Legend of Zagor - The Fighting Fantasy Board Game by Ian Livingstone That Really Talks | Review
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 20 июл 2024
- Always Board Never Boring is back with a retro review of a classic board game from Parker - Legend of Zagor. This board game, powered by a 40K computer chip, really talks, and as the dungeon is automated you can play it solo.
In this video ABNB runs through how to play, showcases a small sampling of the voice and special effects, and gives his final thoughts on whether the game is actually any good.
Although he dips in and out of different subjects as he goes, these time stamps might be helpful if you're short on time:
00:00 Intro
00:43 Zagor's legend
02:48 Board game overview
04:05 Setting up
09:26 Waking Zagor
10:12 Playing the game
15:30 Competitive elements
16:03 The finale
18:30 Final thoughts
#legendofzagor #fightingfantasy #ianlivingstone
Become an ABNB club member by clicking the join button under the video or by using this link:
/ @alwaysboardneverboring
You can make a one-time donation to the channel using the Super Thanks button under each video (it looks like a heart) or by making a donation to the channel using the following link:
www.paypal.com/paypalme/Alway...
You can shop using the Element Games affiliate link (UK). Use code KEV392 at checkout for double Element Crystals:
elementgames.co.uk/?d=10189
Don't forget to sub and like, and please check out all this other cool stuff too:
www.alwaysboardneverboring.com
/ alwaysboardneverboring
/ alwaysboardneverboring
Music by James Lloyd. Check out his stuff at:
jnlloyd.bandcamp.com/
Logo by Nicholas Torres. 
Игры
I have this. Fully painted and popping 😊. Plus house rules for respawns, and extra leveling. For both heros and monsters
That's great. I am sure it looks amazing all painted up.
Had this and advanced heroquest as a kid in the early 90’s. Missus made me throw away all my stuff when we bought a place 10 years ago…i had no idea these games were so valuable!
You aren't alone. I sold every game I owned when I went to university. Have spent many years since slowly rebuying them all at horribly inflated prices!
I would not marry a woman that would tell me to throw away my treasures.
Foul! 3 strikes! The horror 😮
Who makes someone throw away something they love?
@@DemortixxAgreed. If my missus tried to make me throw out my stuff, she would no longer be my missus.
PLAYER: "My barbarian opens the door. What do I see?"
GM: "Oh no! It's a champion of low moral fiber!"
The absolute worst kind of champion, for sure.
Even with all it flawes, it alway had a special place in my heart. This was the best game to play solo. Thanks for this video, it has been a long time since i heard that voice
The fact you could set it up and play solo is a real tick in the game's favour. It was a great option if nobody wanted to play HeroQuest.
I remember having the novel based on the Game book or/and Board Game. Loved it.
I would have loved to have this game as a kid. In the U.S.A. when Warlock of Firetop Mountain came out I was knee deep in TSR's Endless Quest books. WoFM was a exciting refresh that used the included bookmark to keep track of hit points and you used a d6 for battles. All of those books have long since passed on to younger siblings but WoFM and the tCoC hold a special place in my heart.
It's a shame the game didn't get a wider release.
Great video. As always. That reminds me. Must check out my advanced Heroquest for those minitures.
Thanks.
That guy with the helmet and monster-head weapon on the box looks like AI art.
Salazar is the wizard? Salazar Slytherin is a Legend of Zagor hero confirmed canon.
And take a look at Zagor. Distinct lack of a nose. Coincidence?
The unexpected appearance of Mr Ben elevates this video to awesome status!
As if by magic, Mr Ben appeared.
Nice! I just bought a brand new copy of this a a few weeks ago. Looking forward to playing this with my kids after it's all painted.
That's great. I hope it didn't cost you an arm and a leg as reasonably-priced copies are getting harder to track down, and I hope you and the family have a lot of silly fun with it.
Born in '80, very familiar with the FF books, but never knew this existed. Awesome video at just the right time to send me back into the wracks of nostalgia.
I was '79 so I bet we are nostalgic for a lot of the same things. Thanks for watching.
I had never heard of this game before (it was available in other languages in Europe?) I love the miniatures and the board, the card art is very nice too. The voice acting is good but the sound effects... It sounds like good old Zagor was using the hand dryer in a public restroom while recording his lines...
Very nice video!
