Published:
Summary
Kane (1985) saddled you up for a budget-priced Wild West adventure where peace apparently required excellent marksmanship and a horse with nerves of steel. Across four very different stages, you shot birds, leapt rocks and cacti, faced gunmen in town, and eventually galloped alongside a speeding train. The constant switching between shooting and riding kept things lively, while the difficulty happily waited for one mistimed jump or badly aimed bullet. Short, colourful and slightly bonkers, Kane delivered plenty of cowboy chaos for its £1.99 asking price.
What it does well
Varied stages, colourful presentation, satisfying shooting, memorable horse sections, and excellent value for a budget-priced game.
Where it falls short
Very short, difficulty could spike sharply, some versions lost stages, and repetition crept in quickly.
Verdict
A quirky multi-stage Western that packed surprising variety, sharp reflex tests, and plenty of charm into a budget release.
Kane - version notes
Version-specific observations from the gameplay video. Tap a time to jump straight to that moment.
Amstrad (3 Beats)
- Lives as barter: this is not just target practice - the birds you shoot determine your supply of peace tokens / lives.
- Practice mode kindness: unusually for a budget game, Kane lets you practice individual stages with one life.
- Reduced scrolling window: the "Ride to Kane" stage uses a smaller-than-normal screen area, helping the CPC handle the smooth side-scrolling horse sections.
Commodore 64 (3 Beats)
- Original platform: Kane began on the Commodore 64, with the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions later converted.
- Sprite recycling rumour: the hero resembles the agent from Impossible Mission, linking Kane to earlier C64 animation work.
- Accuracy: half the game is built around horse stages that demand almost pixel-perfect jump timing.
Electron (2 Beats)
- Cut-down conversion: this version only includes the two shooting scenes - the bow-and-arrow duck hunt and the Kane town shoot-out. The horse-riding stages are missing.
- Sluggish feel: the BBC Micro version fares better, but the Electron version is very slow and unresponsive, especially in the Kane town shoot-out.
Spectrum (2 Beats)
- Four-part Western: like the fuller versions, the Spectrum release keeps the full structure: bird shooting, horseback ride to Kane, town shoot-out, and final runaway train chase.
- No music trade-off: unlike the C64 version's more memorable audio, the Spectrum game is mostly sound effects only, with no menu tune and simple beeps for arrows, birds, galloping, landing, and crashes.