''Risky Woods'' is a fantasy-themed,

side-scrolling A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller) is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling grap ...

platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

developed by

Dinamic Software Dinamic Software is a Spanish video game producer and publishing company. It was founded in 1984, and its activity ceased in 1992, comprising the Golden Era of Spanish Software. One year later, a part of its owners founded an independent compa ...

and Zeus Software and published by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

in 1992. It was released as in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Plot

The ancient

monks A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

who preserve the wisdom of the Lost Lands have been frozen in stone by antagonist Draxos and his minions. Young protagonist Rohan must plunge into the Risky Woods to release them.

Gameplay

Most of ''Risky Woods'' involves Rohan running and jumping between ledges, and fighting

monsters A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

while freeing the monks from stone. There are four worlds, each with two levels. At the end of each world, the player faces a guardian/boss. The different worlds include the Mountain Pass, Hanging Gardens, Catacombs, and the Hidden World. Rohan is initially armed with an infinite amount of throwing knives. Both the standard monsters such as skeletons and flying demons drop coins once defeated. At the end of each level, coins can be spent at "Ye Olde Shoppe". Rohan can trade in his knives for items such as fire, an axe, a chain, or a boomerang. The same weapon can be bought up to three times, increasing its power with each purchase. The player can also pay to fill their energy. In order to complete a level, all good monks must be freed from stone. Bad monks are also trapped in stone and are indistinguishable from the good ones. Once freed, the bad monks will attack Rohan. The only way to avoid the bad monks is to remember their locations on subsequent playthroughs. The secondary objective of each level is to pass through "Eye toll gates". The player must find two halves of an Eye-Key and then use the completed Eye-Key to pass through the door. Chests drop from the sky randomly during gameplay and contain items that can either have negative effects, such as transporting the player to a previous part of the level, or have positive effects, such as granting more health and time or rarely an extra life. Continues may be found, but only two are given in the entirety of the game. Once those continues are used up, the game ends and the player has to start over from the beginning. The final level leads to a castle where Draxos must be defeated. After Rohan defeats Draxos, a short animation plays followed by the game over sequence.

Ports

The Genesis/Mega Drive version has some differences from the other versions. The player is able to collect ''links'' which can be used to improve armor. The "Eye toll gates" require the player to repeat the melodies that the gatekeepers play using the controller. Rohan holds a staff and wears a

tunic A tunic is a garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The name deri ...

toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tra ...

rather than the tank top and pants that he wears in other versions. The "Eye-Key" and coins are visually different.

Reception

In 2017, ''

HobbyConsolas ''HobbyConsolas'' is a Spanish video game magazine founded in 1991 by Hobby Press and published by Axel Springer SE. The first issue appeared in October 1991. The monthly magazine offers information about games for all consoles, and since 2012 ha ...

'' named ''Risky Woods'' one of the greatest Spanish games ever released.

References

External links

Amiga Review on ''Risky Woods''

GameSpy listing of ''Risky Woods''
* {{moby game, id=/risky-woods 1992 video games Amiga games Atari ST games Dinamic Software games DOS games Fantasy video games Piko Interactive games Sega Genesis games Side-scrolling platformers Single-player video games Video games developed in Spain Zeus Software games