Ha. The plastic speaker box doesn't do the synthesized voice and SFX any favours, but it's surprisingly good for the time. The voice actor for Zagor really goes for it. Nearly chews his way out of the plastic scenery!
Yes, this game was available through Europe in various languages, including French, German and Italian. Someone from Germany in the comments says it was easy to find it there, but it's my understanding it didn't do very well in general, so it may not have been a common sight even in the countries where it was available.
Excellent review video, mate. You got yourself one more subscriber 😊
Thank you so much. I really enjoyed making this video. You might also like the Dark World review I did recently.
I am a big fan of retro board games and I have a decent collection, so I'm hoping to be featuring more of them on the channel going forwards.
Really enjoyed the video cheers 👍 I almost have a complete copy of this game just need about six more miniatures and the actual box then I’m done!
I see a couple of people on eBay selling parts occasionally so hopefully you can complete your set eventually. At least the miniatures are largely unnecessary for the game to function, as they are really only there to mark which rooms haven't been defeated yet.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring yeah I’m always checking eBay regularly just in case something pops up 🤞
Really enjoy this channel well done my friend!
Thank you so much for the kind words. I really appreciate the support.
Haha! This looks like a load of fun! I remember hating Zagor a lot, I kept getting lost in his maze... Honestly anything that's not so good about this game is probably Zagor's fault and he meant it to be that way, just to torture us! 😅
It's really silly, and that does go a long way with me. Zagor was playing the long game when it came to revenge for taking all his stuff from Firetop Mountain.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring well, it's our stuff now! 😂 I love the thought of Zagor, using some dark ritual to revive himself, only to find someone has run off with all his worldly possessions! 😜
Love the classic style of those miniatures!!
They have a cool style to them.
wow, I've never heard of this game, look fun to play. I might look around youtube and see if anyone's done a playthrough just to check it out. Based on how the mini's look, I wonder if the same person that make the heroquest mini's made these sculpts first and heroquest took inspiration from this game.
It's a fun game to roll out occasionally, and a wonderful snapshot of an excessive period in chromed up gaming for collectors, but I can't imagine many people wanting to play it on a regular basis.
Mr Benn!...big part of my childhood...can't remember if there was D&D episode though...been awhile lol
He did dress up as a red knight and meet a dragon once. I think that's close enough.
It boggles my mind in this day and age that there was only 13 episodes of Mr Benn
Thanks for sharing!
Whilst i read several of the books i hadn't come across the board game.
Sounds like it would benefit from a lot of home brew adaptation of the combat, character building and final bits chamber to elevate the game. Expect that others have already explored this, so am interested to explore further
The problem is, if you start trying to homebrew things like the combat too much, you have to stop using the sound box, at which point, I always feel you might as well just play a game with better combat that doesn't have the gimmick.
I don't have this game, but I do have a few of the miniatures from it kicking around which do see use in my games. They make nice variants for Heroquest monsters
They fit in quite nicely with HeroQuest. The goblins are my favourite, they remind me of the little goblin from Disney's Black Cauldron.
I don’t remember this at the time, even though I had at least the first three FF books, so thanks for a great review. Slaine wasn’t around til 83 and he didn’t start with the face paint til later, so maybe they were both copying Kiss! 😁
Thanks for watching. Legend of Zagor was 1993, ten years after Slaine first showed up. I’m sure he must have been in his face paint phase by then and even the hair is the same. I think it would have to be a homage in Legend of Zagor if nothing else.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Ah sorry, quite right, my mistake, I’d thought you’d said the board game was out in 82, but it was Warlock first in 82. 👍🏻
No worries, it was quite a long and meandering intro that hopped through quite a lot of different stuff! Thanks again for taking the time to watch and comment. I appreciate it!
The board game looks cool. My favorite fighting fantasy books were Forest of Doom and Deathtrap Dungeon
Looks like it could be Heroquest’s brother from another mother. But seriously the art work on the cards and character sheets and the sculpted board pieces are fabulous. Too bad it never made it stateside back in the day I would’ve been all over this as much as I was Heroquest!
Yes, I think it's hard not to look at other dungeon crawlers from this period and not see HeroQuest's fingerprints on them. This game really took the idea of HeroQuest to the limit with the level of chrome and simplicity of the rules.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoringdefinitely gives Heroquest a run for its money in the illustration department. Those cards are gorgeous!
