Warlock of Firetop Mountain (Fighting Fantasy Classics)

Long, long ago, when I was a kid, a family member gave me their used copy of the very first Fighting Fantasy gamebook. This marked my very first foray into Interactive Fiction. (I have another interesting story of how I played my first parser game, but that's a tale for another time.) Anyways... to the review.

The first gamebook serves as a foundation for the Fighting Fantasy system which other gamebooks in the series are built on. It's a simple but elegant system which provides a solid gameplay experience with a book, pencil and a pair of dice. This is the true prize this book offers: a fantastically simple system which gives it its place in history.

Now, for the bad. The premise is dumb. A powerful warlock with a massive treasure chest is minding his own business in his mountain home. As the 'hero' of the story, your job is to head in, kill him and take the treasure for yourself. Other Fighting Fantasy gamebooks have improved on this, but sometimes not by much.

The game is largely a mishmash of random dungeon style encounters, which do not quite build a coherent story about the warlock's residence. Enemies in the game are fairly forgiving in terms of skill checks (but this does not carry over to later books at all.) There are a few powerful enemies (stat-wise) in the game, but most of these (including the final boss) usually have alternate ways to beat them, so starting with low stats isn't strictly a killer.

This book is notable for being the one which started it all... but by itself, it's not a great entry in the series. Still, I read it again for the nostalgia, if nothing else.