Moonstone: A Hard Day's Knight - Story of a Cult Amiga Classic | Kim Justice

Moonstone is a game that actually fits the bill of being unique -- it's a bit RPG, a bit beat-'em-up, a bit of tabletop...so many things. Plus lots of blood. It wasn't successful either critically or commercially in 1991, but it's become one of the Amiga's best loved games, and this is it's story. Enjoy!
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0:00 Intro + The Origins of Moonstone
2:36 Moonstone's Story + How to Play
5:32 The Combat of Moonstone
8:30 Summary of Moonstone
10:05 Why Was Moonstone Unsuccessful?
14:24 Moonstone's Legacy + Credits
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#kimjustice #commodoreamiga #retrogaming #amigagames

[@Kim_Justice]

What are your memories of the almighty Moonstone: A Hard Day's Knight? Is it still a game you love? Leave your comments, and thanks for watching. :)

[@Thunderpuddle]

This game was damn hard, but bugger me, I loved it. The memory of it has stayed with me for a long time. So much so, a few weeks back watched a complete walkthrough on KZbin!

[@markveganism5003]

Didn't have moonstone back in the day..I had an ste ..got it now on amiga 1200 maybe I'll give it a go now ..great video kim hope ur doing well 💗

[@DanVR001]

This was such an enjoyable game. I remember one game where I managed to kill the dragon by glitching underneath its head and just stabbing upwards until it was dead.

[@jctelo24]

I have great memories from this game. I was a bit hard for me, so never finished it, but still was great fun. The animation, sounds, ambience and gameplay where very good.

[@speedyreidy575]

A brilliant game - I remember playing this co-op, when your friend was injured and fell to their knees you could bounce daggers off their gleaming helmet.

[@ReubenCornell]

SO HAPPY you covered Moonstone. I'm still obsessed with this game.

[@Larry]

I'm surprised they never tried releasing a Mega Drive port of the game, especially as Technocop and Stormlord were snapped up for their gory-ness.

[@YukaTakeuchiFan]

Does seem a bit strange. Of course, the Mega Drive ports of Technocop and Stormlord are pretty good arguments against such an attempt...

[@lulukat1670]

To Big Mabey ???

[@thehumbleone1983]

I would have loved a Mega Drive port

[@Skelta75]

@@thehumbleone1983 Absolutely! Would be a great opportunity for a sort of remaster/director's cut:-)

[@YukaTakeuchiFan]

@@thehumbleone1983 Oh I agree, I saw a few longplays that made the game look pretty damn fun. I just wouldn't want it in the hands of the guys who ported Technocop and Stormlord.

[@Stalopicus]

Simple to play, hard to master. Recently I showed this masterpiece to some younger players and they were delighted. The kind of game that makes proud to belong to our generation.

[@warman]

OMG this game! Whole afternoons were lost with friends around it... Fond memories indeed!

[@jonpon69]

Whole days were lost waiting for it to load. Then crash. Then reload. Rewatch intro. Crash. Reload. Rewatch intro

[@DanHammonds]

It makes me laugh how modern weapon combat games have these ridiculously large super swords with jagged edges and fire spurting out of them and merely make your opponent flinch as if they'd been prodded with a garden cane. The weapons in Moonstone, on the other hand, felt vicious. They stabbed, sliced, skewered and decapitated! One of my favourite Amiga games of all time and one of the best multiplayer experiences ever.

[@leefr76]

Used to love Moonstone back in the early 90’s, still remember my mate screaming when a monster jumped out of the ground and instantly killed him!

[@Garthdon]

I was dead jealous of the Amiga over this game. Had an Amstrad CPC 464, and couldn't afford an Amiga, and seeing this on Gamemaster (or other shows at the time) I wanted to play this sooooo bad.

[@voffie]

Loved and played this to death back in the day. Managed to finish it, the hardest part being avoiding the bugs TBH. The mudmonsters drown attack was truly terrifying!

