Joe Blade

Joe Blade is the first game in the Joe Blade series. Tough guy Joe Blade must rescue six respected leaders from the madcap Crax Bloodfinger, who has kidnapped them in different areas of his base. Along the way he will find six bombs which must be activated, leaving him with only 20 minutes to rescue everyone.

Joe Blade is viewed side-on and uses flick-screen progression. The bombs are deactivated by arranging letters into alphabetical order, but the bulk of the gameplay involves shooting and maze navigation. The screens are linked in various ways, and contain a number of keys which must be used correctly.

It was one of the earliest video games to be placed on the Index in Germany due to accusations that it 'glorified' war and that the villains resembled SS troopers. While the game was still legally obtainable, it effectively banned the game from distribution, as technologies such as the Internet were not available at the time and German publications were not permitted to advertise the titles.