Sunday, 23 September 2018

Sai Combat on the ZX Spectrum 48K !!

We've covered a few 8 bit fighting games on the ZX Spectrum recently. The Way of the Tiger, Fighting Warrior and Kung Fu Master.

This time I looked at a karate game called Sai Combat. This game was published by Mirrosoft in 1986 and then later re-released by Silverbird Software. I'm pleased to say that out of the other fighters already mentioned, in my opinion, Sai Combat is the best.


You play the role of a novice karate fellow (I'm sure this is the right terminology) and must progress up the belts by displaying your skills against increasingly difficult opponents. You begin as a humble white belt, then must advance all the way through eight ranks to black belt. Once black is achieved, you then have to progress through the eight DAN levels.

Sixteen opponents then !!

Each stage, you're fighting using a weapon... or as I like to call it, a pointy stick. Apologies to karate experts out there. The animation is good and there are a lot of different martial arts moves to master. Taking the time to learn the various moves both defencive and offencive will bring you the most reward. Button-mashing will only take you so far as I sort of proved!

The background changes after each fight which is a nice touch and gives you a sense you are getting somewhere when you pull off a succession of wins. Really incentivising you to see what the next screen will look like and builds the longevity which is mightily important.

Two dragons either side represent how much punishment you and your opponent have taken during the fight. If your dragon goes green, you're down. If the opponents dragon goes red then he hits the floor. Typically it takes three falls to progress to the next belt.

Sai Combat is one of the better speccy fighting games out there in retro land and as such, is well worth tracking down. Good attention to detail and addictive gameplay if you're into this particular genre of gaming.

Have a click on the video review above. See how I got on !!!

Nick :o)


No comments:

Post a Comment