THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE

THE CURSE OF SHERWOOD

PUBLISHER
Mastertronic

AUTHOR
Derek Brewster

YEAR
1987

DESCRIPTION
An arcade adventure, where you play Friar Tuck who has to 
run about using various objects to get others - a la 
Magic Knight - in order to get rid of a dangerous cult.

CONTROLS
Joystick/Keyboard
A/D - Left, S/F - Right, Y to P - Up, H to ENTER - Down,
B to BREAK - Fire, Q - Quit

ORIGINAL INLAY CARD TEXT
Sherwood Forest has been taken over by the evil and ruthless 
Cult of Sagalia. Robin and his men fight on bravely, but the 
odds are stacked against them. You, as Friar Tuck are their 
only chance of survival. Solve the clues hidden in the rhyme 
and destroy the evil force.

Robin Hood and his merry men are confronted with their 
biggest challenge to date!  The evil Cult of Sagalia has taken
control of Sherwood Forest instilling fear into the hearts of the
forest dwellers. They are relying on you as Friar Tuck, Robin and
the rest of the band to rid the forest of this evil force and
then get back to normal pursuits like robbing the rich to give
to the poor!  In the meantime Robin and his men battle valiantly
on, but the odds are definitely stacked against them. Werewolves
roam the forest day and night watching and waiting for any likely
looking prey (actually they're not particularly fussy!).  Hideous
animated skeletons appear when they're least expected and should
you be unfortunate enough to come across one of the Priests of
Salagia, well, your days are numbered!  Already one attempt to
rid the forest of the Cult has failed.  You had arranged to meet
the Bishop of Derby to try to carry out an exorcism. When he
failed to arrive on time you set out to look for him and at the
edge of the forest you find his body, he had been slain by a
black arrow. But on his body you notice a piece of blood stained
parchment bearing the following rhyme, could this possibly be the
answer?

For fire protection you must amass
Werewolves fangs and a Scrying glass
Then travel through the misty wood
To take them to the Witch of Good

From the man of solitary means
A parchment guide is what you need
Without it you may go astray
And in the forest lose your way

To buy the means to safety walk
A firey monster you must stalk
He holds the price with precious metal
Convey to the hermit without much fettle

A silver cross must be found
Before you feel safe and sound
On the pentagon it must be dropped
And the portal of evil will be stopped

Clutching the parchment you hurry back to the camp to find 
Robin and his men surrounded and fighting for their lives. 
You are their only chance, you must follow the clues and 
destroy the source of evil before it claims its final 
victory.

GAMEPLAY
The solution lies in the rhyme. To pick up an object walk 
over it.


CONTROLS
Joystick or keyboard
Left  A or D
Right S or F
Up    Y to P
Down  H to Enter
Fire  B to Break
Quit  Q

HINTS/CHEATS
From YS November 87
"For one thing, you won't need the shield and the map -
they're useless. To cross the river, you'll need the ice
wand, which'll freeze it over. And you'll only get through
the teleport door by smashing it down with a club!"

And for those people who want it spoilt, here's the solution!

From Crash No.44 (Sep 87)
 1. Right, right, right, right, shoot person, get club
 2. Right, right, enter house, shoot person, get ball
 3. Exit house, left, down, right, enter teleport, shoot wall
 4. Right, down, shoot person, get cross and dagger
 5. Up, left, enter teleport, left, up, left right to end of
      map, shoot monster, get teeth
 6. Right, enter house, touch person and you get bottle
 7. Exit house, right, right, up, right, shoot person,
      get ice wand.
 8. Right, right, right, shoot water, one screen back, take 
      crossbow
 9. Right to end of map, get money
10. Left, left, left, left, up, shoot monster, get key, open
      door. Take cross, bottle and money with you
11. Up, left, left, left, up, map will guide you through
      swamp
12. Out of swamp, right, right, down, right, right, enter
      house, shoot person, stand on star. Thassit!"
  
64613,0  -  Infinite Lives


RELATED GAMES
Con-Quest is a similar game by the same author and label, but
Derek himself is probaly better known for much earlier games 
such as Jasper and Codename Mat I/II. He also wrote a very 
early Star Trek game.

SCORES
Crash, Issue 39, 56%

URL
ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair/snaps/games/by-letter/c/
curseofs.zip

FACTS

NOTES