Highlander (Canvas Software)

1="By far the worst game Ocean ever released, urban legend had it that Ocean had actually made the game purposefully shit because they negotiated a terrible contract with the rightsholders of the film, and so they tanked the title to make sure that it didn't do well. It's a cute story, but the truth is even more depressing. Ocean filed the game out to Canvas Software, which, despite possessing some talented coders and artists, was one by people who absolutely didn't give a fuck about anything except money and basically encouraged games to be shat out without any care or attention, 'cause they didn't think people like Ocean would notice just how broken and terrible they were. Nigh on unplayable games like Highlander are a result of this practice, and in the end, well, Ocean actually did notice."

- Kim Justice
 * -|2="Playing Highlander is one of the least entertaining ways you could possibly spend your time. The fighting feels futile, as if you’re just wasting your time watching some unnecessarily large white pixels move around. At least there’s a simultaneous two player option so you can have a companion in your misery – until they leave and never speak to you again because you made them play Highlander."

- Stuart Ashen, "Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of" Highlander is a fighting game released for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum in 1986, developed by Canvas Software and published by Ocean Software. It is based off the 1986 movie of the same name.

Why It Sucks

 * 1) The graphics in the ZX Spectrum version are horrible, as they're basically Amstrad CPC and C64 sprites in monochrome, and those sprites were designed for lower screen resolution in multiple colors, making them look incomprehensible on the Spectrum, which runs games at a higher resolution. The character animations are also jerky and stiff.
 * 2) The gameplay is completely luck-based. None of the sword moves seem to be particularly effective. Coupled with the game's poor graphics on the Spectrum, it kinda makes it hard to tell who's hitting who. The only effective way to beat the opponent is to mash the fire button and hope that MacLeod's sword lands multiple hits on the opponent.
 * 3) It's really difficult to move away from the opponent, as the controls are very unresponsive.
 * 4) The game is very short, as there are only three opponents: Ramirez, Fasil and the Kurgen (the latter two being called called Fizir and Kerghan for whatever reason).
 * 5) The game is a multi-load, as each opponent has to be loaded in separately, but they all have identical moves, and some take more hits to kill.
 * 6) *Not to mention, you don't have to beat the opponent in order to progress.
 * 7) The sound effects in the ZX Spectrum version are almost completely non-existent.
 * 8) The Commodore 64 version runs way slower than the other versions of the game.

The Only Redeeming Quality

 * 1) The graphics are way better on the Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 versions.

Reception
The Highlander game received negative reviews from the magazines of the time. Sinclair User rated the ZX Spectrum version 2/5, calling the game a "golden turkey". Crash! magazine said that the game is "totally boring and quite unplayable" and "bears little relevance to the film.", and yet gave it a score of 57%. Zzap! magazine gave the Commodore 64 version 30%, and later revised the score to 19% when the game was re-released at a cheaper price. While the Your Sinclair magazine didn't review Highlander, the game appeared in a reader poll of the worst ZX Spectrum games ever.

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