Underwurlde
| Underwurlde | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Ultimate Play the Game |
| Publisher(s) | Ultimate Play the Game |
| Series | Sabreman |
| Platform(s) | ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 |
| Release date(s) |
ZX Spectrum Q4 1984 Commodore 64 1985 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure, platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Publication | Score |
| CVG | ZX: 35/40 C64: 34/40 |
| Crash | ZX: 92% |
| Sinclair User | ZX: 8 |
| Zzap!64 | C64: 69% |
Underwurlde is a 1984 action-adventure platform video game in the Sabreman series by Ultimate Play the Game for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. The player controls the adventurer Sabreman as he jumps between platforms in a castle and its underground caverns to find an escape past the exit guardians. Underwurlde features about 600 flip screen areas. Unlike other games of its time, Sabreman is not damaged when touched by enemies and is instead knocked backwards. Underwurlde is the second game in the series, between Sabre Wulf and Knight Lore, and released alongside the latter for the ZX Spectrum during the 1984 holiday season. Another developer, Firebird, ported the game to the Commodore 64 the next year.
Reviewers recommended the original ZX Spectrum Underwurlde release. They noted its expansive game world and appreciated the parts where Sabreman travelled by bubble. Later critics commented on the game's frustrating difficulty. While the Commodore 64 version was similar to the original, reviews were mixed—one critic thought the title had aged poorly in the year between releases. Your Sinclair placed Underwurlde within its top 20 for the ZX Spectrum, though their readers put it near the bottom of their top 100. The game was later included in Rare's 2015 Xbox One retrospective compilation, Rare Replay.
Underwurlde is a platform game viewed from a side-angle perspective. The player controls Sabreman, a pith-helmeted adventurer, as he jumps between platforms in a castle and its underground caverns to find a way to escape past the exit guardians. Sabreman must use a specific weapon—knife, dagger, and torch—that corresponds to each guardian. The player uses the keyboard's QWERT keys to progress through a series of flip screens in which the player's character reaches the boundary of the viewable area on the screen to flip to another area, with 597 screens in all. While Sabreman begins in a castle adorned with clocks, birds, and baskets, the character must also descend down into caverns through several successive vertical screens. Sabreman automatically attaches a rope to the ceiling when the player controls him off of a ledge. The player can then swing Sabreman side to side to jump to another ledge. At the bottom of a cavern, Sabreman can ride a bubble to the top.
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Wikipedia