The Chessmaster (SNES)
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- For other games in the series, see The Chessmaster.
The Chessmaster is a chess simulation game developed by The Software Toolworks and published by Mindscape.
In the game, the player takes on the computer, labelled as "The Chessmaster". There is no tournament mode and each game is an exhibition match. The player can also replace the Chessmaster with another human player if they wish.
The game has several different modifiers. The player can change the Chessmaster's difficulty from 16 different possible skill levels. The Chessmaster can also give hints, as well as . Unfortunately, the Chessmaster can take time to think of the best move, especially on harder difficulties, where the Chessmaster can take over 30 minutes for a single move. In such cases, the player can choose the "Force Chessmaster to Move" option to force the Chessmaster to make a move instantly upon command. The player can also watch two Chessmasters go head to head if they wish.
The game received mixed reviews. Some thought the graphics and gameplay were good, but others shunned the controls for things such as an extremely slow cursor. Another problem is on the 2D board, especially the one in the War Room, if the piece isn't placed exactly in the center of the square, it will either return with a message from the game saying it is an illegal move, or even worse, will go to an adjacent square you didn't intend to click on.
Screenshots
Music
The Chessmaster has very little to offer in terms of music. There is a single title theme, which can also be heard during a game of chess, but only if the player enables the background music. There are also many short fanfares that play during the game when a piece is moved, depending on the scenario. What is interesting to note is that the US and Japanese releases of the game have different music. While the title music is largely the same, the interludes in the middle were changed completely.
In addition, there is an unused song in both the Japanese and American versions, both of which are completely different from each other. The US version is a flute-led tune with a medieval sound to it, while the Japanese version goes for a jazzy saxophone-led tune.
Peter Stone wrote the music in Dr. T's KCS with his Ensoniq EPS workstation. The music was most likely arranged by Nick Eastridge.
Recording
| # | Title | Composer | Arranger | Length | Listen | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Welcome to Chessmaster (American) | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 1:56 | Download | |
| 02 | Welcome to Chessmaster (American Extended) | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 3:35 | Download | |
| 03 | Welcome to Chessmaster (Japanese) | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 3:28 | Download | |
| 04 | Unused Song (American) | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 1:13 | Download | |
| 05 | Unused Song (Japanese) | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 1:57 | Download | |
| 06 | Player Move | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 0:01 | Download | |
| 07 | CPU Move | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 0:01 | Download | |
| 08 | Captured Piece | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 0:01 | Download | |
| 09 | Promotion | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 0:02 | Download | |
| 10 | Check | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 0:01 | Download | |
| 11 | CPU Checkmates | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 0:01 | Download | |
| 12 | Player Checkmates | Peter Stone | Nick Eastridge | 0:02 | Download |
Credits
- Rippers: KungFuFurby
- Recorder: Doommaster1994
- Game Credits:
- Not Credited Composer: Peter Stone
- Not Credited Programmer: Nick Eastridge
(Source: Verification from composer; game lacks credits.)
The game has no in-game nor manual credits. Peter Stone listed the game on his old website. Because the game uses Nick Eastridge's sound driver, he likely handled the music arrangements and sound programming.
Game Rip
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SPC dumps are recorded during actual game play. Normally, the game uses the S-SMP hardware in a way where ripping SPC files is impossible. However, KungFuFurby reprogrammed the game's sound code so that SPC files could be dumped.
Releases
Links
- mobygames.com/game/32636/the-chessmaster/ - MobyGames.
- gamefaqs.gamespot.com/snes/563535-the-chessmaster - GameFAQs.
- Games Released In 1991
- Games Developed By The Software Toolworks
- No Amazon
- Games
- The Chessmaster (SNES)
- Games By Peter Stone
- Games By Nick Eastridge
- Games That Use SPC
- Games Released In USA
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System Games
- Games Published By Mindscape
- Games Released In Germany
- Games Released In Japan
- Games Published By Altron
