Being a young prince isn't easy, but being whacked over the head with a golf club
would be a piece of cake to Prince Kronos. On his planet they like their future
Great Galactic Emperors to prove themselves and surviving a posh boarding school
isn't enough - only a Test Of Arms will do.
Naturally, one of the meanest, dirtiest most violent planets in the entire universe
has been selected for the prince's trials. Yep, it's Earth with each of the five
multiloaded tests taking place in different eras.
All the levels have just a single screen backdrop, all quite well drawn with a
spot of animation, and a single opponent for you to overcome. If you succeed the
next level is loaded. Only three of the levels - Cavemen, Knights and Pirates - are
conventional combat.
In these you have a club or sword which can be swung a head, stomach or legs.
You also have two defensive blocks, but can only move left/right - not into the
screen, to get past the enemy you must crouch or jump.
As you might expect the Cavemen level is a simplistic bash-'em-up with a pretty,
but basically static backdrop. However, the Knights' fight includes a dilapidated
drawbridge which occasionally drops a plank or two into the water! A watery end
also awaits in the Pirates level as players can be forced off the ship's bow...
The remaining two levels are shooting games. The Arabian one has the players
riding flying carpets and hurling magical fireballs. The final Futuristic level
has Laser Warriors shooting at each while flying about with jetpacks.
Deflector Shields can block laster bolts and mental powers allow you to teleport!
Both shooting games have wraparound screen so if you exit the screen to the left
you immediately appear on the right side. It's an unrealistic and rather dodgy effect
which I'd thought obsolete ages ago.
On the positive side the fighters have a wide variety of status bars. Health is
fairly conventional - decreasing with each hit you take. Energy is depleted by
actions - swinging your club all the time will soon drain this and, as with health,
if it reaches zero you lose a life. Health and Energy can both be replenished by
collecting special objects which occasionally appear.
The basic combat games work quite nicely with this, although on level one items
appear so often that in two-player mode you can end up fighting on for ages! Attractive
graphics and good spot FX help create an entertaining, amusing atmosphere which
makes for a good time.
Initially there's a compulsion to see all the levels - although using two-player
mode to cheat means this doesn't last long. Once you've seen everything the limited
number of combat moves and somewhat sluggish response could prove disappointing.
There's some nice variety but unfortunately the rather weak and gimmicky
which ends the game on a weak note. Worth a look though, especially with so few
combat games out currently.
