Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2017
Black Jewel
Developer Oscar Celestini
You are Ryan, a barbarian warrior and you've got to keep back to the realm the Black Jewel, stolen by Darkor. From the Steam store page
63 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Oct 4, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
69
Fresh
41 positive · 18 negative
95% range 57–80%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 41 | 18 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
4 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
100 of 129 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 63 · most liked firstA decent homage to commodore 64 and specifically 1988´s [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZajPokNvjEU] Storm Warrior. You got only one life and there are no checkpoints, so you´re gonna spend most your time memorizing enemy movement and attack patterns, allthough most of them you can just leap over except bosses. Game is mainly for ancient retrofarts and crazy catladies like me to enjoy for nostalgia´s sake
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a blast from the past, brought to you in the present. I am thoroughly enjoying this game, and definitely find it worth the investment of a paultry 2 dollars. If I had a few things to recommend, it is that the spikes seem to have a "pixel perfect jump required" to pass undamaged sort of thing. I also prefer a bit of control customization, which this game has none. Its not complicating or anything, but from a controller perspective, using an analogue stick with the UP position being…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is ultimate
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is real gem (or I would say jewel). As the other reviewer says "This is a blast from the past, brought to you in the present." This game made me remember the old challenging games back in the day on C64 or on the Amiga. Unlike todays games, where we have unlimited replay from last checkpoint or abundant ammo or regenerating health, this game gives you the challenge you used to back int the day but you forgot. Anyway, my pro's and con's: PROs: * No bullsh*t, straightforward - to the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wonderful. It captures the good old feeling of C64 Games perfectly!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Basically a clone (plagiarization?) of the C64 game Storm Warrior if you made it unbelievably slow/"methodical"/memorizey but also retained annoying random elements that can't be memorized or perfected. Without any kind of modern "quality of life" stuff there's absolutely no reason to play this over any existing C64 sword and sorcery game. Baffling
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wario World is so weird. The enemy design in that game is so wacky, but I really do love Black Jewel’s design. Being spooky month, I wanted to add more big bass from every associated Mario series! Black Jewel being the first, but not the last!
unlabelledView post →Black Jewel is a very faithful homage to video games from the C64 era. A bit too faithful for my liking, unfortunately. Also, please disregard the 9 minutes play time, I ran the game through the game folder so Steam wasn't tracking it for most of my attempts. The graphics and music are wonderful. The gameplay is decent, but it has one gaping wound of a problem -- RNG. Living up to the spirit of games of its recreated era, Black Jewel has inexplicable RNG in places it has no business being in,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yet another game from the developer that gets the aesthetic side of retro games right, but doesn't understand how to make gameplay interesting and fun. Music is nice, graphics are on-point in emulating C64 look, partly because they are almost a carbon copy of an actual C64 game, Storm Warrior. But somehow the game feels less responsive and dynamic than its 8bit counterpart. See, there are two general types of building challenge in those old games: either you make it reflex or memory based. In…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is like a time machine, it reminds me my childhood in the 80's. Its great that developers still create cool retro games. I love the design of the character and the game-over screen is really cool. Nice game, great price... ps: music and the beginning c64 screen are so nostalgic ! :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Looks, plays, controls, and sounds like a commodore 64 game. Is cheap and difficult like a commodore 64 game. Collision detection could be tuned and the game would be a little more forgiving.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So glad I found this game. I never owned a C64, but this does remind me of old aracde games where you had to learn a little bit at a time, memorize boss attack patterns, and progress very slowly. My only gripe is the lack of a jump button on the controller. You jump by pressing UP, and if you're turning, you have to be careful not to press up even slightly, or else you will inadvertantly jump. The music is awesome, and the enemy designs are cool. I love the portraits of the enemies that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd also add to the story last minute that all of the bosses in the game were other poor greedy souls the Black Jewel trapped, and they turned into seemingly mindless CG abominations from descending into madness trying to find a way out. And only Captain Skull managed to keep his psyche in check.
unlabelledView post →Finished up Wario World with all the collectibles. Still has its charms, but the clunkier bits certainly haven't aged as well. Unithorns can go to heck. Considering how creatively bizarre all the other bosses are in the game, the final battle with the Black Jewel is a pretty huge dud by comparison.
