Producer: Adventure International
Retail Price: £9.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Mike Woodroffe, Brian Howarth, Teoman Irmak

If you've ever wondered how long it takes to write this column the answer is very simple - a long time. Between writing programs of my own, playing these here adventures enough to form some opinion on them and writing something which appears coherent, there's barely enough time to laugh at Top of The Pops. But all's well this late Thursday evening as it's time to say one or two nice words about an awfully good program. Touchstones of Rhiannon is an adventure of Robin of Sherwood and is based upon the TV series by Richard Carpenter, yes, that's right, the one with the haunting Clanad song. Even if, like myself, you more monitor TV rather than watch it I'm sure you'll recognise heart-throb Michael Praed who played Robin in the HTV series on the cassette cover and may well be interested in the full colour poster offer from Adventure International inside.

If you buy this game, and, judging by the success of Gremlins from the same people, many of you will, let me forewarn you of an unnecessary irritation on loading. After about two minutes of loading the screen puts up some information. Unfortunately no loud buzz or other warning draws your attention to this fact and it is so easy to let the tape run on without you stopping it that many of you will be caught by it even after reading this. This tip is for those who'd rather read a free newspaper than sit and watch a game load.

When the game loads you are confronted with a dire situation with you, Robin, your accomplices Will Scarlet and Much the miller's son locked within Nottingham castle. The layout of the screen is pure Brian Howarth with the lower scrolling input part separated from the picture, short location description and things you can see above. When picking up an object it disappears from the list of items you can see and the screen gives a flash as it has done ever since the days of Digital Fantasia. Anyway, enough of the rudiments of adventuring and on to the story, one which I liked as I think the story of Robin of Sherwood is very much suited to the medium of adventuring.

The Prophecies of Gildas have it that a Hooded Man shall come to the forest of Sherwood and meet Herne the Hunter, Lord of the Trees, and do his bidding. The power to wield great good or evil shall be his and the guilty shall tremble. Over one hundred years after the Normans conquered England rebellion still flared like embers from a dying fire. One such rebellion was led by Ailric of Loxley who believed in the ancient legend of Herne the Horned God of the forest and his son Robin who would lead the English against the Norman tyranny. At the time of this adventure Ailric is dead, Robert de Rainault is High Sheriff of Nottingham, King Richard is busy with the crusades leaving the evil Barons to run the country and it would seem all rebellion is over. However, none had bargained for the appearance of the Hooded Man. We join the Hooded Man in a cell as he has been caught breaking the law of venison by Sir Guy of Gisburne and now awaits a terrible punishment. You need to escape from there and from Nottingham Castle as quickly as you can (in Robin Hood style, in fact) whereupon Herne will appear and give instructions.

Due to the vast amount of memory used to serve up the superlative graphics the range of vocabulary the program can accept is limited. Having said this an imaginative person may soon be out of the castle and free to roam Sherwood forest within a few moves. I'd say that over all the difficulty of this adventure is about right as it is no pushover but not so difficult as to make you want to forget the whole thing. This game has you thinking hard about its problems long after you've switched off the power to the computer. One curious aspect of the program's input analysis is its tendency to ignore most of the input it does not understand to the extent that you soon realise that nothing has happened unless something in the top half of the screen has changed. This rather minor shortcoming is easily offset by a very good EXAMINE command which proves both useful and essential if Robin is to make any headway. The characters, are wooden, but, once again, what can you expect in a program which displays graphics that make you proud to be a Spectrum owner?

Well, leaving the best till last, what about the graphics? In short they are astonishingly good. Imaginative and highly artistic pictures greet just about every frame and even the ones depicting Sherwood forest, which may have become dull, really give the feeling of wandering through a vast expanse of trees. Intelligent design is the order of the day.

Robin of Sherwood and the Touchstones of Rhiannon, unlike many other TV tie-ins, is a superb implementation of the original. The graphics are nothing short of stunning and the plot maintains your interest throughout. I liked Gremlins a lot but rather wished I had seen the film. However Robin of Sherwood is a story familiar to everyone and this game is a magnificent interpretation of the theme. If you liked Gremlins, or if you don't normally play adventures, take a look at this one.

COMMENTS

Difficulty: testing
Graphics: the best!
Presentation: good (but white glares on a colour TV)
Input facility: sentences
Response: quick

Adventure International certainly rake in those big titles to turn into Spectrum adventure hits! Following in the footsteps of Gremlins is Robin of Sherwood. You could say it was like robbing the big screen to give to the small!

Anyway, how do the adventures of Robin the wonderboy live up to our expectations? You'll find great graphics, with a different one for every location. You won't be at all disappointed by the program either, though I reckon the game could be just a teeny bit friendlier. It kept ignoring my commands and getting the program to accept my phrasing was harder than solving the puzzles.

This game is a winner despite the niggly bits. Be careful when leaving the castle near the start. If you manage to make your escape from the Goblin's Dungeon, then you should make it out of the castle...

THE HAUNTED HOUSE

Richard Price finds himself in limbo as he looks for a time machine.

Most months the games sent in for review tend to be a mixed bag and usually only one or two stand out from the general run of average productions. This month is exceptional as all five programs reviewed are either excellent, value for money, break new ground or restate old values. Whatever the depth of your pocket you should find at least one that suits you or your wallet.

ROBIN OF SHERWOOD
Publisher: Adventure International
Memory: 48K
Price: £9.95

Sometime back in the Middle Ages the real Robin Hood began his career as the people's outlaw. Over the years he has undergone many transformations, and is nowadays portrayed as a freedom-fighter cum guerilla whose sole aim is to lift the yoke of Norman oppression from the Saxons' necks.

Robin of Sherwood from Adventure International is the computer spin-off from the TV series and portrays the new style Robin.

