Savage

Savage is a game of three separately loaded parts linked together by a main theme: playing Savage, you have to escape from a dungeon by killing everything that moves, then when you've escaped realise that you've got to steam back in again 'cos you've gorn and left your 'chick' behind. Silly sausage. Let's have a butchers at the respective loads, shall we?

Yes, Savage is savage - on both your joystick palm and fire-button finger. If you aren't quick, you're dead. You earn extra points and bonus lives by battling and winning over those who confront you. Savage is a very good arcade/fantasy game and is well named!

We first reviewed the 64 version of Savage in November last year, so methinks a brief recap is on the cards. Savage is a three part game, each part linked by a fairly feeble scenario, but thankfully no one buys games for their scenarios.

Savage is not your ordinary barbarian. He is psychic, has great magical powers and is going steady with one maiden. The loss of the latter two has made him angry. Not mildly angry, with the type of anger that would make any rational barbarian wait a couple of thousand years for someone to invent MPs and then write and complain, but really quite astonishingly angry indeed. And to cap it all, whoever nicked his magic and his love has not only imprisoned him, but has also made the mistake of leaving him his battle axe. Someone, somewhere, is going to regret that.

As the exceptionally muscular character Savage, you have been locked up in a castle due to your love for a certain damsel. Needless to say docile behaviour to win parole isn't your style – instead you thump the gaoler one and make a break for it. Level one, the first of three separately loaded games, has you running through the castle, blasting all and sundry for points – and prizes (extra weapons, energy etc).

Auf dem CPC erntete dieser Action-Eintopf diverse "Aahs!" und "Oohs!" wegen der imposanten Grafik, das Spielprinzip ist eher schlicht. Auf dem Atari ST kann Savage weniger beeindrucken: Außer der höheren Auflösung gibt's kaum grafische Verbesserungen.

Der wilde Krieger "Savage" ist diesen Monat auf 16-Bit-Computern gut vertreten. Auch auf MS-DOS-PCs schwingt er jetzt freudig erregt das Hackebeilchen und kämpft sich durch drei Levels. Die Grafik der getesteten CGA-Version (eine spezielle EGA-Version soll in Kürze erscheinen) ist auch auf relativ lahmen PCs schön schnell. AT-Besitzer können die Spielgeschwindigkeit per Tastendruck auch verlangsamen. Die Grafik nutzt die bescheidenen CGA-Möglichkeiten tapfer aus; die Musik ist für PC-Verhältnisse prima. Wie bei der ST-Version stört hier allerdings das schlichte Spielprinzip.