The Way of the Tiger

Crash

Chris Wilkins

Ryan Coleman

As the Crash annuals are still for sale ZXSR has taken the decision to remove all review text, apart from reviewer names and scores from the database. A backup has been taken of the review text which is stored offsite. The review text will not be included without the express permission of the Annuals editorial team/owners.

Crash

Overall 88%

Phil King 88%

OLDIES UNLIMITED! What? Spent all your Christmas money already? Well, never fear, the golden oldie himself, PHIL KING, takes you on a tour of the latest budget-price rereleases... Way Of The Tiger Producer: Kixx Price: £2.99 Original Rating: 93% Gremlin's epic beat-'em-up was originally released in May 1986, and based on the solo-roleplaying books of the same name. The game uses a strange 'triple-scroll' effect to display the horizontally-scrolling play area. The background is split into three layers: the front layer is where the main action happens, while background effects like birds flying occur in the other two layers. This ingenious technique complements the Samurai sword-fighting. The many martial arts moves at your disposal are accessed in typical beat-'em-up style. Only by defeating all the challengers in all three levels are you elevate to the elusive status of Ninja. All the graphics are very detailed and beautifully animated, creating a wonderful atmosphere in which the excellent beat-'em-up takes place. This is a piece of software of the highest quality and a great buy at the new low price.

Crash

Overall (Robin Candy) 89%

Overall (Richard Eddy) 81%

Richard Eddy 81%

Robin Candy 89%

KICK HIGH There's been an explosion in martial-arts sims since The Way Of The Exploding Fist, as RICKY EDDY and ROBIN CANDY observe in this good beat-'em-up guide. And the ninjas just won't lie down - all they want to do is... They started three years ago, when Bug Byte revealed an interesting little number called Kung Fu. It was an admirable wireframe attempt to produce a martial-arts simulation - 'probably the most unusual game to be seen on the Spectrum for a long while,' said CRASH in amazement. But sceptics thought the genre would never catch on. It took Melbourne House to show them the way - The Way Of The Exploding Fist, which sold more than 150,000 copies for the Spectrum and nearly half a million across all formats. Since then, nothing's kept the combat games down. They've been grotesque (Barbarian), skillful (Fist) and downright silly (Ninja Hamster). The genre soon caught the nickname 'beat-'em-ups', as the gameplay always involves a player beating up his opponent, whether the computer or another player. And with the advent of the 128s and their improved sound chips, the fighting effects became more hideous - the most disturbing beat-'em-up sounds must be the animal squeals on Ninja Hamster. But most of these martial-arts simulations are so unrealistic, set in pseudo-Oriental fantasy worlds, that it's just harmless surrogate violence - and everyone likes a bit of that. THE WAY OF THE TIGER Gremlin Graphics 93% Issue 28 ROBIN: This Gremlin Graphics licence is based on the Fighting Fantasy books of the same name. It's split into three distinct subgames which are loaded separately. The first features unarmed combat, the second pole fighting and the third sword fighting. They're highly enjoyable and very addictive - this is my favourite of the beat-'em-ups featured here. The graphics are excellent, but it's the animation that really grabs the player. It's just so smooth. If you're going to get just one beat-'em-up, I can't recommend this enough! PICK OF THE KICKS 89% RICKY: This is one of the best beat-'em-ups, with some great graphic routines. The action doesn't quite have the excitement of Barbarian, though. 81%

THOSE BEAT-'EM-UPS IN FULL The Way Of The Exploding Fist Fist II Gladiator Yie Ar Kung Fu Yie Ar Kung Fu II International Karate The Way Of The Tiger Amazon Women Kung-Fu Master Ninja Uchi Mata Barbarian Kick Boxing Ninja Hamster Renegade Sai Combat

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Your SinclairYour Sinclair Megagame

