Barbarian (1987 video game)

Image:Barbarian (psygnosis) 02.png

The game opens with an animation of a muscle-bound barbarian cutting a chain with a sword. On the Amiga and Atari ST versions, the animation is accompanied by a loud, digital sound effect.

In the game, the player is Hegor, a barbarian who must traverse several dungeons and underground habitats to defeat his brother, the evil sorcerer Necron. He has a sword, a shield and bow in his arsenal of weapons. Running and jumping, as with many platform games, comprises a large part of the gameplay of this title.

The game used a unique control system to make up for lack of more than one joystick button on many systems. The player would first press the one button after which a "menu" of actions would appear along the bottom of the screen. The player then selected the desired action by cycling through the choices with the joystick and then pressing the button again when the desired action was highlighted.

In the original versions, this game tried to emulate the visual style of the game cover and opening animation. The game used very detailed and colorful sprites and a variety of thoughtful sound effects to accompany the onscreen action. The IBM PC version plays digitized speech in the opening sequence and other sound effects using the speaker.

David Plotkin of STart praised Barbarian{{'}}s graphics and sound as "the most impressive I've ever seen in an ST game". He hesitated to recommend the game, however, because the lack of savegame forced restarts after the frequent unavoidable deaths.{{Cite magazine |last=Plotkin |first=David |date=Winter 1987 |title=For The Fun Of It: Plutos, Airball, Barbarian and Sub Battle Simulator |url=https://www.atarimagazines.com/startv2n3/forthefunofit.html |magazine=STart}} The game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon #150 by Courtney Harrington in "The Role of Computers" column. Harrington gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.{{cite journal

|title=The Role of Computers

|last1=Lesser|last2=Lesser|last3=Lesser|first1=Hartley|first2=Patricia|first3=Kirk

|journal=Dragon

|issue=150

|date=October 1989

|pages=68–73, 95}}

A review in Amstrad Action issue 40 gave the game 81%, stating it was "fun, but lacking in the long term".{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/amstrad-action-040/Amstrad_Action_040#page/n46/mode/1up|title = Amstrad Action Issue 040}}

• Computer and Video Games (Sep, 1987){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/cvg-magazine-071/page/n33/mode/2up|title = CVG Magazine Issue 071|date = September 1987}}
• ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) (Jul, 1987){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/asm_magazine-1987-89/page/n9/mode/2up|title = Aktueller Software Markt (ASM) Magazine (89 1987)}}
• The Games Machine (Dec, 1987){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/thegamesmachine-magazine-02/page/n66/mode/2up|title = The Games Machine Magazine Issue 02}}
• Crash! (Sep, 1988){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/crash-magazine-56/page/n95/mode/2up|title=Crash Magazine Issue 56|date=September 1988}}
• Zzap! (Dec, 1987){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/zzap64-magazine-032/page/n117/mode/2up|title=ZZap!64 Magazine Issue 032|date=December 1987}}
• The Games Machine (Sep, 1988){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/thegamesmachine-magazine-10/page/n71/mode/2up|title = The Games Machine Magazine Issue 10}}
• ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) (Sep, 1987){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/asm_magazine-1987-10/page/n5/mode/2up|title = Aktueller Software Markt (ASM) Magazine (October 1987)|date = October 1987}}
• Computer and Video Games (Oct, 1987){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/cvg-magazine-072/page/n83/mode/2up|title = CVG Magazine Issue 072|date = October 1987}}
• ATARImagazin (Jun, 1987)[http://www.stcarchiv.de/am87/06_barbarian.php Barbarian] stcarchiv.de {{Dead link|date=December 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Amiga Joker (Mar, 1991){{Cite web|url=https://amr.abime.net/review_20292|title=Barbarian review from Amiga Joker (Apr 1991) - Amiga Magazine Rack|website=amr.abime.net|accessdate=25 March 2024}}
• ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) (Oct, 1987){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/ace-magazine-01/page/n49/mode/2up|title = ACE Magazine Issue 01|date = October 1987}}
• Info (Nov, 1988){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/info-magazine-23/page/n63/mode/2up|title = Info Magazine Issue 23|date = November 1988}}
• Computer and Video Games (Sep, 1989){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/cvg-magazine-083/page/n25/mode/2up|title = CVG Magazine Issue 083|date = September 1988}}
• Your Sinclair (Nov, 1988)
• Happy Computer (Jul, 1987){{Cite web|url=https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=3546|title=Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!|website=www.kultboy.com|accessdate=25 March 2024}}
• Commodore User (Aug, 1987){{Cite web|url=https://amigareviews.leveluphost.com/barba1ps.htm#barbarian1psygnosiscu|title = Amiga Reviews: Barbarian 1 (Psygnosis)}}
• The Games Machine (Oct, 1988){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/thegamesmachine-magazine-11/page/n72/mode/2up|title = The Games Machine Magazine Issue 11}}
• ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) (Oct, 1988)
• Power Play (Oct, 1988)
• Zzap! (Nov, 1988){{Cite web|url=http://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/displayreview.pl?reviewid=82|title=Review of Barbarian|website=www.zzap64.co.uk|accessdate=25 March 2024}}
• Commodore User (Oct, 1988){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/CommodoreUserIssue611988Oct/page/n41/mode/2up|title = Commodore_User_Issue_61_1988_Oct}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{moby game|id=/barbarian|name=Barbarian}}
• {{WoS game|id=0000405|name=Barbarian}}

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Category:Platformers

Category:1987 video games

Category:Amiga games

Category:Amstrad CPC games

Category:Atari ST games

Category:Video games about barbarians

Category:Commodore 64 games

Category:DOS games

Category:MSX games

Category:Psygnosis games

Category:ZX Spectrum games

Category:Single-player video games

Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom