Is This The WORST Licensed Game? | Highlander (ZX Spectrum)

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Christopher Lambert is only sort of an American actor, he was born in America to French parents, then immediately moved to Switzerland. So he was America born, and I'm standing by it.

[@anothergol]

His name is Christophe, french parents, mostly french career

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

@@anothergol His full name is actually Christophe "The American Eagle" Lambert, so that's why I was confused

[@mattsmith4536]

CL couldn't even speak English and had to learn his lines phonetically. The strange accent wasn't just for effect. 😊

[@nonautomaton6230]

Thankyou for this, I almost wrote an hasty comment correcting you. Unfortunately now I have nowhere to unleash my pent-up self-righteousness, which I fear might grow inside me and turn into a tumour. Oh well :(

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

@@nonautomaton6230 I'm the ultimate cock blocker.

[@Concreteowl]

Sean Connery is actually playing an Ancient Egyptian who has taken on a Spanish persona over recent centuries... And a Japanese sword... And a more convincing Scottish accent than the supposed Scottish protagonist.

[@KingSidJames]

I did a reverse Uno on Highlander, watched the movie more times than I have brain cells, but somehow missed the game completely. Shite fact: Sean Connery recorded the intro for the film in his loo hence the echo effect.

[@Lbf5677]

The ending is creepy as hell. When he wins the ultimate prize he is surrounded by demon like figures. Thus proving the Scottish villagers correct.

[@TimberwolfK]

That has to be one of, if not *the* most blatant examples of classic 8-bit "oh shit, we've only got about 3 minutes worth of actual gameplay - quick, make it unreasonably bastarding hard" in the hope that you'll need to spend 500 hours practicing to find out there are, indeed, only 3 minutes of actual gameplay.

[@BinnisRetro]

Ah good ol' El Seano Connerio. The only actor to have played Russian, English, Spanish, Moroccan, Egyptian, Irish, Georgian, American and Cuban characters. All with a Scottish accent.

[@JonoHalle]

Where did Sean Connery keep his beard clippings? In his shavings bank.

[@rbflooring1]

​@@JonoHallewhat about when he asks a woman to sit on his face

[@jboneds]

I always think that it was Thomas Jane that was in highlander as they look exactly the same. I'm sort of convinced that they are both just one immortal who will be acting until the end of time.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Oh wow, they DO look similar!

[@chumorgan443]

The French man playing a Scott gets help form a Scott playing a Spaniard to beat the American playing a Russian.

[@Mentski]

A Scot playing an EGYPTIAN pretending to be a Spaniard... The well goeth deeper.

[@holdingpattern245]

I like how whenever someone gets a quickening in the movie, everything around him explodes. You can tell that they really wanted the movie to have explosions, even though it was about immortal sword duelists.

[@basicfacekick]

Honestly... Highlander 2 could translate into a decent action game. The movie was pure WTF, but... put MacLeod up against scads of post-apocalypse street gangs, so there's plenty of fodder to slash through. Doesn't need much plot, just really great swordplay and fighting.

[@t_ed2521]

Okay but now I want a Highlander remake starring Danny Dyer

[@Rich_H_1972]

"Stop being a stupid poncy twat. There can be only one! And that's me, you cant!"

[@stevenirving3100]

I had this game, looked quite good and gave the illusion that the more that you played it the better you would get. I never won a single fight on it either, don't even think that it is possible.

[@arostwocents]

I normally try stuff with a challenge like that with save states and slow motion to see how possible it was but this actually does seem impossible and I'm not touching it loo

[@arostwocents]

This was back in the days when reviewers could win not a single battle and still give a game 57% as they think practise would allow them to get better so the difficulty is a positive lol

[@leesmithsworkshop]

So, the people who made John Wick are talking about remaking Highlander with Henry Cavill as the lead.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Yep! Just heard that yesterday. Very excited!