Graphics 10/10

Playability 9/10

Value For Money 9/10

Addictiveness 9/10

Overall 9/10

Phil South 9/10

There are ways and there are Ways. And now there is Gremlin Graphics' The Way of the Tiger. Speaker of Truth Phil South chops his way through this king of combat games. FAX BOX Game: Way Of The Tiger Publisher: Gremlin Graphics Price: £9.95 Joystick: Kempston Keys: W - up; X - down; A - left; D - right; SPACE - fire. Plus diagonals and many sub-functions with fire. Reviewer: Phil South Here we go again - in martial arts combat against the forces of evil. So how does this new contender stand up against its rivals in the martial arts/ninja arena? What makes this game a chop above the rest? How does it play, and what does 'trigeminal' scrolling mean? Let's take a look... The new game is the first in a series of translations of The Way Of The Tiger solo role-playing gamebooks to an arcade format. You take the role of Avenger, a powerful ninja warrior, and control his exploits in the ancient world of Orb. You chop every chop, swash every buckle and Ahh every so in the valiant ninja's battles against the dribbling hordes of evil adversaries. It is written that long ago a young boy was found abandoned on the mystical Island of Tranquil Dreams at the gates of a temple to the great god Kwon. A monk called Naijishi, a Grand Master of the fighting arts, took the boy in and became his foster father. He taught him all he knew, of combat and wisdom. Soon the time of testing approached, when he had to face many vicious foes to earn the title Ninja, Speaker of Wisdom, Protector of the Weak, and One Most Powerful. After that he had to face the Master Naijishi himself, for the ultimate test. Gamebooks are a spin-off of the role playing game industry - you, the reader, take the part of the book's hero and follow one of the many different courses through the book according to the decisions you make for him. The Tiger books were an alternative to the dragonslaying type, and indeed one of the first to make a move away from the goblins, wizards and orcs that go grunt in the night type. The Tiger books chart Avenger's adventures and, by way of the multiple choices, decide his fate. The three parts of the game form a training course for budding ninjas, and offer an introduction to the techniques you'll need to embark on the adventures to come. Not least of these is the ability to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent, and order your attack appropriately. Each foe is different, and one of the big strengths of this game over others is the variety of techniques you must use to beat them. Some are short and stubby goblins. Some are giants whose very footfalls make the ground tremble. Some are spirits who float above the ground and cast a deadly fluence over you. It's this variation of attack that makes the game interesting - in most other games of the genre one repetitive move will usually see you through. You have to master all the moves and deploy them with great care to become a true master. The range and quality of the animation in the game are first class. I'm told that a four person team worked solidly for seven months to produce the multifarious animated effects, taking in not only the main characters, but the scenery and background characters too! All of them exhibit amazing lifelike movement. Take for example the ducks swimming peacefully on the lake behind the pole fighting, or the fish that arches out of the sate and plops back in again. And the owl lithe sword fighting scenario that flies from the middle distance right into the front of the screen where it lands and revolves its head right round before flying off again. With such interesting things going on in other parts of the screen, its sometimes difficult to concentrate on the job in hand. Another thing that sets this game head and high kicks above the mob is its 'trigeminal scrolling'. What this means in practice is that when you jump up, you see things from a slightly altered perspective. You can peer over foreground objects and take in details of the background. Although this might sound a bit ho-hum to you, the effect it has on the 3D is quite startling. This is shown to its best during the samurai sword fighting sequence, where the scene is depicted as seen through the eyes of the master Naijishi himself. The screen moves around as he moves his head to take in different parts of the action. The whole game takes up about 148K of memory. Yes, I know you've only got 48K in your little button box! The code is loaded in sections, giving you what amounts to three complex and different games on two cassettes, multiloaded through user-friendly menus. Is it a hit? (Take that. THWACK!) Ahh so!

BEST OF THE REST. Way Of The Exploding Fist (Melbourne House - One move or defence will usually get you through this game. The two player option is nice if you want to fight your friends. Tiger wins out from a strategy point of view. Yie Ar Kung Fu (Imagine) - Very much the arcade game, but then it is a conversion of the coin-op fave. Not very credible as a martial arts simulation. Range of characters similar to Tiger but lacks the sophistication. Sai Combat (Mirrorsoft) - Way Of The Tiger has pole fighting as just one of it's scenarios, so it has more action. Like Fist this one suffers from having just one scenario, and once again a single repetitive move will usually get you past all comers.

