 |
 |
|
|
Switchblade was designed and coded by the self-taught British programmer Simon Phipps; who had already cut his teeth on games such as Saint and Greavsie and Rick Dangerous 1 on the Amiga, and would go on to release screen gems such as Rick Dangerous II, Bubba N' Stix, Wolfchild, and much later the Harry Potter series on the various console platforms. The game, released in 1989 on the Sheffield based Gremlin Graphics label, will happily run on a stock A500 and requires no extra hardware to play.
As the title screen appears we get to see a few clippings of animation which serve to promote the back-story of the game. Apparently, it all revolves around a guy called Havok, who's been 'asleep' for a hundred thousand years - that's quite a lie in! Upon awakening he immediately destroys all the folks who may be of any threat to him - the Blade Knights - as well as the only weapon in the known universe that could do any damage to him - the Fireblade. But oh dear, he has inadvertently left one Blade Knight standing - Hiro (Hero, get it?), who was on vacation exploring the surface of the planet at the time. As Hiro, we must travel around the remains of the underground city of 'Undercity' and locate the 16 fragments of the Fireblade Havok has scattered and hidden in the area; with the ultimate aim of kicking his butt with it.
No Knife Required
A quick press of the fire button sees us take control of Hiro as he wanders around the surface of a big, red, dusty planet. To begin with we only have one line of attack in the form of whatever martial arts skills we can come up with. By holding down the fire button we can punch, high kick, and low sweep, and these are performed automatically depending on the status of the 'Combat Power' meter located at the bottom right of the screen. The more we hold down fire, the higher this bar will climb, and with higher power comes more powerful effects. From the start screen we can walk left or right as we search for the entrance to Undercity. If we go left we find several fires burning on the ground, and these must be very skilfully jumped over to reach a hidden mine of the other side; which contains a bonus letter and a weapon.
There are many boxes and hidden gems to be found during the game, and by punching and kicking our way through them we may find bonus letters; which eventually spell out the word BONUS to give us a points boost, and EXTRA to give us an extra life. There are also a number of weapons to pick up: such as a Scorchball (very weak), Darts (better), Spinblades and Bullets (good), and the Tri-spike (best), and holding down the power meter usually fires these weapons faster and with greater destructive power. We can also find power pills; which will increase the speed and the power of shots; as well as rapid fire and protection shields.
As we move to the right of the start screen we see the first of the planets inhabitants - the Spikelice - which move fast and must be shot or attacked with a low sweep to take out. To the right of these we then find the entrance to the Undercity - but as we climb down this huge mine shaft-like entrance, we fall and lose much of our heath. This is where the hidden element of Switchblade comes in. Holding down the fire button to remove the Spikelouse, we may see that the wall immediately to our left is crumbling. Crack this open and we find a full heath boost - restoring all the energy we lost during the fall. Then we move down a platform and find another spikelouse; which may throw us off the platform - but not before removing most of the energy we just collected. Swings and roundabouts...
Going Deeper Underground
This first of the five levels in the game is surprisingly difficult for beginners, and the later levels get even tougher. We must explore this whole level to ensure we find the two fragments of the Fireblade hidden there, before making our way to an end-of-level guardian which blocks the door to level 2. To make life just a bit harder we will also have to deal with traps, spikes, and an array of enemies who would all love to rob us of our mere existence. However, most enemies have some kind of weakness, and to begin with we can evade the attacks of the larger foes simply by standing on a box. Also of note is the fact that health boosts are very few and far between, and apart from the one hidden behind the first wall, level one has no more to pick up.
Level 2 soon rewards us with a health boost - but that's really where the fun stops. This level is twice as large as the first, has many more enemies to deal with (who are stronger or more nimble), and the appearance of several 'death jumps'; where the player must perform pixel perfect jumps in order to progress - with failure resulting in heavy health depletion. There are also several possible routes to complete the level as the game splits itself into a number of branches, but which all eventually combine as we face the second end-of-level guardian.
We also see the Scorpion creatures for the first time during level 2, but these really come into full force with the more linear routed level 3. 'Scorpion Alley' soon appears and players must run and jump like hell - or stand bold and fight very hard to get anywhere. Level 4 is a semi-split level; with the split route heading to level 5 only after all the Fireblades have been collected - there is no way back! Level 4 also has an incredibly hard 'death jump' to deal with. Level five is the last level and is pretty straightforward until we face the final boss - the mighty Havok himself.
The Long Suffering Hiro
The gameplay of Switchblade is highly addictive in the first place but does get much harder to deal with later on. Each screen flicks into view as we enter a new area, and the enemies usually wait a few seconds before they materialise. The attack patterns, as well as the enemies themselves, are identical during every subsequent play, and it isn't long before the player gets to know the attack pattern on each screen. Once an enemy dies, it stays dead, enabling players to explore the level in peace. Unlike the (later ported) Commodore 64 version, Hiro will climb ladders without being required to stand 100% under them, and so navigation is smooth for the most part. Yet, again unlike the C64 version, Switchblade on the Amiga is slightly more difficult, and the end of level guardians are noticeably much harder to deal with. There is always a safe place to hide on the C64, but not on the Amiga.
Graphics are chunky and almost Manga-like (even though the game was coded in the UK), and are up to the job. The colour scheme is rather dull, however, and there are too many shades of grey and red to make this any kind of visual heavy weight. The sound in Switchblade comes in the form of either sound effects or music (selectable on the title screen), and although the polished soundtrack (by Last Ninja maestro Ben Daglish) is jolly for a while, is also rather short and repetitive, and this reviewer found the C64 remix to be much better. Sound effects are sparse, and not really worth a mention.
Overall, Switchblade for the Amiga is an interesting game - not as puzzle intensive as Rick Dangerous, not as HUGE as Switchblade II (although still massive), and with a good mix of adventure and action. Once the enemy patterns have been memorised, plays are usually enjoyable while being intense, and often reward the player with a sense of progress. On the downside, there is something about SB1 on the Amiga which doesn't sit quite right. The end of level guardians (after level 1) seem rather unfair, and the game does love to infuriatingly rob health points away - usually just by standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ultimately a very good effort, and still well worth a look.
  |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
The graphics are adequately drawn for the most part; but certainly not to the standard of Phipps other works such as Rick Dangerous 2 or Wolfchild. The levels all look basically the same, and the colour scheme lets the side down greatly.
|
|
|
The title music and in game soundtrack are really catchy numbers to begin with, and go very well within the game - but somehow the C64 version is less annoying after many long hours of play. The SFX are very basic to say the least.
|
|
|
The game manages to play very well for the first few levels, and it's design and 'hidden room' exploration features are welcome. The array of weapons and even the branching aspects of the levels can also bring the player back time and again.
Having said that, standing in just the wrong place could take away most of the players energy rather unfairly, and the 'death jumps' can be really hard to deal with. The guardians are also more of a pain on the Amiga version, especially the ridiculously hard level 2 boss; who is a breeze on the C64 version.
|
|
|
| There is still a lot to like about the Amiga version of Switchblade, and there are a few unique game features to keep action platformers and explorers happy. A pity the graphics and sound are not up to the same high standards of later games by the same author. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
Get Amiga Forever with pre-installed Workbench, games, applications, and much more.
It also contains the original Amiga ROM-files, 100% legally!
|
|
|
|
