''Winged Warlords'' is a ZX Spectrum

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

which was published by CDS Microsystems in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

. It is a clone of '' Joust'' in terms of level design and gameplay. The graphics are different, with the ostrich mounts being replaced with

winged horses The following is a list of fictional or mythological winged horses. Mythology *The ancient Pegasus is a mythological winged horse. *The Hippalectryon is a half-horse, half-rooster hybrid depicted in ancient Greek art. *Devadatta is the winged ...

. It was authored by Mike Lamb, who went on to write many Spectrum conversions of arcade games such as '' Arkanoid'' and ''

Renegade Renegade or The Renegade may refer to: Aircraft *Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design *Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design *Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design Games *'' Comman ...

Gameplay

Presented with a 2D side-view arena with several platforms, the player maneuvers a pegasus-mounted warlord. Left and right movement is inertia-heavy, as is 'flap' movement against gravity. In one difference with the arcade version of ''Joust'', the flap key may be held down rather than tapped. Collision with a computer-controlled enemy results in one warlord being dismounted, depending on who had the altitudinal advantage. If the player is dismounted, he loses one of four lives. If the enemy is dismounted, the figure tumbles downwards as his mount flies away. This dismounted warlord may be attacked again for bonus points. If left unattended, the warlord eventually calls a new mount and re-enters the battle (coloured magenta instead of cyan.) Occasionally the ''Winged Warlord'' equivalent of ''Joust's'' pterodactyl will appear; the Evil Bird of War (which appears to be some kind of large duck.) Contact with this is lethal for the player; it must be avoided as it makes its way across the screen.

Reception

'' CRASH'' magazine reviewed ''Winged Warlords'' in its third issue, awarding it 79%, while ''

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 ...

'' gave it 6/10; generally receiving better critical success than other Spectrum ''Joust'' clones such as Softek's ''

Ostron ''Ostron'', also released as ''Joust'', is a ZX Spectrum video game developed and released by Softek in 1983. It is a clone of the 1982 arcade video game, ''Joust''. Reception ''Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collisi ...

''.

References

{{CDS Micro Systems series 1983 video games Europe-exclusive video games Action video games Horse-related video games Video game clones Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games ZX Spectrum-only games