Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony

Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony is a video game produced by Origin Systems and designed by Greg Malone.[1] It was originally released in 1985 for the Apple II. Versions were also released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh, and MS-DOS. The game is primarily a top-down view tile-based role-playing video game, but it has action-based combat sequences which use a side view, roughly similar to games such as Karateka.

"Moebius (video game)" redirects here. For the 2014 video game, see Moebius: Empire Rising.
Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony
Developer(s)Origin Systems
Publisher(s)Broderbund
Designer(s)Greg Malone[1]
Platform(s)Apple II, MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh
Release1985
Genre(s)Role-playing, action
Mode(s)Single-player

Origin Systems produced a sequel to the game, Windwalker.

Gameplay

The player's objective, as a disciple of the Headmaster, is to recover the Orb of Celestial Harmony from the disciple-turned-badguy Kaimen. To do that, the player must train its body and soul in the best tradition of Chinese warriors: to "walk the path of Moebius the Windwalker." The action takes place on the four Elemental planes of Earth, Water, Air and Fire, which the player must traverse in order to recover the Orb. Although gameplay is similar to standard RPGs, there are some differences: in addition to familiar character statistics such as dexterity, the players also has karma, a crucial attribute that goes up or down constantly depending on his deeds. Frighten a citizen with a sword, and the karma will drop; defeat monsters in battle, and it will rise. Combat is also played in a 2D side-scrolling view similar to fighting games, having a wide range of attacks to use, even including shurikens and fireballs if the character is experienced enough.

Reception

COMPUTE! called Moebius "yet another program worth raving about" from Origin, and a worthy followup to Ultima IV. It stated that the game had excellent graphics, "challenging and functional" arcade combat, and "many hours of enjoyment" from the puzzles.[2] Computer Gaming World stated in 1986 that the game was "sort of an outgrowth or continuation of the best parts of Ultima with special emphasis on graphic detail ... The addition of a fully animated combat system was frosting on the cake".[3] The magazine's Charles Ardai stated in 1987 that the martial-arts and RPG portions of Moebius "don't fit together very well, but each is individually enjoyable".[4] Info gave the Commodore 64 version three stars out of five, stating that the "ambitious game ... has a decent storyline and the action is challenging". The magazine criticized Moebius's "Apple conversionitis, with blocky graphics, jerky animation, and a clumsy keyboard user interface".[5] The game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon #141 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4½ out of 5 stars.[6]

Steve Fuelleman reviewed Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony in Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 78.[7] Fuelleman commented that "Overall, the game is excellent, in spite of the graphic animation and frustrations of play, or perhaps because of them. They lend an interesting flavor to the game and keep you on your toes. The graphics are good, and the animation doesn't overshadow the plot. This one is a gem, and the flaws only add a little more fire to it. Not only a must have, but probably one you would like."[7]

References
  1. Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  2. Trunzo, James V. (July 1986). "Moebius: The Orb Of Celestial Harmony For Apple". Compute!. p. 62. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  3. McPherson, Jim (Jun–Jul 1986). "Moebius". Computer Gaming World. p. 37. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  4. Ardai, Charles (May 1987). "Titans of the Computer Gaming World / Part II of V: Ardai on Electronic Arts". Computer Gaming World. No. 37. pp. 28–29, 40–41. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  5. Dunnington, Benn; Brown, Mark R.; Malcolm, Tom (January–February 1987). "64/128 Gallery". Info. pp. 14–21.
  6. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (January 1989). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (141): 72–78.
  7. Fuelleman, Steve (April–May 1987). "Capsule Reviews". Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer. Diverse Talents, Incorporated (78): 41.
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