Pole Fighting Once you have beaten the demons in the garden, you must cross the slippery log across the river. On the other side is the Temple, but between you and your objective stand skeleton wraiths and trolls. You must prove your mastery of the staff if you wish to continue your time of testing. The complexity of the animation in this game comes into its own on this screen. The ducks, fish and turtles have a life of their own and can be quite distracting. If you can't keep your mind on the job, why not go through the game, watching these effects before you play. Make no bones about it, the skeletons are deadly. The big ugly creatures you'll come across are trolls and though they're tough, they're not very quick. Your fellow ninjas are here too, but don't think you can pull the old school tie trick. They'll kill you if you let them. The pole is not only narrow, but slippery too! It's unwise to push your luck by jumping back too often - you'll surely end up in the drink. Keep your footing and make certain it's your enemy that takes the tumble. The overhead block is your best defence on the slippery pole. It's a good plan to advance on your opponent as you beat him back, gaining yourself a bit of leg room. If in doubt, duck. No dumbo, not the feathery things, I mean duck out of the way!

Sword Fighting Having passed through the garden and across the river, you must now take on the warriors of the Temple itself. You must prove your worthiness on the eyes of Kwon by mastery of the samurai sword. But even as you defeat your last for, the Master awaits, for he is to administer the final test. The owl is an omen of good. If flies over your head to land on a post in the foreground. This has to be one of the best non-essential graphics ever seen in a game. It flies, lands, blinks and turns it's head before flying off again. As you thrash the lifeblood from your enemies, life goes on as normal on the mystical Island of Tranquil Dreams. Traders shift their wares from place to place, pausing to rub their hands; old women trundle past pushing wheelbarrows, stopping to scratch their heads. Moral: don't stand near old ladies. We're into ninjury time here! The combatants you face in the Temple grounds are your fellow ninjas, plus a tankful of tiger-headed temple guards. They are the most deadly warriors you'll have faced in your test so far. When you've beaten them, you must face your own master, Naijishi, a true master of the sword. The Head Splitter has to be the best move! You thrash the sword straight down onto somebody's head, chopping it in two. Bleurgh! Once again, employ defensive moves to conserve your inner Force - duck, hop back and block to avoid the blows of the evil warriors.

Unarmed Combat As you roam through the gardens of the Temple of Rock, the Master unleashes a multitude of foul beasts for you to defeat. You have no weapons, just your bare hands and the power of your Inner Force against ninjas, spirits and goblins. Oh yes, there is a giant too! Watch out for him. There are a broad range of adversaries in this game - at least four or five different types on each scenario. The Rhino man and the Shape changer are the most deadly at this stage of the game, though the giant must be the hardest to beat. If things get too close for comfort, you can employ the amazing backward leap, taking you back several yards. A useful tool in your repertoire, and your best defence. A still picture doesn't really do justice to the 'trigeminal' scrolling, but the effect really enhances the sensation of depth of vision. You can peek over things when you jump up which comes in quite handy if there's something hiding behind a rock. Use the Force! Your Inner Force is the source of your power as a ninja, so you must employ defensive as well as offensive tactics. Try to prevent your opponent's blows landing on you, for your Inner Force reaches zero your training ends here...