unlabelledView post →Great tribute to the C64 and his games. Simple, immediate, but not easy, and with great personality. Graphics, sound, command response, feelings: ALL in this Black Jewel perfectly reproduces a game of the 8-bit computers age. The ctr filter is cool. A little jewel (black jewel, of course), a real declaration of love to a unforgettible machine like the Commodore 64.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →And so it came to pass that Ryan (?!) the barbarian must rid his world of an ancient sprite evil roaming the lands with unnatural movement and cliched attack patterns... Black Jewel is a 2D C64 inspired flick screen slash and dodge 'em up that wonderfully encapsulates the imaginative graphics style and even better, the unique SID chip and yet also reminds everyone that nostalgia isn't what it used to be, highlighting limitations of some of the 8-bit computer games from the eighties. Here, some…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This looks extremely authentic to a C64 action platformer from back in the day, the graphics, sound and music are spot on. The loadscreen and hacking intro are nice touches as well. It really reminds me of games like Psygnosis Barbarian or Palaces Barbarian 2, Stormlord etc. The Barbarian hero was really popular at the time as was the Ninja thanks to the classis Arnie movie. However it emulates these games a bit too well. Controls are pretty good, but by the time you do your two hit combo with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I got this and the developer's other game Mastema in some throw-away bundle on Fanatical ages ago and even though I got it for pennies on the dollar, I just can't recommend it. A great soundtrack and authentic retro pixel graphics are undermined by awkward controls and poor gameplay that is neither fun nor rewarding. I've played tons of difficult retro games, I grew up with challenging arcade games like Sword of Sodan, Rastan, Azteca (on Apple II), and a slew of other games, none of them were…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Black Jewel is an unabashed ripoff of Storm Warrior (copyright Elite Systems, 1989). To date, the intellectual property owner has not taken legal action against the "developer" of this clear case of copyright infringement. Storm Warrior is an ancient 2D side scrolling brawler with mild platforming/timed dodging elements that was of middling popularity on the Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC platforms it was designed for. This is the exact same game, only with more copyright infringement. From…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Can’t play it. Just sits on the Home Screen
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's awesome! The style is spot on, especially the music! The only down side is: Short and really hard without cheat... And sometimes even with that too! But now I'm not sure what's going on. I was pretty sure that this was a REAL C64 game. It's that faithful. Only one sound effect "told" me that this couldn't be at that time. Had to do some research, and I found that this is basicly an upgraded version of Storm Warrior. Graphics and music wise. And a bit longer. And... Found an actual Sega…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just like Mastema from the same developer, this is a game crafted with clear love but even harder to recommend than its "sibling". It goes even further back in time, in a Commodore 64 style with chunky pixels, sparse backgrounds with mountains and trees that contrast starkly with the solid black. I've been pointed to its inspiration, a 1988 release called Storm Warrior, but thankfully there is more variety of sprites here, as in that game you fought only clones of the protagonist and some big…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I try and be as open minded as possible when it comes to games but was this game made to be a joke? I have to take a stand and say that this is literally the worst c64 style platforming game I have ever played and that is truly saying something because I have played a ton of very bad ones. Not going to take forever writing this review because this game is only getting two dollars worth. The most important function of the game which is the controls are absolute trash and very very very very…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I paid 59c for this game and still asked for a refund. My xbox one controller does not work. My Sega Genesis Mini joypad does not work. Joypad support my a... Music is too loud. Pressing up to jump is cancer. I installed JoyToKey and now I can use my xbox one controller and I can jump with a button instead of up. The game is really cool and is the best homage to C64/Amiga games with all their flaws. The CRT effect is good because it simulate the glass deformation. If you are a retro fan or…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Definitely worth the price. This is a must buy for anyone who lived through the 80s and early 90s. The soundtrack and CRT graphics will make you forget that 2020 exists.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ryan the barbarian , Cool the
