Shadow of the Beast
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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Description

While very young, Aarbron was kidnapped and enslaved by the Priests of the Beast Lord. He grew up on drugs made to destroy his own will and turn him into the Beast Messenger, a powerful creature serving Maletoth, The Beast Lord himself. He did his job, until one day he noticed a man about to be sacrificed in a ritual, his face triggering ancient memories... and as the sacrificial knife descended into the man's body, Aarbron recognizes the face. Of his father. As his father dies in the altar, memories of his childhood and tormented past at the hands of the Beast Lord emerged, and as feelings of hate over his captors took over him, he swore revenge and fled the temple, knowing the road to avenge his father and redemption would be hard.

Shadow of the Beast, one of Psygnosis most popular titles during the 16-bit computer era is a side-scrolling platformer best known for the use of parallax scrolling along lush graphics, a musical score by David Whittaker, a iconic cover by Roger Dean and what many consider to be unforgiving gameplay, balancing between the "very challenging" and the "impossible". The player has to navigate through several areas filled with enemies and traps, collecting keys and activating triggers than open new areas or give Aarbron the means to overcome a sub-boss. The number of moves the player has at disposal is limited: duck, jump and only two attacks: punch and a flying kick. While most enemies die with just one hit, the player must time each attack accurately. However, there are also traps of objects that cannot be destroyed, and these require the player to jump, duck or move according the sequence. The player has only one life with 12 hit points that can be replenished by collecting some objects hidden in the level (like an off-route location or a under a megalith), which also contributes to the difficulty level.

Alternate Titles

"SotB" -- Informal Name
"Shadow of the Beast: Mashō no Okite" -- Japanese Mega Drive title
"Beast" -- SMS/Genesis/Amstrad CPC/ZX Spectrum in-game title

Trivia

Cancelled SNES port

There was a SNES port of the Amiga version, Super Shadow of the Beast, developed by IGS, shown on the Summer CES 1992, but it never made it to the shelves. There is a ROM floating around the net, and according to some sources it's completely playable. The main differences seem to be in difficulty, level design, and graphics.

Cheat code

The C64 version's cheat code is an anagram of the game's title, other than the number of spaces.

Genesis port

Like with Gods, another well-known Amiga game, the Mega Drive/Genesis port had the difficulty level increased when the refresh rate was increased from 50 MHz to 60 MHz (to match the NTSC console) without changing how long each frame was displayed, making the game faster. However, as the PAL console runs slower, the speed matches the original Amiga version more closely.

The Japanese Mega Drive version of Shadow of the Beast, while essentially based on the original Genesis port, has a number of differences. It was released by Victor Musical Industries, which had previously published the PC Engine version (developed by Psygnosis for VMI). As a result, Victor borrowed some elements from the PC Engine version (like the larger character and the more balanced gameplay) and transplanted them into the Mega Drive one. Some backgrounds (like the trees) were also retouched to lessen the tiling pattern look of the Genesis version.

Manual

According to the Amiga game manual, it took:
Fact Box -
Total Size: 350 screens
Total Memory Used: 3.5 megabytes
Graphics Data: 2.2 megabytes
Music and Sound Data: 850 kilobytes
Music Sample Rate: 20 kilohertz
Screen Update: 50 times a second
Max. no. of Colours on Screen: 128
No. of different monsters: 132
Maximum Sprite Size: 220 by 150 pixels (over half the size of the screen)
Levels of scrolling: 13 outside 2 large areas inside
Project Duration: 9 months
Soundtrack

In 1999 a soundtrack with various Amiga game composers under the name Immortal was released. Aside from various Amiga themes, it primarily holds the entire Shadow of the Beast game soundtrack.

Shadow of the Beast tracks include:
Intro
Eerie Forest
The Cavern
Beast's Stronghold
Underwater
Game Over

Awards

Shadow of the Beast was named #76 overall among the “150 Best Games of All Time” by Computer Gaming World Magazine (15th Anniversary Issue--November 1996).
Computer Gaming World
November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #76 in the “150 Best Games of All Time” list
Power Play
Issue 01/1990 - #3 Best Sound in 1989
Issue 01/1990 - #2 Best Graphics in 1989

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Description from the packaging:

Fight your way through many different regions in order to reach the heart of the enemy's fort and face your ultimate adversary!


http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/shadow-of-the-beast
