Back in 2006 I released Banchor, which was a Zelda-like grayscale RPG for the TI-86, using a modified version of an engine written by David Phillips of Assembly Coders Zenith. By the time I released it, the TI-86 was long since discontinued.


I decided to do a quick port over to the TI-84+CE, with minimal changes to the original game. Even though there are probably numerous things that could be done to improve the game, I wanted to leave it mostly untouched. And it was simply a fun exercise in porting the grayscale engine, as well as giving Banchor a little more life, because all those years ago I had plans to turn it into a trilogy, with each game having different a different play style.. plans that never really went away... Zargul was secretly going to be a sequel or prequel to Banchor, using the first-person D&D style of Eye of the Beholder (thus, Zargul will become Banchor 2 if/when I get back to working on it).


Anywho.. the port is complete. The TI-86 128x64 resolution is scaled up to 256*128 in the original 4-level grayscale. Here are a couple of screenshots.


 
 


One final note - along with Zelda, Banchor was heavily inspired by Golvellius. Nevertheless, I'm still planning on continuing my 84+CE version of this at some stage, given that Golvellius will be in full colour, and Banchor is only in grayscale..





Download here

Hey, I remember the original, and infact thought that's what I was looking at! Only until I finished reading did I realize that this was the port and that it was done (for some reason, my brain ignored the red background). Looks good, though, a color remake with new graphics would be nice.

Alrighty then. I haven't played Golvellius, (master system wasn't very widespread or popular in the US) but isn't it more of a mixed game with side scrolling levels as well as overhead stuff? Bachor reminds me more of Zelda 1. It's nice to have a port to the color model regardless. I think the Golvellius port is a cool idea as well though, and I'm looking forward to it.

Based on some feedback I've received, I've uploaded a small update (v1.2.1). It should be available soon at the original download link above. Changes are as follows:


- Fixed the "warp into wall" bug in one of the maps in the Pyramid of Snakes.
- Can now press [2nd] to finish talking/reading/viewing inventory.
- Fixed a bug with partial heart level when starting a game.
- Wells now fully heal all your hearts, with the cost being increased to 150 Gold (up from 100 Gold).
- Reduced Gold loss upon death to 1/4 (down from 1/2).
- Player now revives at a nearby Well of Life after death.


Additionally, I added in a little nod to the potential Banchor II