Top 50 Video Games: Number 42

#42: Magic the Gathering: Shandalar
System: PC
Publisher: Microprose
Released: 1997
Players: 1


Our hero near the Keep of the White wizard.


Shandalar is a portion of the Magic The Gathering game by Microprose. The other features of the game let you simulate a tournament, and hook up two computers to play head to head. I never really did these things though. I only played Shandalar. Shandalar is an adventure game based around the Magic the Gathering card game. Chances are, if you like Magic you'll like this. If not, maybe not.

In Shandalar, you take on the typical role of a lone person trying to save the world from destruction at the hands of some nasty people. There are five enemy wizards (white, black, blue, green, and red) trying to take over the land of Shandalar. Each city they take control of gives them more mana and more power. When one of the enemies has control of 3 cities, you lose. You can liberate cities once they've been taken, so you do a lot of running in the game. Each enemy wizard has a stronghold, and when you defeat the keeper of that stronghold, that wizard is gone from the game. Once each wizard is gone, you are left to a showdown with the endgame boss, who (if memory serves) has something like 200 life. That's a lot.


The AG were Magic junkies back in the day. *tear*


Whatever the story, it's just a template for playing magic against the computer player. The AI is quite good except for the occasional illogical move. I can imagine programming a computer to play magic would be incredibly difficult. The battles and the system are fun. Each game you play against the computer is played for ante, and you can find rare, powerful cards in hidden dungeons around the continent. In Jimbob-like fashion, I usually went with a straight Black deck (Ball-busting attack power, little defense) until the very end of the game. My deck for the end battle would cost several thousand dollars to reproduce in real life.

I remember the day I bought my first computer - I stopped at Circuit City and bought this game and Baldur's Gate. This game had a couple of expansion packs with extra cards added and whatnot. A database program called Magic Encyclopedia has been released as well as an online version of the card game. Why an updated adventure game built around Magic the Gathering hasn't been made since 1997 is beyond me. Be sure to write to your state congressman! Bring back Shandalar - Rock the Vote!