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avoid at all costs: dropping Eros over the sea, for she would drown immediately; dropping Eros inside or even near a spider-infested cave, for she would be killed by a crawling spider, if
Thanatos were not to land and take her away immediately; accidentally killing Eros himself, either by burning her (instant death) or catching her with the claw (the game will continue until the next landing, for there is no safe way to put an object back on the ground without crushing it). The player should not mistake her for a soldier, for she constantly waves her hands, drawing Thanatos' attention. If either of the two dies, the game ends, stating a reason why it is impossible to continue and complete it. The game ends in victory if the Thanatos carried Eros safely to her spellbook and then landed with her near the cauldron.
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giant sea snakes). Flame may be recovered by eating witches, who may be found tied between stakes, though a knight could still ambush nearby. Heart is depleted as
Thanatos is attacked by soldiers, knights, big creatures and rockfalls; this results in a quicker heartbeat and may finally cause an infarction. Heart is also spent when flying too fast for too long. Heart's level may be recovered by landing and walking slowly or staying still without being injured. Thanatos may also attack enemies by picking up an object in his claw and dropping them from a height; rocks and most enemies can be caught this way, even giant sea snakes. Thanatos opens his grasp when flying low - either ready to land or ready to catch something - and can catch an object if flying at a convenient height.
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Thanatos has two resources: Flame and Heart. Flame is expended by breathing fire. This attack is required to burn down the gate of the castle and may be used to burn foreground objects such as rocks, knights, horses, soldiers and different dangerous creatures (such as other dragons, huge spiders, and
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Once Eros is rescued, she clings to
Thanatos's neck, and rapidly turning may cause her to fall off. This is generally as well, for Thanatos can usually land near to wait for her climbing back; most of his enemies do not pay attention to her. But there are several special cases, which Thanatos should
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The player adopts the role of a dragon, Thanatos the
Destroyer, who must rescue a sorceress, Eros, from imprisonment by an evil Lord of the underworld. After she is recovered from the first castle, Thanatos must take her across the sea to find her spellbook, then carry her to a cauldron so she can
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The size of the protagonist was highlighted in these reviews, the dragon sprite taking up a third of length of the display. On the animation of the dragon Jim
Douglas commented that "the graphics really come into their own when you see the dragon flying over the landscape. The wings flap with
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background was also praised, as was the overall atmosphere and satisfaction of controlling a traditionally villainous creature. There were minor criticisms;
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was released in 1986; October 1986 for the ZX Spectrum, November 1986 for the
Amstrad CPC, and December 1986 for the Commodore 64.
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found that
Thanatos "is a big, nicely animated character who performs neat turns and landings on request." The
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superbly convincing swooshing sound effects, and the dragon waves his head around too."
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concluded "I'm not 100% sure that it would keep you hooked for weeks on end."
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opined "the movement of the main dragon is very smooth and realistic" and
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671:. Vol. 5, no. 43. Sunshine Publications. pp. 44–45.
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s "Pick of the Week", and received a "CRASH Smash" accolade from
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complete a spell which will bring enlightenment to the land.
526:. No. 35. Newsfield. December 1986. pp. 152–153.
626:. No. 57. EMAP Business & Computer Publications.
558:. No. 13. Sportscene Specialist Press. p. 85.
491:. No. 35. Newsfield. December 1986. p. 142.
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was critically acclaimed. The ZX Spectrum version was
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663:"New Releases: Fantastic Adventure from Durell"
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483:"Thanatos Magazine Advertisement"
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616:Douglas, Jim (December 1986).
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548:South, Phil (December 1986).
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768:Video games about witchcraft
748:Europe-exclusive video games
444:was "a little too hard" and
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661:Cook, John (October 1986).
592:. No. 63. p. 21.
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192:developed and published by
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783:Video games set in castles
709:at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
589:Computer & Video Games
415:Computer & Video Games
400:, a "Megagame" award from
308:Computer & Video Games
98:(Commodore 64 arrangement)
763:Video games about dragons
758:Single-player video games
648:, issue 35, December 1986
618:"Arcade Review: Thanatos"
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668:Popular Computing Weekly
584:"C+VG Reviews: Thanatos"
550:"Screen Shots: Thanatos"
406:, 4 out of 5 stars from
390:Popular Computing Weekly
89:Julian Breeze (original
412:, and 8 out of 10 from
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646:Newsfield Publications
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36:Commodore 64 cover art
743:Durell Software games
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753:Fantasy video games
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738:Commodore 64 games
457:"The making of...
434:parallax scrolling
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788:ZX Spectrum games
733:Amstrad CPC games
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728:Action games
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55:Publisher(s)
43:Developer(s)
461:Retro Gamer
364:Publication
274:Publication
249:Development
206:Amstrad CPC
198:ZX Spectrum
190:action game
166:Action game
146:Amstrad CPC
140:ZX Spectrum
117:Amstrad CPC
109:ZX Spectrum
104:Platform(s)
96:Rob Hubbard
85:Composer(s)
65:Designer(s)
717:Categories
518:"Thanatos"
469:References
440:felt that
352:(Spectrum)
700:MobyGames
677:0265-0509
632:0262-5458
598:0261-3697
564:0269-6983
532:0954-8661
497:0954-8661
265:Reception
260:Reception
91:AY-3-8910
706:Thanatos
695:Thanatos
442:Thanatos
430:C&VG
385:Thanatos
254:Thanatos
231:Thanatos
221:Gameplay
185:Thanatos
161:Genre(s)
25:Thanatos
172:Mode(s)
123:Release
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188:is an
93:song)
523:Crash
488:Crash
438:Crash
425:Crash
397:Crash
377:Smash
373:Crash
367:Award
359:Award
284:Crash
277:Score
673:ISSN
628:ISSN
594:ISSN
560:ISSN
528:ISSN
493:ISSN
236:The
212:Plot
204:and
135:1986
698:at
446:PCW
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131:EU
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
