"I couldn't begin to tell you about this game in such a small box. So.........."

Blackthorne is an SNES action/adventure game from Interplay/Blizzard Entertainment released in the summer of 1994 that was translated from the 1993 PC version (sans blood). I played it a few times when it first came out, but didn't know what the **** I was doing, so on to the review.....

On the distant planet of Tuul, King Vlaros was the ruler as hundreds of his ancestors were in generations past. All um- Tuulians lived in great peace and harmony for centuries. But the debonair dynamos and denizens were dumbfounded when dual descendants to the throne were born. It was a very unique and quizzical predicament to their pedigree. Years later, the king decided to find out which of them was more intelligent by giving them tests and tasks. But there still weren't any undisputable results as to whom was the superior. Out of desperation, the king escorted the twins to Sands of Sorrow to see who would last the shortest time there, but to everyone's dismay, it turned out to be the KING. However, King Vlaros's essence and wisdom was somehow transferred into two gems- the Lightstone and the Darkstone. Those happened to be the two stones that each descendant returned home with. Since it ended up as a standoff again, both heirs just decided to go their separate ways.
One ruled a kingdom named Androth northward, the other had one named Ka'dra'suul past the south side of the desert (neither ruler had a name). It turned out that the Darkstone was severely depleting Ka's Xandralite (the planet's power/light/heat source) and even mutating many of them to Demon-like peoples! To make things even worse, an ambitious soldier named Sarlac rallied people to his side and carried a coup d'etat to an already turbulent regime. But Sarlac didn't stop there, he wanted more. More Xandralite, more men, and more POWER. Since the two kingdoms had no connections with each other since King Vlaros ruled years ago, the Androthi were ill-prepared for the second regicide Sarlac had devised and executed for THEIR kingdom. The Androthi were then used as slaves to mine and dig for Xandralite with Sarlac's armed soldiers (Graggs and Whar'orks) breathing down their necks. One prisoner was at the name of Kyle Blackthorne. Blackthorne was the most ruthless and cunning of the few Androthi soldiers (he had also hidden on Earth for a while). To make a long story (fairly) short, Blackthorne knocked a few soldiers out, stole one of their rifles and made a break for it to hook up with Galadril, Vlaros' sorcerer at the end of the mine so Gally can set Kyle on the path for peace (which happens to be war).

The basic moves Kyle has are walking, running, jumping/hanging, hiding, quick rolling, drawing his gun, shooting, and ostentatiously shooting behind himself. He can also acquire items to help him; including a few varieties of bombs (one that's in the form of a remote-controlled flying wasp), a recovery potion, a few kinds of keys (one that makes laser bridges), and a levitator (also a sort of laser Kyle can stand on, only vertical). As the stages progress, Kyle gets a few upgrades to his rifle. From a shotgun-style rifle to a simi-automatic rifle and so on. Items can come from some allies, adversaries or just in the middle of the freakin' ground.

OVERVIEW I

GAMEPLAY: 8

While this is a 2D game, the concept of it is likely to make many players think Tomb Raider (and Flashback for the more hardcore, which is a lot closer in concept)- jump, hang on to a few ledges, avoid traps, take out a few jabronies, grab the key, go back, open the door, take out a few more jabronies and the cycle persists. Most of the fights go like cop show shootouts- let off a few, hide in the corner, the enemy lets off a few then HE hides in the corner and so on, but this one isn't a cycle since you can both only take but so many shots. So if you think this is just another run forward and shoot everything that moves game, you're sadly mistaken- or happilymisteken if you're yearning for something different.

While the intentions are clearly good, the control can testily turn truly torpid at taut times (read: it can be a *****). It takes far too long just to do simple little things like turn around and duck. But I guess it's all quite necessary since there are a LOT of ledge-jumps and such on this game. Responsive control would probably just make you fall off a lot more cliffs. I like the way you can do about 10 moves with just four buttons , but the only use I found for the behind-the-shoulder shots is to shoot my allies by accident.

DESIGN: 9+

Some of the items are very intriguing. I especially like the remote-controlled wasp bombs. Some sections make you solve puzzles, but nothing mind-boggling. Kyle often runs across fellow Androthi in which he can talk to them like you do on RPG's. Some offer weapons, some give potions/keys and tips while others just indulge in meaningless blurb. Every level is almost completely different. The first is a mining camp full of Androthi prisoners that are cuffed to the wall. They often end up in the line of fire when Kyle shoots out with the Graggs. But on the second level, a few Androthi fight withyou! Mainly against Andromedogs. They are basically Uncle Tom Androthi to Kyle's insurrection. Kyle later goes on to fight Golems, spider mines (which look and move like one would imagine), traps, carnivorous plants and a few ''upgraded'' enemies with alternate colors that take more hits than the earlier versions. Sarlac is the only boss on the game, but he ain't no joke. Despite the limited enemies, you'll never notice that much because of the excellent level design.

