Sergeant Seymour Robot Cop
(Code Masters, 1992)
This is one of three arcade games starring Seymour, who has become a policeman. He’s got an extendable arm which he uses to grab the bad guys and then throw at the nearest wall in order to kill them and grab the bonus that is left behind. On each screen there’s a generator that creates the bad guys, and Seymour will need to remove all of them within the time limit to go to the next screen. Getting used to the controls is the most important part, and when you’ve mastered them, you’ll really be able to enjoy the game. It’s a simple game but great fun to play, although you only get three lives, and you really need more than that.
See also: Seymour Goes to Hollywood, Seymour Stuntman, Super Seymour Saves the Planet, Wild West Seymour.
In Sewer Rat you play the role of a very hungry rodent. Thankfully, scattered around each screen are neatly sliced pieces of cheese for you to munch upon. Snakes, grey aliens and other nasties wander around and are deadly if touched. Each level carries a theme that introduces different hazards and obstacles, which improves the gameplay. Visually, everything looks rather drab and dated but this doesn’t deter you from having just one more go. Sewer Rat is both addictive and challenging – which goes to prove that great graphics and sound do not make a game.
Seymour Goes to Hollywood
(Code Masters, 1991)
Seymour is about to make his big break in a new film, but there is chaos, as the director has gone and left the scripts locked in a safe! Yes, Seymour has to come to the rescue. The game, which is also known as Seymour at the Movies, features several classic films such as Grease, Flash Boredom, Sherlock Bones and The Wizard of Oz, but to see them (and solve the puzzles within them), you’ll have to find the keys to each studio first. The puzzles are entertaining and the graphics are impressive, but two things let this game down – the frustrating maze of studios in which it is easy to get lost, and the size of the game; it’s too much to sit through in one go. Amstrad Action also released a mini-game called Seymour: Take One on one of their covertapes, which is worth looking at.
See also: Sergeant Seymour Robot Cop, Seymour Stuntman, Super Seymour Saves the Planet, Wild West Seymour.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by: ChinnyVision.
Oh no! Corrupt movie moguls have stolen your latest film scripts! You play as international superstar Seymour and must jump around various film sets, shooting and throwing bombs at the baddies, and find your way to the end of each stage, to do battle with the big boss and retrieve your scripts. Why Code Masters created Seymour when they had good old Dizzy is a mystery to me, but, that said, he’s managed to star in a few decent games. Seymour Stuntman, though, is merely average. The graphics are bland and blocky, the game is flickery, jerky and slow beyond belief and each level has the same end boss! However, it has some pretty addictive music, is not too difficult, and despite its flaws, it’s quite fun, with each well designed level based on a different movie genre.
See also: Sergeant Seymour Robot Cop, Seymour Goes to Hollywood, Super Seymour Saves the Planet, Wild West Seymour.
Despite being in the 25th century, some things never change. The emperor Cophenix wants Mirdav to rescue the princess Doxaphin. Mirdav has to fight his way into the Kindos castle, from the dungeons to the upper rooms. Only the mighty sword he’s carrying, Sgrizam, will let him take the princess back to his father. Sgrizam is quite a simple arcade game. Whenever an enemy comes to you there are only three possible actions – bend down, jump or brandish your sword. The graphics are quite big and colourful and the scrolling is smooth, although there is some sprite flickering. The sound effects are only average. There’s a tune but thankfully, it doesn’t play throughout the game. Sgrizam is reasonably difficult; it just requires a bit of concentration. Its main problem is that although the levels change, the gameplay remains almost the same.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by: Metr81.
Shackled
(US Gold, 1988)
Many prisoners are being held in the dungeons of a mysterious castle, and you must rescue them. You must explore nearly 100 levels, shooting doors to release the prisoners, and finding keys to unlock other doors. There are also many monsters to impede your progress, although if you have some prisoners with you, they will be a bit easier to defeat. This is a Gauntlet clone and it’s unfortunately not a good one. The graphics are poor and the scrolling and movement are jerky and slow, and the music on the menu is nothing special either. All the dungeons look very similar, and the game lacks excitement.
Shadow Dancer
(US Gold, 1991)
Joe Musashi returns to fight more crime on the streets of America. One of your students, Kato, has been murdered, and not only that, the Sauros are threatening to blow up a US space shuttle. You must prevent this from happening, and avenge Kato’s death. Throughout the game, you are accompanied by your dog Yamoto, who seems to be totally invulnerable to any enemy fire. You have an unlimited supply of shurikens to throw at enemies, and you can also use magic to kill every enemy on the screen, although you can only use this a few times. The graphics are big and colourful, but the sound is rather limited and the music on the menu is irritating. The game itself is great to play, and having six credits and four lives with each credit is wonderful.
See also: Shinobi.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by: Axelino, jgonza, Xyphoe.
Shadow Hunter
(Mananuk, 2023)
The Sandy Candy sweet factory in New York has become infested with ghosts, and Jack Slimer has been hired to get rid of them. The factory consists of 32 rooms spread over four floors, and as Jack, you have to use your proton blaster to shoot (or rather, catch) all the ghosts in each room and then activate a trap to progress to the next room – simple stuff, really. The enemies in the first few rooms won’t pose much of a problem, but in later rooms, you will encounter enemies who can fire at you. The graphics are colourful and the ghosts are nicely animated, and the music, while not brilliant, is at least an improvement on most of Mananuk’s previous games. The game is clearly inspired by the Ghostbusters franchise and it’s pleasant to play.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by: Amstrad CPC World, Saberman, XeNoMoRPH.
Transformed against your will into a hideous mutant servant by the Beast Lord Maletoth and his evil mages, you resolve to use your beast-like powers to scour the land in search of him and to take vengeance for the death of your father. Fight your way through a seemingly endless barrage of adversaries in order to face the final confrontation with Zelek the Beast Mage, in order to regain your humanoid body and rid yourself of the shadow of the beast. The music here is of a very high quality, and combined with the detailed monochrome graphics this is a very eerie, yet appealing game.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by: ChinnyVision, Xyphoe, ZEUSDAZ.
Shadow Skimmer
(The Edge, 1987)
Captain Blatt was inspecting the outer hull of a massive mothership in his Shadow Skimmer, but the mothership’s computers have malfunctioned, and the Shadow Skimmer is now being treated as a hostile invader! Can you guide Captain Blatt to the other side of the mothership and enter the hatch that will lead you to safety? This is a colourful shoot-’em-up that also requires a lot of exploration. On each of the three sectors, it is necessary to find and shoot an object that will remove the barrier that blocks the entrance to the next sector. Occasionally, you must explore below the hull using the hatchways, and flip your spaceship to pass certain obstacles. The graphics and sound effects are very good, the game is easy to get the hang of, and exploring the hull will keep most players interested.