A&B Computing


Gisburne's Castle
By Ricochet
BBC/Electron

 
Published in A&B Computing 5.04

I'm all for re-releasing games - we all know how hard it is to track down Beeb games even a few weeks old, let alone several years. But this 1984 Martech game by David Wainwright should have stayed in the vaults. Preferably under lock and key.

This 'arcade adventure' is, I'm afraid, an embarrassment. The graphics are poor, the plot weak and the speed of gameplay just unbelievable. More than about four moving objects on screen cuts the speed by half, which reduces to about a quarter whenever the hero (Robin Hood) moves down the screen.

Yes, just down the screen - you can zip left and right, even move up but just go and make a cup of coffee if you want to move down. Now too good a feature for a game that involves searching lots of screens, avoiding baddies who're firing at you, finding objects and ultimately rescuing Maid Marion from the Castle.

If you're fairly new to Beeb games playing then I suppose it might be worth picking this up just to see how far (and how fast!) games have come in four years. If you're an old hand, don't bother - nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

Dave Reeder

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