Staff Blog: BaD Fantasy - The Black Cauldron

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BaD Fantasy - The Black Cauldron

On 02/09/2019 at 07:57 PM by Matt Snee

I played a lot of Sierra Online games when I was a kid - King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, etc. But The Black Cauldron was the first one I played. Based on the Walt Disney movie, it follows Taran, an "assistant pig-keeper" who takes care of a magical, precognitive pig that the evil Horned King wants to get his hands on.

I was very young, it was 1984 or 1985, so I guess I was six or seven. I didn't understand this game very well, but to me, unlike say the Atari games I used to play, there was a WHOLE WORLD to be explored in this game, at least that's what it seemed like, and I spent hours just roaming around and getting into adventures. I never got too far in it, I think, but I did try.

This was the first game that truly captured my imagination as a kid. It was somewhere else I could go, outside of the real world. I'll never forget it.

Comments

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/09/2019 at 08:09 PM

Didn't know there was a game. Really want to see the movie.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/09/2019 at 09:26 PM

You know, believe it or not, I’ve never seen it either. But I played the game!

KnightDriver

02/09/2019 at 11:16 PM

I think I played a little bit of King's Quest back then, but mostly I was unaware of all those Sierra games. I'm interested in playing Space Quest.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/10/2019 at 01:57 AM

You can get all those games at gog.com and you do not need a good computer to play them.

KnightDriver

02/10/2019 at 09:31 PM

I remember checking out GOG a little while ago. So much cool stuff. At some point I'm going to binge on it all.

Cary Woodham

02/10/2019 at 08:45 AM

This game makes me think of Mickey's Space Adventure for the Apple II. It was the first game I completed ever as a kid, and I felt such a sense of accomplishment from that. It's why I enjoy reviewing kids games now, too.

I didn't get into the Sierra point and click games, but I sure did enjoy the LucasFilm Games ones. My favorite was Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/11/2019 at 10:27 AM

You know, for some reason, I didn't play those LucasArts games. I don't know why. I've been meaning to catch up on them, cause a lot of them you can still get. I really want to play the Indiana Jones games and Monkey Island.

daftman

02/11/2019 at 08:10 AM

I haven’t actually seen the movie or played this game but I’ve always found the choice puzzling. The Black Cauldren comes in the middle of a children’s fantasy series. Why didn’t they adapt the first book? The movie didn’t turn out very well for them either.