Leander
| Developer: Travellers Tales | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Psygnosis | Sound: |
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| Year: 1991 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Action-platformer | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
6/10 | |
A feathered Knight of the Zodiac, a damsel in distress, dragons to vanquish, lemmings … oh, pardon, I went through the wrong door!
Leander, also known as Legend of Galahad on the Sega Genesis, marks yet another attempt to create a Japanese-style platform game on the Amiga, “just like on consoles”. This translates into a fairly good manoeuvrability (supporting a two-button controller!) and more fluid animation than usual, without completely shedding the stiffness inherent to this game style on microcomputers.
Visually, Psygnosis’s signature style (Shadow of the Beast) is unmistakable: gloomy backdrops against mountain landscapes, parallax scrolling, and skies drenched in cool colour gradients. The music, too, pays proper homage to its illustrious predecessor—unless, of course, you prefer sound effects, since you can’t have both. Whether this was due to “technical limitations” or programmer laziness is anyone’s guess, but it certainly dampens the atmosphere.
And what does the game say? Classic, simple, and repetitive. Each level’s plot revolves around finding an artefact that serves as a key to open the door to the next stage. Along the way, you slash enemies left and right (or rather, execute one sword stroke, given the meagre movement repertoire). We’ll point out the surprising suicide attack (which inflicts massive damage to enemies at the cost of a life!) and, more traditionally, money to collect and shops where you can purchase weapons and armour…
Ultimately, what I most regret is the lack of “collision” with monsters (feedback). I feel like I’m fighting ghosts. Moreover, the level architecture seems too flat, especially compared to my personal reference: The First Samurai. To summarise, lots of style; but ultimately, I find it lacks substance.
Note that an unfinishable version of the game deliberately “leaked” to discourage piracy (a platform is missing in level “1–4”). To circumvent this issue, obtain an “ipf” version (first link). Under WinUAE, select in the “Quickstart” tab: “1.3 ROM, OCS, 512 KB Chip + 512 KB Slow RAM (most common)”. Apparently, the version cracked by the group “The Company” (“CPY”, second link) also works. I admit this screen doesn’t give that impression! However, insert the second (virtual) disc in drive “DF0”, wait a moment and press the controller button…
Real jokers, those Psygnosis lads. They snuck in Easter eggs paying tribute to two of their other creations: Lemmings (level 3-3) and The Killing Game Show (level 3-5).
In a different vein, fans of Leander might also enjoy Hollow Knight (2017).
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