[{"TitleName":"Robin Hood - Legend Quest","Publisher":"Code Masters Ltd","Author":"Lyndon Sharp, The Oliver Twins","YearOfRelease":"1993","ZxDbId":"0009406","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 86, Feb 1993","Price":"£2.5","ReleaseDate":"1993-01-14","Editor":"Linda Barker","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"YOUR SINCLAIR\r\nABC 40,648\r\n\r\nEditor: Linda Barker\r\nArt Editor: Andy Ounsted\r\nStaff Writer: Jonathan Nash\r\nEditorial Contributors: Steve Anderson, Craig Broadbent, Dave Golder, Tim Kemp, Simon Cooke\r\nArt Contributors: Phil McCardle\r\nCover Artwork: Colin Jones\r\nLemon: Arthur Lemon\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Jackie Garford\r\nProduction Co-ordinator: Lisa Read\r\nProduction Technicians: Chris Stocker\r\nScanning: Simon Windsor, Jon Moore, Simon Chittenden\r\nPublisher: Colin Campbell\r\nPromotions Manager: Tamara Ward\r\nGroup Publisher: Greg Ingham\r\nCirculation Director: Sue Hartley\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair, Future Publishing [redacted]\r\n\r\nManaging Director Chris Anderson\r\n\r\nPrinters: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Future Publishing Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1992. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the permission of Alan Rickman. (If you manage to find him, send him along to the Shed!).\r\n\r\nISSN 0269 6983\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair exchanges arrows and twangs lute strings with the forest folk of Commodore Format, Amstrad Action, Amiga Format, PCW Plus, PC Answers, Mega, Super Play, PC Plus, Sega Power, Amiga Power, Amiga Shopper, Classic CD, Needlecraft, Cycling Plus, Photo Plus, Mountain Biking UK, Games Master, PC Format, ST Format, Total! and Today's Vegetarian. Hey nonny nonny!"},"MainText":"CodeMasters\r\n£3.99 cass\r\n[redacted]\r\nReviewer: Linda Barker\r\n\r\nRobin Hood is a complete and utter hero, his good deeds have gone down in folklore and have been passed on to each generation. On film and television we've had Errol Flynn, Richard Greene, a red fox, Michael Praed, Jason Connery and Kevin Costner. And on the Speccy there was Super Robin Hood. But now there's a new hood in town, he's lean, green and he's got one hell of a cute smile. Welcome to the Codies' latest hit - Robin Hood: Legend Quest.\r\n\r\nLegend Quest is a cutie horizontally-scrolling collect-'n'-beat-'em-up with plenty of platforms (moving and stationary) for you to jump around on. The main idea is to collect the treasures which, I think, belong to good King Richard. The action is set in a castle which is home to hundreds of fast-shooting archers who are out to get the feather in your cap. They're blimmin' good shots as well, so you're going to have to do a fair old amount of duckin' and divin'. Various dark bits of the castle also hide absolutely massive monsters whose white eyes shine out of the darkness, warning you to steer clear of those scary spaces under the stairs. (Err, they're the background graphics, Linda. Jonathan) There's also the most ridiculous little guard who stalks up and down relentlessly, like a wind-up Christmas pudding fitted with everlasting batteries. Let this little blighter bump into you and... Wham! That's a life gone. There are also various flying things, and maces on chains that go up and down.\r\n\r\nTo aid you in your quest for treasure there are hearts to give you more energy and keys that open up parts of the castle that were previously inaccessible. As you run through the castle, you'll often come to a platform which goes nowhere. But, pick up a key and a moving platform will miraculously appear so you can jump on and travel to the next bit of the castle.\r\n\r\nAND HE STILL FOUND PLENTY OF TIME TO SING (OI!)