The artwork is absolutely lovely. I believe it was all done by Martin McKenna, a great Fighting Fantasy artist.
I got this game for Christmas when I was a kid, but for one reason or another I never actually played it. Good to know I didn't miss out on too much.
I don't know how you resisted playing it. I would have torn into that box in seconds.
What size is the grid?
Lol you know why Im asking.
Those minis look great, the sculpts look nice and chunky with clear detail. Theres a real 80's Games Workshop feel to them, which is always a good thing in my eyes.
Did this game sell in the US? It looks like a seriously solid dungeon crawler.
Ha. Yes, the miniatures are on 25mm bases. The corridor spaces are 30mm to allow for the 30mm tokens.
As I mentioned at the top of the video, this game only had a European release, and it unfortunately didn't get a lot of traction.
Great vid, for real though, those minis are cool, I would have went with 'Lawfully-challenged Champion'.
Lawfully challenged is a good one.
im glad you did a review of this. i had the firetop mountain one as a kid but never this. I was going to buy one of e bay but can see it's one of those games that ill never get out or use. Great review though. Have you ever done the lost valley of the dinosaurs
Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs will be coming on the channel in June. Thanks for watching.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring it was my fav game as a kid, i still have it. Have you seen the dinosaurs yet. lol. When you see them, they are not painted, they actually came like that. I still can't stop laughing at them. But the game is amazing.
@Taterniac oh I had Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs back in the 80s so I am very familiar with it. I played mine to destruction.
Most eXcellent my dude!
Thank you.
Nice boardgame, always wanted this un the 90s, got this a couple of years ago.
Also bought the 1st boardgame, which arrived yesterday.
About the colored tiles you have to place on the dungeon floor, you could just put them in a small bag & grab inside when needed, only if you find a permanent thing like a teleporter or secret passage you place it on the floor. Besides of that, it's a nice alternative to the standard dungeon event card you have to pull.
Monsters, when most are gone, you could just place new ones.
Now, it's a nice game, but it's not realy the same as other, bigger things, where "adventure" is more present, because here it's more like a skirmish-game with a simple AI, so to speak.
Personaly I like boardgames with a voice-module thing, it gives a special flair, like with "The Omega Virus".
That's why I also bought "King Arthur", another boardgame with a voice-module, which arrived a week ago, haven't played it though. I think it's 10 - 15 years old.
I don’t think a bag draw would work because tiles go back on the board face down unless it’s an item you keep. Remembering where good and bad things are, and choosing to stand on a tile or an empty space where there used to be an item is an important part of the gameplay. I also wouldn’t want to keep respawning monsters because it would be a bit like putting money on free parking in Monopoly. It will make things drag out too much. Having a finite number of monsters to kill feeds into the race element of the game.
I didn't know about the King Arthur game, but it looks beautiful. I will have to look into that one more closely.
Other games from that era I recall fondly were Dark World and Siege of the Citadel. Might make for good video fodder... provided you can find copies of course!
I have reviewed Dark World on my blog (link in video description). I had all three games in that series; however, someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse for them long before I started doing RUclips so I no longer have them.
Mutant Chronicles Siege of the Citadel is not easy to find in the UK, and I don't fancy picking up the Modiphius reprint. It's a maybe if I can get a copy.
Fortunately, I have a lot more games from this period of time, so I'm not short of fun things to make content about.
Anything FF catches my eye. Im from America and didn't learn about until I was in my 30's. The other side of the pond got seriously lucky with access to some games and books.
Dungeons and Dragons the Fantasy Adventure Board Game is another game that never made it to the US. It's surprising, because it's a really good game. Better than HeroQuest in some ways.
Did you back Martin Wallace's Fighting Fantasy Adventures when it was crowdfunding last year?
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I didn't get to - tight funds. I played some of the adaptations to tablet. That sent me down a rabbit hole regarding the series in general. I didn't know about the board game until this video. I would love a hard copy of The Hell House adventure. The one that has a Hammer Horror vibe to it.
I have only the hero sheets left. But i loved it when i was a young one.
The hero sheets look really nice.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring they do. I treasure them with all my p&p characters.
The miniatures are nice (it cool to have a Slaine mini). Basically it's Darkworld with talking in it.
