Category:Ultima

Ultima
Developer(s)	Origin Systems
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Year introduced	1980
Genre(s)	RPG

Ultima is a series of fantasy computer role-playing games from Origin Systems, Inc. Ultima was created by Richard Garriott, alias Lord British. Several games of the series are considered seminal games of their genre. Today, Electronic Arts holds the brand.

The main Ultima series consists of nine installments (the seventh title is further divided into two parts) grouped into three trilogies, or "Ages": The Age of Darkness (Ultima I-III), The Age of Enlightenment (Ultima IV-VI), and The Age of Armageddon (Ultima VII-IX). The latter is also sometimes referred to as "The Guardian Saga" after its chief antagonist. The first trilogy is set in a fantasy world named Sosaria, but during the cataclysmic events of The Age of Darkness, it is sundered and three quarters of it vanish. What is left becomes known as Britannia, a realm ruled by the benevolent Lord British, and is where the later games mostly take place. The protagonist in all the games is a canonically male resident of Earth who is called upon by Lord British to protect Sosaria and, later, Britannia from a number of dangers. Originally, the player character was referred as to "the Stranger", but by the end of Ultima IV he becomes universally known as the Avatar.

Many innovations of the early Ultimas, in particular Ultima III: Exodus (1983), eventually became standard among later RPGs in both the console (if somewhat simplified to fit the gamepad) and the personal computer markets, such as the use of tiled graphics and party-based combat, its mix of fantasy and science-fiction elements, and the introduction of time travel as a plot device. The game was also revolutionary in its use of a written narrative to convey a larger story than the typically minimal plots that were common at the time. Most video games, including Garriott's own Ultima I and II and Akalabeth, tended to focus primarily on things like combat without venturing much further. In addition, Garriott would introduce in Ultima IV a theme that would persist throughout later Ultimas: a system of chivalry and code of conduct in which the player, or "Avatar", is tested periodically (in both obvious and unseen ways) and judged according to his or her actions. This system of morals and ethics was unique, in that in other video games players could for the most part act and do as they wished without having to consider the consequences of their actions.

Ultima III would go on to be released for many other platforms and influence the development of such console role-playing games as Excalibur and Dragon Quest; and many consider the game to be the first modern computer RPG.

Game list[edit | edit source]

The vast majority of Ultima games belong to the computer role-playing genre (where the genre is not specified).

Sorting the table by Number (N.), the games will be listed according to continuity.

N.	Title	Year	Genre	Systems
0	Akalabeth: World of Doom	1979		Apple II
Age of Darkness
1	Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness	1981		Apple II, A400, C64 Remakes: MS-DOS, Apple IIGS MSX2, PC-8801, PC-9801
2	Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress	1982		Apple II, A8, MS-DOS, C64, ST, Mac FM-7, PC-8801, PC-9801, MSX2
3	Ultima III: Exodus	1983		Apple II, C64, Amiga, A800, ST, MS-DOS, Mac Remake: NES FM-7, PC-8801, PC-9801, MSX2, X1
Age of Enlightenment
4	Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar	1985		Apple II, C64, Amiga, A800, ST, MS-DOS, Mac Remakes: NES, SMS FM-7, FM-Towns, PC-8801, PC-9801, MSX2, X1, X68000
5	Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny	1988		Apple II, C64, Amiga, ST, MS-DOS, (NES) Fan-made remake: MS-Win (Lazarus) FM-Towns, PC-9801, X68000
6	Ultima VI: The False Prophet	1990		MS-DOS, ST, Amiga, C64, SNES FM-Towns, PC-9801, X68000
Ultima 6 spin-offs
6.2	Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire	1990		MS-DOS SNES, X68000
6.3	Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams	1991		MS-DOS
5.8	Ultima: Runes of Virtue	1991	Action-adventure	GB
5.9	Ultima: Runes of Virtue 2	1993	Action-adventure	GB, SNES
6.4	Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss	1992	Action-RPG	MS-DOS FM-Towns, PC-9801, PS1
7.1	Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds	1993	Action-RPG	MS-DOS FM-Towns, PC-9801
Age of Armageddon
7	Ultima VII: The Black Gate	1992		MS-DOS, (SNES) Fan-made remake: MS-Win (Exult)
7.2	Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle	1993		MS-DOS Fan-made remake: MS-Win (Exult)
8	Ultima VIII: Pagan	1994		MS-DOS
9	Ultima IX: Ascension	1999	Action-RPG	MS-Win
Online
99	Ultima Online	1997	MMO RPG	MS-Win (1997-today)
99	Lord of Ultima	2010	MMO strategy	MS-Win (2010-2014)
99	Ultima Forever: Quest of the Avatar	2013	MMO RPG	Mobile phones (2013-2014)

Related games[edit | edit source]

Many games are referenced throughout the series. They are other games by Origin Systems or older games developed by Origin members before they joined the company.

• Gorn, a playable character in Ultima V and VI, was actually one of the main characters in The Quest (1983) and Ring Quest (1985).
• Seggallion, a playable character in Ultima VI, was actually one of the main characters in Knights of Legend (1989).
• A non-playable character in Ultima VI was actually the main character in The Caverns of Freitag (1982).
• Many games by Origin Sys. are referenced (advertised?) in Ultima games:
  • A non-playable character in Ultima V says he is developing Times of Lore (1988), that will be released the same year.
  • Plot summaries of Windwalker (1989) and Twisted Tales (1989) can be read in the library in Ultima VI, alongside the summaries of aforementioned Knights of Legend and The Caverns of Freitag.
  • A non-playable character in Savage Empire comments Knights of Legend (1989) and Bad Blood (1990).

As a final note, Space Rogue is often referred to as "Ultima in Space"; gameplay-wise, it's the link from the Ultima to the Wing Commander series.

Ports[edit | edit source]

Computer ports[edit | edit source]

Every Ultima game up to the 6th one was released for several different computer systems. The following table does not list all existing ports, but only the original and the most advanced ones. For a detailed list of all the ports, see the individual game guides.

Console ports[edit | edit source]

Five Ultima games were ported to Nintendo consolles, and one to the Sega Master System. Obviously, changes had to be made for two main reasons: (1) consolles use joypad instead of keyboard; (2) consolle cartridges have limited memory.

In general, ports developed in Japan managed to be more faithful to the original than the ports developed in the USA. Indeed, the US-made Nintendo ports of Ultima V and VII are so different from the original versions that separate guides are necessary on StrategyWiki.

Sorting the table by R. (Rate), the games will be listed from the most faithful to their original.