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I have to say, I've been quite excited about this one for quite a while. It's about time someone sat up and proved that the Amiga is more than a match for the consoles of the world, and this is the title that beats them at their own game. Brian the Lion is a platform game like no other on the Amiga. It would honestly look more at home on a Super Nintendo, thanks to some revolutionary new graphic techniques.

Whether or not that's a good thing is down to your own personal preference, but the facts are here to see. Custom chips or not, the Amiga can do anything the SNES can do and, in a lot of cases here, do it far better.
Like all platform games, the aim is to get from one end to the other. I could pad out a bit here and give you the plot, but you've heard it all before. The key thing to note is that your only aim is to get to the end of each level. You can collect power-ups and jewels if you want to, but you don't actually have to.

Visually, the game is quite something. Although in a still screenshot, it looks like most other cute platformers. You notice the amount of effort that's gone in when you see the thing moving. Brian has over a hundred frames of animation to himself, including things like looking up with a daunted look on his face when he reaches a cliff he can't jump up, and a wonderful roar facility. Holding down the fire button makes him breathe in, and releasing it lets out a roar. The longer he breathes, the stronger the shout. The amusing thing is, if he lets out a really loud roar, he startles himself stands their quivering a moment!
Very playable and very colourful, Brian is probably the best-written platform game ever. With more tricks and stunts than most similar games, it's the kind of game you must have in your collection, even if it's to annoy your console owning friends.
Tony Dillon

Title Brian the Lion (AGA)
Game Type Platform
Publisher Psygnosis
Players 1
Compatibility AGA Only (turn off Caches and FastMem)
HD Installable Yes
Submission Robert Livesey

Review
This was the first ever game that I played on my Amiga. And that is not
the only reaosn why I am so familiar and fond of it. I see Brian the Lion
as the best all-round platform game ever, in my humble opinion. This is
because it contains all the core ingredients to make a winning formula for
a platform game. This includes a high addiction level, the right balance
of hardness, and excellent graphics. Don't let the year of production of
the game put you off (1994) - I load up this game now in the year 1999 and
it seems as fresh as ever.

You play the role of a jungle lion named Brian the Lion (there are lots of
other unoriginal names for additional jungle creatures in the game) who
has the task of rescuing his dear friend Chris the Crystal (told you so!)
- who has been kidnapped by the evil Geeza the Dragon. Him and his other
warped jungle animal followers stand between you being re-united with your
dear friend, including Barry the Bear and Graeme the Gorilla. So the plot
is unoriginal as you can see - but you can let that pass since the rest of
the game makes up for this relatively unimportant shortcoming.
Dual-playfields show off what the Amiga can do best (scrolling!) and this
is also combined with excellent and vivid colours - making sure that every
spare colour of the AGA chipset is used to maximum effect.

I myself have completed the game and although it tends to loose
originality at the later levels, the right balance of addiction/hardness
keeps you coming back until you have completed the game. Overall, if
you're after an addictive, attractive and downright playable platform game
with well-drawn graphics to boot - look no further than Brian the Lion AGA.