Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior - Reception and Legacy

Reception and Legacy

During the 1980s, the prevalent attitude was that video games were for children. Barbarian's advertisements, showing a scantily dressed model known for topless poses, triggered significant outcries of moral indignity. Electron User magazine received letters from readers and religious bodies, who called the image "offensive and particularly insulting to women" and an "ugly pornographic advertisement". Chris Jager, a writer for PC World, considered the cover "a trashy controversy-magnet featuring a glamour-saucepot" and a "big bloke ". According to Leinfellner, the controversy did not negatively affect Barbarian, but boosted the game's sales and profile tremendously. Video game industry observers Russell DeMaria and Johnny Wilson commented that the United Kingdom public were more concerned over scantily clad Whittaker than the gory contents in the game. Conversely, Barbarian was banned in Germany by the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien for its violent contents. The ban forbade promotion of the game and its sale to customers under the age of 18. A censored version of the game, which changed the colour of the blood to green, was later permitted to be freely sold in the country. Barbarian's mix of sex and violence was such that David Houghton, writer for GamesRadar, said the game would be rated "Mature" by the Entertainment Software Rating Board if it was published in 2009.

Reviewers were impressed with Barbarian's gory gameplay. Zzap!64's Steve Jarratt appreciated the "fast and furious" action and his colleague Ciaran Brennan said Barbarian should have been the licensed video game to the fantasy action film Highlander (which had a lot of swordfights and decapitations) instead. Amiga Computing's Brian Chappell enjoyed "hacking the foe to bits, especially when a well aimed blow decapitates him." Several other reviewers express the same satisfaction in lopping the heads off their foes. Although shocked at the game's violence, Antic's reviewer said the "sword fight game is the best available on the ST." According to Jarratt, Barbarian represented "new heights in bloodsports". Equally pleasing to the reviewers at Zzap!64 and Amiga User International's Tony Horgan was the simplicity of the game; they observed that almost anyone could quickly familiarise themselves with the game mechanics, making the two-player mode a fun and quick pastime.

Although the barbarian characters use the same basic blocky sprites, they impressed reviewers at Zzap!64 and Amiga Computing with their smooth animation and lifelike movements. Reviewers of the Amiga version, however, expressed disappointment with the port for failing to exploit the computer's greater graphics capability and implement more detailed character sprites. Its digitised sounds, however, won praise from Commodore User's Gary Penn. Advanced Computer Entertainment's reviewers had similar thoughts over the Atari ST port.

Reviewing for Computer and Video Games, Paul Boughton was impressed by the game's detailed gory effects, such as the aftermath of a decapitation, calling them "hypnotically gruesome". It was these little touches that " the game worthwhile", according to Richard Eddy in Crash. Watching "the head to the ground severed neck, accompanied by a scream and satisfying thud as the torso tumbles" proved to be "wholesome stuff" for Chappell, and the scene was a "great retro gaming moment" for Retro Gamer's staff. The cackling goblin, which drags off the bodies, endeared him to some reviewers; the team at Retro Gamer regretted that the creature did not have his own game. The actions of the barbarian also impressed them to nominate him as one of their top 50 characters from the early three decades of video gaming.

Barbarian proved to be a big hit, and Palace started planning to publish a line of sequels; Leinfellner said he received royalty cheques for approximately seven years, the first of which was for £20,000. Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax was released in 1988, and Barbarian III was in the works. Van Wijk and Whittaker were hired again to grace the box cover and advertisements. After the success with Barbarian, Palace Software began to expand its portfolio by publishing games that were created by other developers. Barbarian, however, remained its most popular game, best remembered for its violent swordfights and Maria Whittaker.