[@videogamebookreviews]

"I can't even hit him when he's not moving." :-) 6:31

[@sheets75]

I do like the animation. Too bad they weren't making a cartoon? Fun fact: Christopher Lambert has a famously intense gaze because...he's mostly blind and basically can't see anything his eyes are pointed at. Now that you've seen the movie, you should watch the sequel. Please, come down into the pit with the rest of us...

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Oh it's on my list!

[@mattsmith4536]

Yeah, he can't see without glasses. In the fighting scenes with Connery, hes hacking his sword about while Connery is holding back with a more refined manner. Its not that Connery is acting out being a teacher, its just that hes keeping out of Lambert's way.

[@OneCreditClassics]

This video is amazing. This game is sadly not. I'm still not over this mentally.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

None of us are mate. None of us are.

[@cantonasghost9]

How about a game if AstroBoy to raise the spirits? That doesn’t mean becoming a raging alcoholic btw

[@Justin-TPG]

Put a claim in for this challenge to your mental health. It's a disgrace.

[@RaposaCadela]

I remember hearing they bought the license to make this game and didn't read the fine print, and later discovered they would have to pay crippling royalties for every copy sold, royalties so expensive that they would have ended up bankrupting the company. At that point it was too late to turn back since they had a contract, so they made the game as shitty as possible so no one would buy it! Something like that :D

[@kasterborous1701]

Sprites looking like an “unfinished crossword” is the best metaphor in the history of Spectrum gaming.

[@cptnkrenon]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed watching Highlander. Don't taint the experience by watching the sequels. 🙀

[@steve16384]

The digitised speech is better than I remember.

[@blatherskite3009]

It's worse than that with Sean Connery's character... He's actually supposed to be Egyptian, but being a Spaniard called Ramirez is the identity he's wearing when he meets MacLeod and seems to want to stick with, having spent a lot of time in Spain. I guess immortals didn't have to switch up their identity quite so regularly until modern ID and record-keeping became a thing...

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Yesh, I'm an Idgyipshyen.

[@blatherskite3009]

@@RoseTintedSpectrum Well, false teeth were generally other people's teeth stuck in a bit of wood back then... He can be from wherever he likes, imho, as long as it's _not_ The Planet Zeist. Anywhere but there 😄

[@barry-allenthe-flash8396]

The best Highlander game is almost certainly X-Kaliber 2097 on the SNES, despite it NOT ACTUALLY BEING a Highlander game. It's not amazing, but it is a solid hack-and-slash platformer like Kendo Rage, Ghost Sweeper Mikami or some Valis games, I guess. Definitely clears the "Not bad at all" bar, and thus, is the best Highlander game to date. Despite some early '90s anime OVA art in the cutscenes, it _really feels_ like it was supposed to be a tie-in to one of the Highlander sequels or the animated series and lost the license, y'know? It's also called _SWORD MANIAC_ in Japan, so... I mean, maybe give a game a shot if it's got the balls to go with *such* an amazing name, lol. I know you mentioned that maybe you'll look at Last of the MacLeouds on the Jaguar CD someday, so I'm sure you'll cover the uh..... entire Highlander video game legacy at some point (man that's sad that it's only 2 games), but if you wanna throw in a bonus look, there ya go. Just figured I'd mention X-Kaliber. Anyhoo, fantastic look at this! This channel it super entertaining; I knew Highlander ZX was terrible, but you still found a way to shine on light on it in a fresh and fun way.... God, what does that say about me that I enjoy people torturing themselves with this kind of crap so much, lol. Love the channel!

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Thank you buddy!

[@z.s.7992]

Nidhogg is so freaking fun to play...this looks like studying for the SAT test and then taking a bottle of benadryl to get nice and delirious before you take it.

[@tailzer42]

fantastic video unlike the game lol. Highlander is one of my all time favourite films, so wanted this to be a great game but sadly no, only the cover to dream of the game it could have been. Still could have been Highlander 2 where they took a dump on everything they set up in Highlander, Spanish peacocks!

