The Black Cauldron follows in the tradition of Sierra's classic adventure games with great results.
You play the role of a young boy names Taran, who is the pig keeper on the farm of an old enchanter named Dallben. Taran dreams of one day becoming a great warrior and leaving the farm. It is discovered that Hen Wen, (the pig he cares for), has clairvoyant powers, and foretells the prophecy of an evil undead being known as the Horned King, who is searching for the Black Cauldron, an object that will grant him unstoppable power. It is decided by Dallben that you must get Hen Wen to safety, in order to prevent the King from using her to locate the Cauldron.
As previously stated, the game looks and plays nearly identical to Sierras King's Quest and Space Quest games, with the exception of the F key commands instead of the more complex type driven commands to interact with the world. The story was well done, and fit within the confines of the game nicely. You come across colorful characters such as Princess Eilonwy, a small furry creature named Gurgi, an old eccentric lute player named Fflewddur Fflam, several fairy like beings known as the Fair Folk, and three witches in possession of the Black Cauldron.
The graphics for the game were quite beautiful for the time. Remember, this was 1986, so 2-D sprite drawn graphics were the norm. I personally thought this game looked better, and had better art than the first 3 King's Quest games. The music was also well done, taking into consideration that games of the period only had two or three channel sound! I remember playing this on my Dad's old IBM Pc Junior at age 13, loving the sound effects. : )
If you aren't nostalgic, and don't appreciate puzzles and the much simpler gameplay of these 80's adventure games, you likely won't get any enjoyment out of The Black Cauldron. The story progresses by moving from screen to screen and gradually interacting with the games characters and objects. Back then, there weren't any FAQS, cheat codes or maps telling you where to go and when. I remember sometimes months would go by before my father or I would be able to figure out a puzzle or command in a certain part of the game that stumped us. That was the beauty of these old games. As frustrating as they could be, the joy and satisfaction of solving those parts overrided all the negatives.
The Black Cauldron stands proudly alongside Sierra's other offerings of the the period, and is a classic. Charmful characters, beautiful sprite drawn graphics, challenging puzzles and multiple endings will keep admirers of these old school adventure titles hooked till the end.