\r\n\r\nLegend Quest looks lovely, even Andy O was smitten by the screenshots we gave him. (They're lovely grabs to work with. They're so colourful! I'm particularly fond of the title screen, is that what it's called? I'm going to incorporate that in the page design. Andy O) He's right, you know! The graphics are some of the nicest we've seen in a while. Robin's all green and the backgrounds are loads of other colours, yet there's virtually no colour clash to write of (ho ho). The castle looks suitably mediaeval and the dank, dark bits look jolly spooky. When Robin (a very cheery sort of chap who turns and grins at you now and then) dies, all these incredibly cute hearts burst out of his body in a terribly sweet circle. Then he flashes and disappears back to a previous point in the game. This is so much better than being put back to the beginning of a level - it's far less frustrating, more user-friendly. This explosion of hearts also takes effect when Robin picks up a heart, or a piece of the treasure. It's such a nice little touch. and sometimes it's the little things in games that sneak into your heart. (I think she's got a bit too much goodwill left over from Christmas, Spec-chums. Jonathan)\r\n\r\nYOU COULD HAVE SOMEONE'S EYE OUT!\r\n\r\nRobin Hood is famous for his courage and valour, with nary a thought for his own safety he swings through the trees kicking Nottingham's guards and laying traps for the tax collector. There isn't a lot of this kind of thing in Legend Quest, the action seems to consist mainly of avoiding the nasties' arrows and shooting your own in the desperate hope that they'll hit the enemy archer before his one hits you. Fortunately, the enemy archers do shoot off their arrows in some kind of pattern, so you can suss out just when a pointed piece of metal is going to come skimming past your ear and clamber up, or down, a ladder whilst the archer's busy placing the next arrow in his bow. As it were.\r\n\r\nAll this dodging and jumping of arrows takes time to perfect. At first Robin Hood: Legend Quest seems quite easy and then (ho ho ho) you skim past the easy bit and suddenly you lose two lives in a row and you think. \"Hang on, this is a bit of a toughie.\" Jon... sorry, Jonathan (I'll sellotape it to your forehead if you want. Jonathan) actually got to the next level before saying, \"In the big scheme of things, if you make a basic distinction between easy and difficult, this is a bit on the difficult side, isn't it?\" or Hmmm. He's right.\r\n\r\nDoubtless, some of you lot will float through this game and send detailed maps into Tipshop, making Jonathan and I look a bit ridiculous in the process. But hey! Maybe you won't. Robin Hood: Legend Quest is a lovely-looking game and there's really nothing wrong with the gameplay apart from the fact that it's a bit hard. But perseverance isn't difficult as it's got that addictive factor that makes playing the same bit of the game over and over again quite enjoyable. I really found myself looking forward to the next bit of the game and, when we've finished this issue, I'm going to have another go. Smart!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Uppers: Smart graphics and nice touches that are funny and pretty. There's nowt wrong with the controls at all.\r\n\r\nDowners: The only thing I can possibly pick holes in is the difficulty level.\r\n\r\nSuper! Pick up a copy and become a Merry Person riding through the glen.","Page":"14,15","Denied":false,"Award":"Your Sinclair Megagame","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Linda Barker","Score":"90","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"\"Come in and make yourself at home,\" boomed a deep voice from somewhere within the bowels of the castle. So Robin did exactly that, he was a calm and law-abiding chap and he didn't want any trouble."},{"Text":"Have you ever had the feeling that somebody's watching you? Godfrey felt like that all the time, and d'you know why? Well, it was cos something was watching him. All the time. Agh!"},{"Text":"Robin sat down at the table and waited for his dinner. And waited. And waited. Eventually a key came and apologised for the delay. His tripe and onions was on its way."},{"Text":"Robin's recurring nightmare was dead spooky. Keys, keys! Everywhere Robin looked there were golden keys. And strange gargoyles rested on every mantelpiece scowling and holding out strings of sausages. It was getting a bit too much, Robin had already decided to go and see a therapist."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"Robin Hood - did he really exist, or what?\r\n\r\nAccording to some legends, Robin Hood is...\r\n\r\nJesus Christ\r\nKing Arthur\r\nA thief and murderer\r\nA magician\r\nA great and good man fighting the nasty Normans (Lamont, Stormin' and Bates)\r\nA revolting peasant"},{"Text":"The quest for the great leg end.