Similar in concept to many of the other side-scrolling games, but still a fun game in its own right.
The game was basically a classic side-scrolling adventure, through which the player would face numerous levels and solve puzzles, all the while blasting enemies with an upgradeable shotgun. The ability to hide in shadows when enemies approached, and then pop out and fire upon them added to the fun of the game.
Perhaps one of the funniest elements of the game was that many of the enemies bore a resemblance to a shirtless Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The character design was pretty limited; most characters looked identical, with the only difference being the color of their pants. The player could speak with many of the characters within the game, some of whom would pass along important information, but most would just complain about their lot in life (the player could put these folks out of their misery with a well-placed shotgun blast).
The player would periodically run into allies, whom he could kill; the drawback to this was if the player killed too many of his allies, the remaining allies would gang up on him. While the game was similar in overall concept to many of the other side-scrolling games available for the Sega 32X, “Blackthorne” was still a fun game in its own right.