GRAPHICS: 8

My my. Interplay sure knows their mountains. The backgrounds are quite impressive in most cases. I especially like the sparkling Xandralite on the first level. The other backgrounds are a bit too typical to me. Things like (weirdly) blue-shadowed mountains (and brown ones a bit closer) and clouds. The human-style characters are normal aside from their long hair. Others like the green Graggs look like goblins. I like the Whar'ork beast, which look like blue boars. However, this game is a bit on the morbid side. In fact, a LOT on the morbid side. This game just has a very dark theme. Nevertheless, they're still necessary to set the mood better.

SOUND: 8+

Everything sounds realistic- the explosions from Kyle's bombs, the firing of the rifles and even walking and landing on his feet! Not even the lasers sound bad! You can also hear some grunts when Kyle makes a very hard jump, or when Kyle gets hurt. Speaking of which, the Graggs do a ridiculous Butt-head-style laugh whenever they hit you (they stand out in the open when they do that, by the way). There isn't a bad sound or voice on the game, but they just aren't abundant enough.

MUSIC: 6

I normally like atmospheric music, but the music of this game is a bit too atmospheric for my tastes. There's only one level on the entire game with upbeat music. I love that second level track with the jungle drums mixed with ''snake-charming'' music. The rest is just slow and slightly synthesized electric guitar music. I only time I noticed it was when I got lost. That tells me something (other than that I suck).

CHALLENGE: 8/COOLNESS IN CHALLENGE: 8

Throughout the entire game, there probably won't be any point where you'll think it's too easy. There's a chance that you might think it's too hard in a few places. But all that matters to me is that I only got lost once or twice my in whole time playing. And those weren't for any more than 10 minutes. The enemies don't get TOO tough until the last level when they start using beefed-up versions of everybody in one place. My least favorite thing about the game is backtracking. You have to do it nearly every time you get a new key or a levitator. And all you do is run through a large trail of bodies while making those same crazy last-second jumps you did the last time. It's likely that you'll get so tired of backtracking at times that you'll do very impetuous heroics to try to get where you're trying to go more quickly. That often results in a very frustrating death.

REPLAY VALUE: 5+

The game is pretty long- about a month's length for the average player (or the player that just sucks at adventure games ^__^). It has 5 levels with three sub-levels on each. That makes 15+. The passwords can take you to the start of any you wish, but only the start. Every sub-level will take a while to beat, and you may just start playing something else for a while if you die right near the end of a level. But no matter how hard it may seem, it's never even close to impossible. My second most hated thing about this game is how there is so much plot build-up (the instruction book story is 19 pages!) it has so little of a result in the actual game. But I won't spoil what little there IS to spoil. I don't think you'll want to be coming back to this one until about two years later overall.

OVERVIEW II

EFFECTS FROM THE LIGHTSTONE

*the enthralling adventure gameplay
*a nice amount of technique
*fairly distinct levels
*the timing-based gunfights
*the dark mood of the game is different enough
*well- you feel pretty damn proud when you finally beat certain levels!

EFFECT FROM THE DARKSTONE
*sluggish control
*only one boss
*not enough plot and no secrets

KEY MOMENT

The battle with Sarlac. Or should I say the 100 battles you'll HAVE with Sarlac.....

WORD TO THE WISE

Here's a cheap way (that MY brilliant mind devised) to beat any Graggs and Andromedogs: hide in the corner until after they're finished shooting for a while, then duck and roll until you end up behind them. From there, they'll jump out ready to fire at nothing like idiots. Then they'll turn around to a pretty unpleasant sight..........

SAY WHAT?

This was also released on the 32X. Oh, and the human-like characters can take more shots than the large, hulking mutants- and only two shots less than the stone golems. Hmmmm.

OVERALL: 8

This is a solid adventure game that probably won't let you lock it away until you've beaten it. It can be frustrating at times, but it's well worth the price in the end.

THE FEKKOT AWARD

Best 2D adventure game for the SNES (yes I know about Super Metroid- what about it?).

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/01, Updated 01/22/01