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not much room for making mistakes when you're playing as Ryan the barbarian in his journey against the evil skull knight Darkor. One incorrect jump or taking that hit you could have avoided will make the difference between life and death. You'll end up learning every nook and cranny of every screen. You'll memorize the perfect distance and timing to make across that spike or fire ball pattern. Every enemy will be like an old friend, eventually. You'll begin to wonder about all those monsters…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this is a really good game that hasnt gotten alot of attention which suprises me, i especially love the music and the arcadic feel of it, even though i dont own a commedor but i get nostalgia from my childhood everytime i play this, the only cons i have with it is when im in the middle of the game and if i feel like i want to quit and play something different the esc key doesnt quit like it does when you boot up the game so the only way that i can quit is to fin an enemy or something to kill…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, i love it. And yes, hard like the hell :D But once i finish. I hope... :D Hungarian review: http://www.retrogeek.hu/retro-hir/black-jewel-a-barbar-kozbevag/
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I understand the era that Black Jewel is trying to emulate, however overall it just feels clunky and boring. It is a very inexpensive game, but you would need to love the genre that it invokes to make the amount you pay worth it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Can't play due to "Bad image errror" Edit - Fixed the problem by rolling back windows update, it turned out to be an amazing game, although the menu can't be controlled with the gamepad, good job devs :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A truly horrendous game that wouldn't have been forgivable even on the C64 it was inspired by. There's no escaping from the fact this is a clunky, shallow and unsatisfactory attempt at a game to house a decent soundtrack. I can't believe I was stupid enough to pay money for this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Black Jewel, developed by Oscar Celestini and published by Forever Entertainment S.A., is a modest indie project that embraces a stripped-down approach to gameplay, focusing on immediacy and simplicity rather than depth or complexity. It presents itself as a compact action experience, one that aims to be easy to understand and quick to engage with, but in doing so, it reveals both the strengths and limitations of such a minimal design philosophy. The gameplay is built around a very…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →SUMMARY A barbarian game in true C64 style. You know the saying "Nintendo hard"? Well on the C64, you had games that laughed at that level of difficulty. Most of the time because they were only 15 to 30 minutes in length. You had your Turrican's, and your The Legend of BlackSilver, which could all last several hours, especially the latter being an RPG, but generally, the length of a game on the C64 was around 30 minutes, and just like arcades, they extended this gameplay length by being…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm old so ..this games rocks!!!!!!, It's true that is not easy at all...but really really have almost the old school feeling. Is not for impatient people and the ambient is S&M so like Age of Barbarian you need to like that too to have a good time with this game. Thank you Oscar!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ISNT THIS THE RASTAN GAME ?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When I discovered this game I had to buy it: I've owned a C64 and the idea of a Barbarian-like game for 2 euros was too tempting to miss. Unlike many retro games, this is not simply an homage to the 8 bit era with procedural levels and boring gameplay, it's rather like a lost good C64 game finally completed and ported to PC. It manages to be challenging but fair, and very fun: it stays true to the mechanics of hack and slash platformers on the C64 without being too frustrating. Also I want to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’m usually not a fan of these types of games where the goal is to memorize patterns and placements of enemies (basically games like abe’s odyssey or out of this world) I would rather explore the screens and test boundaries… but for some reason, this one doesn’t bother me, I kinda like it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Loved it! A short and sweet platformer/slash-em-up with excellent C64-style retro aesthetics, awesome music, and stiff and awkward controls it feels good to finally get a hang of. Black Jewel comes off as punishingly difficult, for two main reasons: - The aforementioned clunky controls (you have to wait through animations to turn around and swing your sword). - Instead of enemies knocking you back when they hit you, they just quickly drain your life for as long as their sprite overlaps yours.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"Black Jewel" is supposed to be like a Commodore 64 game, but it plays more like a Genesis game like Altered Beast. It's super hard until you figure out how to play it. You only get one life to beat the whole game. It takes about 15 minutes if you know what to do. Basically, fighting enemies in this game is a death trap. All you can do is swing your sword and it has such limited range that you exchange as much damage as you dish out. I found the trick was just to jump over all the minor enemies…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's neat visually, the vibe works. But I just won't bother with it, the gameplay is too ass - I guess intentionally? You can't really dodge other than by jumping, you can't even duck, let alone attack while jumping. Cool that this exists, but it's meant for a specific type of person who wants to play exactly this kind of thing. I am not that. Sorry, Ryan.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →awfull game, clunky, uninteresting, unimaginative. it handles even worse than some of the games i ts trying to pay homage to. And has even fewer ideas too.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →rng ruins this game