\r\n\r\nThe leg end can be found in one of two places, usually. Take a look at your leg... done that? Good. You'll probably have noticed that your leg is joined to your body somewhere near the bottom area. At the other leg end is a mass of bone, flesh and sinews called a foot. So the bottom and the foot are the leg ends - your quest is at an end. (Groan. Jonathan).\r\n\r\nDespite what you may think, this quest plays absolutely no part in the Codies' version of Robin Hood."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"90%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 132, Feb 1993","Price":"£2.5","ReleaseDate":"1993-01-18","Editor":"Alan Dykes","TotalPages":36,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Alan 'Doc Marten' Dykes\r\nDesign: Yvette 'Riding Boots' Nichols\r\nSU Crew: Garth 'Clogs' Sumpter, Steve 'Biker Boot' Keen, Philip 'Chelsea Boot' Lindey, Graham 'Sandal' Mason, Pete 'Slipper' Gerrard, Ed 'Bare Feet' Laurence\r\nAd Manager: Tina Zanelli\r\nAd Production: Tina Gynn\r\nMr Marketing: Mark Swallow\r\nMarketing Ladies: Sarah Hilliard, Sarah Ewing\r\nPublisher: Mike Frey\r\nManaging Director: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\n©1992 Emap Images Ltd\r\nPart of EMAP PLC\r\nTel: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nColour By Colourtech\r\nPrinted By Riverside Press Gillingham\r\nTypeset By Altyp Inc\r\nSubs: [redacted]\r\nBack issues: [redacted]\r\n\r\nAbsolutely no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in an electronic retrieval system or copied without the express written permission of the publisher. 'Oh I wish it could be Christmas every day... La la la la' Hope y'all enjoyed the festive season and are looking forward to another year of festive Speccing. I know all of us here at SU are!"},"MainText":"Label: Codemasters\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nPrice: £3.99 Tape\r\nReviewer: Big Al Dykes\r\n\r\n'Yo ho, ho and a bottle of rum'. Or have I got that right? No, that's a pirate song. What did Robin Hood and his Merry Men sing anyway?\r\n\r\nWhatever it was it must have been good 'cos they've gone down a storm in popular legend, not only here in Britain but all over the world. Especially the USA where Robin Hood movies have been big business for decades. This could be why Codemasters released Robin Hood Legend Quest first in America, on, of all things, the Nintendo Entertainment System.\r\n\r\nThe story of Robin is well known. He was an impoverished, dispossessed, Saxon Lord who, maddened at the wealth of the church and the Norman aristocracy, embarked on a 'rob the rich to feed the poor' policy the like of which has never been seen since. (Though many since have robbed the poor to feed the rich - OO-er, SU's social comment of the year!) No one really knows whether Robin was very successful, in fact no one really knows whether he even existed at all but it's a great story and who am I to buck it.\r\n\r\nIn this game Robin Hood. must do the two things that matter most to him. (A) Rob the rich to feed the poor by raiding the Sheriff of Nottingham's castle, and (B) Rescue his love interest, the gorgeous Maid Marian (or Marion as the Americans insist on calling her even though it's a boys name) from the very same fortified abode.\r\n\r\nIt's not easy though. The castle is gigantic with lots of battlements, dungeons, kitchens, bedrooms, torture chambers and other less identifiable (and undesirable) rooms to explore. Plus there's the usual complement of guards, midgets and orcs who may not really be all that bad off the job but are certainly being paid to stink at the moment by the evil Sheriff Of Nottingham.\r\n\r\nOur little Robin is equipped with a bow and arrow and a very nimble pair of legs. He must dispose of those guards that are disposable of by arrow and avoid those that are just too tough for words by waiting out of their range and then running for it when they turn their backs.\r\n\r\nDotted around the keep are extra lives and treasure. The treasure consists of chests (not of the hairy type you understand), crowns, diamonds, rubies, shields and goblets. All are objects one would expect to find in a medieval castle and all are also highly redeemable by the poor for food. His final task is to rescue Marian.