Renaissance (UMI)
Designed by Louis X. Savain
There was an actual historic age called the Renaissance, where art, culture, and science were allowed and appreciated by the powers that be. Leonardo DaVinci has become the poster child of that bygone era for his art and inventions, often called a “Renaissance Man”.
In 1982 United Microware Industries put his face on the cover of their Othello-inspired video game and called it Renaissance. It’s important to note that Othello was invented in 1971 as a refined version of Reversi, itself invented around 1880, loosely inspired by the possibly four thousand year old Chinese game of Go. Go had not spread to Renaissance Italy in DaVinci’s time and there’s not even historical evidence that he played chess.
Their own description on the back of the box and in their pamphlet says “Turn back the clock 1000 years and play the game of the classical masters”. Simple math would have put that as the year 982, about half a millennia before DaVinci, with Go still in China then too.
I really shouldn’t nitpick so much about all of that as Renaissance is not just a fun, quick, and challenging way to play Othello or Reversi, it’s a software package complete with enough tools to call it a trainer on the game. Some of the options here are so advanced for 1982 that I wonder if Renaissance was their first appearance in any software. Upon consideration, I bet chess programs from that time also had them.
As much as I went on about the box, seeing it with the game on Ebay at a low price got me so excited I pulled the trigger before checking to see if UMI’s cheap-ass photocopied black and white instruction sheet was inside. It was not. I would have to just fire up the game and figure it out, not even knowing how to play Othello. Luckily, the description above does list a few features that I could correspond to the in-game menu options, which were presented as two-letter abbreviations:
Here is what I have worked out:
- PL=Play
- CH= Change Sides
- TA=Takeback Mode
- SE=Set Board
- HE=Help
- LE=Set Level
- LO = Load a save
- SA= Save
Now let's break this out into more detail.
PL (PLAY) - Ends the player's turn and allows the computer to start thinkin'.
CH (CHANGE SIDES) - The player and computer switch sides in the middle of the game. This is a pretty cool gameplay feature that might actually allow one to win once in awhile.
TA (TAKEBACK) This is a mode that pauses the game and allows the player to cycle back through the previous turns. The Move Counter is in the bottom right of the screen, and the player pushes the joystick forward and backward to cycle through the count. Pressing the joystick button exits the mode at the move count the player is on, erasing any moves forward from that point. Even if the player goes right back into takeback mode, those moves are gone, so the player should take caution when playing with this time-bending tool.
SE (SET BOARD) Here the player can set up the board before play and test various strategies. If one wants to play Reversi instead of Othello, they can just set up an empty board here.
HE (HELP) The computer suggests one's next move by showing the cursor there. It does not think about it and decides almost instantly, which scares me. I tested it against itself on level 1 and level 8 with the same result - failure. On my level 1 test, it stopped suggesting moves late in the game and apparently went out for coffee.
LE (SET LEVEL) The range is 1-8 with 8 presumably the hardest. In my testing, the higher the level the longer the computer thinks about its next move. At level 8, it can be seen thinking for several minutes, indicated by a red game piece flashing in various open spaces on the board. In my testing of level 1 and level 8, this is the only difference. The AI at level 1 knows how to kick one's ass, but at level 8 it pretends it's hard and really really has to think about it before wiping the player out.
LO (LOAD SAVE) I tested saving a game in progress and loading it several times, but the sad result was that loading a saved game crashed the VIC 20 and locked it up with a blank home screen with just the word READY. there, without a cursor. This required a restart. It could by the fussy, 43-year old cassette drive as well.
SA (SAVE GAME) See LO (LOAD GAME).
With all these options, Renaissance was at least innovative in the spirit of the age it's named after. The ability to rewind a game in progress back in 1982 was not something I had heard of and applied here works splendidly as a learning tool as much as a cheating tool. Having a sort of AI helper suggesting moves was also new, even if here it was a complete loser in my two tests.
Features like setting up one's board and switching sides really complete the package that is Renaissance. Teenage me back in that time had little interest in classic board games being ported to computers or consoles, he wanted more fantasy role playing games and shooters with stunning graphics. Older me enjoys a variety of challenges, and while I may never get good enough at Othello to beat Renaissance, I am old enough to appreciate how much strategic depth the game has, and how well the Commodore VIC 20 handles it all.
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