Super FamiComplete #32: The Chessmaster (Redux)

Title: Chessmaster

Release Date: September 1991

Developer: Software Toolworks

Publisher: Mindscape Inc. (US) Altron (JP)

So here we have the first US developed release for the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom; and in a weird way, it is a classic!

There wasn't a desktop computer owner in the 1990's that hasn't encountered the Chessmaster series in some way, shape, or form. In fact, I remember watching my Mom play it during her down-time between tax returns. If I remember correctly, it was a pretty straightforward approach to chess, unlike other computer chess games such as Battlechess, an MSDOS game which provided flashy death animations for each piece encounter on the board. 

The death sounds creep me out to this day

With this game, though, we don't have flashy death scenes and sound effects with Chessmaster. Much like Shodan Morita Shogi, the goal is mastery of chess rather than entertainment. Let's jump right in.

Background

Chessmaster is actually quite the long running series, as it has been around since the mid-1980s and has had tons of different re-releases, updates, ports, and format changes. The series started in 1986 with the game Chessmaster 2000, arguably one of the most well-known versions of this game. From then on out, the game was re-released every year or two, sporting updated visuals, more intelligent AI, or a spiffy new game engine. Each one of these upgrades would add bump the title of the game up numerically, with the series becoming Chessmaster 9000 in 2004.

A fun fact, the engine became so advanced in Chessmaster 9000 that it was able to win a four game series against Chess Grandmaster Larry Christiansen. That...is pretty darn impressive. What made this match interesting is that, for each game, they based the AI on a different Chess Grandmaster from history. The first game, which it lost to Christiansen, the AI used a "personality" or play style similar to Alexander Alekhine.  The second game, which it won, it mimicked Bobby Fischer. The third game (also winning): Mikhail Bottvinik. Finally, the last game, which ended in a Stalemate, the AI was set to its default "Grandmaster" personality. Granted this has little relevance to the game we will be talking about today, but it is still an interesting bit of gaming history.

Larry Christiansen in all his glory

The series, now owned and published by Ubisoft, was developed for the SNES by Software Toolworks. When researching for this game, I knew I had heard of this company before, and lo and behold, here is why. Here are the two other "wonderful" educational games this company developed. 

 

Yay educational Mario games; Time Machine focuses on teaching kids history, while Missing focuses on teaching kids geography. As a Social Studies teacher, I can't stress the importance of those subjects, but as someone currently enrolled in an Instructional Technology program, I can tell you that both of these games are very lackluster. We will cover those ones on a separate date, and I will admit, I have personal grudges against those two, as they BOTH suckered me into buying them.

 I imagine with the PC version of Chessmaster taking off, it made sense to port this game to the SNES and other systems (there is even a Gameboy version of this game). 

Gameplay

 It is a pretty standard chess game. Normal chess rules apply: your goal is to, with your pieces, make your way across the board, through the opponent's pieces, and entrap their King piece in checkmate. Chess is a game of strategy and foresight that everyone should give a shot at playing and learning at some point. 

The SNES game has 16 different difficulty levels that will assist players of all levels in finding a challenging match, as well as some neat educational tools that will help you become versed in the game if you have never touched a chess set.

What the game sets out to do, it does very well. It is a chess simulator through and through. I played about three games at varying difficulty levels, and since I am only an intermediate chess player, I found the game to provide an appropriate level of challenge. I managed to win two games on the level 5, so I cranked it up to 7 and got thoroughly trounced by the AI.

Now for beginning players, the tools it provides for the player to get started are quite useful. You may need some help finding and navigating the menus, but once discovered they can be quite beneficial. They let you rethink moves, explains the movements of pieces, and gives you the "kids gloves" version of the AI as your sparring partner.

Also, the series mascot, the Chessmaster, is deliciously creepy looking on the SNES title screen. He looks like the Giver. 

Like Shodan Morita Shogi, though, the presentation itself is very spartan. The game is meant to be chess without all the pizzazz. The "spectacle" of this game is the game of chess itself, and I imagine the main drawing point to buying this was to be able to play chess on your tv rather than breaking out the old set (though if you enjoy chess I am sure the set is always ready to go). 

Any delicious tunes?

There is no music except for the introductory song. The only sound cues are when you move or take/lose pieces. These sound cues, I may add, are really annoying after some time. Here is the ONE song in the game below, and it is funktastic.

Ads, Commercials

I could only find the back of the box. Sadness.

Final Verdict

I am sure if I was a Chess lover from the early 1990s, I would have loved this game (though I would have already had it installed on my computer. Nowadays, there are much better chess simulators available for those enthusiasts of the "game of kings." For SNES collectors, the game can be picked up for very little online.