Sabre Wulf

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Sabre Wulf
Developer(s)	Tim and Chris Stamper
Publisher(s)	Ultimate Play The Game
Platform(s)	ZX Spectrum BBC Micro Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 Mobile phone
Release date	July 1984(Spectrum) October 1985 (Amstrad CPC)
Genre(s)	Arcade adventure; Maze
Mode(s)	Single player Two player (Spectrum and Commodore 64 only)
Rating(s)	N/A
Media	Cassette
System requirements	48K RAM (Spectrum) 32K RAM (BBC) 64K RAM (Amstrad CPC)
Input methods	Keyboard, joystick

This article is about the 1984 video game. For the Game Boy Advance game, see Sabre Wulf (GBA). For the Killer Instinct character, see Killer Instinct.

Sabre Wulf is a ZX Spectrum video game developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1984. The game is the first in the Sabreman series. It was written originally by Tim Stamper and Chris Stamper, and later ported to many other computer platforms. In 2004 a new Sabre Wulf game, with completely different gameplay, was released for the Game Boy Advance.

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Gameplay 3 Trivia 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Introduction

Typically for an Ultimate release, players are given a tantalising and cryptic introduction :

"Down and down I plunged, through Rocky Glades, Steep Ravines and Shady Hollows ... No grip, no footholds, slipping, tumbling, spinning, darker and darker, deeper and deeper.

Glinting eyes, clutching hands, clasping claws, clawing my all, as I swiftly twist and tumble onwards.

Darker and darker, deeper and deeper. It is the end that I fear, of this untrodden voyage ... to where I do not know ... AARRRGGGG ... THUDD ...

Fall and end meet on soft mossy soil ... with weapons drawn and senses full I move quickly and quietly around the mounded clearing ... All safe except a message ... An ancient warning etched deep into the lifeless stone.

THE WARNING

THY PATH IS LONG SO TREAD WITH CARE

BEWARE THE WULF AND PASS HIS LAIR

DANGER THREATENS ALL AROUND

SO TAKE YE FROM THIS HIDDEN MOUND

TO FREE THEE FROM THIS SUNKEN GATE

BY WAY OF CAVE OR MEET THY FATE

AN AMULET TO SEEK THY WILL

`TWAS SPLIT BY QUAD AND HIDDEN STILL

PASS THE KEEPER WROUGHT WITH HATE

TO GAIN AN ENTRANCE TO THE GATE

THE PIECES LOST MUST THEE AMAS

FOR IF NO CHARM THEN NON SHALL PASS

I edge through the shady mounded clearing and on through the dense thickets of hot house rain forest undergrowth, of sorts I cannot tell, and wait ... and listen ... Distant rumblings of heavy feet crashing, large animals leap from the damp green stubble, to fight and kill.

I stay hidden ... The rumblings grow louder and louder, as a huge Goliath animal crashes past, horns swiping and tail lashing, still I hide as its thunderous noise dies away.

All was clear as I leapt over the clumps and onto the well trodden pathway, its deep ruts and prints reveal the multitude of life forms inhabiting this hollow. Danger threatens so I should move quickly ... But Where???

Wide eyed, I stare, as the dense surroundings reveal their hidden secrets ... Strange food orchids suddenly bloom, their staining toxins, strong on the air, then, in an instant, are gone. Hunters, killers, vampire bats and huge beasts spring forth from the very ground, swimming, slithering, diving and crawling ... I must hide ... Stay safe ... With weapon strong and cunning nature, I will survive ... "

[edit] Gameplay

Taking on the role of Sabreman, players must navigate a flip-screen jungle maze (256 screens) to recover four pieces of a lost amulet (which depicts the titular Wulf). Once all four have been collected, the Keeper guarding the maze exit can be safely passed. However, between the entrance and exit, Sabreman must fend off a large number of tropical foes with his trusty sabre. Some enemies such as scorpions, snakes and spiders are easily dispatched, but larger adversaries such as hippos, rhinos and natives can only be intimidated by fencing. Furthermore, if the player remains in one screen for too long, an invincible bushfire appears and stalks Sabreman until he leaves. Along the way, the player also encounters the Wulf itself (albeit rarely). An invincible and persistent foe, it is better avoided than confronted.

As well as searching for the amulet, players can collect treasure for bonus points and extra lives to prolong their jungle adventure. Also available for the player to collect are jungle orchids that periodically grow and flower in forest glades. There are several varieties of these, each in a different colour and with a different effect on the player. Some confer immunity or increase movement speed, while others cause negative effects such as paralysis or disorientation (reversed controls). Collected wisely, they can make progress through the jungle much more easy.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The title music is a primitive realization of a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach^[1], the Prelude in C major from book 1 of The Well-Tempered Clavier.

• The colourful, stylised vegetation making up Sabre Wulf's maze bears a strong resemblance to the many jungle landscapes painted by the French post-impressionist artist, Henri Rousseau.

• Sabre Wulf is referenced in Rare's fighting game Killer Instinct which includes a werewolf character named Sabrewulf.

• The tape loading noise of Sabre Wulf was used on Aphex Twin's Corn Mouth.^[2]

• Sabreman makes a cameo in the game Banjo-Tooie in the level Hailfire Peaks, where he can be seen frozen holding the lost amulet right outside the train station on the icy side. Also, the combination for Superstash's safe is 1984, the year Sabre Wulf was released.

• There is a common glitch in Spectrum emulators where the hippos in the game appear to run backwards.

[edit] References

1. ^ Sabre Wulf at Eurogamer.net. Retrieved on 30 October 2007.
2. ^ Matthew Westcott. Forensic criminology, the ZX Spectrum way. Retrieved on 2006-07-29.

[edit] External links

• Sabre Wulf at Ultimate Wurlde
• Sabre Wulf at World of Spectrum
• Sabre Wulf at MobyGames
• Sabre Wulf map
• Sabre Wulf review at CRASH magazine
• A walkthrough video of Sabre Wulf on the ZX Spectrum at Google Video
• Sabre Wulf at the Open Directory Project

v • d • e Ultimate Play The Game 1983 Jetpac  • Pssst  • Tranz Am  • Cookie  • Lunar Jetman  • Atic Atac 1984 Sabre Wulf  • Underwurlde  • Knight Lore  • The Staff of Karnath  • Entombed 1985 Alien 8  • Nightshade  • Gunfright  • Blackwyche  • Imhotep  • Outlaws  • Dragon Skulle 1986 Cyberun  • Pentagram 1987 Martianoids  • Bubbler Other games Mire Mare • Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship • Sabre Wulf (GBA) • Jetpac Refuelled Platforms ZX Spectrum • Amstrad CPC • BBC Micro • MSX • Commodore 64 • Commodore VIC-20 • Famicom Disk System See also Tim and Chris Stamper • Sabreman • Jetman • Filmation engine • Rare • U.S. Gold