Simon is just an ordinary boy in an extra-ordinary world. A world in which he must rescue Calypso the Wizard by embarking on a long challenging quest.
The game is a point-and-click adventure, using a typical interface with words such as 'Use', 'Open', 'Walk To' (unlike Lucasarts' SCUMM games a simple click on that area of the screen won't do) and 'Pick Up' (again, a double-click on the item doesn't suffice - these two features extend game time significantly)
The game's plot has a number of references and spoofs to fantasy and fairy tales, with the Three Billy Goats Gruff involved in a particularly significant scene. The humor is very British in places, with lots of dry sarcasm, and lots of Simpsons-esque self-references to the fact that this is a computer game. The levels are non-linear in layout, with puzzles spread across the land
You start in the old mans cottage (with a beautiful pile of compost in the back yard). It's a classic adventure game, so you'll have to collect things. You'll also need money which you must steal from a fire breathing dragon (luckily you're wearing your asbestos underpants)! You must turn a tormented druid into a toad, you must fight a cheating witch, you have to help the woodworms, you cheer up a depressed woodcutter, bring dwarves bear, unwrap a mummy, rescue a damsel in distress, eat tons of swamp stew (yummy, yummy)... you get the picture. Oh, and in the end, you get to fight the evil magician Sordid!
The Story of a likeable, yet cheeky little chappy named Simon.
Whilst rooting amongst his attic, the young man Simon and his dog 'Chipppy', inadvertently open a portal upon discovering a 'Ye olde spelbook'. Simon is magically teleported to a fantasy world (along with Chippy) and takes up the mantle of a Sorcerer (a failing one at that), and must complete a quest to save the Wizard Calypso, from the evil sorcerer Sordid.
Along the way, Simon meets goblins, wizards, goats and trolls whilst using magic and logic to figure out puzzles to progress through the adventure.
Simon's cocky and sometimes even rude demeanour hinders him more that anything else throughout his adventure, yet provides the player with much amusement and some of the most memorable video game clips ever brought to any platform.
The game was initially released on IBM PC compatible machines on 3.5" floppy disk and later re-released for the Amiga and on PC-CDROM.
The graphics although somewhat dated now, at the time were immensely good and help create a world with lush and rich scenery, full of instantly recognisable characters. Helping to break the barrier between player and computer character.
The game is often compared to Monkey Island in that it takes on the form of a point and click adventure and parodies such classics as the Chronicles of Narnia, Rapunzel & Billy groats gruff.
Released by a small UK based software house called Adventure Soft.
All in all, a great adventure game and one for adults and children alike. If you liked Monkey Island or Loom then this is a game for you, however if you are new to adventure games then this would be a perfect game to begin with.
Simon the Sorceror was a British answer to the Monkey Island series and holds up fairly well by comparison. Chris Barrie, who played the character Rimmer in the popular 1990s TV comedy sci-fi series Red Dwarf, voiced Simon in the later versions of the game. The jokes and accents may be hard to understand for non-British gamers, and in fact, it is not as consistently amusing as Monkey Island. For example, the humor is a bit more downbeat and even cynical.
Indeed, one way of solving the puzzles in MI was to get into the sense of humor, and the problem with STS is that the humor is harder to get into and consequently the puzzles are sometimes very hard to solve without a walkthrough. In fact, some puzzles are just hard to understand anyway. Graphically it is very nice indeed, and the hand drawn style has so much more character and warmth than the 3D games of nowadays. Stylistically it owes a great deal to the Terry Pratchett novels which are an affectionate and humorous reworking of Lord of the Rings and CS Lewis books. Children of nowadays may even find the wizard theme appealing as it has become popularized by Harry Potter.
It is just the right length for an adventure game in that it is a fair bit shorter than Monkey Island 2, but longer than Monkey Island 1. The plot is fairly interesting in that Simon is an ordinary teenager who discovers a portal to a magical world. The inference being that the gamer, too, is transported to another world in playing the game. The character is a bit more of a sulky teenager than Guybrush Threepwood, who had an innocent childlike sense of wonder. By this time in the development of adventure games, characters broke the 4th wall, i.e. they drew attention to the fact that they are in a game. This broke with the overly serious style of old adventure games. It is a very fun game to play and the puzzles generally provide enough to think about without becoming overly frustrating.
Although the sound and tunes are OK, because of the nature of the game you may want to turn the music off as it becomes very repetitive as you have to leave and re-enter rooms repeatedly. Overally, I would recommend the game highly. Enjoy.
How to run this game on modern Windows PC?
People who downloaded Simon the Sorcerer have also downloaded:
Simon the Sorcerer 2: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe, Simon the Sorcerer 4: Chaos Happens, Simon the Sorcerer 3D, Simon the Sorcerer: Who'd Even Want Contact?!, Discworld, Sam and Max Hit the Road, Legend of Kyrandia, The: Hand of Fate, Legend of Kyrandia, The
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