Targhan -Any help is appreciated

[Tim Janssen]

Does anyone remember Targhan? This is a flick-screen adventure by Silmarils in 1989. The game features a barbarian-like hero who must hack'n'slash his way through several beautifully drawn screens.
As is common with almost every game produced by Silmarils, Targhan is very difficult to play. For a start, you only have one single life with limited energy points. Add to this enemies who are extremely fast in shooting, slashing and spitting at you and you have one hell of a difficult game.

I would like to know as many information as possible of this game:
* Does anyone know whether a cheat for infinite energy exists?
* What is the purpose of the game?
* In one of the first screens, you encounter a harmless yellow Elf. Is he just sword fodder or is he important for the story of the game?
* When you fall in a pit, you can wander through some caves until it gets too dark. A torch is needed but where can I find it?
* Has anyone a map of the game? I keep getting lost in the troll city that is located above the woods.

Any help is apreciated.

[LaundroMat]

Was that the game where you could change into different animals as well?

Anyways, here's a walkthrough:
http://www.gamesdomain.com/cheats/5208.html

(Type 'Targhan' in Google ;))

Edit:

Ah, now I see it isn't. Anyways, FYI peeps: http://www.thelegacy.de/html/t/Targhan.php3

[Tim Janssen]

Hi LaundroMat,

Just checked the Targhan-map at Gamesdomain. I think that will certainly help me to get that little further. Their tips are also interesting. "Never drink a brown bottle", "Don't fall in pits". I always thought they were part of your gamequest. ;)
Many thanks and yes, a bit stupid of me why I haven't checked the world's largest database (Internet) first.
It seems that those cheat-sites copy everything from each other. I can find the same solutiontext on all sites.

By the way, the game you first mentioned is called Metal Mutant. It features a robot who can transform in different beasts.

[LaundroMat]

No, I'm sure it wasn't Metal Mutant. It was in fact a fantasy side-scroller, with the main character being one of those sword-wielding types. You could transform into a spider, a bird and something else. Transformation was visualised by a full screen anim, in black and white.
Now that I think of it, one peculiar race of monsters were some kind of little stone golems, who were divided into several little enemies when smashed. You also had little, green, squeaky monsters hopping around.

[Tim Janssen]

Hmm, I was certain you referred to Metal Mutant.
Your description of the game puzzles me. The only games I can think of are System 3's Myth, which features a historical character or Deathbringer, which I never played.

Maybe Cody Jarrett can help us out.

[LaundroMat]

No, it wasn't Myth either... (which I thought was a very cool game, but anyway).

I'm stumped. Really I am. What can I tell more?

Aha!

Ok - more on gfx. The levels in the game were in fact islands, and you could choose between the different levels/islands using a full screen map, whereover a large, grey transparent hand hovered. Selecting an island made the hand point to the selected area.

Other monsters: birds. There were also levels where you could venture underground, in caves.

The background was a coppered lightgreen background.

Nothing more comes to mind for the moment.

[CodyJarrett]

Clearly it is Odyssey! That one was easy!

[Akira]

Oi, that game looks awesome! I never seen it before, how good does it play? And when was it released?

I think I have a new thing to play on me A600 :)

[CodyJarrett]

It was published in 1995 by Audiogenic and was by two fans of Exile (another Audiogenic game - a 1991 conversion of a BBC game from Superior Software in 1988). Apparently, one of the terms of the author's contract was for a solution to Exile!

See this Amiga Power mini-review:

Exile-inspired (hurrah!) arcade adventure with you, as some bloke with a sword, springing around, throwing switches, ducking arrows, battling gnomes and turning into different animals and insects. Obviously painstakingly designed (arranging it so you need a specific power to pass something must have been a headache) and replete with clever bits, it annoys with leaps of faith, jumps you can't quite make, monsters which follow you from their crafty initial positions to get hugely annoyingly stuck on vital ledges and - hnngh - lives. Generally lovely, but if only, eh? 4/5*
79%, Issue 54, Page 32

[Tim Janssen]

Now you mention it, I know that game from several magazines! It got okay reviews everywhere. Pity it appeared in 1995, just when I turned to PC. The whole Amiga era after Christmas 1994 is a bit fuzzy for me. Seems I have missed one fine game.
As far as I can remember, Odyssey was one of those few games in 1995 that also worked on a plain 1Mb Amiga 500. Am I right?

[LaundroMat]

Bingo! And what a great game it is.

[CodyJarrett]

Yeah, it's an A500 game...

[Tim Janssen]

It pleases me that people still produced some software for the non-AGA machines in 1995. I think I will download Odysseyin the near future.
But first I will try to get a bit further in Targhan. At least I have some tips and a map of the game now. A cheat for infinite energy is still welcome. I know it will spoil the game but at least I will be able to finish it after 10 long years of waiting and getting killed by those little dwarfs :D

[CodyJarrett]

Targhan is a case of 'nice video, shame about the song'.

