Previous Next

Long ago, an evil lord threw the lands far to the north of Belorn into turmoil and confusion. He captured the wizard, Ansalon, took away his cloak and divided his body into six parts. Each part was placed separately in a secret chamber guarded by a mighty demon.

The quest to recover and reunite the wizard with his robe may be attempted by one of two vikings: Olaf (renowned for his strength) or Olga (wise in the ways of magic). The search takes place in four dark towers, each comprising seven floors of maze-like passages and rooms. The strange inhabitants of these grim surroundings prove hostile, but each warrior carries a supply of arrows, bouncing electricity bolts and fireballs with which to protect themselves.

Initially the player is in possession of two cantrips which enable him to burn away obstructing bracken (allowing access to other parts of the tower) and transform gold into food.

Treasure, extra arrows and other bonus items can be collected, such as relics, which have the power to make the player invisible, and potions to increase tire power or replace energy.

Once the wizard parts and cloak have been reunited, the wizard's power is restored and peace can be returned to the land north of Belorn.

Joysticks: Cursor. Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: monochrome backdrops, with little variation of cute, but small, characters
Sound: mediocre spot effects with impressive tune
Options: choice of Olga (female) or Olaf (male)

'The presentation of Gothik, which owes a lot to Dandy and Druid, is slick. Some of the squelchy spot effects are humorous and the figures are detailed. Unfortunately, the variety promised by the complex instructions fails to materialise: long periods are spent stumbling aimlessly through the maze of corridors and movement is often pointlessly impaired by burning carcasses which block passages long after the alien is dead. Although there are 32 types of potion only three or four seem to recur, and accessing rooms by burning bracken Is much less interesting than the traditional method of collecting keys; at least the latter Involves some element of risk. Valiant vikings are unlikely to give up pillaging for a quest as mediocre as this.'

'Talk about more of the same! I've seen more Gauntlet clones in the last year than I care to remember. The simple fact remains that the concept is now repetitive and dated. Gothik contains few advances over early spell games like Dandy. The potions may do different things but the game is basically the same. And why, all of a sudden, have these games gone monochromatic? Are going down the same route as shoot 'em ups? There's no for it. Even if the programmers have forgotten the palette, they remembered the sound chip - a great tune blasts out on all versions. Gothik contains a plethora of spells and weapons, which make the game very interesting to start with, although once used they fall to hold appeal for much longer. A decent enough game, but still at full price?'

'Gothik doesn't really hold anything new but there is some fun to be had here. The little sprites are quite well defined and the animation makes them look extremely cute. They move smoothly across the detailed backgrounds, but the way everything freezes while the screen scrolls isn't all that helpful. A scrolling system similar to the one in Ikari Warriors would have been much more fitting. On the colour side, the programmers could have been a bit more adventurous than just yellow backgrounds that change to blue at night, plus red blocks with black characters. Gothik is worth looking at but does get a bit boring after a while.'