Al 'n' Dave's Speed Reviews A-Z: S

SOULS REMASTER

(RetroBytes, 2013)

Pretty kerrazy loading screen...

A game inspired by Dark Souls sounds a bit terrifying to me. Souls + Spectrum Hard = Nope in my book. Let's hope it's not as bad as all that. Dave probably doesn't care, 'cos he completed Bloodborne, the big fancypants. Your task is simply to find the big bad boss beastie of the piece and destroy it. You can use magic once you've found a sorceror, and gathering souls will raise your level nicely. So have at it, good sir knight.

Our knight sets off on his noble quest, livin' la vida loca

Dave: "YOU DIED"... I enjoy a good Soulslike. Nice to see a Speccy version of this sort of game. Some nice colourful chunky graphics on this one, and I like the way the dude stomps around the place. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced the gameplay really works for me. Dying is typical in this type of game, but so are slick and responsive combat controls, and the ability to learn enemy attack patterns. Combat in this one feels very clunky and unresponsive, and attack patterns feel random (they might not be, but I couldn't figure them out). Overall it makes it more frustrating than challenging. I gave up after around the tenth time I got plonked back at my last checkpoint."

Los skeletones sap your estamina big-time

Al: "Oh, this is a good 'un! It may not look like much at first sight, but it's a clever little number, borrowing ideas from Souls type games, and cunningly Spectrumising them good style. You build up your level by vanquishing foes and claiming their souls, then if you die you have to return to the screen you died on to get them back. It's ace to play so far and I haven't even found the sorcerer yet so magic I ain't. The only downsides are somewhat basic combat and no funkeh choons."

Our guy looks like a tin can, it's amazing anyone can hurt him

SCORING TIME!

Dave: "Nicely presented and good to see a few nods to Soulslike gameplay elements (shortcuts, retrieving your souls etc.) but I'm afraid the gameplay isn't up to scratch for me..."

6/10

Al: "A cracking new meets old adventure, with plenty of soul(s)."

8.5/10

"Just one more thing..."

Columbo: "Gents, your feelings about Souls type games please? Any success with them?"

Bloodborne on the Spectrum looks sweeeeet

Al: "Personally I struggle with them, and never seem to have the required patience to get anywhere with them. I tend to flit from game to game, you see, as Dave can attest. I've tried Bloodborne and Mortal Shell and got virtually nowhere in either. Feeble I know."

And Nioh looks pretty decent too

Dave: "Well, unlike some, I’ve shown some patience and enjoyed (“and completed” – come on Dave, don’t be coy!” – Al) some ace ones over the last few years (Bloodborne, Nioh, Nioh 2, Code Vein). Funnily enough I’ve never played Dark Souls or Demon Souls. Go figure."

Quite how they've done Code Vein without any colour clash baffles me

Al: "I will Dave. I’m figuring now that my high rating for this game might be mostly because I’m easily pleased for half an hour, and rarely venture further than that into some games….hmmmm."

Demon Souls looks....hey, wait a minute...these ARE Speccy games aren't they?!