[@TruckerJenkins82]

This was the game that compelled me to badger my parents for 8 months in an effort to upgrade from the Sega Master System to the A500. It worked and this was the first game I played on it. I had the copied floppy disks in my top drawer for 5 months waiting patiently for that fateful day.

[@robtaylor5614]

Thanks for the shout out to Moonstone Tavern Kim - great to see the game finally get some Justice lovin’! 👍👏

[@bozmanga1]

Moonstone is such an awesome game. I wasn't aware that it didn't do well in terms of sale and recognition back in the day. It was quite well known in the Amiga circles around me. I remember that it was hard to master, but not impossible as one of the articles said. I've completed it many times. Sadly, I don't remember ever playing multiplayer. Besides that, many fond memories.

[@prophismusic]

I just pre ordered the Amiga mini, half thanks to watching your channel for so long. This channel is a gem!

[@parallaxview2143]

How are finding the mini? I'm enjoying mine but whd files can be buggy or run too fast.

[@facepalmjesus1608]

one of my favorite games ever! I wish there was a modern remake of Moonstone

[@_Meriwether]

The *_Unreal_* music in the intro demonstrated your enthusiasm straight away, great job with this vid.

[@roartjrhom4932]

One of my definitive favorite games from back in the day! I will never forget when I got smashed to pieces by those monsters with wooden logs! I went "oh....woow...this is AMAZING" And I agree 100% this has really stood the test of time! Very good video Kim! Only one complaint! Would love this video to be much longer! 😜 😉

[@ThePerradox]

Great video about one of the Amiga titles that I have so much nostalgic love for. Never owned an Amiga but borrowed from friends on a few occasions. The music, the atmosphere. The loading messages The gore, yes, but it was just a little bit of what made me come back to this dark world. Thanks Kim.

[@christianjdenning]

Yes!!!!! Moonstone is an absolute classic, nothing else ever like it

[@Sergiovsousa]

I had a pirated copy of the game so it was really frustrating when it crashed during a longplay. I figured out that while the enemies had all their own behaviour on attack ( some were way dificult then the others and some can kill you instantly ), the worst thing one could make was to play first the easy ones, because they increase in quantity the longer one took to raid their lairs, and as so I always pick first the hardest creatures as it was way less dificult to fight just one instead of ten at the same time. Also me and my cousin loved to beat the crap of each other. This was one of the last games I played seriously way back 1993, just entered college and a my first girlfriend to take all my time. I was happy, I just didn´t knew it :(

[@wingleburt3146]

I swear down I was telling my missus yesterday about you yesterday and love watching your vids. Then I was telling her about amiga copy party’s and this game had the most discs lol. Weird as fuck. Keep going Kim!!! I love all your videos xxx

[@ManicRay]

I loved this game. Me and my friends spent so much time on it. It's a pity it was a was a very buggy game. I hope they do a sequel :)

[@arnoldbreach]

I was always rather partial to Moonstone. I’m glad to see it get the recognition it deserves:)

[@Meta_Mage]

As a kid I was too scared of ever going into the swamp areas to be honest. Strong memories of this game.

[@jamesstaggs4160]

Being American and raised in a family of more humble means, I always longed to play games like this when I was a kid. I got a C64 in maybe 1988 to go along with my NES, so seeing a game like Moonstone in an advertisement or review gave me the equivalent of gaming blue balls, since I'd never even seen an Amiga for sale in any store let alone an actual game for one. God bless emulation for letting me try out these old games that have a look and feel you simply can't get with anything made in the 21st century.

[@regnsloja]

here in sweden, every time i meet someone who had an amiga i'll say "remember moonstone?" and they'll light up and go "YES"

[@Ilovegirlotsandlots]

I mentioned Moonstone to you back during one of your live streams. Thank you so much for reviewing it. A magical world that I was so grateful to lose myself in for an afternoon in the 90’s. Hope one day fans make a sequel.

