Chances are that Lionheart means to you either a crappy movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme or almost equally crappy computer game, subtitled Legacy of Crusader. But other than those two, Lionheart was also the Amiga game and it was definitely less crappy, even legendary for some.
Allow me to quote equally nostalgic gentleman from Hexus forum, appropriately nicked retroborg:
Yes, at the time this game truly was something. The bombastic music, beautiful intro screens, high colour scrolling backgrounds, fantasy ambiance - it definitely was impressive. Just a couple years back it was released for free by its authors and could be downloaded and played legally. Unfortunately, their website disappeared and so did the game. It wasn't until recently that I've learned that there exists a relatively faithful remake.
Lionheart remake was made by an anonymous student from the University of Bordeaux and can be downloaded free of charge here (choose the Enhanced version, the newest one). It resurrects the game quite faithfully, at least as much as I can recall, having played the original some fifteen years ago. As it follows, the remake is hard and demanding, jump mechanics rough to say the least and graphics, well, dated. Fortunately, the music score is as bombastic as ever!
Still, accusing a remake of having dated graphics kind of goes against the whole idea of a remake and this particular one does fully deliver - playing Lionheart feels the same as playing the original, which is generally what one would expect. Thanks to this new version, some of us will be able to revisit it again. If reminiscing Lionheart makes you all misty-eyed or if you are a die-hard retro fan, this is a game for you. If not, then you probably won't get too excited - but frankly, if you were not somewhat retro-inclined, you wouldn't be getting as far through this post, now, would you?
So now just go and play it, for the sake of good old times.
Allow me to quote equally nostalgic gentleman from Hexus forum, appropriately nicked retroborg:
The game had some of the most stunning looking Heroic Fantasy levels, which I had only read about in novels like Conan, Elrik, Lords of The Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, etc…
The Wastelands, the swamps, the spider infested caves, the forgotten city, the fiery caverns, the gravity defying citadel and especially the last Sorcerer Boss fight, were all some of the coolest and most memorable gaming moments.
Yes, at the time this game truly was something. The bombastic music, beautiful intro screens, high colour scrolling backgrounds, fantasy ambiance - it definitely was impressive. Just a couple years back it was released for free by its authors and could be downloaded and played legally. Unfortunately, their website disappeared and so did the game. It wasn't until recently that I've learned that there exists a relatively faithful remake.
Lionheart remake was made by an anonymous student from the University of Bordeaux and can be downloaded free of charge here (choose the Enhanced version, the newest one). It resurrects the game quite faithfully, at least as much as I can recall, having played the original some fifteen years ago. As it follows, the remake is hard and demanding, jump mechanics rough to say the least and graphics, well, dated. Fortunately, the music score is as bombastic as ever!
Still, accusing a remake of having dated graphics kind of goes against the whole idea of a remake and this particular one does fully deliver - playing Lionheart feels the same as playing the original, which is generally what one would expect. Thanks to this new version, some of us will be able to revisit it again. If reminiscing Lionheart makes you all misty-eyed or if you are a die-hard retro fan, this is a game for you. If not, then you probably won't get too excited - but frankly, if you were not somewhat retro-inclined, you wouldn't be getting as far through this post, now, would you?
So now just go and play it, for the sake of good old times.
