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Preview  Sabre Wulf
- By Michael Loewer


It has been a long, long time.

Many of you most likely do not remember the first incarnation of Sabre Wulf or even that such game existed—in fact, a good many of you may not even have been born. Until writing this article, I myself had no idea that Sabre Wulf was originally released by Rare back in 1984, on such notable platforms as the Commodore 64 and Amstrad.



Now, after over a decade and a half, Sabre Wulf has been revived on the Game Boy Advance. Sabreman, the hero, recently made a cameo appearance in Banjo-Tooie—although not all gamers may have known who he was at the time. After being thawed out of a block of ice by the bird and bear duo, he falls asleep muttering something about riding a dolphin for his next adventure. This led to the obvious conclusion that Sabre Wulf would call the GameCube home—while this is no longer the case, it shouldn’t cause any heartache. Even Ken Lobb (speaking about Sabre Wulf), has said that Rare “basically one-upped graphically whatever anybody else is doing.”


Elderly Adventurer

PLOT SUMMARY

Basically, the Wulf’s master has forced him to steal valuable treasures and it’s up to Sabreman to get them back. Really, the Wulf is relatively tame, until you take from him one of the stolen valuables and attempt to return it to the safety of your tent. Unfortunately, Sabreman can’t simply run from the Wulf since generally, wolves move quite a bit faster than old men do. Luckily, many characters found throughout the levels have unique special abilities, and these can be used in conjunction with various items to build traps and blockades to slow down the Wulf and prevent him from reaching Sabreman. During this chase, you can keep track of the Wulf’s progress as compared to yours through the use of a novel “picture-in-picture” display.

The final title will also have a 4-player multiplayer mode where gamers can compete in various minigames—no information about which has been released. Still in development, expect the official release of Sabre Wulf to occur sometime next year.


Senior Editor Michael Loewer, signing off.
Shameless Plug: The Necessity

- 7.16.2001