Blackthorne Longplay (PC DOS) [4K] [Gravis Ultrasound]

Game Info
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Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Interplay
Year of Release: 1994

Game Review & Impressions
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I forget precisely when I became aware of Blackthorne for the first time, but I believe it must have been at least a couple of years after Blizzard hit the big time with the likes of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. The game was developed originally for the SNES (Silicon & Synapse/Blizzard was still a console-focused studio at this point), with the PC conversion launching the same year; even back then, it was weird to play an arcade-platformer by a studio which would become so famous for its RTS and ARPG games.

When it comes to game design, it's obvious Blackthorne borrows heavily from both Prince of Persia and Flashback, perhaps more so the former than the latter. Although Blackthorne and Flashback both focus on gun-based combat, the mechanic of ducking into the shadows of the background to avoid enemy fire feels more analogous to the parry and counter-based sword fighting of Prince of Persia.

Whilst Blackthorne certainly isn't original, to Blizzard's credit, it's a thoroughly decent PoP-alike. It's the typical Blizzard high fantasy themes involving humans, orcs and other demonic beings, although the concept of a human armed with a shotgun transported from Earth to a parallel dimension to do battle with otherworldly foes has more than a whiff of Army of Darkness about it.

If you enjoy this kind of game, Blackthorne will almost certainly be right up your alley. Gravis Ultrasound support meant that PC owners lucky enough to own one of these coveted sound cards got to experience a dramatic and rousing musical score, making the PC edition of the game the definitive way to experience the game.

Video Notes
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- Recorded with Gravis Ultrasound MIDI

Related Longplays & Videos
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Chapters
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00:00 Tutorial & Intro
04:11 The Mines
28:40 The Forest
1:03:44 The Mountains
1:42:45 Sarlac's Keep
2:18:20 Final Boss
2:19:46 Ending

[QueenFiria]

Man, the SNES really did have the best sound for this game. I can't stand the music for this version. Visuals are crisper, and that's really it.

[vjmtz]

Main thing that drew me into playing this game was the Jim Lee cover art, Lee was huge during this time with Image Comics and all. Shocked me to see him do art for a video game like that even if it was only the cover.

[Harry_Eyeball]

I remember renting this at my local Giant Eagle back in the day, and im pretty sure i kept it longer than usual, because it was so good!

[krgames]

Never saw this game before. It reminded me of Flash Back. Keep up the good work 👍

[superfrycook]

Blackthornes deserves to be added in the Heroes of the Storm roster.

[MrCydoo]

flashback game + fantasy + mediaval = this game haha :)

[AgentofLADON]

Getting dragged back from Earth to a fantasy world and knowing to always pack your shotgun. Can't say Kyle wasn't prepared for this.

[POGRetroModernGaming]

No sabía que ese juego estaba para Dos, si lo conocía en la Sega génesis, me hace acordar al estilo del juego Flashback😊

[nicolashrv]

This is what happens when DOOM and FLASHBACK have a son.

[blukmagetypeR]

2:18:51 POW-ZAP sounds from the Looney Tunes sounds by one Sarlac's attacks.

[hashimotokobayashi]

The enemies had green blood on the SNES version ofc but what a great game 🤓

[bigboyanimation]

I remember in 1999 or 2000 i played a demo version of this game on my old win98 pc and from a year i played the full version on retroarch emulator on my tablet but i didnt finish it

[SandroSensei]

wow, cool, this game is so awesome. I hate it that in the Blizzard Arcade Collection they didnt include the pc version of the game. The music is different, there is blood and gore, and the menu with the skulls is metal af. Why do you think they didnt include this version of the game in there? We could have had the snes version with gore.

[IrinaSwat]

I think Sound Blaster 16 sounds better