TL;WR -> An awesome experience through mummies and literal Egyptian Gods. It delivered on everything from its varied gameplay to the beautiful music, great visuals and crazy world design traps. A (9.3) game, masterpiece in my Arcade Book. Wouldn’t replay it though, as besides the huge snakes, I’d better search for more babes! 



[I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. ](https://youtu.be/PTSWqe-8mdM?t=20&is=ZczEc1FJNQmeq_6a)



GAMEPLAY (10 out of 10 Boomerangs) 

* While storytelling was reduced to saving the Princess from Osiris, the beautiful presentation along the way made the whole experience stand out. The credits showcasing all the enemies and their unique names was another cool feature I didn’t expect! 
* The controls themselves weren’t complex, yet had so many twists down the ropes that I truly felt amazed. You could slash in 3 directions with your sword, up, down or straight, jump slash, duck slash, punch with your bare hands, kick, high kick, uppercut, use a magical staff for ranged attacks and even a boomerang for some mayhem. Besides the attacks, you could also change planes by either jumping up, down, use ladders or stairs, ropes to descend while fighting and dodging rocks, or even ascend while avoiding huge rats. Plus, as a bonus, you could slash the thrown coconuts back at those pesky monkeys! 
* Game mechanics had awesome puzzles with clever traps and “hidden” Easter Eggs. You could pull down levers to move platforms, use elevators to ascend or descend, and even solve a GAELCO puzzle that the devs left for you! 
* The health bar was another cool detail. By collecting blood chalices, they displayed on your health bar with them pouring literal blood onto your health while you were fighting. Also, you could save some babes too, which rewarded you with sweet kisses in the middle of action! 
* Enemy variety was very diverse and had cool attack patterns with unexpected surprises. You fought literal Gods, huge bugs that could throw you around, a snake that jumpscared you with its head shooting at your screen, Mummies, dogs, rats, lizards, a Pterodactyl that dropped eggs filled with humanoid frogs and so many more insane concepts. Their attack patterns differed too, with some performing finishers on you, while the bosses being literal Krakens, Amazonian Sky melons named Nut (what?!), huge Skeletons, even bigger Snakes and fire spitting plants! 
* You could collect swords or maces from downed enemies as well, although I have no idea what they did. 
* While platforming wasn’t too complex, I did love dropping down some holes while looking at the Prince holding his cracked back! 
* Traversal was seamless and provided an awesome continuation without many interruptions in between. The map layout alone gave you that discovery vibe seen its layouts and progression!  
* Difficulty was balanced. I switched the Dip Switches from 1 to 3, yet couldn’t go up to 7 because you know, I don’t want to become a Mummy myself! 



AUDIO (9/10) 

* Sound design was delivered in its amplified mono, which combined the spicy sound effects with the music quite well. 
* The soundtrack on the other hand was awesome, and the music by itself won’t do it justice. You have to play the game to understand how good it feels! 



VISUALS (8/10)

* Fidelity was awesome for 1991, yet didn’t quite catch Osiris’s eyes with those blurry sprites! 
* The character models and their animations were well made in their simplistic form, with the overall enemy variety feeling unique. Their death animations coupled with literal blood was something I didn’t expect, yet gladly slashed through! 
* The art direction was off the charts though, with beautiful backgrounds, awesome landscapes, crazy interiors and an even better presentation. Seeing some poor people row the boat while you were fighting literal rats was so funny! 
* Performance was rock solid for the entire 30m playthrough!  



WORLD DESIGN (10 out of 10 Acid Spitting Faces)

* Level design had an awesome presentation with inviting layouts and cool progression. You went from the outside deserts to the beautiful landscapes, inside the huge Pyramids with some spitting faces, outside on the River Styx, and finally reached Osiris’s temple! 
* The progression itself felt like a continuous journey, which elevated the experience to new Pyramid heights! 
* World destruction was nice while deteriorating a huge Ram head, and the atmosphere was even better while you were fighting the dead! 

Big Karnak on Arcade showed you the world while giving you a sword, a staff and a slicing boomerang!