119: The First Samurai

Number 119
(41.4 points)
The First Samurai
1992: 14 (17.4)
1993: 41 (24.0)

It's not The Last Ninja, it's The First Samurai, and it's quite a different beast to the aforementioned C64 classic.

The Demon King has killed your master and jumped far into the future, so you must go after him, with the help of the Wizard Mage's magic. It's a platform game, where you kick, punch and swing your magical sword, and occasionally call upon the Wizard Mage to get you through certain points. The controls can be a little fiddly at first, but the game looks and sounds very good, and is certainly very playable and has a real challenge to it.

Once you get the hang of the odd controls, it's quite a fun game, but it would probably benefit from more buttons. I do remember enjoying the SNES port, which changes up the level layouts and makes things a bit less cryptic by explaining what to do as you play - and of course, the SNES has more buttons. This is a game I feel like I should enjoy more than I do, and I just can't explain that, but it's certainly worth a look.

Recommended TOSEC disk(s):
First Samurai, The (1991)(Image Works)(Disk 1 of 2)[cr CSL][f crack CSL]
First Samurai, The (1991)(Image Works)(Disk 2 of 2)[cr CSL]