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Sinclair User

Overall 5/5

John Gilbert 5/5

Publisher: Gremlin Programmers: Shaun Hollingworth, Peter Harrop, Chris Kerry, Marcos Duroe Price: £9.95 Memory: 48K/28K Joystick: Kempston In the mystical world of Orb, a servant brings you to the Temple of the Rock. The monks there are to train you in the arts of unarmed combat so you can face the injustices of the outside world and dedicate your life to perpetrating goodly deeds. This is indeed a moral tale. But, what's this! Before you can claim the title of Avenger the Ninja (who would want it?) you have to survive a series of tricky tests which your adopted father Naijishi, Grand Master of the dawn (another name you'd try to talk your parents out of giving you) has set you. You still following this? Y'see, there are these three tests in which you must fight the master's chosen adversaries which include other sundry ninjas and a few supernatural demons from the depths of earth and water. And, to make it easy, you can take the tests in any order. Success - as with other Fighting-Fist-Yie-Ar games - depends upon your abilities with fists, feet, sword and pole. You only pass a test if at its end you still retain some inner force and endurance. Every time you get hit by your opponent your endurance diminishes and when you have lost a full circle of endurance points you lose one inner force point. If your inner force is spent the test is over and you have failed. Since this is a fair game your opponent is subject to just the same restrictions - waste his inner force and Naijishi will need a new Ninja. Take care though, your inner force is not renewed after each battle. First test is unarmed combat. You are dumped in the desert lands of Orb to take on a variety of monsters including a cowled Ninja who fights using his hands and feet, and a wraith with magical powers which can turn into a squat demon weilding a sabre. The desert backdrop is similar to those in Way of the Exploding Fist but, as well as panning left and right when your Ninja moves across the screen, the scenery is shifted up and down as he jumps and ducks. Your character has a repetoire of 16 actions which are accessed with the fire button - on joystick and keyboard - on or off. During this first test you can leap or duck, punch, retreat, jump back and kick. To turn from one direction to another you must push the joystick in the direction you want to move and press the fire button. Switching direction is crucial to master: repositioning your Ninja to face the foe must be done with lightening accuracy or you'll lose endurance. In the second test you are transported to balance alone on a log suspended over a river. Opponents crawl out of the water, latching on to the log, and attack you. Stay on the log and fight them off, using only a stout pole for defence. The attacking 'guardians of the deep' include a rather charming rotting skeleton and yet more enemy Ninjas which advance from the left river bank. Pole fighting is a test of agility and involves much hopping and jabbing. Protection of the lower limbs and what they refer to in cricketing circles as the inner thigh is vital because your opponents try to smash your legs from under you and force you into the water. The only way off the log is into the water - you cannot walk on to either river bank and if you topple the test is failed. The final test - samurai sword fighting - takes place in the grounds of the Grand Temple. Here you do battle with the greatest of the samurai warriors and, eventually, clash sword to sword with the Grand Master himself. There are again 16 movements you can make including a quaint rendition of the ancient samurai sword ritual. The joystick or keyboard gives you a nice line in head splitting, lunging, low sweeps and slashing. Each test can be loaded separately into the master program or you can load them all in at once. The game graphics are definitely superior to those in Way of the Exploding Fist and there's a lot more happening on-screen. For instance, delicate butterflies float around the gardens of the temple as you hack your oriental master to death with a samurai sword. Funny sense of humour some programmers have. Way of the Tiger comes on two cassettes for £9.95 and jolly good value it is too. Although oriental combat programs have been well-lunged to death lately with games such as Sai Combat, from Mirrorsoft, International Karate, from System 3, Gremlin's game is bigger, better and brighter - it even adds a strand of adventure to the genre.

A baton to the throat scores high points as you do battle with a travelling Ninja.

Don't Jump! Your opponent can knock you off balance and into the water.

