The sequel to Switchblade, Switchblade II originally came out on the Amiga and was developed and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1991. The designer/programmer of the original Switchblade, Simon Phipps of Core Design, had no involvement in the creation of this follow-up.

While Switchblade II does have some of the features of the first game, it is somewhat different overall. It’s still a platform/action game, and you still control Hiro of the Blade Knights (actually a descendent of Hiro, because this game is set centuries after the first game, but he’s still called Hiro), but this time the backgrounds scroll and the combat is less ‘stylised’ (ie. restrictive) than the first Switchblade. And the graphics have a Japanese, or anime, edge to them. The graphics are also drawn at a larger scale, and are more detailed as a result – at the expense of seeing less of the level as you move around. In fact, Switchblade II looks and feels a bit like Capcom‘s Strider, but without the acrobatics.

Hiro can this time do a useful ‘big jump’ (by holding down, then pushing up and pressing jump), as well as his regular jump. Close-up to enemies he’ll swipe at them with a knife, and if he has the ammunition he’ll fire his gun at more distant enemies.

The aim of the game is to fight your way through six levels of traps, enemies and bosses in order to defeat the ‘Ninja Lord’, Havoc.

One major difference to the first game is that in Switchblade II defeated enemies drop what look like grey pearls (they’re supposed to be coins but they look more like pearls to me), and these – when collected – give Hiro money that he can spend in shops that he occasionally comes across. These shops are entered through glowing white doors and have various goodies on sale, including extra lives, health and ammo re-fills, as well as exotic weapon upgrades that increase Hiro’s odds of survival.

Overall, I’d say that Switchblade II is a sequel that is arguably much better than the original. It contains just enough to feel like a continuation, but is also different enough to feel like an upgrade. It’s a fun, challenging and playable game and I very much enjoyed my time with it. I actually played the Atari Lynx version first; was pleasantly surprised by it, then looked-up the Amiga and Atari ST originals.

More: Switchblade II on Wikipedia