Sabre Wulf (2004 Video Game)

''Sabre Wulf'' is a 2004 video game by Rare for the Game Boy Advance. The player controls the safari adventurer Sabreman, who runs and jumps between platforms to retrieve treasure guarded by the Sabre Wulf. The game is a remake of the 1984 action-adventure ''Sabre Wulf''. Though remake's reviews were generally favourable, sales were lackluster. Reviewers noted the game's simplicity and shallow puzzles. While some found it fun and praised its character animations, reviewers considered its gameplay repetitive.

Gameplay

''Sabre Wulf'' is a traditional platform game in which the player, as the safari adventurer Sabreman, runs and jumps between platforms to retrieve treasure guarded by the Sabre Wulf, who pursues Sabreman back to the start of the level. Sabreman last appeared in 1980s ZX Spectrum games including the original ''Sabre Wulf'', in which he searched for pieces of an amulet used to tame the guardian Sabre Wulf. The 2004 revival extends this backstory, as the evil Dr. Dolittle-Goode steals the amulet and releases Sabre Wulf, who scares townspeople and steals treasure. As Sabreman, the player fights through eight worlds—each consisting of a sequence of platforming levels and culminating in a laboratory level—to retrieve an eighth of the amulet and return Sabre Wulf to captivity. The player travels between levels using a village hub overworld in which Sabreman can speak with inhabitants and prepare for the next raid.

En route to the treasure, the player can also summon Sabreman's collectible creatures, who give the character special abilities needed to advance through the levels. For example, Sabreman use the bear's belly as a trampoline, the serpent as a platform, and an exploding creature as dynamite. The player can either find or purchase these creatures. The quicker the player reaches the level's object, the more valuable the treasure will be. For example, if the player delays, the gold treasure becomes silver or bronze. When the player touches the treasure, Sabre Wulf begins to chase Sabreman, who must backtrack through the level to return the treasure to his tent without aid of the collectible creatures. Since the wolf can outpace Sabreman, the player instead needs to recall both the structure of the map and outmaneuver the wolf. If the wolf touches Sabreman, the player restarts from the beginning of the chase rather than the beginning of the level. The game's difficulty does not increase evenly, and some consecutive levels will require the use of all collectible creatures while the next require none. If the player completes a level with the gold treasure, a challenge mode version of the level unlocks with restrictions on time and helper creature selection.

''Sabre Wulf'' humour is British and self-referential to the developer's history. Some of ''Sabre Wulf'' locations and characters reference games by Ultimate Play the Game, the company that preceded Rare. The majority of the in-game speech is portrayed as murmurs similar to the characters in ''Banjo-Kazooie'' or '' Grabbed by the Ghoulies''. Sabreman has several speech samples, such as "run for it" when Sabre Wulf starts to chase and "smashing" when finishing a level. The player can save game progress in either of two save slots on the cartridge.

Development

The title debuted at the 2001 Electronic Entertainment Expo. It uses a similar engine as used in the ''Banjo'' and ''Donkey Kong Country'' series. ''Sabre Wulf'' is depicted in pre-rendered computer graphics, similar to the technique Rare used in earlier games, and has subtle lighting effects, as when Sabreman approaches a light source, but otherwise did not use the Game Boy Advance's hardware effects.

The game originally included a working picture-in-picture mode for the player to track the wolf during the chase. The feature limited other features the team wanted to include and was removed.

Reception

The game received "generally favourable" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. Despite its innovations and favourable reviews, sales were lackluster.

Reviewers found the game simple, with shallow platforming puzzles and gameplay. Some found it fun, while others did not. Reviewers from both sides considered its gameplay repetitive—as ''GamesTM'' put it: the player rehearses and memorizes short, basic levels for the fastest time. The game's difficulty can widely vary between levels, and ramps up about a third into the game. Some reviewers found the wolf to be a bad foil to Sabreman and easily outmaneuvered. To ''Sabre Wulf'' credit, ''Eurogamer'' wrote, the game was accessible and absorbing, among the best platformers on the Game Boy Advance. ''GamePro'' put ''Sabre Wulf'' in the lineage of '' Wario Ware'' in that its quick and otherwise mundane levels became interesting when paired with its varied creature puzzle and racing hooks. ''NGC Magazine'' also appreciated the blend of strategic puzzle-platforming and making a fast escape. Other reviewers were also drawn to the puzzle elements.

''Sabre Wulf'' is oriented towards action, and ''IGN'' considered its few adventure elements of brief "busy-work wandering" and non-player character conversation weak. ''Edge'' described these parts as "filler" and even considered the simple platforming "ultimately disposable" fun. ''GameSpot'' felt that player creativity was constrained by the limited helper creature choices, a game mechanic similar to that of ''The Lost Vikings''. Reviewers suggested that the game's jump controls could be tighter, and collision detection more forgiving. Two reviewers recommended the game for short play sessions, during downtime, and ''IGN'' appreciated that the game was longer in length than Rare's prior Game Boy Advance game, ''Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge''.

Reviewers praised the game's character animations and designs, but differed on the overall graphics, which many praised and others derided. For instance, while ''Eurogamer'' considered uncommonly good for a Game Boy Advance game, ''IGN'' deemed the visuals less impressive since Rare pioneered the style a decade earlier, and ''GameZone'' wanted for more special effects. ''GamePro'' found the graphics muddied on the Game Boy Advance, while ''GameSpot'' only found the game muddy when enlarged for a big screen with the Game Boy Player. The website reported that ''Sabre Wulf'' bright palette otherwise played fine on handheld.

''GamePro'' compared the soundtrack to a whimsical ''Braveheart'', and ''GameZone'' described the sound as "spectacular", especially the environmental sound effects and humorous character gibberish during dialogue.

''Sabre Wulf'' struggled with the double bind of not pleasing fans of the 1984 original and not enticing new fans to compete with brands such as ''Pokémon''. Of British outlets, ''GamesTM'' too wrote that ''Sabre Wulf'' did not match the legacy of its forebears and ''Retro Gamer'' found the remake disappointing, though ''Eurogamer'' figured that players familiar with the developer's history would at least appreciate the in-game references and nostalgia. In the United States, ''IGN'' considered the game a "welcome throwback" to Rare's 1980s ingenuity but expected much of its British humour to be lost on players. ''Play'' found the humour entertaining and ''GameSpot'' thought that the British accent in Sabreman's sound effects perfectly fit his persona. Others found the character sound effects humorous or grating. At the time of the game's release, ''Eurogamer'' questioned the game's intended demographic and marketing strategy, and ''GamesTM'', in light of what it deemed repeatedly low quality releases, challenged the worth of Rare's acquisition.

References

{{Portal bar, Video games

2004 video games
Game Boy Advance games
Game Boy Advance-only games
Platform games
THQ games
Rare (company) games
Single-player video games
Video game remakes
Video games scored by Robin Beanland
Video games developed in the United Kingdom