ZX ComputingZX Computing Monster Hit

Gremlin Graphics £9.95 "Ahh sooo" I cried as yet again I bit the dust in inglorious defeat and I must admit my thoughts were on similar lines. This martial arts fighting game comes a little late compared to the others on the market but having arrived it's a case of better late than never. The game comes in a double cassette case and is one of the few that actually contains two cassettes, on one tape is the master program and the unarmed combat sequence and the other tape has the pole fighting and the sword fighting sections. Once you have loaded the master program you have the choice of loading in one of the sequences for practice purposes or beginning the game properly by starting with the unarmed phase and battling your way through all three phases to achieve Ninja status. Each phase has slightly different actions to the previous one and when I say all 16 (eight without the fire button and eight with) joystick positions are used then you have a lot of training to do to achieve even reasonable control. Unlike many similar programs on the market, you can turn to face the other way and then the joystick operates logically in a mirror image of the initial controls, ie Left to move forwards becomes right to move forward. Although this sounds confusing in practice it is logical and easy to adapt to. The major factor in a game of this type is whether the graphics are well animated and realistic and I cannot tell a lie I thought they were the best I've seen! Added to this is the superbly designed backgrounds which feature animation and activity while you are battling it out. A nice touch was the way the people carrying the carriages put them down to applaud before continuing on their mystical way. The difficulty level has been well considered and even on the first few attempts I managed to beat the first couple of opponents though there appear to be quite a few to each section and they get pretty good as the game progresses. Sound is kept to a minimum and the graphics and colour are first rate. I must admit to being hooked, and my only real criticism is that the first sequence was murder to load. Strangely enough the other two never gave me any trouble. All round a great game and one to buy in preference to any other of its type, and even as well as any other you may already have!

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)C+VG Hit

Graphics 8/10

Sound 7/10

Value 8/10

Playability 8/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 48/128K (Also for Amstrad, MAX and CBM64/128) SUPPLIER: Gremlin Graphics PRICE: £9.95 The two tapes that come with this package contain four programs; three combat "modules" and one master program, within which the others run. After the uninteresting title page has removed itself, you're presented with a list of options regarding how you you want to progress through the programs. You can either try to fight your way through all the stages, or practice each one in turn. For some reason, neither the unarmed combat or the pole fighting wanted to load the first time tried. On the second attempt, though, they worked without any problems. In this game, you take the role of The Avenger, battling against Evil "... in defence of your faith, and protection of the weak..." As soon as stage 1 - Unarmed Combat - begins, you will notice the detailed graphics. Although not as fast, they are much more realistic than Fist. The background has animation too, with various birds and very short orientals scurrying about. After a couple of seconds, you'll notice that the background seems to have a life of its own! The screen not only scrolls left and right, as you batter your opponents, but up and down as you duck and hurl yourself out of harm's way. The scrolling is smooth and sensible and definitely adds to the enjoyment of the game. Control is via the joystick or keyboard, and includes many similar movements to Fist (in the first stage). The response is a little slow at times, and it is possible to get caught in a constant barrage of your opponent's blows. The next stage is Pole Fighting, in which you find yourself standing on a log with - surprise, surprise - a pole. You are immediately confronted by a tall character, vaguely resembling a skeleton in a kilt. By using the same joystick movements, the appropriate moves can be achieved. Of course, if you're swinging wildly around with a 6ft pole, you have a very good chance of falling into the river beneath the log! Samurai Sword Fighting is the final event, and the most difficult. Here you are presented with a stereotype Samurai warrior, complete with armour and spikey helmet. Something I found a little worrying was the fact that I could deliver a batch of "head splitters" to my opponent with apparently no effect. He, however, could despatch me with one blow. This may have something to do with the fact that I wasn't wearing a spikey helmet. The key to the game's appeal is variety. Each stage provides an original challenge, and you can really feel yourself becoming more competent with tho pole and the sword. At £9.95 the game is hardly cheap, but bearing in mind the quality of some toher products costing the same it's good value.