[@TeZXSpectrum]

Unfortunately I covered this a bit ago cos someone made me. I heard it was bad but I didn't expect it to be that bad. Have still got Ben's balls. 😆👍

[@SonicAlpha]

I didn't watch Highlander until the early/mid 90s when the BBC took pity on me, and actually showed it. Life changing, which is the exact opposite of this game 😬

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

You should have more subscribers with cameras. Good god I love this film

[@grenadier1972]

HOW HAVE YOU NEVER SEEN HIGHLANDER BEFORE? It's basically the origin story for Raiden.

[@cuttie1427]

That wee hand did me in, haha

[@Justin-TPG]

"There can only be one." And it was one too many.

[@ystin]

I am now wondering what kind of glorious mess the sequal would have made for a game

[@beneddu]

Ramirez is not Spanish, he's Egyptian. You can tell from the way he says "I'm not Spanish, I'm Egyptian"

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Well as he used to be James Bond, I presumed that was a sneaky tactic to keep the Russians off his back.

[@cygil1]

I guess Sean Connery could pass as a Greek Alexandrian.... Well, no, he can't. But it would explain why he's white, at least.

[@Sashko_Dee]

You can't compare the game to the movie. You must also watch the four sequels and the two TV shows to get a clear view of the vision. The game is a fantastic work of art meant to prepare the fan for the endless crapulance that lay ahead for the Highlander franchise.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Haha, I'll keep that in mind!

[@joeegg124]

Believe it or not, Danny Dyer was actually in an episode of Highlander the series😄

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Well now I have to see it

[@Ghost82uk]

oh I feel sorry for you mate, highlander was bad on purpose believe it or not, the deal that was made for the rights was so bad it would have sunk ocean, but they where obliged under contract to finish and release it, so they made it terrible to save themselves

[@lpfan4491]

I don't remember clearly, but wasn't this the game that the devs made intentionally as bad and unmarketable as possible so that they sold less copies and had to pay less royalties that could bankrupt them?

[@stevefoden1622]

So, looks like no-one mentioned it here. This game was made to suck on purpose. It was in a Larry Bundy 'Fact Hunt' video. Due to some messup where someone from Ocean didn't know what they were signing, it turned out that they agreed to pay the film studio some stupid amount of royalties for the license and if the game had been a hit, it would have bankrupted Ocean. They fortunately figured it out, but they were still on a hook to produce a game as they'd signed for it, so they made it bad so that no-one would buy it and they'd get out of the situation. Fortunately for them, it worked, but yes, the game sucks.

[@cygil1]

Yeah, bullshit.

[@Hound2603]

Sean Connery was not a Spaniard ! He was Egyptian.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

No, he was Scottish.

[@misterdodgy4229]

Fond memories of loading this up and being thoroughly disappointed with its total shitness. We did eventually get Barbarian though.

[@cantonasghost9]

Hurrah, now watch Highlander 2! It has has Michael Ironside…that’s about it

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

Speaking of Michael Ironside, Turbokid - incredible film, do watch!

[@SonicAlpha]

Highlander 2 doesn't exist, much like Die Hard 5, and Indy 4. The Mandela Effect is real, right? 😭😭😭

[@mattd8725]

I'll probably get round to this one if I ever beat Airwolf.

[@Timotei75]

"Alan!" Perfect.

[@al3k]

lol i gotta watch it and play the game tonight now... same thing with me.. i kinda thought i may have seen it, but i haven't.. but i kinda tell myself and people that i have and i know all about it.. and same with the speccy game too i think :D

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

The film is great - the plot is just so bizarre that it wouldn't have a cat in hell's chance of being made today.

[@TheBeird]

Sean Connery's Spunk Stick Now that's got to be a European punk metal band somewhere

[@Dino83]

I absolutely loved Highlander as a kid but sweet Jesus this game drove me mental

[@greenhowie]

It's basically like a modern EA game - not much to it and practicing to get good is kind of pointless. Looks nice for the time though.

