Leander (video game)
| Leander | |
|---|---|
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Cover art for Leander | |
| Developer(s) | Traveller's Tales |
| Publisher(s) | Psygnosis |
| Designer(s) |
Andy Ingram Jon Burton |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Atari ST, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis |
| Release date(s) | 1991 / 1992 (MD version) |
| Genre(s) | Action Platformer |
Leander is a computer game for the Commodore Amiga developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Psygnosis in 1991. It was the first game to be developed by Traveller's Tales.
Leander is likened to an earlier Psygnosis game Shadow of the Beast released in 1989. It was designed to run on the earliest Amigas with only 512KB of Chip RAM, such as the Amiga 1000 and A500, which pushed the then 6 years old OCS chipset to its limits.
The original version was developed on the Amiga, then it was converted by Philipp Wyatt for W.J.S Design on the Atari ST. A year later it was ported to the Sega Mega Drive as Galahad and published by Electronics Arts.
Story
The player assumes the role of the legendary knight Leander through three sprawling worlds, each composed of seven levels, to defeat the evil wizard Thanatos and rescue the princess Lucanna.
Gameplay
Leander collects coins throughout each level, with which he can purchase armour, potions and new swords in a shop which appears infrequently during the game. The ultimate aim of each level is to find a certain object named at the start of level (with instructions where to find it). When Leander finds it, he must find a portal which will lead him on to the next level. If he does not find the object, he cannot enter the portal.
Enemies encountered during the game range from dragons and elves to snakes and giant otters. At the end of each world, Leander faces a gargantuan boss, whom he must defeat to enter the next world.
Cameos from other games
In the final world, there is a secret Lemmings-styled area and the main character from The Killing Game Show as an enemy as well as a larger version of him.
In the game Puggsy, originally made for the Sega Mega Drive, and also published by Psygnosis, an "extra-secret" level called "Lee and Errr", which can only be accessed by working out a maths equation given during the credits after completing the story game, contains the following message written in large print in the background: "Leander is Galahad on the Megadrive".