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As others have said, this game gets so much right with the visuals and music. It really feels like an old C64 game and a fun one at that, with one exception. It feels like you really can't get reliably better at this game. There's just far too much RNG. There are times when the game feels difficult but fair and there are some times when you're just going to lose to enemies that you had no trouble with on previous runs. That said, it CAN be a fun game and the price is right. However is it…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely amazing game. Never gets boring. Challenging, but not difficult to the point that it's frustrating. All round perfect game!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →....Perhaps it is me who don't gets it, but the game, although having a wonderful and enchanting graphical fidelity to the era, lacks everything else. I mean, yes, it's supposed to be a faithful recreation of the C64 style...but c'mon, it is too barebones for me to be considered actual ''good''. Unless you are really nostalgic, give it a pass.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wario World is a GameCube game developed by treasure and published as Nintendo. You play as Wario, obviously, on a quest to beat the Black Jewel, a monstrous gemstone that has stolen Wario's castle, and turned some of his vast riches into monsters. 🧵2/?
unlabelledView post →Fun game, I wish it was longer.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I quite enjoy retro gaming and when I saw this game have a C64 style definitely caught my attention. This game is really really chill and has a medium difficulty to beat, Although the game does feel a bit clunky and weird. This is a fun little cheap game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun retro platformer with nice pixel graphics and music. But, it's very difficult with it's RNG and pixel perfect jumps. You can input a heath cheat and enjoy the game that way.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No time for a review so I give this game a rank C. Okay game - not bad but you can skip it or try on sale. See my profile for more details about my reviews. Additional notes: if you are in need of a fix for retro gaming like Storm Warrior, this is literally its clone... with all the annoying things that come with it. Me, I have more fond memories for Shadow of the Beast, and in any case it gets quickly tiring. Still, okay.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Retro C64 style platformer. Single button attack, up to jump. Nothing overly complex, but nice c64 style graphics. Would be recommended except for one glaring issue. Not sure if it is emulation or not; which would be fine if not for a reminder of one of the worst things about the C64; the long load times. Worse yet, when you die, the game essentially resets and the load starts over again. You will actually spend more time waiting for the game to load than actually playing it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Looks, sounds and feels like a game right out of the 80s. Classic 8-bit simplicity and unfairness here. It doesn't even pretend it wants to let you win. It nails the period aesthetics and it's actually rather fun. Even the loading and title screen has the right look. If you want to experience some classic gaming feeling then this would be ideal. Not expensive and very cheap on sale and a nice way to pass some time. There's a not so super secret cheat mode that makes the game easier if you are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Worth a purchase, incredibly difficult. Plus, you can moonwalk in the game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i really love retro gaming and when i saw this game have a C64 style defently catch my attention i never grow with it but i always admire C64 for it interesting game library this game defently does a great job giving that vibe is pretty short you can beat it in 20 or 30 minutes if you have the skill but really good and have some good replay value
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Black Jewel is truly a gem... or is it a jewel?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice graphic, great music, gorgeous CRT effect. Control is simple based on that era. RGN(Random Generated Number) is fine to me though it still looks odd especially some tree even shoot bullet backward.. Main problem is there is no damage-effect, even no blink.. So it is hard to determine if get damaged. Anyway in such low price, it is worthy to buy it if you really like the nostalgic feeling.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its a retro classic and this brings me back to my childhood i need to finish it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The feel is so on point with this one, feels just like playing a good c64 game. This can be used to show what king of bs we had to get through back in the day. Highly recommended. Speedrunning this is also quite fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If i've to describe my experience i will say that it is something like some annoying goblins smashing my balls, or likes some trees shooting random balls with no pattern, or like a guy that can only walk and jump but he cannot crouch cause he needs to take the balls in the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ face, cause his athropic arm torments his poor soul, that cannot accept the fact that he will never swing his sword like a real warrior but instead he will live in shame forever with no fame, and for this he go in…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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