Swagman

What do you get when you mix the classic gameplay style of Casper with the dreamy atmosphere of NiGHTS? Swagman, of course.

This Saturn (and PlayStation) title is a bizarre adventure into the realm of dreams. You play as one of two twins. Zack or Hannah, who are living in a nightmare. Your goal is to rescue the Dream Fly (the keeper of the nice and happy dreams) from the evil Swagman.

You start the game out in Zack and Hannah's place of residence: their parents' house. But this seemingly innocent place is as horrifying as it comes. Floors are broken away to reveal whirling abysses below, strange imps breathe fire upon your fragile bodies and so on. And this is supposed to be the RealWorld!

Your goal is to find the keys that will let you access new areas which will contain more keys to let you access more new areas. These locales are composed of 16 different settings in six very large levels. Along the way, you may find a few items to help you on your mission. The first "weapon" you will find is a flashlight. This will help you chase away some of the monsters (the nightmares) or temporarily stun others.

Special mirrors litter this "normal world," which transport you over to the other side. This Dreamworld is stranger than RealWorld, to say the least. When you venture into DreamWorld. you are transformed into grotesque DreamBeasts with new powers.

As mentioned above, the play is similar to Casper or Zelda 3 (Super NES). As you can tell from the screen shots on this page, the view is from an overhead perspective. The controls are very simple, making the game easy to pick up. Swagman will easily remind you of a traditional 16-Bit game in terms of its light and easy fun, only with a 32-Bit facelift.

Despite the nightmarish theme of Swagman. the nature of the game won't scare off young game players. The theme is more along the lines of Tim Burton's idea of horror (like Beetlejuice or A Nightmare Before Christmas) rather than say, Wes Craven's or Stephen King's. It's a lighthearted adventure game that should appeal to both young and old.

Gamer's EDGE

Swag man has a major bug in it. Don't worry, it's a helpful one. His name is Scarab. He's the "Boss bug" from Zack's bug collection. When you are travelling around, you may occasionally see a strange, ornate chest. Touch it. and Scarab will magically appear to give you hints about the level you are in.

MANUFACTURER - Core Design

THEME - ACTION

NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1