Title screen
Like Ultima III and Ultima IV before, Ultima V was ported to the NES as well. However, unlike the two previous games, Origin decided to go a different way with this port. After all, work on the conversion began in 1991, and by then, Ultima VI had already been released and changed things significantly.
It would have been very difficult to explain to players why the game looked like the original Ultima V, which was well within the abilities of the NES, and not like the newer installment, which looked much more realistic. So Origin decided to change elements of the port to look like Ultima VI: A single-scale map, isometric perspective, and character portraits (something the original game didn't have). Also, the NES port is a break with its predecessors in that it doesn't use cute, colorful, manga-like graphics; instead, the graphics are made to look more realistic.
However, after the game was finished, it turned out to be a technical disaster. This, combined with things that had to be removed from the game because of technical limitations (limitations that wouldn't have applied if the original tile-based system had been used), made reviews generally see this port as totally inferior to the original.
The shortcomings of the port
The intro
In-game
The shortcomings include:
- The game is very slow compared to the original, making it difficult to progress at a reasonable rate.
- There is no way to name the Avatar, and no option for a female Avatar.
- Particularly when viewed on a TV, it is difficult to discern what the various on-screen objects are.
- After the title screen and the character creation, there is only one song throughout the entire game (the same error as in the Amiga port), and there are no sound effects.
- Because of the single-scale map, Britannia had to be shrunken and deformed to fit everything in. It just isn't that obvious during gameplay because of the limited viewing window and the game's slow pace.
- The controls are surprisingly complicated for a two-button controller, and each command has a slight delay before execution.
- The maximum size of the party was reduced from six to four (since you start with three members, this means you can only have one extra).
- Technical limitation example: All swamps are instead represented by poison fields.
- The intro is vastly reduced, with much plot and background information missing.
- The ending sequence is altered much as the intro, and much content was altered; the Avatar is present with Lord British at Blackthorn's exile (thus the part on Earth is missing) and drama is lost by the last sentence being Lord British inviting the Avatar to a feast.