Editing Companions of Xanth

{{Short description|1993 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Companions of Xanth
|image = Companions of Xanth cover.jpg
|caption = Cover art by Cathleen Thole
|developer = [[Legend Entertainment]]
|publisher = Legend Entertainment
|designer = [[Michael J. Lindner|Michael Lindner]]
|programmer = Michael Lindner
|artist = Michael Lindner
|writer = [[Bob Bates]]
|composer = Tony Bernetich<br />Arfing Dog<br />Eric Heberling
|series = ''[[Xanth]]''
|released = November 1993<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.legendent.com/compinfo/compinfo.html |title=LEGEND Company Information |access-date=2019-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970110031944/http://www.legendent.com/compinfo/compinfo.html |archive-date=1997-01-10 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|genre = [[Adventure game|Adventure]]
|modes = [[Single-player video game|Single-player]]
|platforms = [[MS-DOS]]
}}

'''''Companions of Xanth''''' is an [[adventure game]] published in 1993 by [[Legend Entertainment]].

==Gameplay==
The game is based on [[Piers Anthony]]'s ''[[Xanth]]'' novels and loosely follows the plot of his 1993 novel ''[[Demons Don't Dream]]'', in which a young man uses a [[computer game]] to enter and explore the world of Xanth.

Typical of Piers Anthony's novels, the game is filled with puns and visual gags, and some knowledge of the ''Xanth'' universe is helpful; for those players who haven't read any of the Xanth novels, an in-game 'Com-Pendium of Xanth' is provided to the player for the majority of the game. The game uses [[2D computer graphics|2D graphics]] in [[8-bit colour]] and was available on both [[floppy disk]] and [[CD-ROM]].

The game was re-released in July 1997 in a bundle with Legend Entertainment's ''[[Death Gate]]'' and ''[[Shannara (video game)|Shannara]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pcgamer.com/news/news071497.html |title=PC Gamer's News Section |website=[[PC Gamer]] |access-date=2019-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19971012044939/http://www.pcgamer.com/news/news071497.html |archive-date=1997-10-12 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Reception==
''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' stated in February 1994 that ''Companions of Xanth'' was "a very funny game based on an interesting literary license", with "traditional adventure game puzzles".<ref name="cgw199402">{{Cite magazine |date=February 1994 |title=Taking A Peek |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=115 |magazine=Computer Gaming World |pages=212–220}}</ref> The magazine's [[Scorpia (journalist)|Scorpia]] was less positive in March 1994, criticizing the forced choice of Nada Naga as a Companion, puzzle quality ("uneven at best, and in some cases, downright poor"), and short playing time. She concluded that ''Companions of Xanth'' was "the weakest Legend game to date".<ref name="scorpia199403">{{Cite magazine |date=March 1994 |title=It's All Pun And Games |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=116 |author=Scorpia |magazine=Computer Gaming World |pages=70, 72}}</ref> In August 1994 the magazine said that ''Xanth'' "was somewhat weak as a game, but full of Piers Anthony-style humor".<ref name="wilson199408">{{Cite magazine
 |last=Wilson
 |first=Johnny L.
 |author=
 |last2=
 |first2=
 |date=August 1994
 |title=The Toxic Humormonger
 |department=
 |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=121
 |magazine=Computer Gaming World
 |pages=46–48
 |type=
}}</ref> The game was reviewed in 1994 in ''[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]'' #204 by [[Sandy Petersen]] in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.<ref name="Dragon204">{{cite journal
|title=Eye of the Monitor
|author=Petersen, Sandy
|author-link=Sandy Petersen
|journal=Dragon
|issue=204
|date=April 1994
|pages=59–62}}</ref>

==Reviews==
*''[[MikroBitti]]'' (Jan, 1994)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mbnet.fi/pelihalli/pelit/arvostelu.asp?peli=1264 |title=MBnet Pelihalli |access-date=2023-06-22 |archive-date=2005-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050123182300/http://www.mbnet.fi/pelihalli/pelit/arvostelu.asp?peli=1264 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*''Play Time'' (Feb, 1994)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=10218|title=Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!|website=www.kultboy.com|access-date=2023-06-22|archive-date=2023-04-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407224346/https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=10218|url-status=live}}</ref>
*''Quandary'' (Jul, 1996)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.quandaryland.com/jsp/dispArticle.jsp?index=143 |title=Companions of Xanth Review by Quandary |access-date=2023-06-22 |archive-date=2008-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080126074013/http://www.quandaryland.com/jsp/dispArticle.jsp?index=143 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*''Power Play'' (Jan, 1994)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=6482|title=Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!|website=www.kultboy.com|access-date=2023-06-22|archive-date=2023-04-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407224346/https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=6482|url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{MobyGames|id=/companions-of-xanth}}
*[http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/564776-companions-of-xanth ''Companions of Xanth''] at [[GameFAQs]]

{{Legend Entertainment}}
{{Xanth}}

[[Category:1993 video games]]
[[Category:Adventure games]]
[[Category:DOS games]]
[[Category:DOS-only games]]
[[Category:Legend Entertainment games]]
[[Category:Point-and-click adventure games]]
[[Category:Single-player video games]]
[[Category:Video games based on novels]]
[[Category:Video games developed in the United States]]
[[Category:Xanth]]