Shadowgate Classic Review

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Shadowgate Classic

Review by Orb

This is a classic adventure game, originally released in 1987 by Mindscape and updated for the GBC, and it packs a lot of punch into a tiny screen, let me tell you. I had more fun with this, in glorious 8-bit color, than some vacuous, bloated eye candy I have laying around here. I guess there’s something to be said for just plain old good writing.

The prologue is thus: “Long ago, a great council of sorcerers existed, the circle of twelve. One from that group of mighty wizards fell into the black arts. He was forever named the Warlock lord and sought to subjugate the people of Kal Torlin. However, the remaining members of the circle, lead by the powerful Lakmir the Timeless succeeded in imprisoning the Evil One in a deep cavern below Castle Shadowgate. Centuries passed and the land enjoyed peace and prosperity as the Warlock Lord bided his time below.  An unfortunate accident triggered by a group of dwarves released the Evil from his magical cell. Seizing control of castle Shadowgate, the Warlock Lord turned his control towards summoning the mighty titan, the Behemoth. With this powerful creature at his side the Warlock Lord would be unstoppable! Only someone from the ancient liner of Kings, of which the prophecies speak of, can stand against this Evil. Only a hero descended from the lost Royal Family can bring ruin to the Warlock Lord’s dark schemes. …”

The story has a very definite Tolkien air, Mountain Dwarves and all. For anyone that loves to explore rooms and do inventory-based puzzles, this game is a blast.

The game features really outstanding, clever graphics and animations for such a small design. It’s first person, kind of a cross between the Kyrandia series and Shivers (without the straight puzzles).

The music is basically just MIDI-style stuff, played in loops, and it’s quite nice and not redundant.

Game action is done the old-fashioned way, by the use of action words that are clicked on to change what the character is doing.  It has, like its counterpart Deja Vu, a screen to the right with a map that shows all the exits of the room you’re in. And even though it sounds like it, believe it or not, even with this feature, the screen does not get crowded.

The game has some fun RPG elements, with scrolls and spells that need to be found and properly used. Not too much, just enough to make them interesting puzzles that add to the overall gameplay.  And believe it or not, there is a huge inventory in this game—where can I possibly put all this stuff? There are enemies that you have to use the correct weapon on, but these are my kind of foe, they stand and wait whilst you figure out which is the best inventory item to use on them!

A couple of down sides: there is a “leave” option for inventory, but I had trouble using it. Also, sometimes it is a pixel-hunt to get your cursor exactly over an inventory item to take it or over a hot spot to move. There is also a very large number of red herring inventory items, which is pretty much a pain in a small hand-held console. I counted 39 extraneous items at endgame. But as the game was originally designed for computer, this may simply be part of the original design.

A restart feature takes the player back to the last saved game. So you can go into a room and try things out, no muss, no fuss.

One nice feature of the game is that, although you can die easily, it does not matter, as the game will just pick you back up and dust you off, starting you where you left off. Additionally, if a path error is made before the death, you are restarted back before the path error. All games where the player can die should be like this.

Game paths are pretty clear—you can’t get lost and have to retrace your steps; it’s very much one room leads to another leads to the next, kind of how Secrets of the Luxor was designed.

There are two torches at either side of the screen that the player must keep lit throughout the game as the castle is explored, a fun puzzle all unto itself.

One of my biggest peeves in the game is that all doors had to be initially opened before you could go through them, and the game was constantly reminding me to open the door first, and it would have been better (but maybe more complex programming-wise) to just have one click open the door. And many of the puzzles are simply trial and error in figuring out which inventory piece to use on the beastie stopping you from getting the new inventory item next to it. Because of red-herring inventory, this was tedious, but the animations you’re rewarded with when the right inventory item is used are a lot of fun.

The game has a great hint system as a built-in feature. And the save feature is really easy and a pleasure. There is one save slot per game—don’t screw up!

One nice touch is that the game is in four languages. I have simply no idea how they built that into such a small package.  Ain’t technology grand? Someone had to have been a lover of pure, old-time adventure games to produce this and Deja Vu, and that should be acknowledged. Keeping these older games alive is a technological feat that impresses me and a historical one I admire. Okay, everyone, go get a GBC, and pick these up! The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Infinite Ventures Publisher: Nintendo/Kemco Release Date: 1999

Available for: Game Boy Color

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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