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This is a side-scrolling action platform game in a setting that combines sci-fi and fantasy elements. The eponymous character is a young mage, the last of his kind. A long time ago, there were many mages in the planetary system where Twork lives, but one apprentice mage developed megalomania, killed his master and tried to take over the universe with his army of monsters. However, the other mages united and captured the rebel red mage, banishing him and his underlings to a distant unexplored planet. Many years later, the Red Mage found his way out of imprisonment, and since there were no more mages left to stop him by then (for reasons not elaborated upon in the story), he took over the entire system. Now, only Twork can stop the villain and his numerous minions. The game has all typical elements of the genre: you run, jump, climb ledges and vines, collect useful items, avoid hazards and fight monsters. Additionally, the character can duck and crawl, which is sometimes required to get past certain obstacles or reach secret areas. Twork can launch magic projectiles from his staff, which has a standard fast attack and a more powerful alternate fire mode that needs to be charged up and uses more energy. The game was marketed as shareware and for this reason was split into several episodes with different themes and monsters, each representing a planet in the star system. Every episode would end with a boss battle against the Red Mage's underlings, and finally against him as the end-game boss. Only one planet is available in the shareware version. The number of prospective episodes varied from ten in an early beta version to four in later releases. Twork makes use of pre-rendered sprites of mostly good quality and generally attempts to produce a more realistic visual representation, avoiding bright, cartoonish colours. Taking advantage of VESA modes, the game offers smooth scrolling that contributes to fast, fluid gameplay. |
