I've been replaying the NES version of Ultima 4, and I am wondering whether:
* Anyone else has played this particular version before, and
* What your thought on this version, which differs drastically from other versions are.

Anyway, I am playing as a Druid, and I just reached avatarhood, giving me 99 max MP. I also have the Wand, though that took a little while because money isn't as easy to get in this version.

Thoughts?

It's been ages since I've owned an NES and played that version of Ultima 4. The graphics are definitely more appealing. The version here on GOG has stick figure characters but seems to have more complex systems. I never did beat the NES version because the dungeons were just too hard.

Interesting; I have found that the NES version dungeons are much easier compared to those of other versions. In particular, I have noticed, compared to computer versions:
* No traps in dungeon hallways.
* Dungeon rooms are a lot simpler; some are actually re-used.
* The Abyss, in particular, is much easier. Again, rooms have been simplified (there's only one nasty trap exit to worry about, I believe), and a room I can call the "room from hell" (which has tons of reapers and some gazers; good night!) is not an issue in the NES version.
* After clearing a room of enemies, you can walk around it like you weren't in combat. This makes it much less painful to go to the next room when you have several characters in your party.

On the other hand:
* There's no Up and Down spells, so you actually have to go through each dungeon.
* There aren't as many chests in rooms.
* You do have to solo the Abyss. However, it actually isn't that hard if you have a decent ranged weapon and enough reagents ("herbs" as the game calls them). (Soloing the Abyss in other versions is quite a challenge, and if you haven't recruited all 8 companions, you get kicked out at the end.)

I actually wish there were a version like the NES version, but without the dungeons being simplified as much. I actually like the NES version's combat a lot better; less RNG, less having to get into position, and you can actually see the damage yu inflict. Also, no fleeing enemies.

If you want to solo the Abyss and still be able to complete the game, you could recruit everybody else and just let them die; while you need all characters to complete computer versions, they don't all need to be alive. I saw a speedrun of the Sega Master System version that beat the Abyss with 3 characters alive, and I suspect it might be faster with 1. (I note that this wasn't a very good run; the runner didn't seem to know the trick of being poisoned to avoid speep.)

(Also, IIRC, in the room before what I call the "room from hell", there's a sleep field that can remove your poison, and you *really* want to be poisoned for the "room from hell"; trust me on this. Fortunately, the Energy spell can be used to poison yourself.)

Anyway, some relevant differences in the NES version:
* The poison trick does not work; a poisoned character can be put to sleep. Also, note that poisoned characters take poison damage during combat and in dungeon rooms, though not in towns.
* After clearing a room, the game leaves combat mode and you can walk around the room just like you can walk around the overworld or a town. This eliminates the problem of navigating a whole party through the dungeon.
* There's no need to recruit everyone to beat the game. You do need to be an Avatar to enter the Abyss (which has no random encounters so you can't lose your Avatarhood there), as opposed to computer versions where the Avatar check is at the *end* of the Abyss.
* The Energy spell works differently; it's an attack spell (stronger than Fire but Weaker than Ice) that creates a 3x3 field of fire. Not useful for poisoning yourself (but there's not much point in the NES version), but very helpful for winning certain battles quickly, provided you don't care about EXP (and overworld encounters scale to your level, so you might want to stay at level 4).

By the way, if anyone is looking for an Ultima game to speedrun, the Sega Master System version of Ultima 4 could probably use some love, as the run on YouTube isn't that great. (I expect it to still be about 2 hours when optimized, however, which is a lot longer than most other games in the series.)

I've switched over to the Sega Master System version for now, and it is definitely interesting to play both versions back-to-back. I am having trouble finding a ship in the SMS version; in the NES version ships are very common once you reach level 4, but in the SMS version I am level 7 and a full Avatar, yet I *still* haven't found a ship!

A few quirks of the SMS version:
* You attack by choosing a target, just like in the NES version; this means you can fire diagonally and in other directions. Unlike the NES version, you can't shoot through walls or other enemies, however.
* The sling has limited range (something like 4 or 5 squares), but with maxed stats it is actually a pretty good weapon if you don't have something better. This does mean you may actually have to move during combat, however.
* For whatever reason, there's no first person view in dungeons. (The SMS is definitely capable of this; see Phantasy Star).
* You do need to mix spells ahead of time (unlike the NES version), but you can mix multiple copies of the spell at once.
* To get the White Stone, you need to search while riding the balloon, not while on the ground. (This means you can't Blink there and expect to be able to get the stone that way, whereas you can in the DOS version. This actually makes the Balloon required to complete the game.)

Incidentally, I did notice an NES version difference I didn't know about before:
* In the NES version, you only need to meditate for one cycle to reach partial Avatarhood; in other versions, it takes three.

I recently decided to try playing Ultima 4 NES as a solo mage, and the result was rather interesting.

In other versions, having a Sling and 40 DEX (at least enough to not miss) is good enough to get through the majority of combats reasonably quickly. Of course, getting the Magic Wand helps (especially in the SMS version where the Sling has limited range), but battles don't take too long without it unless I get lucky (even at 100% hit, damage is still very random). As a result, I don't need to use attack magic except for really big room encounters and situations where an enemy is about to steal my money. Furthermore, getting money is easy, so it doesn't take long to get the Wand (although there's still the problem of getting a ship).

In the NES version, on the other hand, the situation is very different. The sling is rather weak regardless of stats (50 INT (should be called DEX, but the stats are mislabled) helps, but my damage output is still consistently low), so it takes a long time to kill enemies until they get into melee (allowing me to use my Club). The Wand, while helpful, is not so easy to get; it costs 6500G, and money is much harder to get in this version. As a result, I find myself having to actually use my magic, and cheat the reagent sellers so that I can save up enough money to get the Wand (which, once obtained, will be completely game changing). Avatar comes only after I get the Wand. (This is in contrast to playing as a Fighter or Shepherd, or perhaps Tinker, where I would want Avatarhood early for the MP.)

I find it interesting how different the versions play when you're a solo mage; it's like they're entirely different games!