Lionheart is a single-playerside scrolling platformer. Valdyn moves from left to right fighting his way through levels of monsters and environmental hazards like water, chasms and fireballs. Some levels feature bosses. There are three difficulty levels. The harder levels feature harder opponents, but also differently designed environments, offering an additional gameplay experience. Valdyn is armed with a sword and is able to perform some attack moves, including striking high, striking middle and a "battle strike". At first he has four health points and three lives. Health points are lost whenever Valdyn is hit, and a life is lost whenever health reaches zero, or Valdyn suffers a fatality as in when falling into a chasm. There are a few power-ups like "Energy Drinks" that replenish health, and "Life Spheres" which grant more lives. Each level has several "Energy Crystals" which the player can collect; every 100th crystal "unlocks", one life point out of four more available; optimal performance means that the player can have a maximum of eight life points before the end of the game, making survival easier. The player also can find some more powerful swords; the more powerful a sword, the less hits are required to kill a stronger opponent.
Plot
Lionheart takes place in the land of the Cat People, a race of feline humanoids, who are threatened by the evil Norka. The player character is Valdyn, an outlaw who is also known as Lionheart because of his fierceness and courage, after the holy relic of the Cat People. He is arrested at a bar and taken to the palace's dungeons. He is summoned by the King and is assigned a quest: the Lionheart has been stolen and if the King is not able to display it in the Showing Festival he will be forced to abdicate and be replaced by his arch-chancellor Nargle. Furthermore, Valdyn's beloved Ilene has been turned to stone by the thieves. Based on his nickname, the priests declare that Valdyn is destined to reclaim the jewel. In the introduction, Valdyn is given a flying dragon but on his way to Norka's country, he is abducted by a flying ship. Valdyn escapes and is forced to travel on foot. The first few levels feature an environment of forests and caves before Valdyn reaches a city in Norka's domain. A "volcano level" follows, which includes a hidden level where the player can gain several power-ups and an amulet. In the following level Valdyn finds a dinosaur-like steed running after Norka's flying ship. Valdyn frees his dragon, and rides it towards Norka's flying fortress in a level that resembles a rail shooter. The final levels feature Valdyn climbing to the top of the fortress and his final confrontation with Norka. The game epilogue has Valdyn return the Lionheart in the Temple, still grieving for Ilene. However the optimal ending, if the player has found the amulet in the earlier hidden level, Valdyn is able to heal Ilene.
Reception
The One gave the Amiga version of Lionheart an overall score of 91%, stating that " is, without a doubt, the finest example of its kind, mainly because it actually tries to introduce some degree of originality into the gameplay rather than simply being content to just bombard the gamer with large sprawling levels and calling it 'a challenge'... The variety of the game is amazing - one minute you can be swinging from vines, hacking at monsters, the next leaping up a giant tower as a bursting river creeps higher". The One praised the diversity of the levels, as well as the difficulty levels' feature where the layout of platforms differ on different modes of difficulty, stating they "provide a level of longevity the likes of which we haven't seen before." They also praised the convenient placement of checkpoints, and the music, calling it "amazingly orchestrated".