The AI for the enemies is pretty simple - they run at you until you wave your sword, then they back off. If they get close enough, they wildly slash.

It's pretty impossible to get past a battle without losing some life. The combat system is rubbish. In fact, the overall control method is rubbish!

Nice backgrounds, though.

[Akira]

ApanoSin was produced recently, and it works on any 1meg machine. It's a shame the game does not deliver as expected ;(

[Tim Janssen]

Hi Akira,

I know that game! Back in 1993(!) I read in German magazine Amiga Joker in a preview that Neo Software were producing a vertical-scrolling shoot'em up called Apano Sin which would feature extremely large sprites. The screenshots in the article were too dark so it always puzzled me how the final game would look like.
It surprises me that Apano Sin comes to the surface after been buried away for almost eight years. But then again, Neo Software's other 'ancient' game, Whales Voyage 2, was also published last year on Amiga if I remember correctly.

[Akira]

Same goes for Putty Squad, which it seems it was officially released recently (though I thought it was released in 1993. The review copy magazines got seems to have been pirated, but the game never got onto the market until a few years ago)

[CodyJarrett]

Putty Squad has never been released. Alive Mediasoft claimed they were going to release it, but those bunch of cowboys disappeared soon after.

I've emailed System 3 numerous times, but they always ignore my emails.

Of course, if someone does have a full copy (not the demo) of Putty Squad, get in touch!

[Akira]

I've seen a cracked version of the game which was finished back in the early 90s, teh one mags reviewed. I can look for it. Must be the final one, I don't know why it never got published back then.

[CodyJarrett]

Just to make sure - are you talking about Putty Squad AGA, reviewed by magazines in 1994, but never released or Putty which came out in 1992?

[Akira]

I'm talking about Putty Squad of course ;P I know I've seen it at the ocal software places back then. Of course I didn't had an AGA machine so I nevercopied it.

[CodyJarrett]

It would be nice if you could find a full version of Putty Squad...

The reason I checked what you were talking about is that many times in the past, things like the following happened - someone tells me they have a working crack of Dragon's Breath, they send it and it turns out to be Dragon Breed. Or I download Great Courts 1, expecting it to be the version called Great Courts 1 in the game and it turns out to be the same old Pro Tennis Tour 1 version...

[Akira]

Well, I'm not that thick ;P

I know my Amiga stuff! :D I've been around for about a decade now (shit, I'm old!!)

[CodyJarrett]

Great! Now find a copy of Putty Squad!

[Ian]

What you got to say about Putty Squad Akira?? Have you found it??

[simpleuser]

Targhan is one of my favorite game.

* there is a cheat, I just posted it
* the elf will give you light in the cave.
* you have to kill the bad wizard.
* torch = elf.
* I have a map, in my head :)

[Tim Janssen]

Hey, hey. Thanks for providing some useful tips, Simpleuser. :)
I will try to play the game again. Let's hope Codetapper can find some sort of trainer hidden in the game (see other thread).

Targhan is one of the few games I really want to play till the end. Fifteen years ago (thát long?) I saw a preview-screenshot of this game in Zzap! It had the hero fighting his way through some sort of dino-graveyard. Very impressive looking and it was one incentive for me to buy an Amiga as soon as possible.

[simpleuser]

I can give you much more if needed. I'd make a kick-ass Targhan fansite+solution if I had enough time... so in my next life probably.

[Garth]

The little fairy is not just sword fodder.
If you don't kill it, it'll follow you in the cave to make the necessary light.
I'm not sure how far you've come but I'm totally stuck at the end.
Even with a trainer I don't seem to be able to kill the endboss . :banghead

[demoniac]

Garth,

I don't I have heard of a trainer for this game. Who made it?

[Garth]

I don't seem to be able to find it with google.
But the walkthrough talks about some kind of special key...
As far as I can find out the trainer was made by "The Firm / SS"?

[blade002]

Odyssey was a lovely game, I finished that too. Well worth putting the effort into :)

Ive never played Targhan, but i must admit that it does look alot like a nice version of Artura.

[demoniac]

That must be a trainer for the PC version or something. The PC solution might come in handy. Thanks.

[Garth]

http://www.the-spoiler.com/RPG/Silmarils/targhan.1.html

That is the walkthrough by "The Firm / SS", which also talks about the special (trainer(?)) key.

[s2325]

longplay of Targhan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AayZ1Ju-2ZM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8bpNFqX-jA

[dominus]

and third

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BM0NXniuig

[s2325]

Thank you, I had not patience to watch everything because of changed music.