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Shadow Of The Beast just went to show that you don't need quality gameplay to sell a piece of software. This award-winning work was one of 1989's biggest selling products on the Amiga alone. Not bad going for the magnetic media equivalent of a bimbo,

Shadow Of The Beast 2 is an attempt to redress the balance. On completing the original Beast you were rewarded with a human body ready for your retirement. Unfortunately the Beast Lord had more nefarious plans afoot and ordered one of his Dark Mages to kidnap your kid sister. She is destined, as you once were, to become enslaved to the Beast Lord. That is, unless you can apply your combat skills and quick wit to rescuing her in time..

As you'd expect from Psygnosis there's an impressive introductory sequence to set the scene. Here, your baby sister is carried off into the heart of a storm by a winged Beast Mage. From then on, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect as far as the cosmetics are concerned. As with the original, Beast 2 is a side-on parallax scrolling affair which has your Neanderthal looking character jumping chasms, sending all manner of creatures to their doom and generally creating havoc in time-honoured fashion.

Where Beast 2 significantly departs from its forerunner is in the problem solving department. Completing this one will involve just as much brain as brawn. Some of the problems are quite fiendish, and can be frustrating as mistakes are often fatal, Beast 2 on the Amiga is really what Shadow Of The Beast should have been.

By the way, this one also comes complete with Roger Dean T-Shirt, which goes some way towards justifying the huge price tag. If you are considering buying the new CDTV then you will be pleased to know that Psygnosis is planning a special version of Beast 2 for this machine. Further details are not available at present. There are plans for an ST conversion, although no work has been started as yet.

The ST version of the original Shadow Of The Beast took a year to appear, which should give you some idea of how long you will have to wait for this sequel.

No PC version of the original Beast has been forthcoming, and it is unlikely that Psygnosis will attempt a PC conversion of this one. That could change if CD-based PC systems take off in the near future.