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Hungry like the ﾑWulf Back in the early 80ﾒs, parents were buying their kids computers in hopes that their offspring would learn from these new tools that were the wave of the future! Of course, the kids knew better. They knew they could use these ﾑtools of the futureﾒ to play great games! One of the more popular computers parents in the UK were buying for their children at this time was the ZX Sinclair Spectrum. This computer was so well known that its creator, Clive Sinclair, was knighted for important contributions to the British industry and technology fields. The Sinclair Spectrum was also well known for its games. It was the springboard for many popular UK game characters like the Humpty Dumpty-esque Dizzy. Some industrious kids even began making games of their own on the Sinclair Spectrum and even started game companies that are still around today, like Codemasters and Rare. Of course, back then Rare was called Ultimate. For the Game Boy Advance, Rare chose to dig back to their Ultimate library and update one of their more famous games, Sabre Wulf. Now, being a US gamer, Iﾒve never actually played the original Sabre Wulf. I didnﾒt want to download the ROM illegally, but I did do a lot of research on the old Sabre Wulf and the Sinclair Spectrum and I believe I can safely say that the update keeps the simplistic nature of the original game intact. Itﾒs been nearly 20 years since the pith helmet wearing Sabreman defeated the Sabre Wulf. Now the nefarious Dr. Dolittle-Goode has broken the amulet that kept the Sabre Wulf sealed in a statue. Now Sabre Wulf is terrorizing the village of Blackwyche and the surrounding areas, stealing anything that isnﾒt nailed downﾗincluding pieces of the amulet. The villagers call upon the aging Sabreman again to enter the ﾑWulfﾒs lairs and take back everything he stole, and seal up Sabre Wulf again.  As Sabreman, you first walk around towns and such in an overhead perspective. You can gather clues and buy items here. Somewhere there is a ﾑWulf lair for you to find, and once you do, youﾒll be whisked to a 2-D platformer challenge. In these sections, you must make it to the end of the level where the Sabre Wulf waits with a treasure. On the trip there you must avoid enemies and pitfalls until you pick up the treasure. Once you do, the ﾑWulf will let out a mighty howl, clearing the level of enemies, and you must high tail it back to your tent at the start of the level before Sabre Wulf gets you and steals the treasure back. Once you recover a treasure, another lair will open up for you to try. The quicker you are in getting the treasure, the more valuable your prize will be. The treasure will deplete from gold to silver to bronze the longer you take to finish a level. You can sell treasures for items in the town. The play in Sabre Wulf is as simple as you can get. Sabreman can walk and jump. Thatﾒs it. No special attacks or anything, you canﾒt even stomp on the enemies. And one hit from a baddie and youﾒre done for. But you can use special creatures that you find in the levels and buy in the shops that let you overcome the many obstacles on the road to the ﾑWulf. Bring up the creatures menu with the B button and choose where you want to place the helpful critter. Thereﾒs a sleepy bear thatﾒll let you bounce on his belly to reach high places. Or an explosive dragon for taking out pesky bad guys. A serpent that floats in the air, acting as a platformﾗand dozens of other creatures designed for taking out enemies and making the path safe for our treasure seeker. Graphics use pre-rendered sprites and backgrounds, much like another Rare title: Donkey Kong Country. In fact, the gameplay and graphics are a little TOO similar to each other. The graphics in Donkey Kong Country looked great on a Super Nintendo, but because of the lower resolution of the GBA, these kind of graphics donﾒt look so well on the small screen. Music and sound is great, though. Plenty of brassy victory fanfares and realistic ambient sound effects. Townfolks speak gibberish like in Banjo-Kazooie, yet Sabreman himself has plenty of voice clips full of stereotypical English explorer quips (ﾓFor the empire, eh, wot?ﾔ) Even the ﾓWulf has presence with howls and growls as he chases you. Itﾒs a good thing the play control is spot on because while the early levels are short and easy, the later levels are simply brutal as precise jumps are the order of this platformer. You must also use your creatures resourcefully. There are tons of levels and you can replay them all to get a better score and treasure. Sabre Wulf is a decent romp, but there are far better GBA platformers out there and there probably arenﾒt very many US gamers who will get all the ﾑin-jokesﾒ about Rareﾒs past games in Sabre Wulf. But at least the game is budget priced. Kid Factor: Kids may like the simplistic gameplay and the creatures give the game a bit of a Pokemon feel to it. Thereﾒs little to no violence and itﾒs all cartoony stuff anyway. Still, I have a hard time believing that a crotchety old explorer would make a likable kidsﾒ character. Itﾒs a fun game, but there are probably more interesting 2-D platformers out there to entice your kids. Dog Factor: I donﾒt know about your dog, but every time our dog Venus hears the wolf howl on Sabre Wulf, she gets real scared and hides. But then, our dog Venus is scared of bubbles and lion statues. Reviewer Recommended Ages: 6+ Genre: 2-D Platformer ESRB Rating: E for Everyone Producer: THQ Publisher: Rare Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Sabre Wulf |
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