The gameplay involves large platforming sequences, in which Kyle can run and climb around the environment, find keys and items and progress to the end of each maze like level. The game focuses around protagonist Kyle “Blackthorne” Vlaros, out for revenge on Sarlac and his minions. Vlaros also gives Kyle the lightstone for safe keeping.
Knowing of his people’s doom, the ruler of Androth, King Vlaros, with the aid of the Androthi magician Galadril, sends his son Kyle to Earth to save his life. He forms an army and leads them against Androth. In this time, a ka’dra named Sarlac seizes power.
But while Androth respects their stone, Ka’dra’suul reject theirs, and are eventually transformed into monsters by it. The people of the lightstone form the kingdom of Androth, and the people of the darkstone form Ka’dra’suul. His body becomes two stones, light and dark, and he gives one to each boy to rule their own kingdoms respectively. Believing it will solve the dilemma, he leads them to the deserts and kills himself. Years before the game begins, Thoros, the latest ruler, finds it near impossible to choose between his two sons as the next ruler. Blackthorne is set on the planet Tuul, which has existed for centuries without human knowledge.Īll of this time, Tuul’s people have been ruled over by a single shaman who “was blessed with all knowledge”. The cover art for the SNES version was drawn by Jim Lee. The following year, Blackthorne was released for the Sega 32X with additional content. It was released for the Super NES and MS-DOS in 1994. The backgrounds, however, are just upscaled and the hideous sprites look none the better.Also, be sure to check out The Lost Vikings.īlackthorne (released as Blackhawk in some European countries) is a cinematic platform game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. This version was also later ported to the Mac, running in double resolution. The game was actually ported by Paradox Development as opposed to Blizzard themselves, which probably accounts for its sketchy quality. (Why couldn't they have just used the music from the PC game, which sounded perfectly okay even as FM Adlib?) There's actually blood in this version, but it's not quite as copious as it was in the PC release. The soundtrack tries to be like the SNES version, but the FM synth of the Genesis sound chip just isn't up to it, and it comes off as really quite pointless. Not only are they computer rendered, but the proportions are ridiculously off, so Blackthorne has gigantic shoulders and a tiny head, and the Sarlac just kinda look stupid. On the other hand, the sprites are terrible. The visuals are a mixed bag – the backgrounds look fantastic, and there's a lot of extra detail that helps make the game look less drab. On paper, the 32X version should be the definitive port, considering it has better graphics and four new levels, which take place on a snowy mountain.
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