''Black Tiger'', known in Japan as , is a

hack-and-slash Hack and slash, also known as hack and slay (H&S or HnS) or slash 'em up, refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat with melee-based weapons (such as swords or blades). They may also feature projectile-based weapons as well (such as ...

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

released for arcades by Capcom in 1987.

Plot

The land is under the cruel control of three evil demonic dragons, who descended on a kingdom to bring darkness and destruction. From the ruins emerged a barbarian hero, who seeks to slay the dragons and restore the kingdom to its former glory.

Gameplay

The game is presented in a side-scrolling format, with eight-way

scrolling In computer displays, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display, vertically or horizontally. "Scrolling," as such, does not change the layout of the text ...

(like ''

Bionic Commando ''Bionic Commando'' is a video game franchise consisting of an original arcade game released in 1987 and several later versions and sequels. Background The original Japanese arcade game and its Famicom counterpart (''Hitler's Resurrection'' ...

''). The player controls the barbarian hero to navigate through eight levels infested with enemies and destroying the levels bosses. The player can find a number of "wise men" who give rewards when rescued. Though the wise man rewards often consist of self-evident "advice", most come in the form of "Zenny coins",

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

that allows the player to buy various items, such as an upgrade to their weapons and armour, keys for

treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions le ...

chests, and anti-poisoning potions. Hidden special items that reveal

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

s, grant upgraded armour, full vitality, extra lives, extra time, or simply bonus points may be found by attacking certain walls. The player's vitality bar will also increase up to four times as a reward for reaching score benchmarks. The player can also find hidden dungeons in the level for extra points and items. The Japanese version has a few changes that makes it more challenging than its American counterpart: * Several of the "falling rock" obstacles are added * The prices of many items are higher * More points are needed to increase maximum vitality * It is not possible to avoid taking damage from bosses by crouching under them

Development

''Black Tiger'' was planned for released around October 1986, but programming placement difficulties delayed it. During conversion, the game was one of ten games included in a $2,000,000 deal between

U.S. Gold U.S. Gold Limited was a British video game publisher based in Witton, Birmingham, England. The company was founded in 1984 by Anne and Geoff Brown in parallel to their distributor firm, CentreSoft, both of which became part of Woodward Brown Ho ...

and some Japanese coin-op specialists.

Ports

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

-based

released versions of ''Black Tiger'' for

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

, Amiga, Atari ST, and

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

in 1989. A version for the Commodore 64 was released in 1990, developed by Softworx. * An emulation of the arcade game is included in the compilations '' Capcom Classics Collection: Remixed'' for PlayStation Portable and ''

Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 is a compilation of arcade games released by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on September 27, 2005 in North America and in 2006 in Japan. It was developed by Digital Eclipse Software (then Backbone Entertainment), Sensory Sweep, and its ...

'' for PlayStation 2 and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

. * The arcade version of ''Black Tiger'' was released on the Wii's

Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Uni ...

in Japan on December 7, 2010, the PAL region on January 21, 2011 and in North America on January 24. * The game is included as the initial game in ''

Capcom Arcade Cabinet ''Capcom Arcade Cabinet'' is a compilation of seventeen Capcom 1980s arcade games for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The compilation was released in five separate packs of three games during February–May 2013. A purchase of all five packs inclu ...

'' for PlayStation Network and

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...

on February 19, 2013. * '' SonSon II'' for the

PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, thoug ...

was a game heavily based on ''Black Tiger'', but targeted at a younger audience. * The game is one of 32 available in Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium that was released on July 22, 2022.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed the game on their October 15, 1987 issue as being the sixth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. ''Black Tiger'' received a number of positive reviews. '' Computer and Video Games'' put the Atari ST, Amiga and Commodore 64 ports as among the top 20 games of the respective computers of 1990.

References

External links

* * *{{WoS game, id=0009310, name=Black Tiger 1987 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Arcade video games Atari ST games Cancelled Nintendo Entertainment System games Capcom games Commodore 64 games Hack and slash games Platform games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation Network games Romstar games U.S. Gold games Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games ZX Spectrum games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games scored by Tamayo Kawamoto