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LOAD "SYDNEY HUNTER REVIEW"

Classification: Game / Platformer
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Publisher: CollectorVision Games
Programmer: Exidy
Music/Sound: Exidy
Year: 2018
Rating: ★★★★
Disk: Sydney Hunter and the Sacred Tribe
Comet64 Friendly This game is compatible with the Comet64. more info... See loading notes below.

Sydney Hunter and the Lost Tribe is a modern platformer game, written for the C64, in which you play as Sydney Hunter, the world famous adventurer. Your goal is to find the secret exit to the Mayan temple, in which you have been imprisoned. All you have are your wits to escape the labyrinth of connecting rooms within the deadly temple and it's inhabitants. It is published by the Canadian company CollectorVision Games and is available for purchase and digital download from the company's website.

Sydney Hunter is a very good looking game, with colourful hi-rez graphics and splendidly animated sprites, which come together to create a very rich and submersible environment. The controls are very responsive and provide the gamer with excellent control over the Sydney character. You must collect the diamonds, scattered throughout the temple, as well as keys that unlock treasure chests, and find your way to the hidden exit. Hampering your quest are a myriad of different baddies, which you will have to out manoeuvre, in order to progress through each of the temple's 100 rooms. To help you find your way, you have access to a game map, by pressing the F1 key. Each new room you discover is added to the map for referencing later.

I enjoyed this game very much. I found it challenging, but not overly frustrating. In my opinion in many ways, similar to another game I recently reviewed called L'Abbaye des Morts (which I also enjoyed). The style of game play and the use of hi-res graphics are very much the same in both games; the major difference being their plot/setting.

My only gripe with Sydney Hunter was when I had to climb ladders or vines. You need pixel perfect precision in order to get in the right place to climb up or down. This became a little problematic when timing was essential in order to avoid getting killed by a baddie. Apart from this minor flaw in gameplay, I found the experience very enjoyable. I think, for a casual gamer like myself, the game is perfectly balanced when it comes to its level of difficulty. However, much like L'Abbay des Morts, I think that, if you're a hard core gamer or a master of the platform-style games, you may find this game on the short side and a little too easy to finish. But, even so, the game oozes so much atmosphere that I think it would still be worth your while to give it at least one play-through.

I think it's wonderful to see these types of games being made for the C64. Games like Sydney Hunter and L'Abbay des Morts fit a market that, I feel, was missing from the C64 scene: high quality games geared more towards the casual gamer. I hope to see more of this type of game, for our C64s, from these two talented publishing companies in the near future.

Conclusion

★★★★ - I enjoyed playing this one to completion. Some good platform puzzles and engaging game-play.


Special Comet64 Loading Notes

Comet64 FriendlyTo load this game via your Comet64, execute LOAD “HUNTER”,2, which is the game file on the disk image.

Composed on my C128 with Free Base.

reviews/sydney_hunter.txt · Last modified: 2023/10/29 23:04 by David