Super Bruce Lee
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Original: Bruce Lee - US Gold - 198x
The original of this game was a platforming tour de force on the Spectrum, although a lot of people said it was very easy. Which it was, given practice. Easy or not, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience playing this on the 8bits. The very slick and responsive controls meant you were never in any doubt about the players death being your fault and yours alone.
Having such fond memories, I launched Mr.Rocket's remake with great expectations expecting to be put in orbit and ready for a true roller coaster ride of nostalgia with a side order of egg fried rice. Unfortunately I was in for a bit of a disappointment. The title screen is nice although I immediately noticed the lack of any form of high score table, which is a shame. Nice clear and colourful with our options laid out nicely. The music however seems to be some odd piano/brass thing with not even a smidgen of oriental flavour. Ok, let's start the game.
The in game music is better than the one from the title screen but still doesn't draw you into a suspension of disbelief, and make you think you are staring in your very own martial arts blockbuster movie. Sound effects are functional and mostly unobtrusive. Ooh, it's pretty. Lots of graphics, maybe a little over the top with backgrounds etc making the screen look a lot busier than the original.
Begin to play though and it all falls down I'm afraid, even leaving the first screen was somewhat annoying and frustrating as the ladders are an exercise in annoyance, seeming to have you sticking and stopping at random while trying to climb. The lanterns (your objective) are tiny and hard to make out sometimes, and collecting them can be a little hit and miss in my experience. Another deviation from the game play I remember is being able to maneuver in the air and even kick or punch before landing, which feels a little wrong.
I battled on against my better judgment and managed to reach the second section of the game in the caves below. The energy beams are very unforgiving and harder to navigate than I remember, and the lift on the second screen is a case of jump on and hope for the best. It moves so fast you dont get a chance to see what you are doing, rather than being able to move about on them almost at your convenience. After being killed seemingly at random a couple of times on this screen I decided to call it a day.
The game is beautifully illustrated, and the music is passable, it's just a shame that more time and care was not taken over working out some kinks and problems in the game play which render the game more frustrating than enjoyable.
If you haven't played the original then it may appeal more, but the jarring flaws in control and responsiveness are too much to bare for this Bruce Lee fan.
One for the masochists among us, I give it three shurikens out of five.