[@Jonacci]

Loved to play this hotseat with my friends and big brother. So many nostalgic memories, it’s a shame modern games don’t give this same feeling anymore…

[@gateroozeink5061]

Thanks for highlighting this amazing game, Kim! I pined for this game for years after seeing it in Amiga Power, but only got it near the end of my time with the Amiga (I was in Australia, so harder to get). Loved it have never found the time to play it more...

[@goterdamerung]

Oh, how i love this game. Moonstone, Legacy of Sorasil, Darkmere and Lemings are my absolute favorites on amiga. Now with A500Mini it will be played a lot :D

[@otherreality]

three or four kids, friends, playing this on my A500 in my room back in the early 90's...is something I can never forget!

[@Kimfakkel]

This is the Amiga game i played the most as a kid. Love moonstone. Greetings from Denmark.

[@Powersnufkin]

My favorite game as a kid and it was my entry point to fantasy, DnD etc.

[@Sabre_Wulf1]

Utterly amazing game on amiga. Moonstone had me captivated for years. The wizard in the tower was very lord of the rings, and never completed it, but thumped hours into it back in the day.

[@RetroGamebloke]

Once you got decent at the combat mechanics it was fairly easy to beat. Just work your way to the centre and wait for the knights to arrive. Then chop their head off and grab their loot! Certainly a better bet than exploring TOO much and getting murdered by some of the the more aggressive wildllife :)

[@Sabre_Wulf1]

@@RetroGamebloke i think it was the swamps that got me. Iused to get about halfway...and death occurred 🤣👍. I used to love that start up movie too with the druids. I remember being blown away by it at the time. I was selling amigas in a shop back in the day, moonstone and shadow of the beast, and... lsd docs public domain demo 'budbrain' and 'chaos' were what i used to demo as the system seller in the shop.

[@RetroGamebloke]

@@Sabre_Wulf1 Moonstones intro was top class at the time. Good music and visuals and all from floppy!

[@bjornh1527]

Moonstone was a very popular set of pirated disks on Sweden. The game crashed when entering the central region, but the gory battles and moody music fascinated anyway. The swamp monsters are genuinely terrifying!

[@Nayson]

Moonstone is an all time classic. I bloody loved it.

[@DangerMoo]

Awesome game, never managed to finish it. I could not defeat the Dragon or the Black Knight. The only bit of the map I felt comfortable dealing with was the forest. The swamp area I remember being the hardest of all. Fun times 😁

[@Fluff1986]

Amazing, one of my favourite retro gaming you tubers covers one of my most fondly remembered amiga games, can't wait to give it a proper watcb

[@ellinorengstrom5226]

I keep getting surprised by how much i appreciate your videos. Keep up the good work. They are all really good.

[@jonnya4209]

Was something you heard about on the wind "have you played/seen Moonstone?". The horrific noise of those beasts off screen pounding the ground about to charge you filled me with a nameless dread.

[@moonstonewarlock]

Many hours have been spent in this wonderful game in the good old Amiga days, it was a great time! 😎

[@danielkarlsson258]

This game was so awesome! And it was huge, at least in our area in Sweden. I had abad copy of it though so it always crashed at some point. But I did get to finish it eventually. Thanks for a great upload! 👍

[@LucatheDingo88]

Moonstone sort of reminds me of another game that came out in recent years on modern gaming devices, That game being Armello. both games feel like digital adaptations of Tabletop RPGs for one thing. There not quite the same as the big difference is Armello has anthro animals and isn't nearly as gory as Moonstone was, but I feel like it improves on the concept that Moonstone was attempting. For one Armello has a long list if unique characters with there own stats and abilities, the combat is decided through dice rolls as well as a combination of various other stats, you have ingame cards that function as character equipment/spells/and additional party members, not to mention the game has an online multiplayer component. It feels like the next logical evolution of what Moonstone set out to do.

[@ManawatuFlyFishing]

I could never get my head around the combat when I was a kid

[@TheAmigaFan]

Loved this game when it first came out. Years later when I had an emulator this was one of the first games I played.

