''Assassin'' is a

platform video game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action game, action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform game ...

with

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...

elements for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

. It was developed by Psionic Systems and published in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

Team17 Team17 Group plc is a British video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Wakefield, England. The venture was created in December 1990 through the merger of British publisher 17-Bit Software and Swedish developer Team 7. A ...

, the company best known for the ''

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

'' franchise. ''Assassin'' was updated and re-released in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

as ''Assassin: Special Edition''.

Gameplay

The character is an assassin that has been hired to kill the antagonist of the game, "Midan". He is then dropped behind enemy lines and must first disable Midan's power source, and then assassinate him. The assassin is armed with a

boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

that is razor-edged. The game is controlled by a

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...

. There are three skill levels: Rookie, Arcade, and Ultimate. As well as changing the difficulty, each level unlocks more of the game than the level that is easier than it. The enemies are tougher to defeat in the higher levels, but there are more rewards. The player must guide the

assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or VIP, important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not ha ...

through the levels facing enemies ranging from vicious dogs to wall mounted laser cannons. As well as the platforms, the player is able to control the assassin to climb on walls and ceilings as a method of getting around, and avoiding enemies. The player can use the boomerang to attack enemies, or use bonus weapons that are gained by achieving certain requirements.

Development

''Assassin'' was developed by Psionic Systems in conjunction with Team17. The project manager was Martyn Brown. It was programmed by David Broadhurst and Haydn Dalton with additional work from Mike and Andrew Oakley. The music and sound effects are by

Allister Brimble Allister Brimble is a British video game music composer. He began composing music and sound effects for the video game industry in the mid-1980s. He also produced various audio tracks, as "Brimble's Beats", that were distributed on cover disks ...

Reception

''Assassin'' has received high ratings. ''

The One Amiga ''The One'' was a video game magazine in the United Kingdom which covered 16-bit home gaming during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was first published by EMAP in October 1988 and initially covered computer games aimed at the Atari ST, Amiga ...

'' rated the game 92%, praising all areas of the game. In particular the sound effects. In the review, the reviewer noted that the sound effects were "some of the most imaginative and atmospheric I've ever heard". The only criticism in the review was that some of the backgrounds seemed empty. The review from ''

Amiga Power ''Amiga Power'' (''AP'') was a monthly magazine about Amiga video games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future plc, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996. Philosophy ''Amiga Power'' had several principles which com ...

'' noted the similarities of the game to '' Strider'' and ''

Turrican ''Turrican'' is a 1990 video game developed by Manfred Trenz. It was developed for the Commodore 64 by Rainbow Arts, and was ported to other systems later. In addition to concept design and character creation, Trenz programmed ''Turrican'' on th ...

'', but overall rated the game highly at 89%. Again, the atmosphere of the game was praised, as were the graphics and animation. ''

CU Amiga ''Commodore User'', known to the readers as the abbreviated ''CU'', was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. With a publishing history spanning over 15 years, it mixed content with technical and video game features. Incorporating ''Vic ...

'' scored the game 89% and noted the size of the game maps. There are over 1500 screens over the five levels. The magazine said this was one of the games most striking features. In episode 2 of season 1, British television show ''

Bad Influence! ''Bad Influence!'' is a 1990s British factual television programme broadcast on CITV from 1992 to 1996, produced in Leeds by Yorkshire Television. It looked at video games and computer technology, and was described as a "kid’s Tomorrow's Worl ...

'' gave it 4 stars (from the girls) and 3 stars (from the boys), out of a maximum of 5. Despite the critical acclaim, Martyn Brown, co-founder of Team17 considers ''Assassin'' to be Team17's least successful game. He attributes this to limited appeal.

Legacy

''Assassin: Special Edition'' was released 2 years after the original game and various gameplay elements were altered. The first level was removed, along with dogs as enemies, and the boomerang has been replaced with a laser gun. ''Amiga Power'' gave the game a lower rating of 79%, but still praised most of it.

References

External links

*
''Assassin''
at Amiga Hall of Light {{Team17 1992 video games Platformers Amiga games Amiga-only games Team17 games Video games scored by Allister Brimble Video games developed in the United Kingdom