CrashCrash Smash

Use of Computer 92%

Graphics 94%

Playability 94%

Getting Started 93%

Addictive Qualities 93%

Value For Money 92%

Overall 93%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Gremlin Graphics Retail Price: £9.95 Author: C Kerry, S Hollingworth, P Harrap, M Duros Abandoned as an orphan on the shores of the Island of Tranquil Dreams, you were adopted by an old monk - Naijishi, Grand Master of the Dawn. The monks on the island worship Kwon, the god of unarmed combat, and your adopted father has trained you in the martial arts - it's a Ninja he wants to make of you, not just a man! Before becoming worthy of the noble title of Ninja you must pass three tests of endurance and skill in combat against opponents chosen by the Master. Tests of your skills in unarmed combat, pole fighting, and Samurai sword fighting await in Gremlin Graphics' computerised version of the role playing adventure books. The game comes on two cassettes, and a master program has to be loaded before the fighting can start. From the menu screen provided by the master loader you can opt to practise one of the three forms of combat or choose to take the full test, working your way through all three stages. Select keyboard or joystick, press the key to select an entry point in the game and load in the appropriate cassette to begin the fighting. An oriental tune introduces the action, which takes place on a large window on the screen. The status area gives a readout on Endurance and Inner Force levels, represented by circles at the bottom of the display. For every complete circle of Endurance used by a combatant, one point of Inner Force is deducted and the fighter who runs out of Inner Force first loses the contest. The opponents sent against you by the Master have diiferent revels of Endurance and Inner Force as well as a variety of skills. As a fighter's Inner Force wanes, the power of the blows he lands and the effect they have on his opponent is reduced. The display system features a triple scroll effect, which allows three levels of animation on the screen and provides animated backdrops.The fighting takes place in the foreground and the middle and background animation areas are used for incidental action. Pole fighting, for instance, takes place on a pole perched on the banks of a river: logs float down the watercourse while ducks paddle about, occasionally taking to the air. In the first section of the game you find yourself wandering in the desolate desert land of Orb without a weapon. The Master has collected a range of opponents to pit against his trainee Ninja, and they are not all humanoid. He's not averse to animating the odd rock or obelisk to test your skills. Anticipation mounts as you await the first opponent. Suddenly, a pointy-eared goblin jumps out from behind a rock - the battle is on! As in the other two sections of the game, control is effected in the usual beat em up manner, using eight directions in combination with fire to make a total of sixteen moves. Once the goblin is out of the way a floating spectre creeps up from behind and gradually zaps away your strength. Each time an opponent is despatched your status levels are topped up in readiness for the next fight. The contest continues until all the Master's challengers have been defeated or you die. Simple, really! Once the desert of Orb has been cleared of aggressive nasties, it's on to the Pole Fighting section. Standing on a pole spanning a river, you're suddenly confronted by an armour plated skeleton with a very nasty grin on its face. Armed with quarterstaffs you enter battle, attempting to wear each other's Inner Force levels down to zero. The skeleton is not alone - once it has been despatched to the murky depths of the river whence it came, other pole fighters join the fray including another Ninja and a mean looking dwarf with a club. Survival in the pole fighting leads to the Grand Temple and the final section of the game. The scene of the last test is majestic indeed. Snow-capped mountains rise to meet the sky on the horizon and the Temple appears behind you. Birds flutter overhead, labourers trundle wheelbarrows to and fro and all seems very peaceful until... a mongolian sword fighter with an enormous knife in his hand jumps up. In Samurai Sword fighting the Master pits you against the greatest warriors he knows, some of whom can perform fighting feats which you simply can't match. It's possible to defeat the Master's minions, but difficult... If the swordsmen are all defeated, one further test remains - it's time to confront the Grand Master himself. If you are able to prevent him from making mincemeat of your corpse you have truly have earned the right to be a Ninja, "speaker of wisdom, protector of the weak. One most powerful". The Way of the Tiger is a perilous way indeed... COMMENTS Control keys: W, E, D, C, X, Z, A and Q plus SPACE Joystick: Kempston Keyboard play: responsive Use of colour: mainly monochromatic Graphics: very clever indeed Sound: a jolly tune Skill levels: three fighting styles Screens:

Hai YA! Flying kicks in the desert during the first stage of the journey that takes you on THE WAY OF THE TIGER. Are you a desert fighting man?

Not a pretty sight, that skellington. Cameron's got a new cupboard in the photography room for all his expensive equipment - wonder if he's got any skeletons in it? Hmm...

The final stage in the quest for Ninjadom - Samurai Sword Fighting.

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