Black Thorne

Blackthorne (also spelled Blackhawk in Europe) is Blizzard's 1994 take on the cinematic platformer, the genre pioneered by Prince of Persia and Flashback. You play Kyle Blackthorne, a gruff exiled prince who returns to the mining world of Tuul armed with a pump-action shotgun to overthrow the demon Sarlac. The tone is far darker and more violent than the studio's later fame would suggest — this is Blizzard before Warcraft made it a household name, leaning into grim atmosphere and grisly deaths.

What set Blackthorne apart from its rivals was the emphasis on gunplay over acrobatics. Kyle moves with the deliberate, rotoscoped weight of the genre, but combat is the heart of the game: you can duck into the shadows of the background plane to dodge enemy fire, then step forward and blast orcs point-blank. Levels mix careful platforming with puzzle-solving, bomb-throwing and freeing captured slaves who occasionally reward you. The pixel art is moody and detailed, full of dripping caverns and industrial gloom.

It holds up reasonably well thanks to that distinctive shotgun-in-the-dark identity, though the slow, methodical pace and trial-and-error hazards can frustrate players raised on faster action. For anyone curious about Blizzard's early years or the golden age of the cinematic platformer, Blackthorne remains a rewarding, atmospheric detour.