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Activision's strategic board game on the NES for one or two players.
The Battle of Light and Dark, Archon pits two forces against each other on a 9x9 game board. Whereas we're used to seeing Pawns, Rooks, and Queens in Chess (and their movement ideologies), this game has more appropriate icons and mythological creatures for the Light and the Dark sides. And unlike
Battle Chess, when taking a piece, the square is not automatically yours: a real-time battle ensues!
The Army of Light's first unit is a Knight (the "Pawn" unit), and instead of moving one or two spaces forward and attacking diagonally, they can move three squares in any direction they please. Goblins, the Dark Horde's answer to Knights, have a similar movement pattern. Each side matches up most of the way down the line, but there some differences at the higher tiers, specifically with the Phoenix (Light) and Shapeshifter (Dark) units.
Each has its own movement range, speed, hit points, and attack type; most fight hand-to-hand, but many have projectiles. Besides the matchups, players have to account which space the battles are being done on. Through the mechanics of the game, the board changes (as if night to day) with squares shifting colors (white to black, with shades in between), but wholly retaining its checkerboard appearance.
When a unit moves to attack (lands) on the square of an opponent, they head to a brand new screen away from the board, the terrain varying slightly each bout. The advantage in battle goes to the more appropriate token (based on square color), but the ensuing fight will tell the tale. Herein lies the advantage; a Manticore (quick with deadly quills!) -- on a Dark square (for added salt to the wound) -- should far and away wipe the floor with a Knight (slow, and fighting hand-to-hand). At the end of the sequence, the player with remaining hit points keeps the square, and the loser is lost.
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