It has a bit of a Darkworld feel to it - they are both in that category of super simple dungeon crawls with 3D terrain, miniatures, and gimmicks - but I think Legend of Zagor is much better, even if it doesn't have a mace of chaos. I used to have Darkworld and the two expansions before I started RUclips, but someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
If you want a Slaine miniature, you might want to check out the Slaine miniatures game from Warlord Games if you haven't seen it before. The Kiss My Axe starter has Slaine and Slaine in warp spasm mode, and they seem pretty good from the pictures I have seen (although they are in Warlord bendy resin).
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I know the official Slaine from Warlord. For years there have been ways to make minis from sources that companies don't have license to. You have probably seen all the Conans, Gandalfs out there. I know at least two companies that make their own Hellboy. All you have to do is change it slightly and give it a different name. In this game's case, bear in mind that in order for one to sue, one has to know about first. If this game had a short shelf life on the market, it does not matter.
I understand companies can get around things, but we are talking about Hasbro and Fighting Fantasy, so it seems a bit blatant in that regard. Anvar appeared in this game, the game book it was based on, and a series of novels.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring It does not matter who does it , it just happens. One has to notice that they using an image they own and second, have to care to make an effort to sue them for. Michael Moorcock created the eight point chaos symbol we all know is used by GW. However he does not want to take the time and effort to fight them over it. He simply calls them thieves and continues with his own creations. Ironic how GW tries to push people legal over use of "their" IPs when just about everything they make is derived off everybody else.
It's more likely a homage or in-joke as Ian Livingstone was right on 2000AD's doorstep and the companies were all doing things together.
Regardless, I feel like this conversation has veered dramatically from what I thought was you expressing an interest in getting a Slaine miniature and me mentioning a company that makes the official one in case you didn't know about it.
Absolute beauty of a game.
Components can definitely be used in other games.
P. S. Since it's a game and not a time capsule: will you paint some of these lovely miniatures?
It's very unlikely I would paint this. Two reasons: 1. This game hits the table maybe once a year, so it's hard to justify the investment. 2. I have a massive painting queue of games that get played a lot, and that has to be the priority.
Wow old school stuff was nice!
They knew how to give a game some table presence.
Well,you know,you gotta look on the bright side with games like this. You have some great stuff here and it's easy to homebrew some rules or just use your favorite system for gameplay. And you can always recycle the minis and boards for other games. Over all,it's not bad.
The components are excellent, and the miniatures and boards could easily find use elsewhere, but I would never recycle the bits into other games. It's too special. I love it for what it is and would never do anything to make it anything else. If I roll it out once a year, it's never a bad time; it's just not one of those games you are going to play endlessly... for very obvious reasons.
I had it and loved it
It goes over well with the younger crowd, but even rolling it out occasionally with adult gamers, it's always a good laugh.
Talisman and Heroquest had a love child!
Yes, it's a bit of a melting pot of different games, with as much chrome as they could paste on it.
Right, time to build that time machine finally. I never had a sufficiently good reason, but now I do. Anyone need anything from the mid nineties while I'm at it?
Building a time machine might be cheaper than buying a copy off eBay. The prices have really crept up in recent years.
Curious if there are more games.like this one as it sounds like an old school classic with flaws... And curious if they had a more updated one that tried to fix it.
Especially since the talking and automation of it seems a lot more interesting than the standard shuffle a deck and pull a card to see what happens.
As sometimes half the flavor of a game is the presentation itself.
There are plenty of fantasy games from this era of gaming. I cover a lot of them on the channel.
Legend of Zagor never got a revised edition, but there were other games that used computers and voice simulation, like Omega Virus, Dark Tower, and King Arthur.
I have never seen this game before. And to be honest I am quite happy about that, because then I don’t need a copy for nostalgic reasons 😂
Nostalgia can certainly do bad things to a hobby budget. Thanks for watching.
Who names a baby Zagor? It's like they knew he would grow up to have a legend.
I think Zagor is his stage name. His real name is Timothy.
6:36 I'm kinda sure the word "Chaos" can't be copyrighted... and since Ian Livingstone is Co-founder of Games Workshop, isn't it all his turf?
It’s a joke because Avalon Hill changed the term chaos to dread in HeroQuest.
Incidentally, Ian Livingstone sold out of Games Workshop in 1991 and this game came out in 1993, so he wouldn't be able to use any Games Workshop IP here (which wouldn't matter in the case of the word "chaos" anyway).
