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Cinemaware's debut, Defender Of The Crown, was truly groundbreaking when it launched on the Amiga back in 1986.
Designed by Kellyn Beeck, with gorgeous pixel artwork by James D. Sachs and a rousing score composed by Jim Cuomo, it was one of the first games to reinforce the notion of an 'interactive movie' thanks to its stunning cutscenes and high production values.
A commercial and critical hit that was ported to a wide range of systems (including the NES and, much later, GBA), the game would inspire a sequel on the ill-fated CDTV in 1993 and has been 'remade' twice – Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown (2003) and Defender of the Crown: Heroes Live Forever (2007).
Defender of the Crown will be getting a remaster on August 13th to mark its 40th anniversary, thanks to developer Black Tower Basement and publisher Nordcurrent Labs.
Defender of the Crown: The Legend Returns – which has been confirmed for Steam, Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X – will include three gameplay modes. Retro Mode is "the original Amiga classic, preserved with near-perfect authenticity and quality-of-life enhancements," while Classic Mode offers the "Amiga classic reimagined for today. A completely new visual identity, refined mechanics, and smoother systems."
Finally, there's Kingdom Mode, which is described as "an entirely new challenge" with "procedurally generated maps, special dice mechanics, unlockable abilities, and multiple difficulty levels to keep every run unpredictable."
The developers promise that "everything that made the original special is intact: the ruleset, the pacing, the atmosphere. What's changed is everything around it - cleaner systems, improved balance, a modernized interface, and quality-of-life updates throughout."
We were lucky enough to speak to Black Tower Basement about this new version of the game.
Time Extension: Defender Of The Crown has been remade a few times over the years. Why should people pay attention to this new version?
Black Tower Basement: Remakes are aimed at different things. Some tried to reimagine the game or add new mechanics to the original. Our idea was to preserve the spirit and work on the original basis, but bring it to the fans and potential new players on the current generation of PC and consoles. We really hope they will enjoy it!
Can you tell us how you came to work on the game? Have you always been a fan?
Our partners, Nordcurrent, entrusted us with it, and we have fans of the original in our team.
Have you had any contact with the original developers when it comes to making this new version?
[Nordcurrent Labs team]: We tried to contact the original game designer, Kellyn Beck, but he is no longer in the business. Also, we are currently in touch with Jim Sachs, the original artist of Defender of the Crown.
Is the 'retro' mode running under emulation? Can you explain how it works?
No, that’s not an emulation; we’ve rebuilt the game from the ground up. Actual emulation wouldn’t suffice, as we needed to add localisation, controller support, saves, and console porting.
Will it be possible to toggle between 'retro' and 'classic' modes in real-time?
Ah, no. They diverge a bit in logic. 'Classic' is not a 1-to-1 recreation with new graphics, so such a feature was not planned.
The 'classic' mode looks like it will strike the right balance for many players; what improvements, besides the visuals, have been made to this mode?
It has elements from the DOS version, like garrisons. Also, minigames are updated (raiding combat has blocks, parries, and strong strikes, and the tournament has horse-balancing), but became a bit more approachable. Plus, several quality-of-life updates.
The 'kingdom' mode looks like a pretty comprehensive reimagining of the core game... what's different about this mode compared to the original?
That’s a different game set in the same universe, not a re-imagining of the original. It’s a deckbuilder with dice minigames and battles with its own rules, but casting the original roster. Runs grow increasingly complex as players unlock new dice types, relics, and mechanics, while the world beyond the battlefield offers tournaments to enter, Saxon ladies to rescue, gold to raid, and castles to besiege. Though the map remains consistent between playthroughs, randomised events and encounters ensure no two campaigns ever play out the same way.
When the game was first announced, some suggested that GenAI had been used. Are you able to clear that up for us? What's your stance on GenAI, in general?
All assets in the game are handmade. My stance on GenAI? It somewhat works as a coding assistant, [but] it shouldn't get into art, in my opinion.
Defender Of The Crown is a timeless classic. Why do you think there's still so much interest in the game today?
It manages to convey the fantasy of chivalry, medieval and old England, in a unique way that very few games achieve. It does it with small and sometimes simple layers that are very effective in immersing you in it. I think this is why it has a special place in hearts and minds to this day.