[@onemanconga8127]

OMG I can't believe you'd never seen Highlander.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

WELL I HAVE NOW

[@MoriartysDemon]

Let that be a lesson to you kids out there; even dead, even as a videogame sprite, Sir Sean Connery can still kick your arse. YTMND.

[@primokarmasilver]

.... But HOW have you haven't seen Highlander!????

[@spectrumdays]

I have to say I am incredibly lucky that I failed to buy this game back in the day...sadly I may now have to!

[@SuperJim]

No going back from that thumbnail 😂

[@al3k]

El Seano Conneryo.. 😂😂

[@poppers7317]

My connection to Highlander is through the TV show which was really good and really bad at the same time depending on the episode/story arc.

[@VaterOrlaag]

So this is basically a shit version of Barbarian aka Death Sword. And yes, the movie had its flaws, but the sequel really stepped things up. You should go watch it!

[@ZombiWorkshop]

HOW HAVE YOU NEVER SEEN HIGHLANDER BEFORE!??!?! :O ... :P

[@Hazehill]

Ben hasn't been the same since this video.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

No man is ever the same after castration.

[@benmmedia9534]

Who is reading the instructions? Sounds like James Acaster

[@BaronVonHaggis]

oH YOU hAVE wUMEnS HANDz!

[@z.s.7992]

The eighties inspired so many coke fueled power fantasy movies and this is one of them

[@z.s.7992]

This is interesting. Do you folks remember the daytime tv show version of Highlander?

[@twankistevenson3884]

TBF Ocens tie in's from Platoon onwards were great.. before that though... yeah...

[@zephyr8072]

So. Who wants to tell him about Zeist?

[@kuatolives6190]

think Lambert is French

[@wisteela]

I've never seen the film, and have no plans to, but I'll check out this awful game. I wonder how it ever passed play testing.

[@mr.a8315]

Fab! (the review).

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

Yes. Yes it is....

[@wyndblayde6103]

You might wanna avoid the sequels, especially The Source.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

I'm afraid I avoid nothing

[@GenerationPixel]

Oh dear, you've fallen into the old trap, Ramirez isn't Spanish 🤦‍♂️🤣 The film is fantastic, the game is, well, I don't need to tell you 🤮 If you watch the second film readjust your expectations. View it more as a very early live action Anime. Trust me 😉

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

He's whatever ruddy nationality I tell him he is! Today, he's German.

[@GenerationPixel]

@@RoseTintedSpectrum 🤣

[@zetetick395]

I suppose there are several ways I could think to describe Cristopher Lambert and "An American actor" isn't any of 'em 😋 wtf dude didn't you hear his wonky af _accent_ 😅

[@cosmicwartoad2587]

How many of todays coders have become big names apart from Todd Howard?

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

I guess you've got Notch, before he became an internet hermit and everyone pretended he didn't exist - I think that the Japanese market celebrates its individuals a bit better than the western market, but then the western market also seems to hound people who have failed their expectations a lot harder. Sean Murray enters the chat.

[@FentonWenge]

Just play Barbarian and exclusively use the head chop move and pretend it's Highlander.

[@F15HA82]

Mate I played this on the Atari jaguar it was rough

[@em00k]

Real turd of a game.

[@vidarlystadjohansen9829]

I have still not seen this movie

[@AlexWright-xx4fc]

You should treat yourself, the first movie is great. Sadly they never made any series/cartoons/sequels as they knew they'd all suck balls. And that's how I choose to remember it!

[@vidarlystadjohansen9829]

@@AlexWright-xx4fc good to know

[@davidhall7648]

Cough knight rider cough

[@TallDave11]

A shite game of a shite film which somehow had a worse sequel and then a slightly better threequel. Never been a fan. As always a great vid.

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

How dare you dislike the greatest story ever told

[@TallDave11]

@@RoseTintedSpectrum I said nothing against The Lord of the Rings

[@RoseTintedSpectrum]

@@TallDave11 Lord of the WHO?

[@TallDave11]

@@RoseTintedSpectrum Rings not Who