Come and have a go if you think your hard enough! (Barbarian)

Member Name: dididave

Product:	Barbarian
Date:	03/10/05 (140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great two-player mode, good voiceover, intuitive varied moves.

Disadvantages: Poor graphics, severely limited one player mode.

What is it about scantily clad princesses and getting themselves kidnapped? A whole genre of games erupted as a result during the 1980's and beyond. Makes you wonder how heroes and computer game manufacturers would manage without the "damsel in distress" to chase.

You see this is the rather threadbare plot of "Barbarian". The Evil Sorceror Drax wants Princess Mariana and has sworn to wreak an unspeakable doom on the people of the Jewelled City unless she is delivered to him. However, he has agreed that if a champion can be found who is able to defeat his demonic guardians, the princess will be allowed to go free. All seems lost as champion after champion is defeated. Then, from the forgotten wastelands of the North, comes an unknown barbarian, a mighty warrior, wielding his broadsword with deadly skill. Can he vanquish the forces of Darkness and free the Princess? We must remember that this is the 1980's and plot is always an afterthought to the game itself. As such games had to excel in other areas.

"Barbarian" attempted to stand out from a crowd of two-dimensional beat em ups by the first in the genre to offer a truly tactical battle rather the button bashing gamers were used too. This game paved the way for titles such as Streetfighter and Mortal Kombat by providing an array of moves and intuitive controls.

Armed with a broadsword you take control of the mysterious Barbarian and must battle other Barbarians over four landscapes of forest, cave, dungeon and gladiatorial arena using imaginatively titled moves such as the web of death. It sounds dull and as a single player game it really is. On a static field of play against identical opponents the game is woefully simple to complete. Thanks to virtually no Artificial Intelligence the computer controlled character performs movies in predictable choreograph over only four levels of play that offer no variation or increase in difficulty.

Fortunately, this game is saved from a complete lack of use by its fantastic two-player versus mode. Obviously created primarily for this purpose two-players battling out makes for a far more interesting game. As you jump, roll, slash and parry your adversaries blows the array of moves and simplicity of gameplay draw you in.

A great two-player mode alone would not make this game a classic and in many ways this was the first game to value style over substance. However, for its time it was oh so stylish with little touches such as menacing voiceovers claiming "It's time to die" through your speakers and the ability to decapitate your opponent with an accurately time slash. The game was not without its humour either as an orc dragged your decapitated body away while using your head as a football.

Graphically this game was dated even for its time with little improvement from its original Commodore 64 release. Characters are very blocky although suitably "Conan" in appearance and moving fluidly enough this lead to some terrible collision detection were the computer always had the advantage if you both went for a head chop. Settings are also dull with only one colour dominating each background.

Sound is limited but there are some great effects such as the thudding of your head along the floor and clashing of swords giving the game a definite bloodthirsty edge. It was this edge that led to a storm of complaints from parents at the time but made this game a must own for children everywhere.

This is not a game that will last and is only really one for carting out for fifteen-minute nostalgic bursts with a like-minded friend. There is no doubt it made an impact at the time but even my rose-tinted glasses can see that there are better ways of spending money than this especially at the now inflated price of £19.95 (what mugs us retro collectors are). However, there are numerous ways of playing this via a PC for free either freeware or using emulation and for those with fond memories I do recommend you download this even if it is just to hear the cliched audio as you play.

http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/

Summary: This game has dated badly but for free its one to show the kids.