The Sword of Ianna - A new game launches on MSX2 and ZX Spectrum that will blow you away!

This year has been all out awesome for retro goodness, what with Argus coming out on the C64, unreleased games finding their way to the Amiga, and of course Speccy games doing the rounds. But if you have an MSX2 or yes a ZX Spectrum, you really should prepare yourselves to be amazed, as RetroWorks, the same team behind Vade Retro, The Charm, and Teodoro can't fly, has finally announced the release of one of the most anticipated of games 'The Sword of Ianna'

Yes you read that right, this game isn't just a ZX Spectrum one, but it has also made its way on to the MSX2 as a sword slashing platformer that puts you in control of a mighty sword wielding barbarian that has to slice and chop his way through multiple enemies, with added impressive AI and seriously cool animation. To tell the truth we haven't come across a game like this for some time, as it's most note worthy to see an actual enemy defend himself with shield that require a bit of tactics to deal that deadly blow!

But it isn't just the combat that impressed me, it's the overall character control as well, like a cross between Barbarian and Tomb Raider, mixed with a pinch of Prince of Persia. Now you may ask why I've mentioned these, that's because your character can not only hop over spikes but he can pull levers and even grab ledges and pull himself up using his impressive bulky muscles! - How cool is that?

And that's just the control aspect, when it comes to the graphics however that's equally impressive and although you can see the visual differences between the ZX Spectrum version at top and the MSX2 version above, each one has its own visual charm and both feel like proper commercial titles. In fact better than most games seen during the systems life time, just admire those ledges, skulls, menacing moon lit sky and in face your broody UI!

In all honesty I can't find much fault with the game, perhaps the character control can be a little off missing platforms sometimes, but everything about is spot on... The graphics, animation, music, are above par, and if there's one retro homebrew you need to play, The Sword of Ianna is a must!

- Thanks to all of you who contacted us about this game, you're awesome too :)

Links : 1) Source (MSX/ZX) 2) MSX Play Online 3) MSX News ( Including physical copy )