The Gold of the Aztecs

Another Atari/Amiga hit that failed to attract PC gamers' attention. Gold of the Aztecs is a fun action/adventure game set in South America.

The mundane plot casts you as another unfortunate pilot-turned-adventurer who crash-landed in the jungle, destined to discover ancient Aztec treasure on your way to freedom. The game is played from a typical side-scrolling view with some novel features. For instance, unexpected enemies (e.g. a huge elephant, or cannibals) will appear if you dally too long. The weapons are few, but reasonably realistic, and once you discover Aztec ruins, you will have access to some interesting mythical weapons and items.

The adventure elements of the game, while exist, are not as developed as, say, Silmarils' underrated Le Fetiche Maya. Puzzles that require inventory items are far too easy to solve, and most of your time will be spent on figuring out how to deal with various nasties anyway. Although numerous, the enemies appear quite realistically (i.e. you won't get run over by hordes of elephants that appear all at once, and cannibals have believable attacks). Sometimes you must figure out how to kill an enemy by observing their movements-- this is similar to Out of This World, and a lot of fun.

Overall, if you like action games with some adventure elements, Gold of the Aztecs is one of the better ones you will find. Recommended!

Review By HOTUD