Collection essentials #172: Blackthorne (SNES)

Blackthorne is the first game I’m covering developed by Blizzard, a company became much more famous later for its hugely popular PC titles, such as the Diablo and Warcraft games. It falls under the category of what’s called a “cinematic platformer”, a type of side-scrolling platformer most recognizable by purposefully-stiff controls. If your first gaming experience is playing side-scrollers like Mario and Contra with smooth controls and agile characters who can jump like no human can, it can be jarring to play a game like Backthorne. In this type of platformer, the controls are designed to much more closely resemble actual human movement, which is pretty restricting. So you can rush in mindlessly with guns blazing and expect to get everywhere; every move and action you make has to be slow and deliberate. And the rest of the game is designed accordingly, of course. 

The game has a real “coolness factor” going for it. It takes place on a faraway planet that resembles a fantasy setting, perhaps think of Lord of the Rings only with guns and more technology. The manual and opening cinematic do well to establish the story and world, as you control the human Kyle Blackthrone looking to free his people from the evil demon (?) overload Sarlac. The game’s music does a fine job establishing the atmosphere, and the grunts and laughs of the characters give the game some additional personality. 

Gameplay is a little less about puzzle-solving than other cinematic platformers, and you’ll be doing more precision platforming and trying to master the hide-and-shoot-style combat. It can be quite tough, and you are bound to die many times and will need patience no matter how experienced a gamer you are. This isn’t my favorite genre of game because I tend to prefer my challenging games to feature nimble characters that make me feel capable and strong going up against tough enemies and levels, rather than the challenge coming from the limitations of your character. But sometimes I can make an exception.

Now, the real reason why Blackthrone made this list is because it’s a childhood game of mine. Unfortunately the cartridge in the photo is not my childhood copy, as I either sold or traded it to someone back in the day. This is also a game that my dad played, which is something I’m going to mention at times while going through the Super Nintendo library. My dad has only ever been a casual gamer, but the Super Nintendo era is when he played games the most, and the only time he would ever try to play games from start to finish. Me and him managed to make it to the final boss, but he seemed viciously difficult and we never could beat him.

I still have not in my adulthood made a serious attempt to get through Blackthorne and take care of my unfinished business against Sarlac. I think I tried it once in my teen years and was a bit put off by the difficulty, not understanding how you’re supposed to approach combat once the enemies get smarter. I’ve certainly had thoughts of tackling it again and I do intend to try at some point. If only I didn’t have a zillion other games on my plate, that day would come sooner. But I swear it will happen.

Blackthorne also got a remake after a short time on the Sega 32X with revamped graphics and some new content. And much more recently, Blizzard included what you might call a deluxe version of the game as part of the “Blizzard Arcade Collection” on modern platforms, which is a nice little collection of their classic games. If the game I’ve described sounds cool to you, go check that out!