When did Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance release?

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance was first released on December 31, 1988.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance

Dec 31, 1988Role-playing (RPG)AdventureCommodore C64/128/MAXZX SpectrumAtari ST/STEDOSFM Towns

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance — frequently asked questions

What platforms is Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance on?: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance was released on Commodore C64/128/MAX, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST/STE, DOS, FM Towns, Amiga, Family Computer, Amstrad CPC, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System/Mark III, MSX, C64, MSX2, NEC PC-8801, 9801.
When did Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance release?: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance was first released on December 31, 1988.

About Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance

Heroes of the Lance is a side-scrolling action game. The game used actual Dungeons & Dragons statistics, with statistics for the characters exactly as they were in the rule books. Eight heroes from the Dragonlance novels series must be assembled for the quest, and only one is visible on the screen at a time; when one on-screen hero dies, the next in line appears.

Summary via IGDB.

Game details

Platforms: Commodore C64/128/MAX, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST/STE, DOS, FM Towns, Amiga, Family Computer, Amstrad CPC, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System/Mark III, MSX, C64, MSX2, NEC PC-8801, 9801
Developer: U.S. Gold
Publisher: U.S. Gold
Game modes: Single player
Themes: Action, Fantasy
Series: Dungeons & Dragons

Details via IGDB.

Reception

IGDB rating

35/100

from 14 ratings

Every version compared

Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release

Platform	Year	Loose	Complete	Sealed	Period reviews	Fake risk
Sega Master System	1991	$11	$45	—	2 reviews	Low (look-alike)

Also released on: Commodore C64/128/MAX · ZX Spectrum · Atari ST/STE · DOS · FM Towns · Amiga · Family Computer · Amstrad CPC · Nintendo Entertainment System · Sega Master System/Mark III · MSX · C64 · MSX2 · NEC PC-8801 · 9801. We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.

Collector value & authenticity

Sega Master System · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-28

Loose

$11

Complete

$45

Sealed

—

How often it sells

Loose: about 6 times a year
Complete: about once a month
Sealed: about once a year

Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-28.

Price over time

Loose
Complete

A loose copy sold for about $26 in Jan 2010, $13.55 five years ago, and $10.54 as of Oct 2026.

Show as table

Month	Loose	Complete
Jan 2010	$26	—
Jan 2011	$11.49	—
Jan 2012	$12.99	—
Jan 2013	$17.00	—
Jan 2014	$9.50	$17.00
Jan 2015	$27	$17.00
Jan 2016	$27	$18.27
Jan 2017	$27	$28
Jan 2018	$10.46	$16.10
Jan 2019	$10.41	$17.33
Jan 2020	$6.89	$13.00
Jan 2021	$14.65	$18.41
Jan 2022	$16.31	$18.48
Jan 2023	$14.16	$22
Jan 2024	$15.93	$26
Jan 2025	$12.43	$30
Jan 2026	$10.54	$32
Oct 2026	$10.54	$45

Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.

Release record

Territory	Date	Product number
Europe / PAL	December 1991	29003-50

Source: Product numbers: MAME's Master System software list and the No-Intro serial records in the libretro database, published only where both agree on the same cartridge dump; Japanese numbers also checked against Sega Japan's software list. Board and ROM numbers: MAME's software list

Region: EU
Released: 1991
Authenticity: Low

Modern re-releases, such as Sega Ages and Virtual Console, are not tracked hereLow look-alike risk

Sega Master System prices, all games & how to spot a fake

A Dragonlance action-RPG conversion that a UK magazine treated as a Christmas treat.

Heroes of the Lance is based on the first Dragonlance campaign module, Dragons of Despair, and on the first Dragonlance novel, Dragons of Autumn Twilight. The Master System version was developed by Tiertex and published by U.S. Gold, and released in Europe in December 1991.

Mean Machines previewed it in 1990 as an arcade-style role-playing game featuring the characters from the books, and in its December 1991 issue printed maps of the first levels along with tips.

What the press said at the time

Sega Master Force Issue 3	October 1993	68%
Sega Master Force Issue 5	November 1993	68%

“Billed as an RPG, it’s even an exaggeration to call this an arcade adventure. Send your band of eight adventurers in search of the Disks of Mishakal. Simple arcade combat and sluggish controls but bold graphics and a huge playing area.”
— Sega Master Force, October 1993

“Simple arcade combat and sluggish controls but bold graphics and a huge playing area. No save option, though!”
— Sega Master Force, November 1993

Also on other platforms

Amiga · Amstrad CPC · Atari ST · C64 · FM Towns · MS-DOS · MSX2 · NEC PC-8801 · 9801 · NES · ZX Spectrum

NES

Natsume

NES. The NES version was developed by Natsume.
NES. Seanbaby of Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked the NES version the 2nd worst NES game and the 11th worst video game.

Before you buy

The European cart is the one to buy. Loose, it sits just below the median for European-only carts, and the look-alike risk is low. Check the manual is there on a complete copy.