Underwurlde

Infobox VG| title = Underwurlde


developer = Tim and Chris Stamper
publisher = Ultimate Play The Game
designer =
engine =
released = 1984
genre = Arcade adventure; Maze; Platform
modes = Single player
ratings = N/A
platforms = ZX Spectrum
Commodore 64
media = Cassette
requirements = 48K RAM (Spectrum)
input = Keyboard, joystick

"Underwurlde" is a video game for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1984. The game is the second in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in "Sabre Wulf". The format of the game is a 2D side view flip-screen platform game. The aim is to escape from the "Underwurlde" via one of the three exits, to go to either "Knight Lore", "Pentagram" or "Mire Mare".

Introduction

Typically for an Ultimate release, players are given a tantalising and cryptic introduction :

:"THE BLACK VOID

:Long dark paths have I travelled, through caverns and hidden labyrinths, my path grown darker... Deathly chill as I approach the "Well of Evil"... guarding the UNDERWURLDE.

:I approach, fix my rope, and with a firm leap, swing down into the depths of THE BLACK VOID. The air rushes past as I descend down into the dark dank hollow, disturbing the dust, a debris of long-since fought battles and struggles.

:WINGED HARPIES AND GARGOYLES

:Silent fossilised creatures stir, emerging from centuries of hibernation, awakened by my echoing gropes and thuds. Their dormant evil, hungry from ages past sparks itself into life.

:Suddenly the whole cavern erupts into a scurrying slithering shadowy grave of beating wings and desperate gnashing jaws.

:Winged Harpies soar and swoop down with beaks wide and talons spread. Hungry monsters and reptiles desperate not to lose their first meal in aeons, batter and punish me until I can take no more, waiting for me to fail.

:SIRENS OF THE UNDERWURLDE

:All about are strange sparkling plants "Sirens of the Underwurlde", waving their poisonous gnashing deadly tendrils, beckoning me on toward them, their stifling odours a prelude to their vision of hideous ugliness. To touch their sticky putrid foliage would mean certain death.

::BEWARE

::ALL YOU NEED IS THERE TO TAKE::LOCATE THE WEAPONS, THEN TO MAKE::A JOURNEY ON IF YOU WOULD DARE::TO FIND THE DEVIL IN HIS LAIR::THE LONG DARK PALACE, SEEK YOU WILL::THE GEMS YOUR POCKETS WILL NOT FILL::THO' ENERGY THEY'LL MAKE YOU FAST::AND GARGOYLES THEN YOU WILL GET PAST::UP AND DOWN, THE JOURNEY'S SLOW::SO DOWN IS FIRST THE WAY TO GO.

:The old travellers words still singing in my head.

:UNDERWURLDE VOLCANOES

:In the distance the low rumbling of UNDERWURLDE volcanoes can be heard. Huge plumes of poisonous sulphurous devilish gases roll along the cavern roofs. As the enormous bubbles of inert plasma ascend the natural chimney stack causeways, eroded and forged from centuries of ancient fires and flames. My journey has only just begun. I must travel on through this deadly labyrinth of the UNDERWURLDE to find the ULTIMATE place of darkness, in which lies the way to my escape."

Gameplay

Again taking on the role of Sabreman, the player must navigate a flip-screen maze (256 screens) that encompasses a castle and the large system of caverns beneath it. Unlike the maze in "Sabre Wulf", which is viewed from above, rooms here are viewed from the side, and play takes the form of a platform game. Sabreman must make his way through the maze to one of three exits (one for each of the sequels to "Underwurlde"). To get to the three exits, three different guardians must be defeated (see screenshot below, the purple spider is one of them), but the guardians are vulnerable to different weapons hidden in the maze. Each cavern has one guardian, who rests beneath an enormous stalagmite, requiring that the monster be destroyed in order to pass. The location of all the weapons, other than the slingshot (which does not affect any guardians) is different each time, out of a variety of places.

Along the way, Sabreman is attacked by a range of enemies from winged harpies to floating jellyfish. Oddly bereft of his trademark sabre, Sabreman can fend off these adversaries with the weapons he collects on his journey (a slingshot in the screenshots below). Contact with enemies does not directly cause damage, their aim instead is to cause fatal falls by knocking the player off platforms. After one of the first two guardians is destroyed (the third one cannot be accessed except through passing the second one), two more enemies are added, one that resembles a seal and otherwise acts like the starting enemies, and the eagle, which has the added ability of picking up Sabreman, and possibly dropping him from an enormous height. Although Sabreman is tough enough to survive short drops, the caverns are full of pits deep enough for a lethal fall. However, there is one item, the blue gem, that makes him temporarily invincible. These may only be found on ledges in vertical shafts in the caves. The only other item found besides gems and weapons are the extra lives, which are in fixed locations.

Climbing in and out of these pits can be achieved in several ways. Firstly, Sabreman can make rather athletic bounds between platforms. Alternatively, in the caverns he can make use of conveniently placed ropes to safely ascend or descend, but there is a risk of falling stalactites that will fall down the middle of the shaft, and even touching this obstacle when not affected by the Gem is instantly fatal. Also, in some parts of the maze, bubbles of volcanic gas can carry Sabreman up vertiginous precipices.

External links

* [http://www.ultimate-wurlde.com/games/underwurldeintro.shtml "Underwurlde"] at Ultimate Wurlde
*
* [http://www.crashonline.org.uk/12/underw.htm "Underwurlde" review] at "CRASH" magazine
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2346406581630684461 A walkthrough video of "Underwurlde" on the ZX Spectrum]
* [http://dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Action/S/Sabre_Man_Series/Underwurlde/ "Underwurlde"] at ODP