[@CheekyCommodoreGamer]

One of my favourite Amiga games of all time :) Thanks Kim, great video

[@willrobinson7599]

Loved this back in the day. The hack and slash was great fun .loads of blood and brilliant graphics. Will deff be adding to the mini amiga 500 when it turns up in April

[@bearandchicken5759]

Great review! I remember this game used to crash on my A500 sometimes. Love the quality of your videos Kim!

[@featuremusic8354]

So glad you have covered this classic. Thanks Kim! :)

[@stormshadow2k]

About time you got around to this game. I remember you saying you never played it much back in the day? Still play this on my emulator and loooved it as a kid.

[@MrTomFTW]

As a kid I had a boxed copy of Moonstone. I remember a lad from school came round to play, asked to borrow it (which I allowed) and then never spoke to me again. Ah the regrets - I still own all my Amiga games from back then so I'd still have it if it wasn't for that lad that I don't even remember the name of. I never really got into it though, I remember it being too hard for me.

[@IceRickle]

We need a moonstone remake!!

[@fabiankoenig6499]

Banning Moonstone only made it more desirable, and the pirated version was widely circulated in Germany. I remember playing it with my older brother and later on, when I got his old Amiga, with my friends from school. Multiplayer was incredibly fun, and it's one of my favourite games on the system, really a classic.

[@alexstokoe2542]

Brilliantly-timed video Kim: I've just finished reading Ivanhoe.

[@yozza4978]

Moonstone was so good, i remember when me and my friends first started playing this, we got our asses beat by almost every mob, and the dragon was terrifying, but once you figured the moves it was just a race to be the first to get the sword of sharpness lol.

[@Tossphate]

Great retrospective of a game I've never heard of- good work old chum

[@effehezepe1808]

This game is absolutely begging to get a spiritual successor.

[@youreallyplaythat]

Another Kim Justice video! I love these!

[@oanousiourgos7654]

I remember playing this game as a kid. I didn't even know about the leveling up.I loved it. Even if it kicked my butt every time.

[@jdgonzo1982]

Moonstone, Harlequin, Apidya, Wizkid and Darkseed still excite me today...amazing games!!!

[@rotazd]

Any seasoned player of Moonstone is aware of the absolute fuckery fighting two spearmen. Plus the palpations experienced fighting against the mud monsters.

[@luobomu9747]

Yes! If you weren't careful you'd end up getting one on each side of the screen and they could basically stun-lock you by taking turns to attack. The swamp monsters were more lethal though. And scarier!

[@rotazd]

Two spearmen was guaranteed to lose a life or two.

[@handznet]

This game always frustrated me so much. It was exactly the kind of game I wanted to play but it was too hard to play :)

[@fishy7901]

Never been able to finish this game, but still return to it.

[@imaca6538]

Good to see you back Kim, hope you’re ok

[@jedblade2010]

Saw this and got excited!

[@caspar17]

Great timing to turn on KZbin and see you posted this video 39 seconds ago. Loved this game as a lad but could never get very far in it.

[@tonyp3824]

Absolutely LOVED this on the Amiga.

Great review!

[@murkyseb]

Another very interesting video, great job it looks like an interesting game

[@midwestmonster9886]

For an early 90s game, that dragon is incredible.

[@agrigorulez]

Spend many hours playing this. Still remember all tricks how to fight all kinds of monsters.

[@hungrysparrow]

Loved this game on PC. The mudman was terrifying!

[@djcactus]

Can't believe I had an Amiga for so long and never heard of this

[@Sinisteve]

Top video Kim Love this game, had fond memories of it bitd with friends playing a copied version as I never remembered seeing an original for sale… Then in around 2005 I tried to find one when I started buying back all my Amiga games I had, but couldn’t remember the name of it🙄then when I finally found something online it said it was one of the most sought after Amiga games out there and expect to pay around £80!😳😳 I couldn’t believe it as i was picking Amiga games up for 99p on eBay back then I finally found 1 not far from me for £40 a few years later so snapped it up Owned about 5 more since and upgraded it where I could…owed 3 at one point at the same time as I’ve found it cheap quite a few times Masterpiece of a game

[@dacanesta]

Star Control is another that deserves some hindsight love!

