Lionheart (AMI, 1993)
Graphics-9 Sound-7.5 Control-7 Challenge-8 Story-6.5
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-7.5 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Nice art direction, great use of color and very good overall animation, Nice intro and endings, Some nice effects (sprite scaling, line scrolling, parallax, some multi-jointed sprites, tasteful gradients)
Various hidden items (some breakable walls)
Some interesting enemies (use enemies as platforms in some levels such as the mantis which plops out of the ground and shoots a tongue you can stand on which is also its weak point, final boss' second and third forms) and level design (interactive swinging platforms - kinda slow though, boulder chase - magical quest, self-triggered catapult platforms)
Downstab (can't just hold the button which is good for difficulty balance) and upwards swing attacks
Castlevania/Actraiser-style action platformer with forgiving mid-air controls (also borrows elements from Turrican and Contra 3)
Some decent mini-bosses (first couple of levels)
Some good bosses (first boss - large insect that makes use of the platforming gimmick and you have to climb it to hit its weak spot) and very good final boss (three phases)
Some permanent AP and HP upgrades (100 gems=1 extra heart)
Jump button option
Difficulty options (normal-very hard - no easy mode and can't start with more lives)
One optional hidden level (accessed in the lava level) - required for the alternate ending
Mixes in two auto-scrolling levels (one shoot 'em up level in which you ride a dragon)
Personal staff roll with messages from the devs
+/-
No attack combos
No blocking or dodging (can destroy some enemy projectiles)
Can only run via downward slopes (see Flink)
No potion mixing (Flink, Wiz 'n Liz)
Also borrows a bit from Shadow of the Beast (not the best bits but also not the worst)
Start with only two lives (you do start with 6 continues but using one puts you back at the beginning of the level and they can get fairly long). Health potions are fairly frequent though sometimes they're placed in an inefficient way and there's no item inventory
Can find 30+ 1-ups throughout the game+upgrade your health bar so in a sense it becomes a bit easier after the first few levels
Some enemies are pretty dumb
Silly death animation
No footstep or jump sfx
Some parts play more like SMB, Alex Kidd or Kid Chameleon than the main inspirations
Can't attack while walking/running
Respawn almost on the spot besides during boss fights
-
Some control/interface issues (various leaps of faith - can't look up/down, have to hold the button and press a direction to attack unless jump attacking (hard to get used to and it's fairly easy to accidentally keep crouch attacking when you don't want to), the regular swing probably should have been more of an overhead swing as it feels more situational than it should, inconsistent downstab bouncing and the hit box is too small to the front of your sprite when using it - leads to cheap hits, somewhat unforgiving hit detection when attacking although it sometimes goes both ways, overly tight scrolling when jumping at times - makes it harder to see where you'll land)
Too many death pits
A bit slow paced due to aforementioned issues and a small health bar
A bit repetitive (there's a pretty good variety of enemies and hazards between different levels but the game still drags and most individual segments or levels could've been a bit shorter)
Some trial & error (some boss fights, swing physics, leaps of faith, moving a block through lava by downstabbing it - might've been more intuitive if it leaned to the side based on your avatar's weight, final level)
Lacks alternate main weapons and sub weapons
Killing enemies and some of your sword swings could've been a bit more impactful looking and sounding
Sometimes heavy slowdown (some slowdown even on an A1200)
Some tedious parts (the breakable vine platforms is a decent platforming puzzle idea but goes on for a bit too long, some waiting for platforms, some vertical platforming with repeating of fairly long segments if you fall down, some overly stop and go/methodical parts, kind of annoying checkpoints on the airship - right before the swing platforms where you also get shot at by indestructible turrets)
Kinda slow and drawn out shoot 'em up level (also has weird controls - the dragon automatically shoots and having no separate control for the aim is a bit awkward+you jump if you attack upwards and press up (needed for the boss but hard to get used to)+the dragon stops shooting when facing the dragon boss here so why couldn't they change the avatar controls for the boss only?)
