Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Reviewed by Jack Mileur
Games based on movie licenses have generally not done well.
Who can not forget the cheesy gameplay of "Back to the Future"
and "Karate Kid", or the mediocre space shooter "The Last
Starfighter"? Yet, despite the stigma attached to NES movie
games, and American-made games in general, Virgin and Sculptured
Software managed to create a fairly decent action-adventure
RPG around the 1991 Kevin Costner vehicle, "Robin Hood: Prince
of Thieves". In this game you lead legendary swashbuckler Robin
of Locksley and his band of merry men through Sherwood Forest
in an attempt to foil the world-domination schemes of the nefarious
Sheriff of Nottingham, through a variety of different action scenes,
including a furious battle melee where dozens of soldiers fill the
screen to war against you, a one-on-one dueling mode, and a
harrowing chase on horseback. While not being the most faithful
movie translation available, it certainly makes up for that with an
exciting concept and interesting gameplay.
Graphics 7 out of 10
The graphics in this cartridge are pretty good. Buildings and
scenery are rendered in a detailed, quasi-3D perspective, character
animation is smooth and refined, and large portraits of the characters
appear whenever they talk. The fact that they look very little like
their movie counterparts is immaterial. (Hey, who wants to look at
Kevin Costner anyway?) The duel mode is extremely impressive,
using large sprites that could pass for fighting-game characters.
The melee sequences manage to fit many, many characters on the
screen at once, with a few unimportant flickering issues. The
non-duel bosses, including a giant boar that takes up half the screen
and a humongous skeleton warrior (don't ask where he is in the movie),
are very well animated for characters their size. Enemies explode
when defeated (not too realistic, but still cool); Robin himself takes
out half the screen when he dies. However, the problem with the
graphics is that they are repetitive. One piece of forest looks an
incredibly lot like another piece of forest, all of the buildings are
very similarly constructed, soldiers look the same whether they are
Arab warriors, English footmen or barbarian Celts. But that doesn't
detract considerably from the gameplay of the cartridge.
Music and Sound 8 out of 10
There is a fair amount of good music in this cartridge. The music
at the title screen, with its funky medieval-rock fusion beat, is
probably the coolest piece of music this reviewer has ever heard in
an NES game. The music in the game sets the mood and really
contributes to the overall enjoyment of the game, from the spooky,
eerie track inside the cave to the peaceful flutistry while walking
through the English countryside to the fast-paced battle beats
while fighting a melee or duel. However, like the graphics, there's
just not enough of it, and repeats constantly. You hear the same
three fanfares a lot too. Sound effects are pretty good. Nothing
to write home about, but fairly realistic.
Game Challenge 7 out of 10
The game is rather short, but that doesn't mean it's easy. The game
is completely absent of a save or password feature, so every time
you play you will have to start from the bottom of the Arab dungeon
and work your way back up. You also only get one life per game and
three continues. The soldiers attack quite ferociously, and worse,
their attacks do random damage, so the same soldier can attack one
time for 5 points of damage and come back with a hit for 50 points.
However, once you play the game for a few weeks, and discover the
"secrets" in the game mechanics, it becomes decidedly easier. Melee
battles are fairly difficult unless you keep your party healthy and
well-armed with bows and arrows. Duel battles can be tough, until
you know the secret to not being hit. Let's just say that this is one
of the few instances where being below your opponent has a
distinct tactical advantage.
Game Play-Fun 9 out of 10
One will have a pretty good time playing this game. There are a
fair variety of awesome weapons to be had in the game, from regular
bows and knives to the fabulous Locksley armory, including the
Locksley sword that is twice as high as Robin himself, and the
Locksley bow that was the "machine gun" of its day. The game
travels at a fast clip anyway, but when you quaff a red potion, you
become several times faster and can easily mow down entire armies
in your way. And as with any adventure-type game, there are a bunch
of secrets that you can search for. Even the corpses of vanquished foes
may reveal valuable information!
Frustration
This game is fairly straight-forward. It's incredibly linear, almost
too linear for a game of its type. The puzzles aren't that hard to solve,
mostly consisting of wearing or wielding a certain item at a certain
place in time. But the fighting sequences can get a bit intense, which
may lead to a good deal of frustration when a soldier stabs you in the
back for 50 points of damage just as you are about to reach the Sheriff
and end the game. The lack of a save function is also rather annoying.
Replayability 5 out of 10
Once you've beaten the game that's pretty much it. You defeat the
Sheriff (who looks more like Liam Neeson than Alan Rickman), you and
Maid Marian get married, the two of you kiss after Sean Connery (or his
non-union Mexican equivalent) appears and gives away the bride, and they
all live happily ever after. But the game is interesting enough to want
to play again and try to beat, or see how much gold or experience you
can rack up, or to find all the secrets.
Game Value 8 out of 10
I found it at Blockbuster Video, previously rented, for $4.99. I had
rented it myself several times when it first came out. I would have
bought the game new if I had had the $40 they wanted at the time.
But now, $5-10 is about the right price.
Overall 7.5 out of 10
The thing that strikes me most about Robin Hood was that it had a
sort of unfinished quality to it. There were several features that
were left unanswered or intentionally vague. You collect gold in the
game, but you never use it except for one scene. Could there have been
shops where you could buy better weapons or armor? The title screen
displays the word New Game next to what looks like a menu selection
icon. Could there have been a password option available at one time
during pre-production? You can select the other people in the menu
screen, but you can only fight as Robin Hood. Could there have been
more selectable player characters? The character icons they use in
the game look nothing like the actors. Could they have added in scans
of the actors if they weren't so pressed for time, or were those actually
badly mangled scans of the movie cast? This cartridge shows an incredible
amount of potential for greatness, and it is still a highly intriguing game,
but it also makes you wonder what it could have been, if the pressure
to release it with the movie license hadn't been so great.