[@Trollkonto]

One of my top 5 games on the Amiga, absolutely amazing and so fun in multiplayer. It's too bad noone have made a remake of it, perhaps with a bit more depth or more game modes.

[@bikesnmore]

Loved this game, nice work mate

[@McRcFly]

Great video 👍 Loved this game and still do

[@GeordiLaForgery]

Never heard of this one looks great thanks Kim. 👍

[@zion6680]

Was actually fortunate enough to try this game twelve years ago even though I hadn't even been born yet when it came out

[@bcleary2000]

Used to to love playing this with my mates, the pvp was fun and then beheading each with the dagger was funny to watch.

[@HughDingwall]

I feel like the hybrid style of gameplay is really an 80s/90s thing. Sword Of The Samurai has a mix of turn-based strategy, RTS, empire-building, and real-time combat.

[@MyNigellus]

What a concept of open world rpg but not too big or complicated. I wish games today were like that :)

[@infesticon]

This is the amigas streets of rage. Love this crazy game.

[@dacanesta]

Also, as a 15 year old it was hilarious to read that one loading screen warning as 'Beware the fierce bollocks of the northern wastelands'.

[@lifeisagame2023]

This game is still one of my favourites

[@cloudtx]

I've never been too interested in the Amiga so this might be the first time one of its games looks so appealing. It kinda reminds me a bit of the original Diablo and I love that game.

[@TheBeird]

Man this brings back memories, though oddly, of a demo disk my brother played when I was nought but five years old. Thereabouts

[@BrimarBrimar-gv5lc]

I don’t know this game but I just love to hear your voice Kim , thank you for your content

[@CorporateComedy]

looks bloody great!

[@TanyasFaith]

I remember watching my dad and my brother play this and I always thought it was really scary as a kid. 😁

[@watdaduckfuk]

Honestly this is one of those classic gems that might benefit form a remake. It reminds me of hands of fate with it being going through a map and having 3D combat.

[@4ppleseed]

No mention of the mutliplayer? That was the best bit :D 4 players huddled around a keyboard and some joysticks lobbing off each other's heads. Great back in the day!

[@agentcarbunkle]

when you discovered you could give Danu just ordinary daggers for for extra lives was the best discovery ever

[@evo5dave]

Loved this game back in the day. I do see M to remember one or 2 game destroying bugs though

[@JIMBO8472]

This needs to be on steam.

[@shan2752]

Thanks for the great video. I loved this game as well in the US back in 1992. Never finished it though as the cracked copy I had would crash near the end at random. I understand that the game is buggy. The WHDLoad install supposedly fixes some of the bugs.

[@RespectTheLogos3]

We covered Gremlin, Psygnosis, Ocean, US Gold, Bitmap Brothers, System 3, Team17, Cinemaware, Ultimate Play the Game, Bullfrog, Codemasters and Core Design. What’s next? Mastertronic? Virgin Interactive? Rare Ltd? Elite Systems? Hewson Consultants? Rebellion? The Sales Curve? Stainless Games?

[@RaceWithDevil1]

One of the best of the bests from west and east....RemenbeRing 'mine wasted years'.

[@haveanotherpinacolada]

Never heard of it. Looks brilliant, exactly the sort of thing i would have loved as a kid.

[@tommylakindasorta3068]

Wow, I've never heard of this one. Fascinating. As an American, I'm not surprised that the extreme violence/gore scared our retailers away. There was still a strong "video games are for kids" vibe going on here at that time.

[@YukaTakeuchiFan]

~checks some dates~ ...Yeah, it would've had a year at best before it got swept up HARD in the major controversies of the time - it would absolutely have sat beside Mortal Kombat at the table; I've seen videos of Moonstone's death scenes.