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'The year is 2215 A.D. Holograms are indistinguishable from Humans. People are selected for their special skills and then transformed into holograms to commit murder, political crimes, or whatever their Master 'Centro-Holographix' orders them to do. In between missions, the holograms are stored in personality computers, or mind prisons. However, the computer storing two of the most powerful holograms ever created, HAMMERFIST and METALISIS, has malfunctioned, sending the two deadly assassins on one final mission – to destroy Centro-Holographix...'
John Twiddy and Hugh Riley are by no means dark horses of the gamer scene: Since the great success of 'The Last Ninja' in the year 1987, the two enjoy a certain cult status among the fans, even today – particularly in terms of their works on the C64... a reputation they had acquired in the past not without good reason. After they had left System 3, the two established the development studio Vivid Image together with Mevlut Dinc ('Prodigy') in 1988, and 'Hammerfist' was the very first title, which was released under the new label in summer 1990. The program appeared nearly simultaneously for the platforms Amiga, Atari ST, C64, CPC as well as Spectrum and represented a refreshing enrichment within the genre of action games, particularly on the 'breadbox'...
The beautiful title screen...
Dead on Arrival...
Interestingly enough, in 'Hammerfist' the player controls always two characters, namely the eponymous hero, a muscle-bound fighting machine with a powerful, metal prosthetic arm, as well as Metalisis, an extremely agile close combat expert – moreover, she's the only one of the two who's able to reach higher platforms by performing flic-flacs. A further special feature is the fact, that our escaped convicts aren't human beings of flesh and blood, but holograms whose appearance and skills are based on already deceased persons... and they are not at all the only ones, because the power-hungry 'Centro-Holographix' corporation certainly has evil intentions and produces identical copies from all persons with exceptional abilities! In this manner, an invincible holographic army shall be created to subdue the whole population. As a result of a malfunction within the virtual matrix, two holograms were able to escape: Hammerfist and Metalisis, without question the most dangerous 'inmates' within the 'Centro-Holographix' complex, engineer a revolt against the ruthless corporation and head off to headquarters to bring the irresponsible leaders to justice...
Similar to System 3's classic 'The Last Ninja', also in 'Hammerfist' each level (there are overall four stages in the game) is separated into several rooms – moreover, there's no scrolling, because each location fits completely on the screen. However, this time the setting is presented in 2D – an isometric 3D perspective hasn't been used anymore: Die-hard 'graphic fetishists' may consider this as a drawback compared to the 'Last Ninja' trilogy at first – but then again, that's a not to be underestimated advantage in terms of controlling the characters. Let's take a look back: Particularly Armakuni's jumps were very frustrating at times due to the used perspective – but with Hammerfist and Metalisis such actions are no problem... this applies to the continual fights with the numerous enemies, too...
'Demolition Man'...
...and 'Centro-Holographix' housed a lot of them: In the first section ('Complex 7') the duo mainly has to deal with annoying robots, floating drones and bothersome scientists whereas our two renegade contract killers are confronted with the biodiversity of the ocean (e.g. ravenous sharks, aggressive jellyfishes, fast squids and even barrels with highly toxic nuclear waste!) in the second level ('Sea Floor'). Like in almost every action game, also 'Hammerfist' offers several bosses such as a dangerous plant mutation, which occupies an entire laboratory and attacks our heroes with spores, a huge octopus ('Octosquab') as well as a giant ant (one of the most disgusting bosses I've ever seen in a game... how the creature lies there with its pulsating body... yuck!) – and finally the 'Master', the brain of 'Centro-Holographix', which controls the holograms. Not until it's destroyed, Hammerfist and Metalisis can exist independently of one another, because unfortunately the two were fused into one virtual image, because of the above-mentioned malfunction...
After the duo escaped, the staff of the corrupt corporation immediately launches countermeasures to stop the two traitors: Apart from the numerous enemies, who try to eliminate the renegades, a tricky security system has been activated that prevents quick progress. In other words: You can't leave a room until all local consoles and terminals have been destroyed – but also other things, like e.g. containers or rock formations which block your way, should be smashed to pieces... yes, on their vendetta against 'Centro-Holographix' the two leave a wake of devastation! In a way you could describe Hammerfist and Metalisis as Bonnie and Clyde of the 23rd century...
'Sledgehammer'...
Although Hammerfist as well as his female sidekick have to face an entire army, they are anything but defenceless – after all, both the well-conditioned warrior and Metalisis once were cold-blooded mercenaries in their former lives! Whilst the hard-bitten hit man attacks with his steel fist which goes through metal like butter, his female accomplice deals out painful kicks. Actually, you could describe Vivid Image's software debut as a pure beat 'em up in the style of the 'Double Dragon' series or 'Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles – The Coin-Op!' – but this would be only half the truth, because the male main character is also equipped with an extremely effective second weapon: his 'Laser Fist'! With it, he's able to shoot forward (in viewing direction) as well as upward (shots bounce off from the ceiling in a diagonal angle) and downward respectively (shots wriggle along the floor until they hit an enemy/an obstacle). Unfortunately, you can't use this weapon as often as you like – the amount of ammo is limited to ninety-nine units at the maximum. Moreover, there's the 'Piston Fist' (also limited to ninety-nine units), that's nearly as effective as a jackhammer...
