''Highlander'' is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

tie-in to the '' Highlander'' franchise released in 1986, the same year as

the film The Film is a 2005 Indian thriller film directed by Junaid Memon also produced along with Amitabh Bhattacharya. The film stars Mahima Chaudhry, Khalid Siddiqui, Ananya Khare, Chahat Khanna, Ravi Gossain, Vaibhav Jhalani and Vivek Madan in lea ...

, published by

Ocean Software Ocean Software Ltd was a British software development company that became one of the biggest European video game developers and video game publisher, publishers of the 1980s and 1990s. The company was founded by David Ward and Jon Woods and wa ...

for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 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 t ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

and

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 Sin ...

home computers. ''Highlander'' was panned by reviewers.

Gameplay

Highlander is an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...

, in which the player controls one of two swordsmen. In the

single-player mode A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usually ...

the player plays as

Connor MacLeod Connor MacLeod, also known as The Highlander, is a fictional character in the ''Highlander'' film series, and appears in the extended franchise of the television programs: '' Highlander: The Series'' and '' Highlander: The Animated Series''. In t ...

and must fight three opponents in one-on-one combat: his mentor Ramírez, then Fizir (named Fasil in the film), before finally facing The Kerghan (named The Kurgan in the film). In each fight the objective is to reduce the opponent's

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

to zero, at which point he is beheaded and the player wins the fight. A two-player mode is also available.

Reception

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' gave the Spectrum version an overall score of 57%, calling its gameplay "clunky" and "trite", graphics "chunky" and 'unimpressive', and all three reviewers described ''Highlander'' as "boring", with one reviewer summarizing the game as "totally boring and quite unplayable". In addition to ''

Sinclair User ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was publi ...

's'' "golden turkey" award, ''Sinclair User'' gave the Spectrum version of ''Highlander'' an overall score of two out of five stars, calling all three levels "virtually identical", and expressed that its gameplay 'lacks finesse', summarizing ''Highlander's'' gameplay as 'slamming the joystick until you win'. ''Crash's'' sister magazine ''

Zzap!64 ''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazine ...

'' gave the Commodore 64 version an overall score of 30%, thoroughly criticizing it as "slow and boring" with "blocky" graphics and "unresponsive" controls, bluntly summarizing the game as a whole as a "film tie-in rip-off" with "nothing vaguely original or interesting". The ZX Spectrum version of ''Highlander'' is featured in Stuart Ashen's (also known by his online presence as Ashens) 2015 book ''Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of'', noting that the graphics for the Spectrum release are the same as those used in the Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 releases, which are designed for a lower screen resolution and in more colors than the Spectrum. Ashens expresses that "the Spectrum's

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochrom ...

rendering leaves them an incomprehensible mess". Ashens heavily criticises its gameplay and graphics, expressing that the combat "feels futile" and stating that "on starting the game, the first thing to hit you is how incredibly ugly the characters are ... Astoundingly, it plays even worse than it looks. None of the sword fighting moves seem to do much ... you can't really tell who is successfully hitting whom ... Playing ''Highlander'' is one of the least entertaining ways you could possibly spend your time". Ashens calls ''Highlander's'' controls "horribly unresponsive" and moving the player character "clumsy", saying the single tactic to winning ''Highlander'' is to "mash the fire button and hope". Ashens calls the game design 'lazy' as well, stating that "despite there being three different opponents that you have to load separately, they all have identical moves. They just look different and ave more health, furthermore stating that the game feels like it was rushed.

References

External links

* * {{Highlander 1986 video games Amstrad CPC games Commodore 64 games Fighting games Highlander (franchise) books and games Ocean Software games Video games about death games Video games scored by Martin Galway ZX Spectrum games Video games developed in the United Kingdom