The player controls one of the three main protagonists and may switch between them during play. The characters progresses from right to left – an unusual orientation in this genre of game[3] – fighting oncoming enemies. Initially, the three characters fight unarmed, but each has a weapon of choice that can be collected. Jack Burton can use a gun with limited ammunition, and Wang Chi can wield swords which eventually break. The third character, Egg Shen, initially fires weak magic bolts which improve with range and strength when he finds a magic potion.[4]
Big Trouble in Little China received diverse critical reception. Your Sinclair awarded 8 out of 10, highlighting smooth scrolling and good sprite animation, only criticising the unbalanced difficulty with some enemies.[5] In a later retrospective on tie-in licences, Your Sinclair found the animation to be poor, with little variety in enemy types, and amended their score to 52%.[3] Conversely, Sinclair User gave only 1 star out of 5, describing the characters as poorly depicted, with no atmosphere or sound effects.[6]
^Moss, Andy (June 1987). "Big Trouble in Little China review". Sinclair User (63): 62. Billed as a shoot 'em, zap 'em, hack 'em game, it is an extremely lame example of this genre. A definite miss.
