Created by Simon Phipps (co-founder of Core Design), and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1989, Switchblade is a platform action game that could be described as a ‘spiritual successor’ to the Rick Dangerous games (also created by Simon Phipps). Switchblade features similar gameplay and graphics to Rick Dangerous, although it is more refined, less cartoony, and is far less frustrating to play. Switchblade came out on the Atari ST first and ports for the Amiga, C64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum followed.

You play as Hiro of the Blade Knights, on a mission in a futuristic post-apocalyptic world to find sixteen pieces of the shattered Fireblade sword, the sacred symbol of his clan. Rebuilding the sword will restore their pride.

Hiro can attack in a variety ways, and how he does that depends on how long you hold the fire button down for, before releasing it. A power bar in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen increases as you hold the button down. If you release it when the power bar is low Hiro will punch. Mid-power will make Hiro do a high kick, and high power will make him do a powerful sweep kick. As enemies come at you you have limited time to react before they hit you. If you keep jabbing the fire button Hiro will punch repeatedly. If you have time you can build up power to do a kick, and it usually takes fewer kicks to kill an enemy than punches do. Some enemies attack you more quickly, though, so you have to get your timings right.

Hiro can also pick up various different kinds of weapons; often thrown knives, and sometimes guns. These only last for a limited time, though, and a small bar in the bottom middle of the screen indicates remaining ammo.

One cool part of Switchblade is the way rooms remain dark until you enter them. So more parts of a level reveal themselves as you explore. Some rooms are hidden and require that you kick (or punch) blocks away so you can enter them. Kicking certain blocks occasionally reveals power-ups and health boosters; the same for grey bottles, and these can sometimes be hidden behind pipes and crates, so it’s worth kicking places that you can reach but can’t see, to find those hidden bottles.

As you progress the enemies get tougher, and in certain places you’ll encounter a ‘boss’ monster that must be destroyed to open a door to the next area.

Switchblade is an absorbing game to play, and although it doesn’t initially look like anything special, it’s actually well-designed with a difficulty curve that seems very well-judged. Unlike the Rick Dangerous games, it isn’t unfair in its use of traps. Enemies do tend to spawn in places that can be alarming at first, but after you get used to the unusual fighting system the combat does become quite enjoyable.

A sequel to this, called Switchblade II, was released in 1991, and that too is also a decent platform/action game. I’d say that both Switchblade games are still worth playing today, which is more than can be said for the two Rick Dangerous games…

More: Switchblade on Wikipedia
Steam: Switchblade on Steam
GOG: Switchblade on GOG.com