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring So much to learn every day -- thanks for your share! I thought it hinted at GW sueing like everybody (prolly more in the time of 3D printing)
@AND-od5jt = A few years ago, Games Workshop tried to claim they had copyright to the phrase 'Space Marine'. But they got burnt. Which is why they started renaming everything (e.g. 'aelves', etc.).
Fun way to introduce the hobby to younger fans for sure
Yes, it's pretty good for younger gamers. There aren't a lot of fiddly rules to remember.
lol I got this out yesterday for Thursday nights game.
What a coincidence. I hope you had fun with it.
This looks like some good silly fun, but the current ebay prices yikes and I'm still trying to find a copy of the UK D&D Fantasy Board game.
It's very silly. But yes, the prices have really crept up in recent years. If you have to choose between this and the D&D game, I would say the D&D game is the much better choice!
wish i never sold this. Was great for solo play
The fact you could play solo without any changes to the gameplay is pretty neat.
I could only ever make it through two of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. One of the sci-fi ones and the forest of whatever evil thing. I think i still own the first twenty or so in a box somewhere.
That computer voice seems like it would get annoying pretty quickly. Omega Virus certainly did.
Oh yeha, you should take some small detail scissors and trim of all the side nubs on the card pieces for your games. It improves the look dramatically.
I revisited Warlock of Firetop Mountain last year, and I can't say I really enjoyed it. I know later books were better, but I can't see myself going through any more any time soon.
I actually have some really fine detail scissors. I bought them for cutting out the thin embossed plastic sheets for basing miniatures. I rarely turn them on cardboard tokens though, especially not for a game that only comes out maybe once a year. I always have a million other things that take priority. I doubt this will ever get painted either.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring It barely takes any time to trim things while watching a movie or video. That's when I do it.
I was building three more bloddcrushers while watching this video.
Yeah. But that’s when I’m building minis, painting minis, sorting cards, making storage crates and so on. It’s just a job that sits down the list and not something I worry too much about.
You say Zargor, I say Zaygor 😂👍
I suspect the tomatoes are to blame.
the game seemed to be very successful in Germany since i've seen it so many times on flee market when i was a kid in the 90s but it was still too expensive so my mother wouldn't buy it for me. But it was almost everywhere and yeah the game was completly translated in German including voices
Yes, the game was released throughout Europe. There are French, German, Italian and other languages available (in Italy I believe it was renamed to Legend of Zargon, who clearly got lost on the way from the US version of HeroQuest).
It may have done better in some territories than others, but I remember it got little traction in the UK, and places I have checked out online seem to concur that it didn't do well, possibly because of the high price and because the Fighting Fantasy series was starting to wind down.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring yeah we also changed the Name to Sargor... i don't know what they had against the name xD
Can you make a playthroug Video of this Boardgame ?
It would be really tricky. The voice box makes sound effects most of the time - rumbling thunder and clashing lightning, and chimes up randomly to pick on certain heroes. As such, the game doesn't really work with the way I normally play, narrate and edit.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring oh ok
I could see myself buying this just to turn it into a HeroQuest adventure.
I think a lot of people in the comments were thinking the same thing!
The box art makes it look a bit like Hordak invading Eternia
It does a bit.
I would say strictly chaotic warriors 😂 it’s incredible they never made new versions of those games ( like space crusade, etc.): their best time is behind them.
I wouldn't say their best is behind them; I think Hasbro is knocking it out of the park at the moment. I can't see them ever remaking Legend of Zagor, and they have said they don't plan to remake Space Crusade, but they said Battle Masters could happen, they have just released Talisman, and they have done great work with HeroQuest.
For a moment there i thought this game was about a different Zagor.
I noticed that in Italy this game is called "La Leggenda di Zargon." That guy gets around.
Yeah, makes sense they would change the name to avoid confusion.
One 40K tac squad these days 😅
I still have this game. I fondly remember how terrible it was 😂
I love how silly it is.
Oof, $250 for a board game is pretty steep though.
Prices on eBay have gone crazy for this game in the last few years in general, and as it never got a US release, it's really expensive there.
Wow, I never knew this existed! Loads of thanks. I subbed straight away. [el'sda2].
Thank you for subscribing. I really appreciate the support.
I miss the old intro!
Sorry to hear that. I like the new intro and I won't be going back to the old intro or channel logo. I'm still doing all the same kinds of content that I always have, though.