Deathbringer

ST Format gave the Atari ST version an overall score of 72%, noting the game's graphics as its strongest feature, stating that it "uses so many levels of parallax the effect looks almost perfect." ST Format criticizes the game as 'priorizing looks over function' however, expressing that "it looks as if the programmers have spent the time getting the parallax right without thinking about the game itself." ST Format criticized Deathbringer's gameplay as repetitive, summarizing it as "a matter of moving towards the next [level], killing numerous creatures on the way", expressing that the difficulty of the monsters and the landscapes are "about the only things that change", further stating that 'it doesn't have much to it'. German gaming magazine Power Play gave the MS-DOS version of Deathbringer an overall score of 61%, praising its "fantastic" music, "fast" parallax scrolling and "bright & colorful" graphics, but criticized its 'unoriginal' gameplay. Power Play further stated that Deathbringer's style of gameplay "has been around for five years", further criticizing its 'limited' array of enemies, and summarizing its style of play as having "less strategy and more button mashing." Power Play praised Deathbringer as 'technically sound', and called its soul meter mechanic "a great idea". German gaming magazine Amiga Joker gave the Amiga version of Deathbringer an overall score of 37%, criticizing it was 'short' and 'unsubstantial', stating that "there's not much to see". Amiga Joker criticized Deathbringer's graphics, calling its parallax scrolling "shaky", expressed that the game 'gets less and less colorful' as the game goes on, and stated that "unfortunately only the animation of the sprites turned out nice." Amiga Joker criticized Deathbringer's sound, lamenting the game's single music track, and called the game's sound effects "nerve-killing", overall summarizing the game as "an economy version of Beast II." German gaming magazine PC Joker gave the MS-DOS version of Deathbringer an overall score of 41%, comparing it to Wrath of the Demon, expressing that it has 'similar shortcomings' due to the game 'prioritizing graphics over gameplay'. PC Joker criticized Deathbringer's gameplay and controls as "tedious", expressing that combat is 'a matter of luck as opposed to strategy' due to its "sluggish" controls. PC Joker further criticized Deathbringer's "simple" gameplay, expressing that "the pause function, endless continues and amount of patience required make the game pass by too fast", and furthermore said that Deathbringer is 'unsubstantial', stating that "there's nowhere near enough [content] to be anything more than a very average game". PC Joker criticized Deathbringer's graphics, stating that while its bosses are "impressive" and some of its sprites are "well animated", everything else is "simple". PC Joker also criticized Deathbringer's level design, expressing that they primarily differ by the "degree of their colorlessness". The One for ST Games gave the Atari ST version of Deathbringer an overall score of 80%, but criticized its unoriginality. The One praised its "superb" graphics as its strongest feature, calling its parallax scrolling "one of the best seen on the ST", and its sprites and backgrounds "extremely detailed". The One criticized Deathbringer's difficulty, expressing that the game's bosses are "almost impossible" until the player figures out their pattern, at which point they're "too easy". The One praised Deathbringer's soul meter mechanics, as well as its nonlinear map design, comparing it to Out Run, but criticized the lack of visual damage when fighting opponents as 'unatmospheric'.