reviewer said the "sword fight game is the best available on the ST." According to Jarratt, Barbarian represented "new heights in bloodsports". Equally pleasing to the reviewers at Zzap!64 and Amiga User Internationals Tony Horgan was the simplicity of the game; they observed that almost anyone could quickly familiarise themselves with the game mechanics, making the two-player mode a fun and quick pastime. Although the barbarian characters use the same basic blocky sprites, they impressed reviewers at Zzap!64 and Amiga Computing with their smooth animation and lifelike movements. Reviewers of the Amiga version, however, expressed disappointment with the port for failing to exploit the computer's greater graphics capability and implement more detailed character sprites. Its digitised sounds, however, won praise from Commodore Users Gary Penn. Advanced Computer Entertainments reviewers had similar thoughts over the Atari ST port. Reviewing for Computer and Video Games, Paul Boughton was impressed by the game's detailed gory effects, such as the aftermath of a decapitation, calling them "hypnotically gruesome". It was these little touches that "[makes] the game worthwhile", according to Richard Eddy in Crash. Watching "the head [fall] to the ground [as blood spurts from the] severed neck, accompanied by a scream and satisfying thud as the torso tumbles" proved to be "wholesome stuff" for Chappell, and the scene was a "great retro gaming moment" for Retro Gamers staff. The cackling goblin, which drags off the bodies, endeared him to some reviewers; the team at Retro Gamer regretted that the creature did not have his own game. The actions of the barbarian also impressed them to nominate him as one of their top 50 characters from the early three decades of video gaming. Popular Computing Weekly considered the Amstrad version to be the best, calling the Commodore 64's animation "shaky". Your Sinclair, awarding the game 7/10, complained it was too similar to previous games like The Way of the Exploding Fist and Ninja. According to Leinfellner, the controversy did not negatively affect Barbarian, but boosted the game's sales and profile tremendously. The game proved to be a big hit, reaching the top of the all-format charts in 1987 and number one in the Acorn Electron chart in 1988. Leinfellner said he received royalty cheques for approximately seven years, the first of which was for £20,000. Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax was released in 1988, and Barbarian III was in the works. Van Wijk