Between the time when Nintendo drank the console market and the rise of Mortal Kombat,there was an age of PC gaming undreamt of. Let me tell you of the days of floppy disk adventures!
Oh yeah,before Mortal Kombat twisted the knickers of Jack Thompson and Congress there was a fighting game that drew controversy because of its level of violence and gore. First released in the UK by Palace Software under the name Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (not to be confused with Psygnosis' Barbarian),the game drew immediate controversy (it was banned in Germany...then again what games HASN'T been banned in Germany?) because of its risque advertising featuring hot model Maria Whittaker.
Ooo,mama... Well,what I'd like to know is,why the bloody Hell didn't nobody complained when fucking Fabio appeared on the cover of Ironsword?
I sure didn't hear any outraged mothers complaining then... But I digress.
Anyway,the game was inspired by Conan The Barbarian and the Frank Frazetta (RIP) artworks. The developers actually filmed themselves waving swords (and this was long before mocap was used in gaming development) and having fake swordfights and the result was the most realistic sword fighting of the 8-bit era. Look at it yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6XVzC5fNPs
Sure,the GFX look pretty choppy (the Amiga version that came later looked much better),but the animation is still amazingly fluid. I remember my jaw dropped when the barbarian spinned his sword just like Arnold does in Conan The Destroyer. Oh,and did I mention this is the first game to introduce fighting game fatalities? If you were fast enough you could
The game was a hit and it spawned a sequel,Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax,known as Axe of Rage on these shores:
However,that game was no longer a fighting game but a side-scrolling adventure (much like the other Barbarian game by Psygnosis). The game is decent,but you have to wonder why the the devs didn't continue the fighting game mold. It wasn't as successful as its predecessor,but it went on to inspire Sega's Makoto Uchida when creating a similar,much more successful and well known series:
Yup,in many ways the first Golden Axe is a shameless ripoff of Barbarian II/Axe of Rage. Go figure.
Oh yeah,before Mortal Kombat twisted the knickers of Jack Thompson and Congress there was a fighting game that drew controversy because of its level of violence and gore. First released in the UK by Palace Software under the name Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (not to be confused with Psygnosis' Barbarian),the game drew immediate controversy (it was banned in Germany...then again what games HASN'T been banned in Germany?) because of its risque advertising featuring hot model Maria Whittaker.
Ooo,mama... Well,what I'd like to know is,why the bloody Hell didn't nobody complained when fucking Fabio appeared on the cover of Ironsword?
I sure didn't hear any outraged mothers complaining then... But I digress.
Anyway,the game was inspired by Conan The Barbarian and the Frank Frazetta (RIP) artworks. The developers actually filmed themselves waving swords (and this was long before mocap was used in gaming development) and having fake swordfights and the result was the most realistic sword fighting of the 8-bit era. Look at it yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6XVzC5fNPs
Sure,the GFX look pretty choppy (the Amiga version that came later looked much better),but the animation is still amazingly fluid. I remember my jaw dropped when the barbarian spinned his sword just like Arnold does in Conan The Destroyer. Oh,and did I mention this is the first game to introduce fighting game fatalities? If you were fast enough you could
The game was a hit and it spawned a sequel,Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax,known as Axe of Rage on these shores:
However,that game was no longer a fighting game but a side-scrolling adventure (much like the other Barbarian game by Psygnosis). The game is decent,but you have to wonder why the the devs didn't continue the fighting game mold. It wasn't as successful as its predecessor,but it went on to inspire Sega's Makoto Uchida when creating a similar,much more successful and well known series:
Yup,in many ways the first Golden Axe is a shameless ripoff of Barbarian II/Axe of Rage. Go figure.
Delete Confirmation
Between the time when Nintendo drank the console market and the rise of Mortal Kombat,there was an age of PC gaming undreamt of. Let me tell you of the days of floppy disk adventures!
Oh yeah,before Mortal Kombat twisted the knickers of Jack Thompson and Congress there was a fighting game that drew controversy because of its level of violence and gore. First released in the UK by Palace Software under the name Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (not to be confused with Psygnosis' Barbarian),the game drew immediate controversy (it was banned in Germany...then again what games HASN'T been banned in Germany?) because of its risque advertising featuring hot model Maria Whittaker.
Ooo,mama... Well,what I'd like to know is,why the bloody Hell didn't nobody complained when fucking Fabio appeared on the cover of Ironsword?
I sure didn't hear any outraged mothers complaining then... But I digress.
Anyway,the game was inspired by Conan The Barbarian and the Frank Frazetta (RIP) artworks. The developers actually filmed themselves waving swords (and this was long before mocap was used in gaming development) and having fake swordfights and the result was the most realistic sword fighting of the 8-bit era. Look at it yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6XVzC5fNPs
Sure,the GFX look pretty choppy (the Amiga version that came later looked much better),but the animation is still amazingly fluid. I remember my jaw dropped when the barbarian spinned his sword just like Arnold does in Conan The Destroyer. Oh,and did I mention this is the first game to introduce fighting game fatalities? If you were fast enough you could
The game was a hit and it spawned a sequel,Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax,known as Axe of Rage on these shores:
However,that game was no longer a fighting game but a side-scrolling adventure (much like the other Barbarian game by Psygnosis). The game is decent,but you have to wonder why the the devs didn't continue the fighting game mold. It wasn't as successful as its predecessor,but it went on to inspire Sega's Makoto Uchida when creating a similar,much more successful and well known series:
Yup,in many ways the first Golden Axe is a shameless ripoff of Barbarian II/Axe of Rage. Go figure.
Oh yeah,before Mortal Kombat twisted the knickers of Jack Thompson and Congress there was a fighting game that drew controversy because of its level of violence and gore. First released in the UK by Palace Software under the name Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (not to be confused with Psygnosis' Barbarian),the game drew immediate controversy (it was banned in Germany...then again what games HASN'T been banned in Germany?) because of its risque advertising featuring hot model Maria Whittaker.
Ooo,mama... Well,what I'd like to know is,why the bloody Hell didn't nobody complained when fucking Fabio appeared on the cover of Ironsword?
I sure didn't hear any outraged mothers complaining then... But I digress.
Anyway,the game was inspired by Conan The Barbarian and the Frank Frazetta (RIP) artworks. The developers actually filmed themselves waving swords (and this was long before mocap was used in gaming development) and having fake swordfights and the result was the most realistic sword fighting of the 8-bit era. Look at it yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6XVzC5fNPs
Sure,the GFX look pretty choppy (the Amiga version that came later looked much better),but the animation is still amazingly fluid. I remember my jaw dropped when the barbarian spinned his sword just like Arnold does in Conan The Destroyer. Oh,and did I mention this is the first game to introduce fighting game fatalities? If you were fast enough you could
The game was a hit and it spawned a sequel,Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax,known as Axe of Rage on these shores:
However,that game was no longer a fighting game but a side-scrolling adventure (much like the other Barbarian game by Psygnosis). The game is decent,but you have to wonder why the the devs didn't continue the fighting game mold. It wasn't as successful as its predecessor,but it went on to inspire Sega's Makoto Uchida when creating a similar,much more successful and well known series:
Yup,in many ways the first Golden Axe is a shameless ripoff of Barbarian II/Axe of Rage. Go figure.