Running true to Hollywood stereotypes, the cowboys and
Indians are fighting each other. As in all games there
has to be a hero and in Kane his name is Marshall
McGraw and the difference between him and the normal
run of the mill cowboy is that he's trying to make peace
with his redskin brothers. Standing in his way is the
Indians' reluctance to trust him, so to prove himself
worthy, Marshall McGraw must demonstrate his skill in
a duck shooting competition. If he gets through this
and wins some peace tokens from the indians, then the
next priority is to get them to Washington so the peace
treaty can be drawn up.
Trouble
is that the N.A.S.T. Railway company intend to run a
track through the indians' ancient burial grounds. Realising
that the government would veto such a development if
peace was made between the two races, N.A.S.T. decides
it's in their best interests to stop McGraw from getting
the peace tokens to Washington. In the town of Kane,
N.A.S.T. place several of their men to ambush McGraw
on his way to the train. The only thing is to do deadly
battle with the agents -- if he wins, McGraw then has
to get to the train for Washington, which is now speeding
its way eastward. With his trusty steed it's possible
for McGraw to catch up with the iron horse and hop aboard
-- but an easy job it isn't, due to the large amount
desert debris littering the sides of the railway track.
McGraw has to get Dobbin to jump the various items,
including rocks and tumbleweed, to make his way to the
head of the train.
Kane
is split into the four Stages and throughout you
control Marshall McGraw, a mere pawn of destiny. The
first sheet is the duck shoot and the rules state that
you must use a bow and arrow for this one. Supplied
with a limited amount of arrows, the idea is to down
as many ducks as possible. An on-screen cursor is joystick
controlled, fire loosing an arrow from McGraw who stands
in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. The arrow
whizzes to the spot the cursor was at when the button
was pushed. The duck shoot is held in an idyllic valley
near the indian camp and the ducks fly innocently from
left to right at random heights. Piercing a duck with
an arrow results in an anguished quack from the sky
and a thud as the animal hits the floor. The better
your performance the more peace medallions come into
your possession -- and the less pesky ducks there are.
If none are collected, then the game is over.
The
next screen depicts McGraw's heroic dash to Kane on
Dobbin, his pure white dedicated mount. At the top of
the screen the miles left to travel are shown, and as
Dobbin gallops along his merry way the background scrolls
past. The longer the left or right directions are held
on the joystick, the faster Dobbin trots. Fire makes
McGraw use his spurs and get Dobbin to leap.
Once
at Kane, N.A.S.T.'s desperados make an attempt to finish
of the good Marshall. McGraw moves left and right along
the bottom of screen, controlling a cursor that aims
his gun. Fire draws and fires the trusty six shooter
and any baddies hit unleash a synthesised scream. Once
out of ammo, McGraw needs to run off screen left where
his weapon is reloaded. Stand still too long and a desperado
will dispatch him to that big OK Coral in the sky. After
the bad people have been shown the light with a bullet
through their torso, McGraw has to catch up with the
15:51 to Washington.
McGraw
is on Dobbin once again, dashing for the head of the
train. Unlike the first horse ride to Kane, Dobbin's
speed needs to be carefully controlled to bound over
the obstacles. Once at the front of the train you have
saved the Indians and N.A.S.T. are defeated.
If
you wish it's possible to practise on various screens
with the practice mode supplied, though it is impossible
to complete Kane like this.
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