North & South
North & South is a combined strategy and action game released in 1989 for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST and ported later for NES, Amstrad CPC, MSX, DOS and ZX Spectrum. It was developed and published by Infogrames.
North & South is an offshoot of the Belgian comic series Les Tuniques Bleues (by Raoul Cauvin and Louis Salverius/Willy Lambillotte, from Dupuis) which is based on the American Civil War. The player basically acts out the Civil War, choosing to play as either the North or the South. The player may choose to start the game year from 1861 (the year the Civil War erupted) to 1864. Each year has a different array of armies and states that each side starts with.
North & South contains a lot of humorous elements. For example, it features parodies of national anthems, which are accessible when the player selects one of the different languages supported by the game: (English, French, Spanish, German or Italian). In addition, the game is filled with numerous comical situations and gags.
Taking an extremely simplified board interface, the game features a strategic map of the USA separated into states and territories, where army units are moved around. In each state which 'owns' a railway station, there is a fort, the capture of which leads to the player overtaking the whole state. Otherwise, capturing a state involves simple movement, unless there is another army 'on' the state. Armies can be reinforced in two ways. By turning on an option at the main menu the player controlling the state of North Carolina will get periodic reinforcements by ship. Also, railways generate money which in turn generates soldiers. Moving their army units, the player may expand westwards into unoccupied territory. If two antagonistic armies clash, it will result in a battle. There is an option on the main menu where the player can turn off in-game missions and battles to make it purely like a board game. Whenever opposing armies meet in board-game mode, the results of the battles are left to chance, with the outcome weighted towards the larger army. Either army may retreat from these battles. Whenever a side attempts to capture an enemy fort or rob a train, the result is also randomised.
How to play:
Click on the joystick icon in the North & South online emulator to see how to control the North & South game
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