C&VG


Beyond The Forbidden Forest
By U. S. Gold
Commodore 64

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #60

Beyond The Forbidden Forest

There I was, running around almost exhausted, having just had a nasty run in with a scorpion the size of an elephant, which is not an everyday occurence, believe me! When suddenly, a giant worm came out of the ground and swallowed me whole. This was going to be one of those days.

Yes, after being munched by a worm, I thought I was dead. But no! This game really is weird, 'cause I just been resurrected guv' and no mistake! A bright, blue light fell upon me and was engulfed in a flow of melodic sound, which gave me the power to get up, have a bowl of soup, and appear back in the forest.

But you don't get resurrected for nothing. You have to pay the price of a golden arrow or two, and if you don't have any, you die. So I was up on my feet and shooting arrows at everything that moved, which wasn't much. It seemed that everything had gone. But wait, what's that noise? From out of the blue came a huge dragonfly, with four wings. One mighty shot was all that was needed to kill this beast and then I had enough gold arrows to see me through to the next level, or so I thought.

Beyond The Forbidden Forest

Pow! A massive froggie monster stamped on my head, and it was back to the old resurrection bit. Eventually, I got through to the second level, which consisted of bats, a hydra and an armour-played demi-gorgon. I didn't manage to kill him though, and he put my triumphant stand to an end.

The graphics on this game are worse than the first one. Due to advanced techniques, we have perfect ZX81 graphics on a C64. Has to be a first. The sound is nowhere near as good as the original.

They've apparently designed a new firing method, which is supposed to be better, but it's not, and I think it had to be put in because of their amazing "Omnivision 4D" which uses the up and down movements of the stick. That's why they had to have a new system.

This game will probably only appeal to those who like spending money on useless products. If you don't mind terrible graphics, naff sound, pathetic gameplay and long loading time, you should get this.

It's a pity because I liked the original one, although I was probably the only one.