Difficulty spike at the shoot 'em up level (no health drops, pretty tough boss)
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-7.5 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Nice art direction, great use of color and very good overall animation, Nice intro and endings, Some nice effects (sprite scaling, line scrolling, parallax, some multi-jointed sprites, tasteful gradients)
Various hidden items (some breakable walls)
Some interesting enemies (use enemies as platforms in some levels such as the mantis which plops out of the ground and shoots a tongue you can stand on which is also its weak point, final boss' second and third forms) and level design (interactive swinging platforms - kinda slow though, boulder chase - magical quest, self-triggered catapult platforms)
Downstab (can't just hold the button which is good for difficulty balance) and upwards swing attacks
Castlevania/Actraiser-style action platformer with forgiving mid-air controls (also borrows elements from Turrican and Contra 3)
Some decent mini-bosses (first couple of levels)
Some good bosses (first boss - large insect that makes use of the platforming gimmick and you have to climb it to hit its weak spot) and very good final boss (three phases)
Some permanent AP and HP upgrades (100 gems=1 extra heart)
Jump button option
Difficulty options (normal-very hard - no easy mode and can't start with more lives)
One optional hidden level (accessed in the lava level) - required for the alternate ending
Mixes in two auto-scrolling levels (one shoot 'em up level in which you ride a dragon)
Personal staff roll with messages from the devs
+/-
No attack combos
No blocking or dodging (can destroy some enemy projectiles)
Can only run via downward slopes (see Flink)
No potion mixing (Flink, Wiz 'n Liz)
Also borrows a bit from Shadow of the Beast (not the best bits but also not the worst)
Start with only two lives (you do start with 6 continues but using one puts you back at the beginning of the level and they can get fairly long). Health potions are fairly frequent though sometimes they're placed in an inefficient way and there's no item inventory
Can find 30+ 1-ups throughout the game+upgrade your health bar so in a sense it becomes a bit easier after the first few levels
Some enemies are pretty dumb
Silly death animation
No footstep or jump sfx
Some parts play more like SMB, Alex Kidd or Kid Chameleon than the main inspirations
Can't attack while walking/running
Respawn almost on the spot besides during boss fights
-
Some control/interface issues (various leaps of faith - can't look up/down, have to hold the button and press a direction to attack unless jump attacking (hard to get used to and it's fairly easy to accidentally keep crouch attacking when you don't want to), the regular swing probably should have been more of an overhead swing as it feels more situational than it should, inconsistent downstab bouncing and the hit box is too small to the front of your sprite when using it - leads to cheap hits, somewhat unforgiving hit detection when attacking although it sometimes goes both ways, overly tight scrolling when jumping at times - makes it harder to see where you'll land)
Too many death pits
A bit slow paced due to aforementioned issues and a small health bar
A bit repetitive (there's a pretty good variety of enemies and hazards between different levels but the game still drags and most individual segments or levels could've been a bit shorter)
Some trial & error (some boss fights, swing physics, leaps of faith, moving a block through lava by downstabbing it - might've been more intuitive if it leaned to the side based on your avatar's weight, final level)
Lacks alternate main weapons and sub weapons
Killing enemies and some of your sword swings could've been a bit more impactful looking and sounding
Sometimes heavy slowdown (some slowdown even on an A1200)
Some tedious parts (the breakable vine platforms is a decent platforming puzzle idea but goes on for a bit too long, some waiting for platforms, some vertical platforming with repeating of fairly long segments if you fall down, some overly stop and go/methodical parts, kind of annoying checkpoints on the airship - right before the swing platforms where you also get shot at by indestructible turrets)
Kinda slow and drawn out shoot 'em up level (also has weird controls - the dragon automatically shoots and having no separate control for the aim is a bit awkward+you jump if you attack upwards and press up (needed for the boss but hard to get used to)+the dragon stops shooting when facing the dragon boss here so why couldn't they change the avatar controls for the boss only?)
Difficulty spike at the shoot 'em up level (no health drops, pretty tough boss)