Game Reviews: Warlock

Game Reviews: Warlock

Hey, this is MDTartist83, and welcome to another review by yours truly. Now, some of you may remember my “Top 5 Worst Video Games” list where I went over some of the most poorly designed and badly programed games ever made. And some of the games I mentioned on that list were made by LJN. And I pointed out how LJN had a notorious reputation as one of the worst video game companies in the history of mankind. Well, truth be told, a lot of their games did suck. And they were certainly devious at best, and incompetent at worst. However, there is one LJN game that I forgot to mention that really stood out among the rest. And I don’t mean that in the bad way. Believe it or not, the game I’m talking about was actually a good game, and it’s one of my favorite titles from the 16 bit era. Today’s subject is “Warlock”. Now, you might have heard of this game before, and you may not have. And for those of you who don’t know, this game is based on a 1989 cult classic film of the same name, which was directed by Steve Miner, and starred Julian Sands as the title character. The movie even spawned a sequel in 1993 titled “Warlock: The Armageddon”, and a third film released in 1999 titled “Warlock III: End of Innocence”. I might do a review of the films sometime later on. But this review is about the video game based on the movies.

So anyway, Warlock was released for the SNES and the Sega Genesis in 1994. Now, this game was created by LJN, but it was also co-created by Realtime Associates. When I first learned about this game, I had no idea that it was based on a movie of the same name until a few years later when I rented it from my local video store in between 1997 and 1998. My brother got me this game for Christmas of 1995, which was almost two years after the game was released. Now at first I was very reluctant to play this game because of the LJN logo on the boxart. And usually when LJN is involved, it means that there’s a good chance that the game is going to suck given the bad reputation the company had with most of their other licensed based games. But as soon as I made an effort to open up to the game (which didn’t take long really), I was amazed at how awesome it really was. I'm not joking, Warlock was actually a well designed and well-programed game that was fun and enjoyable. And believe me, it’s VERY RARE of LJN to make a quality license based game of any magnitude. And this game is one of those rare exceptions. Trust me, Warlock is a great game. In fact, I even go as far to say that it’s one of the best games of the 16 bit era. And looking back at this game today, literally 20 years after it was released, I’m thankful that my brother got me this game. Because this is one of those games that has a special place in my heart. So anyway, why do I have such wonderful memories of this game, might you ask? Well, that’s what I’m about to go over right now. So let’s get down to business, and let’s talk about the Warlock video game.

Now, as I already mentioned, this game was released for the SNES and the Sega Genesis. Both versions are basically the same with slightly altered graphics, different music, and different layout of certain levels. But I’ll be talking about the SNES version since it’s the one I own. Warlock is kind of like Castlevania with a touch of Final Fantasy. Mainly because it shares the same gothic horror atmosphere and similar gameplay style to Castlevania, with the theme of collecting magical gems as you complete each level, which is reminiscent to Final Fantasy. However, this game is only a loose adaptation of the film it’s based on, with the only real connection it has to it being that it features the main antagonist; the Warlock. But other than that, the story and the premise are completely different from the movie. So anyway, the story in this game is that the Warlock has awakened from the dead to wreak havoc on the world. His quest is to gather six ancient magical gem stones so that he can undo the Earth’s creation. And it’s up to a young wizard to stop the Warlock from carrying out his evil plans. When I first played this game, and after I saw the movie, I used to think that the character you play as was Giles Redferne, who in the film was played by Richard E. Grant. But it turns out I was wrong. Because they bare very little resemblance, and Redferne was not a wizard like the character you play as in the game. As far as I know, the character from the game as was never named. Much like a lot of other characters I know of. But I guess it doesn’t really matter in this case since this was his first and only appearance, and he never really appeared in any of the films. So anyway, the game begins outside of a cottage, where you are wondering the grassy plains. As a wizard, you have two basic attacks; you can shoot out plasma blasts from your hands (similar to the Hadoken), and you have an orb that hovers by your side everywhere you go. You can use it to kill enemies that are above you, in front of you, or down below, and you can also use it to grab items that are out of your reach. The orb can really come in handy, and it’s quite a useful weapon. And believe me, there are some areas in the game were you’re going to need it. But that’s not all you have. You can also gain access to several different magical spells that will aid you in your battle against the Warlock. Up to 255 spells of a certain kind can be carried, although the status bar only shows up to nine. However, unlike in some other video games I know of, you can’t drop down from too great a height. While the character can fall several feet and survive, falling from a longer distance will instantly kill you. And there’s a lot of other enemies and stage hazards that can kill you in this game. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that when you die, you don’t get the usual screen that says “Game Over”. For the game over screen, you get a black silhouette of the Warlock, whose face is then briefly illuminated by a flash of lightning. Sometimes he will say “You fool”. And other times he says “Is that the best you can do?” before the screen fades to black, and returning to the title screen. I have to say, that was quite a unique feature for this game at the time. And it sure was different from the usual "game over" screens you’d normally see.

