Note: This review is based on the Atari XL computer series.
To capitalise the release of the mega block buster hit ‘Conan – The Destroyer’, there was no doubt that a video game was about to be announced. Heck, Ghostbusters done it so along arrives ‘Conan – Hall of Volta’. This game is not a tie in with the movie however it does feature the barbarian himself, Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Heck, even looking at the video game’s cover makes you think it was. Nevertheless, the game does a passable justice to the Conan brand and considering it’s very short (seven levels), it’s still a satisfying experience.
So the plot of the game is simply to destroy Volta for which he’s hiding deep within the castle walls. However that’s a bit odd considering some levels makes you wonder what kind of castle it was. Regardless, Conan will fight his way against various types of enemies, aid with his ‘avian friend’ – some flying turkey looking thing. However Conan, this time, decides to throw his sword acting like a boomerang instead of going toe-to-toe.
Speaking of which, Conan is armed with ten throwing swords and if he hits an opponent, sometimes the sword disappears and other times he gets it back – it’s a matter of luck I guess. Fear not as there are some levels that respawn these ‘boomerang’ swords so technically you should not run out of them. In addition to this, considering there’s only seven levels, each level are different from one another as each has a certain goal to achieve. But mostly they require finding a gem / key to move on to the next level.
So the game plays out like an action platformer yet there are some minor differences to the myriad of platform games out there. First thing, there is no timer at all and thank goodness for that. My reason for this is because some levels requires luck (like waiting for a gem to appear) and because there’s no timer, you are not under immense pressure that plays on luck. Also, because of the no timer, you can collect as many spawning swords you like however, having eleven at any one time is sufficient enough. Yet, I have seen a play though with sixty plus swords – that’s a little bit of an overkill.
Another feature that differs from most platformer games is that Conan is able to fall from any height. This may be consider a bane however I feel it’s fine considering he’s Conan. Also, when he falls, you can see him doing a summersault for which looks pretty cool indeed. And speaking of graphics, this game looks really neat with decent array of colours. Very detailed however there’s a downside to this – the game’s framerate tumbles a lot when there’s a lot of movement about. I’m not sure if this is because of porting issues (as it was originally written for the Apple II) however it can place a damper on the gameplay as it effects the flow.
Yet the sounds from this game is mediocre at best. Not much to go by as there are minimal sound effects. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is absolutely amazing. Such beautiful tunes throughout and definitely the highlight for this game. It’s that good it’s worth listening to it on its own however I think there’s only two scores to listen too for which is a shame.
Formed part of the Datasoft’s ‘famous people’ series (the other was Bruce Lee / Dallas), Datasoft was also known for porting arcade games and grabbing licenses from famous T.V. shows and movies and made them into games. Conan – Hall of Volta is a pretty decent debut with great graphics and decent gameplay. It’s a shame that it’s pretty short considering it only has seven levels (comparing to Bruce Lee’s twenty) and the constant frame rate drop. Yet the game arrives on two disks thus makes me wonder what’s with all that data space as, for I believe is around 80kb – that’s quite large for 1984. Whatever the case maybe, it’s an entertaining game.