C&VG


Conquestador

Publisher: Melbourne House
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #61

Conquestador

Take that varlet! And that! And that! But I'll have this copy of Conquestador, thank you very much. Why? Because it's really neat, fun to play and awesomely addictive!

Which is all very strange really as Conquestador, programmed by Erbe software from Spain, isn't very original in its design or even its theme. It just looks very nice and plays even better.

Enter the world of Conquestador and you become Redhan, battle-scarred champion of a thousand conflicts. Armed only with a bow and a limited supply of arrows, Redhan is on a quest to find the blazing Star Stones taken from the world by the Lord of Magicians, Kulwoor, and hidden in his mountain citadel.

Conquestador

Redhan has to explore the citadel in search of 40 caskets which may, or may not, contain the jewels he seeks. Some give him extra weapons, others have beneficial potions, but some contain horrible curses which can do things like turn him into a pid. I quite liked being the pig, I must admit.

The magician's slave warriors fill every room and cavern. Redhan can zap them with his bow - but as arrows are in short supply it's a good tactic to try and kill them by jumping on their heads. It works - believe me! There are also dodgy creatures which scuttle about the lower regions of the castle to deal with.

And then there's the brooding, fire-breathing dragon Glaurung and Kulwoor the Master Mage to deal with...

You'll find yourself getting killed off pretty easily to start with - this is a deceptively easy-looking game to play.

However, although it may look like every other arcade adventure you've played, it turns out to be much faster than you think it's going to be!

Jumping about the many platforms of the many rooms is easy. Redhan has a real spring in his step, which means no frustrating attempts at leaping to that all-important ledge when a nasty is coming at you.

The graphics are large, colourful and well drawn. Hardly any colour clashes at all. Animation isn't bad.

Beware of the little green bowmen - they shoot at you on sight. A good tactic is to let them shoot at you and then leap out of the way of the arrow. Zap them with one of your arrows when you land. Conquestador is a classic arcade adventure which would grace even the most choosy gamesters collection. It looks good, sounds good, and by golly it does you good!