Shadow Warriors
(Ocean, 1990)
The streets of America are full of muggers and other criminals, and as the Shadow Warrior, your mission is to clear the streets and make them safe again. The Shadow Warrior’s method of combat is a series of ninja-style kicks, and in fact, this is the only move that you can use on the enemies. You may not have to learn a lot of moves like other beat-’em-ups, but I think this is a bit limiting. It’s a fairly standard scrolling beat-’em-up – the graphics are nice, but there’s hardly any sound and there’s nothing that makes it better than other games like it.
A great set-up for a game – a diverse group of mercenaries on a timed rescue mission. Much like Swords and Sorcery, Shadowfire took its time to reach the CPC, but when it eventually arrived, the wait was worthwhile. I really liked the diversity of team members that make up the Enigma Force (the name given to your band of mercenaries). There are a healthy amount of abilities to try out during your mission. The game is played through the use of icons, and multiple display windows are crammed on to the screen (character selection, status, etc.) but it’s not too hard to follow or play. The graphics fall into the “good enough” category. They are a bit cramped but the character portraits are good. Shadowfire isn’t an action game, so it won’t be for everyone, but I’m sure it will find fans among CPC gamers.
The Shadows of Sergoth is a dungeon crawler in the spirit of Bloodwych and Dungeon Master. It is by far the most advanced game of its kind on the CPC and probably on any 8-bit platform. The graphics are very well drawn and colourful, with great detail, an immense variety of enemies and a gargantuan-sized map. There are also in-game sound effects. The gameplay is magnificent and remarkable; there are many special abilities that you need to master in order to survive and defeat the increasingly challenging enemies, while you also have to find your way around a 3D environment, the likes of which we have rarely seen on the CPC. Of course there are also RPG characteristics in this game. The effort that the programmers have put into it is impressive. Overall, it’s one of the best CPC games ever and one to remember and serve as a paradigm shift.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
Saberman.
Shanghai Karate
(Players, 1988)
This is an average karate game with four skill levels, in which you control Lo Yin. The story of the game is that Wang Chen, a pupil at the Changchun Academy, massacred all of his fellow pupils and teachers, and Lo Yin was the sole survivor. In reality, it’s just a straightforward beat-’em-up, with you fighting against Wang Chen’s men one at a time. On each level, you must defeat your opponent four times before he does the same to you. The first skill level is easy, but after that, it becomes a bit more challenging. You can also change the speed of the game to make it easier. The graphics are quite good, particularly the backgrounds, of which there are four selections available. However, there’s no variety in the gameplay and it soon becomes repetitive.
Shanghai Warriors
(Players, 1989)
A gang of mercenaries led by Snide Gantree has stolen a Soviet submarine, and you must single-handedly battle your way through three enemy bases to recover the submarine. This is a dull beat-’em-up in which you take on several mercenaries, move right to the next screen, take on another group of mercenaries, move right to the next screen, and so on – and this goes on for what seems like an eternity. Occasionally you can collect weapons, but there is hardly any variety in the gameplay, and each level is so long that most people will want to switch off and play something better when they realise how boring this game is. The backgrounds are nice, though.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
ChinnyVision.
Shao-Lin’s Road
(The Edge, 1987)
Lee has spent much time mastering the mysterious martial art known as Chin’s Shao-Lin, but he is trapped in a temple that is filled with hordes of Triads. Can you use the skills you have developed to defeat them and escape from the temple? Each level contains a set of number of Triads who you can knock out with a carefully timed kick – although if you get it wrong, the Triads will hit you instead. Halfway through the level, a Triad who is stronger than the rest must also be defeated, although it requires several kicks to knock him or her out. The graphics are nothing special, and the Oriental-themed music is not great either, but the game overall is fairly good, if perhaps a little lacking in variety.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
ChinnyVision,
Xyphoe.
Shard of Inovar
(Bulldog, 1987)
The background to this icon-driven text adventure is very weird and convoluted, but I shall try to summarise it here. A magical barrier known as the Cairnrue is preventing rain from falling on the land, but in order to dissolve the barrier, a magical stone called Inovar is required to invoke the Ritual of Decairn. Unfortunately it has been stolen, and only a tiny shard remains, so it is up to you, Varwield Secunda, to travel westwards and retrieve Inovar. All of these fancy names and rituals are very confusing indeed at first, and some of the puzzles are rather odd. However, the use of icons to select verbs means that solving most of the puzzles isn’t too difficult, and if you stick with the game, you will eventually begin to make sense of it.
Shark
(Players, 1989)
To be honest, I don’t know what this game is about, but what I can certainly tell you is that it is awful. It’s a run-of-the-mill space shoot-’em-up where you shoot aliens and collect power-ups while exploring a maze and trying to find the route through it. However, the nature of the controls is such that far too often, you end up using your precious power-ups when you don’t need them, and since you will actually need the power-ups to progress through the maze, this makes the game nearly impossible to play. Excellent graphics are wasted once again on a lousy game.
Watch a YouTube video of this game by:
XeNoMoRPH.
Sharkey’s Moll
(Zeppelin Games, 1991)
It’s gangster shooting time in this truly abysmal horizontally scrolling shoot-’em-up. Kill the gun-toting gangsters either in a hail of bullets or by throwing Molotov cocktails at them, and try not to hit the informer that wanders about the screen as if he’s in a trance. There are plenty of games like this, and nearly all of them are much better than this one. The scrolling is very slow, it takes ages to complete a level, it’s far too easy, and the Spectrum-like graphics are off-putting. The only good thing is the music on the menu.
Sharpe’s Deeds
(Incentive, 1987)
You are the sole heir to your uncle Ferdinand Sharpe’s fortune, but to inherit it, you must find twelve treasures and the deeds for your uncle’s estate. You start in an inn, in a quiet village in Somerset, where your solicitor is waiting for you. After you’ve spoken to him, you’re on your own. If you’re a fan of Infocom’s text adventures, you’ll know which one influenced the creation of this GAC adventure, although there are many puzzles to solve before you even encounter your first treasure. The map is quite large, and there is a lot to see and do. Plenty of well drawn pictures have been added, too, and unlike many GAC adventures I’ve played, there are few problems with finding the correct word to use.