Archon Ultra is a significantly enhanced version of the original classic Archon by Electronic Arts.
In it, two-players battle each other in a game that resembles chess in visual appearance, but with many RPG-style features and requirement of reflexes thrown in. The gameplay itself, like Archon, is similar to chess in many ways. A board with alternating black and white squares is set up in which each side (light and dark) takes turns moving a single character. Each character has a certain amount of squares to which it can transport, and some characters can fly over others instead of being forced to walk around them.
Unlike chess, the characters found in the light and dark sides are completely separate from each other. The players on the light side represent "good" creatures (eg Phoenix, Djinni, "good and noble" Wizard) while the dark side is composed of evil beings (eg Dragon, Shapeshifter, Goblin, and of course the "evil and deceitful" Sorceress). When a character from one side lands on a square occupied by a character from the opposing side, they both will enter a large arena and fight. An interesting variation (which was present in the original Archon) is that some of the colors on the game board will change color slowly, alternating between white and black as the game progresses. If a battle is fought on a black piece, a dark and fire-pervaded landscape will serve as the arena, and the evil character will be automatically granted extra hit points. If a conflict ensues on a white piece, a peaceful and serene forest will be the battleground, where the good character will enjoy the same advantage.
In addition to more gameplay options than the original and excellent VGA graphics, Archon Ultra also offers modem pla, which is very smooth even at 2400 baud. It is a shame that SSI did not convert Archon II to PC version and include it with Archon Ultra, but that's a minor point considering all the significant enhancements in this version.
While Archon Ultra is more of an evolution rather than a revolution that its predecessor was, it manages to retain all of the elements that made Archon a masterpiece, and improve on them. Two thumbs up!
Review By HOTUD
English 
Comments and reviews
Fantastic, wonderful game. Bought it brand new back in the day, still love it. Why no file available? It says as req by the IP owner, but it's not for sale anywhere. Please release, I would happily pay for this terrific, classic game!
Yea I'm old.. thanks for this ;)
Love this game, is it possible to get a rip of the music files in the game? They are wonderful to listen to. The artwork of the game both music and portraits of the characters is terrific all around.
That's the problem with twits like Amon.
They think nothing existed before 1990.
Im 72yo and if i remember the original was written by a canadian group around long before mortal combat loved and still do the game. Thanks Abandonware.
Excellent! I am amazed that this is here. I had so much fun with this in my younger years. I had this on my Atari 800XL, and although I still have the 5 1/4 floppy disk to it, it does me no good since the floppy drive to the old Atari bit the dust from massive overuse in my college years (yes, many, many moons ago). I have been looking for a Rom for the Atari emulator, but this is better... thanks!
The original Archon was around YEARS BEFORE MK Deception. Not saying MK Deception is bad, but this was around long before that. The original Archon also inspire the Battle Chess games which were also around long before MK Deception.
stealing the idea of fighting chess pieces? dude just check the number of fighting chess games?
Best game of fighting chess EVER!!!
Not only was the original (Archon) around before Mortal Combat Deception, but this one beat it by a decade. So, who ripped off whom?
Amon...I'll play along with your trolling. Unless they developed time travel, Archon (1983) was around way before Mortal Combat: Deception (2004).
Amon I really hope you're trolling :D Otherwise you are a moron.
Not to mention it is a rip-off of Mortal Kombat Deception, they stole the idea of fighting chess pieces. How could they get away with such a thing?
No comment nor review for this game at the moment.