The Collection Chamber: SATAN

Warriors, Wizards, Weapons, Warfare, Magic... Someone must destroy... SATAN.

In another world, in a time beyond the reaches of memory, the forces of evil have submitted the universe. The wizards that once ruled the world have fallen under the Satanic power. With magic on your side, you set out to desecrate the walls of the Palace of the Clouds, the satanic seat where the divinity has been imprisoned, and the scenario of the bloodiest battle ever to take place!

~ from the back of the box

One of my favourite games for my trusty Atari ST was a port of a little-known Capcom arcade game named Black Tiger. In fact, until they released some arcade compilation decades later, it was one of the few ways to actually play it in the home, bypassing all of the consoles at the time. It was still an influential title, as evidenced by Satan by Dinamic Software completely ripping it off.

Okay, that's not entirely fair. The 1987 arcade game wouldn't see the home market until 1990, a year after Satan, and this action platformer has some tricks all of its own. Not least an entirely different second half.

The game is split into two sections. Part one sees a barbarian warrior jump around, collect power-ups and defeating fantastical creatures as he clings to pillars on his way to higher ledges. It plays almost exactly the same as Black Tiger with daggers spraying out in multiple degrees if your strong enough. This is your main attack here, with no whip for close-range attacks, but if you hold the fire key, you can spit out a stronger wave projectile that covers more ground. This is useful, as almost all enemies have a specific weak spot which may be hard to hit with a regular attack.

The second section has you play as an axe-wielding wizard. He can upgrade his weapon by entering shops and spending those coins you keep picking up (press down in front of it). Gameplay is drastically different here. You don't hunt for the exit, but Satan himself. He takes on many forms, each of which needs defeating before he kills your captive brethren tied up around the stage.

The levels are flatter than the basic platforming section, but that's not to say there isn't some verticality. What may confuse some is that higher ledges appear to be out of reach. Your basic jump comes nowhere near reaching them, but there is another move. The Amiga key (mapped to the Windows key on the emulator) launches you up to the platform above you where you can find containers filled with gold to spend.

Satan plays exceptionally well, perhaps even better than U.S. Gold's Black Tiger conversion. I found the Amiga version to be more polished than the DOS port in both gameplay and graphics, but both are worth it for anyone seeking an entertaining side-scroller.

To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses DOSBox to bring the PC version to modern systems and FS-UAE to emulate the Amiga version. Manual included. Tested on Windows 10.

File Size: 82.3 Mb. Install Size: 189 Mb. Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

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AMIGA