Kane

Copyright : Mastertronic | Reviewed by : Scooby1970

Was it really 1986 that Mastertronic brought out this little piece of gaming history? This game I almost totally forgot about, until I seen it?s name on a list and then downloaded it to play.

What a great fun game this is! You play a cowboy who has to make his way to Kane, it is based on four simple screens, and once completed you go to the next level.

The four screens are split as such. The first screen has you with a bow and arrow shooting down the "birdies" for each bird you shoot, you get your arrow back to use again. For each bird you miss, the total of missed birds builds up, meaning that eventually you will either run out of arrows or let too many birds pass you by. The object to the first exercise is to get your lives. For every 3 birds you shoot down you get a life (this is later 5 or more birds to be shot at later levels.)

Once you have got your "lives", you move onto stage two, where you must ride your horse and jump over cactus and rocks. A simple little affair which is not that difficult.

Stage three sees you at a shoot-out in the town. You run back and forth, and have a pair of cross-hairs as your sights. As long as you keep moving, this level is quite fun and you won?t get shot by the bad guys.

The last level sees you riding your horse once again, this time in the opposite direction chasing a train. The object is to reach the front of the train by running as fast as you can and jumping over rocks and cactus, this time though it is alot harder than the first time on screen two, and it takes a little more practise.

Graphics

The graphics are a great representation of the period (cowboy times), although they are very blocky. The colours in use are great, but what really strikes you about this game is the Animation!!! Considering this game was released in the mid-1980?s, the animation is quite fantastic, you, and your horse are well animated and the movement is quite believable.

Sound

The Lone-Ranger theme tune plods along nicely on some of the screens, and it is well written and very catchy. The in-game effects are also quite well produced, the sounf of your bow and arrow is great, and the gunshots in level three is also well done.

Gameplay

This game is great for a quick blast, but soon becomes repetative and is simply too easy! Once you mastered the first jump on the last level, you can pretty much finish the game on one life. There is a handy little "Practise" mode available, but that makes the game even easier, you can work out exactly where to jump!

After all is said about this game, it?s a great little game to pass away the hours. Great graphics, great sound and a playable game that doesnt take too much brain-power, for when you are playing it at the end of a long day. Well worth a blast, give it ago!