Hi-Res Adventure #2: The Wizard and the Princess

Last updated: January 9, 2026

Overview

Hi-Res Adventure #2: The Wizard and the Princess is a graphic adventure game written for the Apple II and published in 1980 by On-Line Systems¹. Designed by Roberta Williams and programmed by Ken Williams, this title is part of the Hi-Res Adventures series of early 1980s adventure games². The game is usually regarded as the first adventure game with color graphics and was definitely Sierra’s first color graphics game³.

The game is considered a prelude to the later King’s Quest series in both story and concept⁴. It was one of the first adventure games to feature color graphics, created using a simple line-drawing program with hand-drawn color graphics by Roberta Williams⁵. The game’s success helped Roberta and Ken Williams further develop Sierra On-Line and fund future projects⁵.

Game Info

Developer: On-Line Systems⁶ Designer: Ken Williams, Roberta Williams⁶ Publisher: On-Line Systems⁶ Platforms: Apple, Apple II, Apple ][, Atari 8-bit, C64, Commodore 64, DOS, FM-7, Fujitsu FM-7, IBM⁷ Release Year: 1980 Series: Hi-Res Adventure #2 Sierra Lineage: Core Sierra

Story Summary

The plot centers around King George’s daughter Princess Priscilla, who has been kidnapped by an evil wizard named Harlin, who holds her in his castle⁶. In exchange for half of the kingdom, the player decides to free Princess Serenia Priscilla from the hands of the evil wizard Harlin⁸. The game takes place in the land of Serenia, ruled by King George IV⁹. An evil wizard, Harlin the Malevolent, captured the fair Princess Priscilla and put up magical barriers to prevent the Wanderer from being able to save her⁵.

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

The player interacts with the game by entering simple commands to navigate, collect objects, solve puzzles, and interact with other characters to advance the story¹⁰. Players explore and manipulate objects by typing in one or two-word phrases such as NORTH or GET KNIFE¹¹. The game features a 2-word parser for text input¹².

Structure and Progression

The game is a text and graphics adventure where players must rescue a princess imprisoned by an evil wizard¹³. Players wander around the land of Serenia in search of a princess imprisoned by an evil wizard³. The game allowed saving game status to disk, which was an advanced feature for its time⁵.

Puzzles and Mechanics

The game features four-color interactive fiction with a split screen display showing both graphics and text¹². It combines traditional text adventure mechanics with early color graphics, representing a significant advancement in adventure game design for its era¹⁰.

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

Publication	Score	Notes
MobyGames	6.8/10	Overall rating6
MobyGames	46%	Alternative rating14
MobyGames Player Reviews	4.7/5	User rating15
MyAbandonware	4.22/5	Community rating5
GamePressure	4.6	User score8

Modern Assessment

The game received a rating of 5.5/10 from VGTimes¹⁶. The game sold over 60,000 copies, indicating strong commercial success for an early adventure game⁶. Modern retrospectives recognize it as a pioneering title that helped establish the graphical adventure game genre.

Development

Origins

Hi-Res Adventure #2: The Wizard and the Princess was written by Roberta Williams in 1980⁵. It was part of Sierra’s original ‘adventure’ game series and one of the first adventure games to feature color graphics¹⁰. The game was originally released for Apple II with 48K RAM requirement⁵.

Production

The game featured hand-drawn color graphics by Roberta Williams and was programmed by Ken Williams⁵. It was created using a simple line-drawing program and represented one of Sierra’s earliest graphics games with basic color graphics¹⁰. The game was part of the Hi-Res Adventure series that helped establish Sierra as a major game developer².

Technical Achievements

The game was groundbreaking as usually regarded as the first adventure game with color graphics³. For the PC version, the minimum requirements included an Intel 8088/8086 processor, 64 KB RAM, and CGA graphics support¹². The game supported various video modes including CGA, CGA Composite (16 colors), and Tandy/PCjr¹². Input was handled through keyboard only, with PC Speaker for sound¹².

Legacy

The game is considered a prelude to the King’s Quest series and helped establish many conventions that would appear in later Sierra adventure games⁴. It was part of the Hi-Res Adventures series that included 7 graphic adventure games total⁹. The success of this title was crucial in establishing Sierra On-Line as a major force in the adventure game market and provided funding for future, more ambitious projects⁵.

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

• GOG Dreamlist - Community wishlist

Download / Preservation

• MyAbandonware
• Internet Archive

Series Continuity

• Previous: Hi-Res Adventure #1: Mystery House
• Next: Hi-Res Adventure #3: Cranston Manor

References

Footnotes

1. Old Games Download – - Game description and publication details ↩

2. Hi-Res Adventure Omnipedia Wiki – - Series overview ↩ ↩²

3. Lysator Archive – - Historical significance and graphics innovation ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Wikipedia – - Series development history ↩ ↩²

5. MyAbandonware – - Development details ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

6. MobyGames – - Developer and publisher information ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

7. MobyGames – - Platform information ↩

8. GamePressure – - Game plot summary ↩ ↩²

9. Sierra Fandom Wiki – - Game setting details ↩ ↩²

10. PixelatedArcade – - Game mechanics description ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

11. SierraGamers – - Game interaction mechanics ↩

12. MobyGames – - Technical specifications ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

13. SierraGamers – - Game description ↩

14. MobyGames – - Platform-specific rating ↩

15. MobyGames – - Player reviews rating ↩

16. VGTimes – - Review rating ↩