was a computer and video game developer, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was founded by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle in as Westwood Associates, and renamed to Westwood Studios when it merged with Virgin Interactive in...
and published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. It was released in 1988
1988 in video gaming
-Events:*June — Nintendo releases the last issue of "Nintendo fun club news";*July — Nintendo releases the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine.-Notable releases:*January 8, Konami releases Super Contra....
for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
/Commodore 128
Commodore 128
The Commodore 128 home/personal computer was the last 8-bit machine commercially released by Commodore Business Machines...
, Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
and DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
.
Plot
The player takes the role of Tom Jetland, a down-on-his-luck space traveller trapped on MarsMars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
after crashing his ship. While searching for jobs to make enough money to get back off the planet, he discovers a conspiracy hiding contact with what seems to be alien life.
The player visits the four Martian cities of Primus, Progeny, Parallax, and Proscenium, as well as traversing the Martian surface and visiting abandoned mines.
The combat system features a bird's eye view of the battlefield. The player queues instructions for the characters of his or her party to perform in real time.
Design flaws
At the time of the game's design, programmers were rushed to meet an 1988 completion date. As a function of that, there are several items in the game that are illogical. Six different skills that a character can train in - mechanics, electronics, language, mining, strategy, and tactics - are useless. The designers had initial plans to use those skills to aid the player in solving puzzles and advancing plot items in the game, but in the end the game was sent to print too early and the skills ended up being included but useless.Reception
Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
described the game as accessible to newcomers to the genre, including features like auto-mapping, allowing the player to save without switching disks, and allowing the computer to control the player's characters during combat.
Mines of Titan
In 19891989 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* October 3, Brøderbund releases the Prince of Persia game, the first in a series of games, noted for its advancements in animation....
, the game was completely fleshed out, retitled Mines of Titan
Mines of Titan
Mines of Titan is a single-player role-playing video game, developed by Westwood Associates , and released by Infocom in 1989 for PC, MS-DOS and Apple II.-Remake:...
, and released on PC platforms. The setting of the game was moved from Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
to Titan
Titan (moon)
Titan , or Saturn VI, is the largest moon of Saturn, the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found....
, a moon of Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
.
The previously useless mining skill was fixed, and in Mines of Titan it is used to avoid cave-ins while adventuring in mineshafts. The other 5 skills were deleted.
The differences between Mars Saga and its sister game are mostly plot related. There are more side quests to complete in Mines of Titan as well as more things that must be completed to forward the main plot. City layouts are the same and so are the enemies that are encountered, although there are more enemies in Mines of Titan.
External links
- Images of Mars Saga package, manual and screenshots at C64Sets.com