''Twinworld'' (also spelled ''TwinWorld'' or ''Twin World'') is a

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

, published by

Ubi Soft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include ''Anno (video game series), Anno'', ' ...

for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

and

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

in 1989. Ports for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

, and

Acorn Archimedes The Acorn Archimedes is a family of personal computers designed by Acorn Computers of Cambridge, England. The systems in this family use Acorn's own ARM architecture processors and initially ran the Arthur operating system, with later models ...

were released in 1990. ''Twinworld'' is a

platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

with a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

setting. Ulopa is a

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and the sole survivor of the Cariken royal family. Ulopa must travel through 23 levels to find the stolen

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

and confront the evil wizard Maldur.

Gameplay

The 23 levels are set in five different "worlds": a normal rural landscape, a

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

, a medieval-style

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s and finally the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

of the evil wizard Maldur. The first four "worlds" have five levels each, and Maldur's temple has three, with the last being a special "

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

" level. The gameplay mainly involves jumping between different platforms and shooting magical bouncy balls at enemies, which come in the form of various evil-looking fantasy animals. To complete a level, Ulopa must find a piece of the stolen amulet and go through the exit door.

Enemies

Various enemies in ''Twinworld'' include: ;Argous: A predatory

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

. It comes in two varieties: one flies around the screen in a pre-defined pattern, the other homes in on Ulopa. Takes three hits. ;Bothria: Arguably the most dangerous enemy. A three-headed

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

that initially stands motionless, but shooting it splits it into three separate monsters, one walking and the other two flying, each taking several hits. One of the flying monsters will try to escape to the level exit, and if it succeeds, start firing bullets when encountered again. The other flying monster will chase the player akin to the second variety of Argous. ;Goulou: Resembles a

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

or a

goblin A goblin is a small, grotesque, monster, monstrous humanoid creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearan ...

. Takes three hits. ;Green Goulou: A kind of

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

. Initially takes one hit, but later two hits. In Maldur's Temple, Green Goulous learn to fly. ;Hiboussa: Resembles an

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

. Sits motionless on a tree branch, but will swoop down towards Ulopa if he passes underneath it. Takes four or five hits. ;Maldur: The

enemy of the entire game. He only appears on the last level. He initially is only on the background, summoning various other enemies, but at the end of the level, he transforms into a giant

, shooting bullets at Ulopa and taking many hits to kill. Maldur is the last enemy in the game.

Worlds

The levels are divided into five different worlds. ;"Caves": The first world is the only one without a name. It is a rural landscape, with various

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...

formations that Ulopa can walk on. Spread throughout the landscape are

door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide securit ...

s, where Ulopa can enter

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s. Inside the caves, Ulopa can collect jewels for bonus points. There are also tunnels leading back to the surface and to other parts of the caves.
In the first world, falling through the bottom of the screen on the surface landscape will kill Ulopa, instead of dropping him down to the caves. ;Dark Forest: The Dark Forest consists of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s that are over ten times as tall as Ulopa. The screen is divided between the tree roots and the tree tops. Doors on the tree trunks lead between the root and top parts, and if Ulopa falls from a tree top, he drops down to the root part. In the forest, Ulopa can collect various

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s and

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s for bonus points.
In the Dark Forest, the game introduces two new items: an

eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

which makes Ulopa temporarily invulnerable, and a

parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

which allows him to fall down from greater heights. The Hiboussa only appears in the Dark Forest. ;Blackthorn: Blackthorn is a

with a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

under it. As in the previous worlds, doors lead between the different parts, and Ulopa can drop down from the fortress into the moat underneath. In Blackthorn, Ulopa can collect various pieces of

jewellery Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

for bonus points. Also, Ulopa's appearance seems to change when he reaches Blackthorn. He has a hat and a beard, indicating that he possibly ages during the game.
The moat in Blackthorn is the only part of the game that is filled with

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

. This affects Ulopa's movements, giving him greater

inertia Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newto ...

. He also swims when he jumps, allowing him to make longer jumps and float down more slowly. Various kinds of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

appear as the enemies in the moat. ;Swamps of : The Swamps of mostly resemble the first world, except in this case Ulopa can drop down into the

gold mine Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to more comple ...

s below the ground when he falls through the bottom of the screen. On the surface, Ulopa can collect flowers and fruits, and in the mines, he can collect

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

for bonus points.
In the Swamps of , blue bullets (Ulopa's most powerful weapon) do not disappear after they hit an enemy, but instead keep bouncing onwards. This allows Ulopa to kill more enemies with a single bullet. ;Maldur's Temple: Maldur's Temple only consists of three levels, rather than five. Two of them are normal levels, and on the third level, Ulopa finally faces Maldur himself.
In Maldur's Temple, Ulopa can use doors and

stairway A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway. ...

s to move through different parts of the levels. As in the previous world, blue bullets can kill more than one enemy. All five worlds also have a "

bonus level A bonus stage (also known as a bonus level, bonus round, or special stage) is a special video game level that awards the player a rapid windfall of benefits such as points, items, or money. The first bonus stage in video game history is in ''Rally ...

". For the first four worlds, the last level of the world acts as a bonus level. In the last level of Maldur's Temple, after killing Maldur, a secret door opens to a mini-sized bonus level. If Ulopa dies in a bonus level, he automatically proceeds to the next world, without losing a life.

Reception

"It is an excellent game which is an insane lot of fun."
Bernd Zimmermann in ASM issue 2/1990Twinworld review in ASM issue 2/1990, p. 30, ISSN 0933-186
here
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References

External links

* * * * {{Ubisoft Blue Byte 1989 video games Acorn Archimedes games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Atari ST games Blue Byte games Commodore 64 games Single-player video games Ubisoft games Video games developed in Germany ZX Spectrum games