''Stormlord'' is a

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 ...

developed and published by

Hewson Consultants Hewson Consultants were one of the smaller software companies which produced video games for home computers in the mid-1980s. They had a reputation for high-quality games which continually pushed the boundaries of what the computers were capable ...

in 1989. It was released 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 ...

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 ...

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

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 ...

, and

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

. It was ported to the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

by Punk Development for Razorsoft and published in 1990. It was followed by a sequel, '' Deliverance: Stormlord II''.

Gameplay

The player can eliminate enemies by throwing a star-like weapon and travel rapidly from place to place by means of a particularly-powerful

trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled spring (device), springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. ...

. In certain versions, this was replaced by a falcon. However, sometimes the journeys must be carefully planned out, since the falcon can transport the player on one-way trips, and if all fairies have not been freed from the previous area, it will be impossible to win. The player has a limited amount of time to finish (before the sunset).

Ports

Sega of America is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

pulled the Genesis edition of the game off the market and forced Razorsoft to give clothing to cover up the faries' bare breasts. Indeed, certain advertisements for the game often made note of the controversy. In August 1991 Sega also announced that it was bringing legal action against RazorSoft for unauthorized use of Sega's "trademarks, copyrights and logos," and a breach of contract. Yet, programmer Kevin Seghetti stated that the changes on the Genesis version were done voluntarily. However, when ''

Amstrad Action ''Amstrad Action'' was a monthly magazine, published in the United Kingdom, which catered to owners of home computers from the Amstrad CPC range and later the GX4000 console. It was the first magazine published by Chris Anderson's Future Publishin ...

'' gave the complete CPC version of the game away on their free covertape they edited the code of the game to cover up the fairies with a black square. This was due to avoid controversy with their young readership, or their parents.

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 ...

'' reviewed the game in their May 1989 issue, giving the game their CRASH Smash award and an overall 91% rating: "Stormlord is immensely playable, highly addictive and a great CRASH Smash." ''

Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993. History The ...

'' gave the game a 93 rating stating that the game was "another stormer from

Raffaele Cecco Raffaele Cecco, born 10 May 1967, is a British video games developer who has created numerous video games since 1984, including ''Cybernoid'' and '' Exolon''. He grew up in Tottenham in North London. Spurred by an interest in computers, he receive ...

. Buy it!" ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' gave the game a B and wrote that the game requires players to think and strategize. In 2010,

UGO Ugo is the Italian form of Hugh, a widely used name of Germanic origin. Its diminutive form is Ugolino. It is also a Nigerian Igbo first name. It may refer to: People * Vgo (stonemason), medieval stonemason * Ugo Bassi, a Roman Catholic priest ...

included ''Stormlord'' in the article "25 Sexy Video Game Secrets". In 2009, ''

GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...

'' included it among the games "with untapped franchise potential", commenting: "Nowadays, thanks to games like '' Conan'' and ''

God of War A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in both monotheistic and polytheistic religions. Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been po ...

'', bare-chested men are free to rescue bare-chested women and ''Stormlord'' is ripe for a comeback." The Spanish magazine ''Microhobby'' valued the game with the following scores:(Spanish
Stormlord - ZX Spectrum (1989)
- article on Soloretro Originality: 70% Graphics: 90% Motion: 90% Sound: 80% Difficulty: 90% Addiction: 100%

References

External links

*
Remake for Oric
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920094338/http://stormlord.defence-force.org/ , date=2010-09-20 1989 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games DOS games Fantasy video games Hewson Consultants games Oric games Sega Genesis games Single-player video games Symbian games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by Charles Deenen Video games scored by Jeroen Tel Video games scored by Jochen Hippel ZX Spectrum games