\r\n\r\nRobin Hood Legend Quest is extremely well put together and beautiful to look at. It's basically a horizontally scrolling platform game and the main screen consists of the central playing area, to the right of which is the life and icon panel. This panel shows (in hearts) how many life points Rob has and also indicates how much of the treasure you have recovered so far. Although Robin starts off with three life points more are dotted around the castle and if you manage to collect a further three you will automatically get an extra life. Also, to finish the game you'll need eight of each item of treasure.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are colourful and superbly animated. If you leave Robin alone for a moment to think he turns towards you and smiles and the sequence where he aims his bow, draws it and fires is excellent. Control is a little soft but not annoyingly so and it is easy to get the main sprite to respond to your commands.\r\n\r\nOverall Robin Hood is a high quality title that deserves to do well. The quality of its graphics and playability is undisputable and it's nice to see Codies converting a a console game to Speccy when Nintendo users now have Dizzy to play with. Robin Hood isn't a difficult game but it's very refreshing and enjoyable nonetheless. Worth a look.","ReviewerComments":["I've seen Robin Hood Legend Quest on other formats and to be honest it just doesn't look like a Codies title. No offense meant here, it's just completely different to their normal fare. One thing's for sure though it's a very good value, playable game.\r\nAlan Dykes\r\n89%"],"OverallSummary":"Robin Hood is a delightful game and an excellent conversion of the Nintendo original. There is a lot of sprite detail and absolutely heaps of playability. It may not last forever but it's well worth getting hold of.","Page":"8, 9","Denied":false,"Award":"Sinclair User Silver","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Alan Dykes","Score":"89","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"First off get the key, then mosey back over to the treasure chest."},{"Text":"Go forward merry man."},{"Text":"He won't be grinning if that whopping great ball and chain hits him."},{"Text":"The little guy's mean!"},{"Text":"Watch the lion's head."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"GETTING AROUND THE CASTLE\r\n\r\nRobin Hood has a big job on his hands trying to find Maid Marian in the Sheriff of Nottingham's castle. He must face guards, obstacles, arrows and lava if he is to rescue his true love.\r\n\r\nLuckily there are certain ways and means of avoiding trouble and defeating these obstacles. For a start he can jump over some offensive items or duck under others. There are also objects like trampolines (above) and moving platforms to get him from place to place but getting on and off them at the right time is not always easy. The best advice la to take things slowly, don't go rushing into situations. You only have three lives (unless you gather some more) so don't waste them."},{"Text":"WHERE HAVE ALL THOSE MERRY MEN GONE?\r\n\r\nRobin Hood used to have a well known band of helpers, his famous Merry Men, but unfortunately none of them are at his side to help him in this quest. Why?\r\n\r\nLittle John: Little John is perhaps Robin's most famous friend and follower and in real life (or legend anyway) was anything but small. However during this game he was apparently completing a Phd in aerodynamics and astrophysics at Nottingham university and was unavailable for action or lommenL\r\n\r\nFriar Tuck: Friar Tuck, Marian's confessor and Robin's well known religious companion was at a health farm in Berkshire trying to lose some weight for a new film role. He's due to star in a biography of the famous comedian Oliver Hardy, part of the Laurel and Hardy duo, a new film by Sir Richard Attenborough.\r\n\r\nAlan-A-Dale: Young AC, better known as Robin's minstrel was unavailable because he's just joined top rock group Motorhead playing electric mandolin. 'It's all because of the leather gear and the groupies mahn'. Catch him on their new album 'Green Sleeves On My Leather Biker Jacket From Hell'. MC, CD, LP.\r\n\r\nWill Scarlet: Will has gone into the fashion business having been spotted by Yves Saint Laurent in Paris wearing a dashing red number with a saffron silk shirt and a thirties style baggy tweed hat. He's now a top designer for YSL and you can expect to see his spring range in the shops soon."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"84%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"89%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]