By collecting special symbols, which were left behind by defeated enemies, both weapons can be recharged again. The same applies to the energy of our two heroes – apart from the corresponding icons; they can use the recharge points at the walls, too. But if Hammerfist and Metalisis respectively take too long to collect the icons, these disappear after a while. If this happens to often, all icons turn into skulls; very much to the regret of our two heroes, because those skulls will reduce the life power instead of recharging it - a further 'inconvenience' of the tricky 'Centro-Holographix' security system! Not until the energy bar of the 'Master' is completely exhausted (shown at the upper edge of the screen) – by ignoring the skulls – the icons will transform back into their original form and become useful again...
The very first room: The deadly duo has just escaped its mind prison - here you can see the athletic Metalisis in action, the 'better half' of the pair...
Weight 'Lift'ing...
But not only the numerous foes as well as the measures of the security system represent a serious problem for the duo. Also certain means of transportation play tricks on the two: Here and there you enter special rooms which are full of elevators (these are very similar to those of 'Nebulus'). The whole trick to traverse such a room successfully is to switch between both holograms constantly - that action has its reason: When the powerful Hammerfist enters a lift, that moves down immediately, due to the weight of the muscle man. The athletic Metalisis again, is as light as a feather – so the lift moves up at once. But wait, I have a question: Do holograms have a body weight? Well, an accurate answer would go beyond the scope of this review and therefore is out of place – so, let's get back to the topic...
As you can see, the Vivid Image title is far away from being a conventional beat 'em up, because almost every room can only be mastered with a specific strategy – action alone isn't the answer to everything. Particularly the 'Master' of 'Centro-Holographix' – the brain – at the end of the game, can only be finished with the right tactic – otherwise, it's a recipe for failure. Speaking of 'failure': Your 'army of two' won't die until both characters are killed – if one of the two is afflicted with acute energy loss, the program switches to the other hologram immediately – meanwhile, the 'comrade-in-arms' is able to recuperate. But if both characters have run out of life energy, the game's over...
John Twiddy and Hugh Riley may not have reinvented the 'action wheel' with 'Hammerfist' - nevertheless their company's debut stands out against other games of these kind and has a considerable amount of individuality. The basic concept is quite ingenious and has been converted very well – in this sense, it fitted perfectly into the early 1990s! However, 'Hammerfist' isn't a 'fast' action game, like e.g. 'Hawkeye' or 'Turrican', because here you have to act with caution. But this doesn't mean that there isn't a lot going on on the screen – the contrary is the case: The duo is attacked by foes from nearly all directions and already destroyed enemies reappear after a short time! If you've read my review to 'Mr. Heli', you know that I'm not a big fan of such 'constant fire'. But strangely, in case of 'Hammerfist' this fact doesn't bother me – after all, each finished enemy leaves behind a useful icon to recharge the weapons and the life energy respectively...
Unfortunately, 'Hammerfist' wasn't a great (commercial) success – maybe it's due to the fact that Rainbow Arts' 'Turrican' has been released at the same time. That's a real pity, because Vivid Image's impressive debut would have deserved it...
Downloads: Music
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| GRAPHICS - 8/10 |
Okay, 'Hammerfist' isn't a graphical masterpiece such as the 'Last Ninja' trilogy – but this doesn't mean that the graphics are bad, because every room has been drawn very accurately and colourful and comes up with a lot of details. Moreover, many backgrounds are animated and also the numerous explosions and other effects are quite impressive. The same applies to the animations of friend and foe: The blows and kicks as well as the flic-flacs are a real feast for the eyes – in marked contrast to the 'footwork' of the sprites, because that appears to be quite awkward and therewith look unnatural to the player/audience. As I said before, there's no scrolling – however, this wasn’t different in the 'Last Ninja' series...
| | SOUND - 7/10 |
Actually, the soundtrack of 'Hammerfist' is really good – unfortunately, it includes only a few different compositions, which sound quite similar. With F1 you can toggle between background music and sfx – however, the latter don't sound that good and can't hold a candle to all-time classics like e.g. 'Hawkeye' or 'Turrican'. So the in-game music is the far better choice...
| | PLAYABILITY - 8/10 |
At first, controlling Hammerfist and Metalisis seems to be a little tricky – but for one thing that wasn't much different in 'The Last Ninja' (particularly picking up an item was a real ordeal) and for another thing after a certain settling in period it works quite well. Due to the 2D presentation used here, well-placed jumps are much easier to perform than it's the case in System 3's feudal Japan saga. By pressing the F keys you're able to choose one of the weapons - just like in the legendary bestseller – whereas switching between the two main characters happens by pushing the stick forward. The degree of difficulty increases gently from stage to stage, each boss demands a specific strategy to destroy him and the implementation of the 'Master' feature adds zest to the gameplay – so, all in all a well-balanced mixture...
| | OVERALL - 8/10 |
'Hammerfist' is an underestimated gem, which was wrongly ignored by the general public until today. After the release of their second title, the action-adventure 'Time Machine', which also wasn't a big seller, Vivid Image had a great success with 'First Samurai' in late 1991/early 1992 – first on the Amiga. But a little later the program was converted to the C64, too – and that perfectly in every way! However, John Twiddy and Hugh Riley were no longer responsible for this project – instead of them, Mat Sneap (graphics) and Jon Williams (coding) had done the job. But no matter who was involved in the realization/conversion of the game for the 'breadbox': 'First Samurai' was without doubt one of Vivid Image's biggest hits... in marked contrast to their inventive debut 'Hammerfist'...
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| COVER |
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; "Click to zoom!")
; "Click to zoom!")
