Sabre Wulf dates back all the way to when the only means of gaming available to people were computers – and that’s back when Rareware wasn’t even Rareware. Sabre Wulf was just a simple sidescrolling game that had you getting to the end of the map. Fast forward to a time where devices that can fit in the palm of your hand are much more powerful than those big, bulky machines we call computers. This follow-up to a classic may not be the best new thing on the market, but it gets the job done pretty well. Sabre Wulf puts you in the shoes of an old but nimble explorer named Sabreman. While our hero is out camping, the earth suddenly shakes and other people are running around confused and looking mentally challenged. The mayor of the nearby town then tells you that the evil Dr. Dolittle-Goode has broken the curse that encased the Sabre Wulf in stone. Sabre Wulf is an evil “wulf” that steals treasure and wreaks havoc on everything it touches. Once again, it’s up to Sabreman to put a stop to all this by retrieving all the treasure and pieces of the puzzle to stone the Wulf and therefore reverse all of Dr. Dolittle-Goode’s evil plans. The story may sound a bit quirky, but it’s what Rare is known for. The game puts you in a third person overhead view of things when you start playing the game. While in this perspective, you can make Sabreman run, jump, and explore different areas. When entering a cave, the game then shifts into a sidescrolling interface. There are loads enemies and items that Sabreman will encounter throughout these areas, and he must use the items he obtains to help him with his journey through the area. The object of each level is to get to the treasure at the end of the map. When doing so, the Sabre Wulf will wake up and howl causing every other enemy to die, clearing the way back to the entrance tent at the beginning. From here, you have to flawlessly run back to the beginning of each level without being touched by the Wulf. (Touching the purple fiend will lead to instant death without a Defense Vest.) While the game’s objective is simple and can be executed rather easily, it still features a lot of depth. Alone, Sabreman can’t do anything except run with the directional pad and jump with the A button. The items you find in red bags are actually animals that help guide you through each level. The animals Sabreman have different effects when used properly. Boomer can self-destruct, causing everything in range of his explosion to explode. Bubba is a fat bear that Sabreman can jump on to reach more elevated areas. Club is an animal that’ll club things out of his way—including yourself—and so on. There are a whole lot more animals in the game, but your supply is limited to how many of each animal you have in the inventory, so you will have to think before making such a rash decision when using an animal. The puzzles in each level are pretty straightforward, and shouldn't require much thought. After completing a level, you’re rated upon how fast you’ve executed proper steps, and what you actually had to go through to complete it. If you do well enough, a golden flag will appear next to the cavern (or level) to show how well you’ve done at that area. The better you’ve done, the more points you get. The more points you get, the better your flag is. The better your flag is, the more money you get. With your money, you can go to shop stands to purchase a defense vest to give Sabreman one hit point, or you can go ahead and buy essential items like compasses, gear, or extra animals in case you’ve made a fatal mistake. You can also sell the treasure you've obtained to get more money. Each “world” consists of at least seven levels to go through, and upon completion, a short cinema will follow that’ll lead you to Dolittle-Goode’s lab. The labs are always the last level of a world, and the object here is to press every switch to lead yourself up the top of a Donkey Kong kind of level to where an artifact piece is. After collecting it, the world is completed, and you’ll move on. Sabre Wulf has a lot of extras too. When going back to the first town, you’ll have somewhat of an RPG experience by talking to the townsfolk and whatnot, and you’ll also be able to play all sorts of minigames like the infamous Tea-Drinking Contest—which is played using your weasel fingers by mashing buttons. Backtracking is always a good alternative when you’d rather take a rest in your treasure hunting, so the game's lighthearted charm will keep gamers coming back even after completion. The game is visually superb through every view available. The enemies look like any cute baddy Rare would make, and it really retains the charm that only Rare games can have. The sidescrolling areas are also good-looking and simulate the same visual system used in the Donkey Kong Country games that were made a while back. When making adventure games, Rare always finds a way to turn gamers off. The one drawback that can arguably also be a strong point to Sabre Wulf is its sound. The music is superb, but the “voice acting” is horrible. All you hear are mumbles, and some inappropriate noises that you’d hear in a public restroom. As gross or zany as it may be, it’s been Rare’s trademark with games such as Banjo-Kazooie on the Nintendo 64 and Grabbed by the Ghoulies on Xbox. It’s their trademark, and they’re not going to leave it. Either way you look at it, it's still unbelievable how Rare managed to stuff all this into a single mini-cartridge. Sabre Wulf is a really entertaining game and can hook any kind of gamer—new or old—from beginning to end. The length is fair, the story is on par with what Rare usually does, it’s visually superb, and the sound is actually enjoyable. It can be the most fun anybody has had since Mario vs. Donkey Kong, and the game is at a low price tag of only $20. Anybody who’s looking to pick up a game from the NES Classic Series should rather pick up Sabre Wulf. It’s well worth it, and Rare has proved that they still got game on Nintendo systems. If you're looking for some light, puzzle-solving action, Rareware's Sabre Wulf should fit the bill nicely.
The original Sabre Wulf was made for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 back in 1984. It spawned 3 sequels called Knight Lore, Nightshade and Underwurlde (plus 2 further sequels that never got released called Pentagram and... Read Full Review
