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This game is based upon the television series and carries the subtitle "The Touchstones of Rhiannon" whose discovery and relocation from the main part of the game. The press release informs us modestly that the Spectrum, Commodore and Amstrad versions have "superb graphics". Well, bully for them, BBC and Electron owners get the text only version and I am inclined to think that we got the short end of the stick. As text adventures go, the game is pretty limited - smallish number of locations, brief and samey descriptions and a limited variety of puzzles.

Actually the game starts very well with a very interesting but solvable puzzle of escaping from a castle dungeon. Unfortunately, the rest does not live up to expectations, since it consists mostly of traipsing around identically described locations in Sherwood Forest. There is also a very irritating feature in that some puzzles require contact with characters who flit briefly and randomly upon the stage. Give the wrong command and you need to spend two minutes walking backwards and forwards to find them for another go. Somebody might find that kind of puzzle stimulating and challenging but I find it plain boring.

I have decided that writing good adventures is a lot more difficult than most software companies seem to think, and few of the games I see are really worth the asking price. Robin Of Sherwood is actually quite reasonable by average standards. The problem is that when you have played the best of Acornsoft, Level 9 and Robico, you know just how much can be packed into the Beeb's 32K and most others suffer badly by the comparison.