Like other Adventure International products, the game is mixed text and location graphics. A few of the pictures have some element of animation - such as the cascading waterfall - and are finely detailed, well drawn and very fast in appearing.

As in the TV series, you begin by finding yourself banged up in the sheriffs oubliette. To escape you will have to kill the guard and open the grating that pens you in. Adventure International feels that early achievement in an adventure helps to hook you into the game and the instruction sheet offers some useful coded help with that problem.

Once you've successfully broken out you should meet Heme the Hunter - Robin's godlike helper. He will tell you to seek out the six Touchstones of Rhiannon. You will need to find your band and then explore the huge forest for clues and information.

Your adversaries include, naturally, the Sheriff of Nottingham and also Knights Templar, corrupt taxmen, venal Nuns and the extremely evil Simon De Belleme - the Crusader magician.

The problems rapidly become more complex and it seems that certain actions have to occur before others become possible. Until you have won the archery contest it's impossible to rescue Marion from the sorcerer, and it is very easy to be recaptured by the Sheriff if you make rash judgements.

Other characters will lay sub-quests on you - the Templars, for instance, will freely admit that they possess a stone but won't part with it until you have found their stolen Holy Crest. The Nuns offer to sell theirs for a lot of gold - all you have to do is go out and steal it. But where from?

I found the scenario compelling and the identification with Robin very easy given the fine graphics. It is good to see one of our own home-grown heroes in adventure action, and I thoroughly recommend Robin of Sherwood to all potential freedom- fighters. The game is a little pricey at £9.95 but it is worth saving up for.

As the Outlaw of Sherwood Forest your task is to find the six touchstones of Rhiannon and return them to the stone circle they should be in. No problem, as long as you stay alive - and that's not easy as practically every location which isn't a tree is booby trapped.

This graphic adventure moves satisfyingly quickly - from one death to the next in my case - only slowing up in the forest. It's crucial to map the forest as one big vegetable looks very much like another; it is possible to bash into the edge of the forest repeatedly before it finally twigging that you have been in the same place for the last ten key presses, and that the forest can only be left through proper exits.

Once a way has been found to an interesting location, save the game. The chances are that sudden death will follow a wrong decision and send you back to the beginning of the game - an exceedingly boring dungeon from which there is only one escape routine. The other locations are more interesting, castles, courtyards and caves with objects to find and hidden places to explore.

The adventure includes short re-runs of Robin's most famous legends including the treacherous archery contest set up by the Sheriff of Nottingham to trap him and the fight with Little John. Unfortunately, neither of those events seem as romantic or exciting as the stories. Maybe that's to do with trying to fit complicated scenes into a few words and a small illustration.

The programmers, Mike Woodroffe and Brian Howarth, have gone to some length with subtle detail where they can. The waterfall is animated (try going under it for a surprise) and Siward the Thief is so light fingered that he steals not only from the Sheriff, but also from you. It's a fair bet that you won't realise how much he's taken until you try to bribe someone and find your slush fund is all gone.

There's a free hint sheet available. It's a good idea to get it and to read the instruction sheet carefully as the game is very particular about input.

Remember to talk to every character in the game. Of course, stopping to talk to a bunch of furious guards is a good way to get killed, but with everyone else it's worth a try. Not that all of them say anything very interesting, especially the downright boring Herne the Hunter, who looks impressive with his stags head and robes, but never says much more than repeating his prophesy about the return of the stones. Cheeky maid Marion is more fun!

Robin of Sherwood is a competent and clean adventure game.

Spectrum/CBM-64/Amstrad
Adventure International
£9.95

In the days of the Lion spawned of Devil's Brood, the Hooded Man shall come to the forest. There he will meet Herne the Hunter, Lord of the Trees, and be his son and do his bidding. The powers of Light and Darkness shall be strong within him And the guilty shall tremble.

Or, to use prose of a slightly less purple hue, Robin Hood and his merry men are up and about again and all set to duff up the baddies in this new text and graphics adventure.

If the mention of the aforesaid Hooded Man and Herne the Hunter twanged your memory's bowstring, that's probably because this adventure is based on the popular TV series and has been officially licensed from Goldcrest.

Mike Woodroffe has joined forces with programmer Brian Howarth and graphics supremo Teoman Irmak to produce an adventure that is both mentally challenging and visually stirring. If you're a BBC or Electron owner, you'll have to be content with a text-only version at the lower price of £7.95.

Like many of Adventure International's recent releases - Gremlins, Hulk, Spiderman, Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle, etc - Robin of Sherwood boasts superb graphics, the best you'll see in any adventure. The only others I've seen that come near to A.I's standard are those by Terry Greer of Interceptor but you don't get many pics per adventure with theirs.

Subtitled Touchstones of Rhiannon, the adventure not only casts you as the bold Robin but also casts you straight into a dungeon at the start of the game. Although the opening parallels one of the TV scripts, you may find it a shade difficult to escape from this early predicament. Despair not - A.I. have thought fully given some coded clues on the packaging to get you out of the pit. Before you rush off to Sherwood Forest, you might care to explore the castle. The Lady Marion's in there somewhere and it might pay you to chat her up before you belt off.

Once in the Greenwood, you're sure to meet up with Herne The Hunter, he of the funny headgear. Hatrack-head will tell you that your quest is to find the six Touchstones of Rhiannon and return them home.

Sherwood Forest sure is a large place and you're likely to get lost quite quickly. Keep plugging away though and you'll be rewarded with a stunning animated picture of a waterfall. Elsewhere, you might be lucky enough to stumble across a bewitched John Little, Kirklees Abbey and a grange.

Robin of Sherwood is a visual treat coupled with a testing mission.