FOILED AGAIN

EN GARDE! is a brief yet riotous piece of swashbuckling nostalgia

- Jon Bailes

In En Garde! 17th century Spain is slathered with a sense of nostalgia. Not for the setting itself, of course - I'm not that old - although it is an enticing reimagining, with its piñata colour palette and kitsch flamenco soundtrack. Rather, because it reminds me of Asterix books, of Dogtanian cartoons, and black and white episodes of Zorro on Sunday mornings. Of simpler times, in other words, and simpler forms of entertainment.

Playing this swashbuckling adventure, meanwhile, tickles a different memory gland. En Garde! is like the remaster of an early 2000s console effort that never existed, from a time when developers were figuring out how the scrolling beat-'em-up might evolve into three dimensions. Superficially, it bears a family resemblance to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, but it's narrower in scope, more cheap and cheerful. Your charge, Adalia de Volador, is equipped with a rapier but also a barrel of wisecracks aimed as much at the genre as her arch-nemesis.

Combat is where the difference really counts, though. Adalia understands that a good action scene doesn't merely entail swordplay, but acrobatics, pratfalls and an Ikea's worth of broken furniture. As much as she'll back herself in a one-on-one duel, guards don't queue up and wait their turn. Victories are thus earned by prancing around, using what comes to hand, until your swordswomanship can come to the fore.

SURPRISE ATTACK