Satan


by Deborah, Jose Antonio Carrera Merino, Jose Miguel Saiz Gomez, Luis Royo, Manuel Rosas, Snatcho
Dinamic Software
1989
Crash Issue 81, Oct 1990   page(s) 41

Dinamic
£9.95/£14.95

Demons have taken over your world and it's your job, brave warrior, to find three magical scrolls and destroy the satanic hordes. As a member of the Army Of The Divinity you're blessed with magical powers, an essential requirement as you leap and bound around in the dank, dark caves of the first load.

Sadly, your magical powers don't extend to blessing you with a decent weapon at the start of the game. With only an energy bolt for protection, you fight against hellish looking monsters with names likes Trows, Kelpies, Nairbs, Glaistigs and Tam Lins. But, but, but! You laugh in the face of danger, because magical icons are scattered about to aid you: Coins boost your score, Elixirs increase flagging energy. Clocks add time (the game is played against the clock), Power-Ups improve your weapon and Lightning acts as a smart bomb.

Prolonged contact with the various denizens drains your energy, but with boosted weapons the creatures are toasted, and some drop power-up icons with their dying breath.

The three magical scrolls are guarded by a Tam Lin. If you thought the other creatures tough, wait until you see what this dude can do! The only way to kill this Darwinian nightmare is to first blow its heads off and then shoot it in the heart (simple, eh?).

When all three scrolls are collected it's off to the other half of the game in load two. Using the powers collected by the warrior, you now control a wizard with the objective of freeing your wizardly comrades and destroying the evil forces forever.

Again, Satan and his evil creatures are after you: tough to kill, but with each one destroyed, coins are awarded which can be used to purchase goods at the shop of Brownie The Wizard. So buying Teleport Cards, Satan Scanners, Energy Rechargers, Magical Axes and Shields Of Fire increases your chances of rescuing your friends and killing Satan once and for all.

Although the main and background sprites in Satan are detailed, your character sprite is so small he's almost lost. The scrolling is also on the dodgy side with the screen moving a fraction behind your joystick movement. Despite that, Satan is a reasonabl play, especially load one which reminded me of Black Tiger. Sound is a disappointment, with only standard blasting effects and no title tune. Satan is an average hack-'n'-slay style game which didn't hold my interest for long.

MARK [72%]


Finally, Dinamic has got it right! Games from this Spanish software house are always good looking but usually impossible to play! But here's Satan and it's really playable (thank heavens!): classic platform action as you control the hero leaping around the depths of the underworld, and there's plenty of action to keep you playing - monsters wielding axes, flying spooks and a whole host of demonic opponents line the treacherous route. The scrolling scenery on each level makes up a huge map, one that'll keep cartographers up late at night! Plentiful and well designed graphics abound, occasionally so much so that it's difficult to tell exactly what's going on! You'll be grabbed with addiction as soon as play begins, there's so much in it - but don't get over excited as a wrong move could prove fatal. So, there you have it: playable, addictive, good looking and plenty of it, it'll bring out the devil in you!!
RICHARD [87%]

Presentation: 67%
Graphics: 75%
Sound: 65%
Playability: 81%
Addictivity: 77%
Overall: 80%

Summary: Immediately playable and long term engrossing due to a huge playing area.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

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