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Shadow of the Beast (Amiga)

Shadow of the Beast Amiga
Genre: Action
Perspective: Side view
Visual: 2D scrolling
Gameplay: Platform, Puzzle elements
Interface: Direct control
Setting: Fantasy
Published by: Psygnosis Limited
Developed by: Reflections Interactive Limited
Released: 1989
Platforms: Amiga, TurboGrafx / PC Engine

One of the most famous games on the Amiga, to which the platform owes much of its popularity. Psygnosis, when releasing Shadow of the Beast, felt that a real legend was being born, and in the UK the game was packaged in a huge stretched box with a horizontal pattern and a t-shirt inside. Many magazines gave the game the highest score, the players extolled the graphics, then stunning the imagination with multifaceted parallax scrolling, but despite the huge popularity and the release of two more parts of the game, Shadow of the Beast remained the brainchild of its time.

From a gaming point of view, we have an interesting mix of platformer, beat'em'up action and adventure game. From the very first seconds, the game makes the player confused: you can run both to the right and to the left, it is not clear what to do. So it will be until the end, so for not the most hardcore players it is recommended to peep into the passage. But even with the passage it is difficult to play: after all, you have only 12 health points, after which you will have to start over (fortunately, modern emulators have a save function). There are a lot of enemies and traps, and although all of them can theoretically be passed without loss, in reality it is almost impossible to do this.

The hero of the game is a certain creature named Aarbron, clearly inspired by the worlds of Lovecraft: an anthropomorphic monster with tentacles on his face. But it turned out that in his soul he is kind, but the rest of the inhabitants of this world are not. So you have to destroy all their brethren with the Lord of the Monsters at the head. Aarbron can only fight with his fist or with a jumping kick - but this is quite enough, since almost all enemies are killed with one blow of the fist. Another thing is that there are a lot of them and often requires cunning or sleight of hand for a successful passage.

Not the last line in the list of advantages of the game is musical accompaniment. The music was written by the famous Amiga David Whittaker, who received worldwide recognition precisely for the soundtrack to Beast'u. Melancholic and varied, it perfectly complements the atmosphere, and simply decorates an already well-made game.

Shadow of the Beast is one of those games that everyone who is interested in computer games and their history should watch, but few can play today: it's too difficult. But if you try, even with the saves and the passage text in front of your eyes, then most likely you will like the game: it is done really well.