Ivanhoe

STORY / GAMEPLAY
King Richard -the bravest of all Knights- was kidnapped by his evil brother King John and imprisoned somewhere in Austria. One man must rescue the King and that man is the King's favorite Knight, Ivanhoe! There are many different lands to walk through. You start your quest in England, then to France, until you reach Austria. Your route is swarmed from evil enemies like pirates, muscled killers, vultures, archers etc who are willing to take you down with pleasure. You are armed only with a sword and a shield. Fortunately, both can be upgraded via bonuses. The shield can turn larger protecting more of your body while the sword can have the ability to spit fire! Your energy can easily decrease though, but you may find several special life potions when you knock down some foes. The game includes a horse riding stage in which you ride as fast as you can until you reach the end of the level, avoiding obstacles and killing incoming enemies. There are also a few bonus sequences where you engage in a one-Vs-one battle, but most of the main levels are based on side-scrolling hack 'n slash action. The impressive cartoon quality graphics only serve in masking the repetitive nature of the gameplay. The game is lacking play-ability. Swinging your sword at your enemies over and over again fails to extend your interest for too long I guess, although its few interesting variations like the horse riding section.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The game's visuals truly brilliant. I like the colorful backdrops as well as the nicely drawn sprites. The latter move a bit awkward though and the animation is not up to scratch, therefore lowering the appeal of the, otherwise superb, graphics. There is a large variation in both enemies and landscapes. Each stage has its own unique design while the bonus (one-Vs-one battles) feature even bigger sprites on-screen! The horse-riding stage scrolls extremely smooth and fast (I assume that this was an idea used a few years later on the Wrath Of The Demon game.) It's a pity that your character cannot jump diagonally rather than just vertically. This can be done only at the bonus one-Vs-one stages. Soundwise, the game is good, offering several nicely composed in-game tunes combined with a few sounds effects.

GAMEPLAY SAMPLE VIDEO
On our video below you may watch both the Atari ST and Amiga OCS versions of the game.