Shakii the Wolf is a simplistic platform game that was designed for kids. It was developed Family Production and published by Microforum International. It is an action platformer that is made in every way to appeal to elementary school children, from the action and vibrant colors to the manga style characters and silly antics. Shakii the Wolf was released in the middle nineties and was only available on the personal computer running the MS-DOS operating system. It has a very Walt Disney feel and look to it, and is popular with the younger gamers.
Shakii is the leader of the happy and peaceful kingdom of Shake. Out of no where comes the evil and powerful lion warrior called Midnight Sword…again very Scar and Disney like. The plot of the game involves Shakii setting out to overthrow Midnight Sword and take back his kingdom, returning it to peace and prosperity. As with the look and feel, the concept is also very The Lion King, but actually, Shakii the Wolf, despite not having the big name behind it, offers better game play.
Shakii the Wolf has amazingly detailed and well done cartoonish backgrounds, and the manga characters are also appealing and nice. The scroll for the game can be a bit choppy at times, depending
often on the machine you are using, but the game play itself is really pretty good. Shakii is equipped with an assortment of attacks that makes it fun to wipe out enemies. As one would expect, he has a pretty standard melee attack using his claws. He can also do a rolling attack to pounce on more distant enemies and has a magical fire wind for a special attack. To boost all of these things, and for a couple of fun added surprises, Shakii the Wolf can pick up ten different sorts of power ups throughout the game.
Shakii will roll and claw his way through a variety of levels and enemies. He will find himself in well drawn cities, caves and castles. The aesthetics are certainly the biggest appeal of the game. The biggest drawback, aside from the occasionally choppy scroll, is the interface and controls, which both take some getting used to. These are not insurmountable challenges, however, and they should not get in the way of enjoying Shakii the Wolf, especially for ten year olds.