You can replenish your health with healing potions which you can find from killing certain enemies, or finding them in certain sections of the levels. You can also gain access to other spells like earthquake, bombs, protection, time reversal, and revival, which can come in handy for when you die. Because this is one of those games where you only have one life. Which means if you die anywhere in this game just once, you start all the way back to the beginning of the game. Now, I would consider this a problem. But in this case, I can excuse this for three reasons. First and foremost, this game was designed competently, and unlike the disaster that was Double Dragon III for the NES, Warlock has a password system. And unlike other games I know of, this game has the shortest and easiest password system, and they’re not too difficult to memorize so as long as you have a pen and a notebook to write them down on. And believe me, this is a long game, and you will die several times before you familiarize yourself and get better at it. Second, a lot like Castlevania, Warlock is all about trial and error. And though the game is hard, you do get better at it over time. But it takes a while to get accustomed to the controls and the gameplay, which for me wasn’t too hard since I’m a veteran of side scrollers, which are now long dead, and have long since been replaced with 3D games as the dominant style for video games today. And thirdly, the "revival spells" will act as your "extra lives". So when you die, you don't have to start all the way back to the beginning, but you do get sent back to a certain part of the level.

So anyway, the game starts off in a grassy field just outside of a mansion. And as you wonder around the place, everything seems peaceful. That is until darkness envelops the land, and the Warlock turns humans and animals into monstrous creatures that come after you. You can fend them off, but you must then enter the mansion, where the inhabitants have all been turned into undead zombies by the Warlock. You must restock on cure potions and other items that you find along the way. As you make your way to the top floor, you will come face to face with the Warlock for the first time. There’s no dialogue interaction before the fight. You just fight him head on. Hey, gotta give this game credit for getting straight to the point. His attack pattern is quite predictable though; he will shoot lightning bolts at you, teleport to the other side of the screen, and he repeats the same tactic over and over again. Naturally, since this is only the first level, it’s pretty easy, and it doesn’t require too much effort. But don’t celebrate just yet; because this is only the beginning. Once he is defeated, he escapes, and you acquire the first gem stone. And then it’s onto the next level. The second stage has you going through a forest and a cave, where you’ll find the second gem stone. But first you must get past wasps, spiders, bats, mud monsters, and fire breathing dragons. The third level has you entering into a castle, where you must first contend with a series of stone statues that the Warlock brings to life with his magic. And you face a variety of enemies including gargoyles and archers that throw flaming arrows at you. Once you get past them, you then enter into the castle, where you must contend with all kinds of enemies and hazards like suits of medieval armor, specters, bats, mud men that spring out of the floor, statues that shoot fire out of their mouths, metal maces, knives that come out from the ground, rotary blades that swing at you, rooms that fill with deadly slime that you have to avoid, and the various other hazards that an evil wizard throws at you. And yes, I almost forgot to mention that besides the Warlock, you must also deal with an evil wizard whose after the gem stones as well. This guy is a real pain in the ass, because he throws all kinds of hazards and obstacles at you such as torches, fire that springs out of furnaces, swords, axes, spears, maces, etc. This guy will throw everything at you in the attempt to slow you down or kill you. And he does not let up. Eventually, you face the wizard in his bestial anthro unicorn form. In this form, he throws electrical blasts at you, and you have to wait for his shield to disappear so you can blast at him. He does this in several parts of his castle. And eventually, after you found the third stone, the next level has you facing a fire breathing ghost in the organ room. And then you go into a room where there are deadly orbs that hover around the place to kill you. Some of the orbs just home in on you, others shoot lightning at you, and others drop fire down on you. Once you gotten past that, that bastard wizard then sets a room on fire which you have to avoid or else you’ll burn to a crisp. Once you’ve gotten past that and made your way to the top, the Warlock and the evil wizard go face to face with each other in the form of monsters that shoot laser out of their hands. The wizard takes the form of a unicorn, and the Warlock takes the form of a four-armed demon. Fortunately, the Warlock wins the battle, and kills the wizard. So he’s one less nuisance you need to worry about. Serves him right. Such a shame Blackthorne Shore from Inhumanoids didn’t get a comeuppance like this. But anyway, once the Warlock finishes with that dick wizard, it’s now up to you to face him as a laser firing anthropomorphic unicorn. Once you’ve beaten him, he escapes, and you acquire the fourth stone. And after that, it’s onto the next stage.

