North & South

There have been many games based on the American Civil War, but this one, created by French developer Infogrames, is by far the most fun.

With characters from the popular (in France) comic strip Les Tuniques Bleues, Infogrames crafted an excellent arcade strategy game.  The American Civil War was the setting and the game itself was similar in many ways to Cinemaware’s Defender of the Crown with the taking of territories being played out via sub-games.  Most of the battles were played on a single-screen battlefield with various obstacles to be negotiated – bridges, barricades, etc and with various weapons – infantry, cavalry and occasionally a cannon!

The animations were excellent and the action, far from being bloody, was depicted via the cartoon-like characters.  Overall the graphics were good for the time, and obviously drew heavily on the source material.

Linking up the territories was done using the major train lines which criss-crossed the country, allowing you to move men and gold around the map much more easily.  Though taking these territories was not so simple.  One of your soldiers had to hop aboard an enemy train and, hopping along carriages, take it.  Another sub-game had you running along fort walls, battling enemy soldiers and trying to take the fort from the inside.

The arcade games could be turned off if you wanted to keep it cerebral but they were a change of pace.

Also released on Spectrum (Crash Smash 96%), Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, NES, PC and Atari ST.