Amstrad Computer User
1st February 1986
Publisher: Melbourne House
Machine: Amstrad CPC464
Published in Amstrad Computer User #15
Fighting Warrior
Ancient Egyptian swashbuckling is what this one is all about. A sort of Tutankamun meets Godzilla. The screen goes all swirls like the start of 'Sorcery I' and dumps you in a Spectrum-sized playing area with some very clever flash bits around to make it look bigger. What it does, for those who care, is to split the screen border colour several times to give you back, mid and foreground colours while having the top half of the screen as a scrolling multi-colour background.
The piccies in the back are quite good, but have absolutely no effect on the game whatsoever as the action never gets that far. The really stunning bit in this game is the animation of the characters. These are wonderful and very realistic. Your Egyptian warrior is an animated masterpiece, two-tone but brilliant. His adversaries are just as good and come in several varieties, mostly based on Egyptian mythology but with one horrendous lizard creature in there. Mind you, the Egyptians had most creatures in their mythologies.
To rescue the (fairy tale?) princess in a temple, you have to hew your way through a host of these mythical monstrosities and watch them crumble to dust. You pass seven vases on the way which you can hack up as well. Some of these are good (giving you a shield or boosting your energy and some are downright, hostile (converting the next opponent into the godzilla clone).
When you get to the temple, every hack you make with your sword decreases your energy as well as the opponents. The trick is to cut him up outside the temple and then rush in. It always proved too much for me and the creatures leaped up and down with joy as I snuffed it.
A nice game to keep the kid brother quiet when he comes round, but not enough excitement around to bring me back to it too often. They needn't have bothered with the speedloader/anti-664 device.