The next stage has you racing your way through a desolate valley at night, where you face vultures, bats, zombies, skeleton warriors, and tree roots that spring out of the ground and drag you below. In some parts you have to fight skeleton knights riding their equally undead skeleton horses as they race back and forward from one side of the screen to the other in their attempt to hit you with a metal mace. Once you got past that, you must then go into a cavern, where you find the fifth stone. The last part of the game takes place in the mountains, where you face knife wielding thugs, giant disembodied eyes that shoot out thunder, fire breathing dragons, statues that shoot out lighting (which patterns can change depending on how you hit them) and finally, the Warlock himself. Before you reach the sixth and final stone, you must face the Warlock for the third and final time. And a lot like Dracula in the Castlevania series, the Warlock has two different forms. In round one, you face him like you did at the beginning of the game. And keep in mind, he uses the same attack pattern as before. He will shoot lighting at you, and then he'll teleport from one side of the screen to the next and repeat the same process. And because his pattern is pretty easy to memorize, he isn’t too hard to beat. And once you defeated him in his first form, you acquire the sixth and final stone. And after that, the Warlock transforms into a more sinister and demonic form, and this is where the true final battle ensues. In this form, he’s as hard as hell. He breathes fire out of his mouth, jumps on you, and can even summon fire to fall from the sky and hit you. When facing him in this form, you have to stock on cure potions, magic spells, and be very careful when fighting him in this form. Because the Warlock’s fire breath will knock you back, and the end of the screens have pitfalls. Which means if he knocks you off the platform, you’re dead. Best strategy is to attack him as he walks towards you, and be sure to avoid his fire breath. And when he summons the fire from the sky, try to dodge. And if you get hit, make use of the post hit invisibility to walk past him. You can also do this when he jumps into the air in the attempt to land on you. But do this carefully. Because you don’t want him landing on you. Best way to finish him off is with a magic spell. Multiple earthquakes or bomb attacks should to do a great deal of damage to him. And they will be far more effective than either your plasma blasts or your orb. And once you’ve defeated the Warlock, you win the game, the main character emerges from a well the ground to reveal all six gems in his possession, and then you get the closing credits.

I don’t want to forget that Warlock features a very impressive soundtrack. The music was composed by Eric Swanson, and “Oh my God!” This soundtrack kicks ass. Heck, I even go as far to say that it’s pretty much on par with the Castlevania soundtrack because it features a bunch of great and unforgettable songs, making for an overall solid and memorable musical score. There are a bunch of songs from this game’s OST that I love. Besides the title theme, I also like the song that plays when you face the Warlock for the first time at the mansion, and I especially like the eerie and suspenseful tunes that play in certain parts like in the castle and in the caverns. And one of the best tunes in the game in my opinion is in the castle laboratory, which is by far the most memorable song in the entire game. So yeah, Warlock has some great variety in its soundtrack. And it never gets old. At least not for me anyway since I’ve known this game since the 90s.

In conclusion, Warlock is an incredible game. And definitely one of the best 2D side scrolling platform games that came late in the SNES’ life. This was one of the last games for the SNES before the system was replaced by the N64 two years later in 1996. But I have to say it was quite shocking that this game was made by LJN, a company that had a notorious reputation for making mostly crappy licensed based games that caused a lot of frustration and misery for fans of the respective franchises that their games were based on. But there’s something I haven’t told you yet; LJN didn’t actually make games, they only published them. So other gaming companies handled the production. And now that I think of it, I guess LJN isn’t really to blame for the failure of those games. As "Rare" was the company that made most of them, and handled most of the games very poorly. But Warlock is the exception. LJN may be gone now, and they have been gone for many years. But at least they released one game that has quality, value, and merit. And even to this day, literally 20 years after the game was released, it still holds up. Maybe it’s just me being nostalgic. And believe me, I don't deny that I'm all about old-school. But I know quality when I see it. And believe me, Warlock is a great classic to look back on. If you enjoy video games that will give you a reasonable challenge as well as a high fun factor, then I would recommend this game. It’s one of my personal favorites, and I still have fond memories of it to this day.

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