I remember it almost as vividly as my first encounter with Might and Magic at Babbage’s a couple years before.
“Wow! They made another one!!”
At first it looked to be more of the same, until I flipped the box and saw the screen samples. This:
definitely looked better than this:
And if it looked better, it had to be better, right?
Such was the logic then and for decades to come. Did you expect twelve-year old me to be any different?
So, sadly Might and Magic – Secret of the Inner Sanctum found itself collecting dust while I wandered cluelessly around a brand new, much more colorful world, which promised to open gates to yet another to boot! The Secret of the Inner Sanctum thus remained unrevealed.
Bigger, better… And a few flaws.
Secret of the Inner Sanctum is a more interesting game than Gates to Another World. One of the reasons for this is what I consider to be a major design flaw:
- Mountaineering
- Track and Trail
Once mastered, these two skills allow you to plow through maps while holding down up arrow (not W yet). For me, even back then, that negated good map design. No more inaccessible areas that either required a spell or finding a portal that leads there from elsewhere. Just press up arrow; mountains are just there for decoration now.