Despite what this splash screen tells you, not all game reviews are black and white. Get it?! Hahahaha, I am so clever. Let’s just talk about this weird game.
Archon: The Light and Dark was initially released in 1983 for the Atari 8-bit family and other early 80s computers. The NES version was released in 1989 with the help of Activison, back when they were still a relatively small company. They only published 13 NES games, including the underrated gem Galaxy 5000, the ridiculously named Adventures of Rad Gravity, and and the aforementioned Arc…wait, does that say “Arcnon”?
Weird. Anyway, the basic gist of Arcnon is “chess, but different.” Some of the differences are fairly minor – pieces move differently, for instance – but the big difference is that instead of capturing your opponent’s pieces, you battle against them in a fighting game-inspired mini-game. Each piece is dropped onto one side of a bigger battlefield, and use various abilities to knock each other out. Whoever loses the fight loses the piece, regardless of who made the initial move.
There’s an intriguing concept behind Archon, though the execution is a bit underwhelming. The fighting side effectively overpowers the chess side, as being proficient enough in those segments means it doesn’t matter much what you do on the board. There is a way to win that involves controlling specific spaces at once, but it too ends up being dependent on winning battles. Ultimately, winning the fights is what you actually need to do, meaning the strategy bit is more or less tacked on. It’s a chess game where the chess doesn’t matter, and that’s weird.
Additionally, the combat elements often feel woefully unbalanced. For instance, a piece that has no projectile attack has virtually no chance against an enemy that does. Other battles, however, can be surprisingly intense, especially with two human players who know what they’re doing. Long distance shots and last-second dodges, simple as they are, have the potential to be thrilling. If that doesn’t happen, though, you’re going to have a lot of dull, one-sided games.
I’d love to see a game that combines the strategy/combat aspects in a way where both matter equally – Archon is not that game, but it has its moments. As it is, it’s a mildly interesting and weird hybrid of genres that might be worth checking out if you can find it for a few bucks.
If you’d rather have a more robust fighting game attached to your ridiculous not-quite-chess experience (and really, why wouldn’t you), the ridiculous “Chess Kombat” mini-game within the PS2-era Mortal Kombat: Deception is remarkably similar to Archon. I know it sounds like I’m making that up, but it’s totally real.
MK: Deception also has this weird, open world story mode that I’ve always had a soft spot for, as well as a Puzzle Fighter-esque mode. Honestly, just get that instead. It’s great.
There was also apparently a sequel to Archon on some consoles, which according to Wikipedia looks like this:
I have no idea what’s going on here. It’s probably best if we wrap this one up.
I’ll be taking a break next week for the holiday, but we’ll be back in 2019 with our 50th game! I’m excited to share it with you – we’re starting the new year off with a bang. I hope you’ll find me then!