HeroQuest NES, the game that doesn't exist.

[HeroQuestFrance]

I've found all ROMS of HeroQuest from commodore to PC including nes prototype, cpc 464/6128 etc.
The amiga ones have the best graphics and gameplay.

[Milk]

So today I decided to try this game again, and this time took a different approach. Wow, I barreled through the first three quests in like 30 minutes. The secret? It appears that the crossbow is an autokill weapon, even on bosses. The only drawback is you can't fight adjacent creatures of course, but with clever maneuvering, even that is easy to overcome, especially since you can fire from outside doors or beyond hallway sectional boundaries, yet monsters are unable to cross these boundaries/doors. So in essence, with the combination of crossbow and monsters unable to cross boundaries, it appears that the only possibility of taking a hit is from a trap uncovered by a treasure search, and that only being if you even decide to search for treasure. I certainly hope that was on their list of fixes before the game was to ever be released, as that is a major game breaking flaw. Of course, being 20 years later and seeing that the game never was released, I suppose we'll never know their intention.

I've yet to do one of the quests with the Witch Lord, so I'm unsure if his invulnerability to normal weapons stands regarding the autokill crossbow, although seeing some of the other bizarre little quirks here and there, I wouldn't be surprised if it is possible.

Also, it appears that the dungeons have undergone some major remodeling. Nothing is where is should be, and I'm not just talking about monster or furniture placement. So far from what I've seen, other than The Trial, the dungeon layouts don't even remotely resemble the original layouts. I didn't know what the heck was going on in The Rescue of Sir Ragnar and kept double guessing myself that that was even the quest I was playing. However, I take this to be a good thing because at least I'm not going into the quests knowing exactly where everything is, and it shows that the programmers did at least try to take some liberties regarding game design.

But, despite my new finds, this game is still pretty pointless in my opinion and serves as nothing more than a tick in the HQ and/or NES nostalgia quotient. I haven't gotten around to getting a cpc or amiga emulator yet, but if I do, I'll at least see what some of the other versions are like.

[Milk]

Additional anomalies found in NES HeroQuest:

1. Falling block traps do not harm the heroes. Also, you do not get to decide which space you wish to occupy as a result of the trap being sprung.
2. You cannot jump a trap, at least if it is possible, I have no idea how to do it. Instead, what appears to be the "jump" procedure (regarding sprung pit traps) is that you just walk onto the space and there is a chance that you fall in or you don't. Unsprung traps only have a chance to miss, however this does not appear to be the case with falling block traps (if this is not the case I just haven't come across it yet). Essentially the only way to deal with traps is to either chance them or to buy a tool kit. Haven't tried using a tool kit as of yet.
3. Traps do not appear to end the hero's turn. At least this seems to hold true for falling into a pit trap. Unsure about the spear trap. I think the falling block trap does end your turn, but now I can't recall.
4. Monsters do not obey their original movement rates (I had a mummy move for 5 squares, which rather surprised me when I thought I would have been out of range). Of course, I've never actually looked at the european rules, since those are the rules that the game seems to follows. I'm aware of the BP differences between the US and european editions, but unsure about movement rates.
5. I've only so far collected one artifact, the Talisman of Lore. It cannot be worn. In fact, it is permanently taken out of your inventory after the end of Melar's Maze. (Also, on the subject of Melar's Maze, since there is a thread regarding this - the game's map for Melar's Maze actually makes good use of the sliding throne/secret door in that it actually leads to a completely different set of rooms/halls which otherwise you have to go around the long outer loop to get to, unlike the Game System's version where the throne/door really serves no purpose.)

I think there was a couple other things that caught my eye while playing through Melar's Maze but I can't remember them now. I'll post more anomalies as I find them as I continue through this game.

[MontanaUSA]

I was 9 yrs old when HQ was released.. and gotnit for christmas. A lot of stuff like this game, flee under my radar. Does anyone have a list of all odd merchsndise msde during HQ hayday of the early 90s?

[Daedalus]

Well, the forum has this:

HeroQuest Merchandise
Topics relating to HeroQuest merchandise other than Game Systems, Expansion Packs and Published Quests.
Subforums: Adventure Design Kit, HeroQuest: A Marvel Winter Special [The Hazards Pack], Novel: The Fellowship of Four, Novel: The Screaming Spectre, Novel: The Tyrant's Tomb, HeroQuest Sticker Album, HeroQuest Jigsaw Puzzles, Miscellaneous HeroQ

[Kurgan]

Check this out... PAL converted to NTSC

[HispaZargon]

About NES prototype version of the classic HeroQuest game, I have recently found a couple of videos in a Japanese website where you can hear part of (or probably fully due to its duration, but I dont know) the original soundtrack of the intended Nintendo version of the videogame.

Here you have the links: Video 1 Video 2

I know there are other videos in YouTube with playthroughs of this version and it music, however I think they do not include all the soundtrack (just the music), but I suspect these ones yes.

[Kurgan]

Good news guys, the creator and owner of the Source Code for this game has released it to the public!

https://www.romhacking.net/games/1590/

This game was cancelled. Young wizard apprentices are told a story of a student that turned evil. They must complete three tasks to be considered heroes. These tasks are dangerous, and some won’t survive. Guide an apprentice through these tasks to become a hero.

This is the source code to the game Hero Quest which was donated by Chris Shrigley, the founder of Eurocom and owner of the source code.

This source code won’t be easily assembled and requires a very old development kit called PDS. Other options include manually converting the code to another public domain 6502 assembler or writing a custom assembler for the code.

Author Chris Shrigley
Category Source Code
Platform Nintendo Entertainment System
Game Hero Quest
Level Advanced
Version 1.0
Release Date 22 October 1991
Downloads 607
Last Modified 09 November 2017

Music by Neil Baldwin!