Missed Classic 131: Sherwood Forest (1982) - Introduction

Written by Michael

Back in the early years of graphic adventure gaming, there were many releases of games that were often no more than a disk and a paper in a plastic baggie on a spinner rack at the local computer shop.  There’s so many stories of the varied quality of these games.  That’s the history of the predecessor to Ultima and also the first release of Mystery House.   It’ll be fun to explore some of the games of that time.  

My choice today was packaged a little better than that.  As best I can tell, it was a professionally-printed cardboard folder holding the single disk and a double-sided instruction card.  The game was Sherwood Forest, a 1982 release from Phoenix Software, Inc., of absolutely no relation to the then-growing Phoenix Technologies, responsible for the BIOS in many early IBM PC clones that helped make MS-DOS a standard and Bill Gates very, very rich.

This company seems to have made a small handful of adventures, under three different company names, from 1981-1985.  The first couple were text only, the next was with limited graphics (similar to Mystery House).  This one, they seem to have stepped it up a notch. This was the first in what they probably envisioned in a long line of such games, labeled on the package as "Sof-toon Adventure #1".

Definitely looks like the author grew up in the 60s and 70s.

I haven’t come across any advertising from the time, so I’ll have to rely on the box description to start this post.  

Join Robin Hood and his merry men in a madcap chase through Sherwood Forest to win the heart of the elusive Maid Marian.

Okay, so that’s vague.  The manual:

Welcome to Sherwood Forest. Robin needs your help. He doesn't seem to remember who he is or that he was supposed to marry the beautiful Maid Marion today. It must have been that nasty bump on the head he took while fighting the Sheriff of Nottingham the other day. 

Well, I guess it's up to you. You're going to have to help Robin win the hand of the elusive Maid Marion . You will control his actions by telling him what to do. It's easy enough, just enter two word commands - a verb followed by a noun, such as "PUSH BUTTON", "WEAR HAT", or "LOOK SIGN". Sometimes one word commands such as "JUMP" or "SWIM", will work as well. If you wish to pick something up, type "GET (NAME OF OBJECT) " such as "GET AX". If you wish to drop an item, type "DROP (NAME OF OBJECT)". 

If you wish to drop everything you are carrying type "DROP ALL". 

To see what you are carrying, type "INVENTORY" or just "I". A list of what you are currently carrying will appear at the bottom of the screen. Brackets around an item indicate that you are wearing the item. As an example, (HAT) means that you are wearing the hat.

I’ll be playing the Apple II version of the game.  I first learned about this game from an article previewing the Commodore conversion of the game, but I feel that I should play the original.  Also, I have a soft spot for Apple II graphics.  Other than Grandpa’s old school IBM PC, the Apples at school were my first real experience with computer games.

(And no, that's not a typo above -- they spelled it "Marian" on the package and "Marion" in the manual.)

So, with that, let’s jump in.

GIVE TOOTSIE ROLL POP.  COUNT LICKS.

We start at the south end of the forest, looking at a path and a tree, with an owl.  The owl’s eyes are moving, a nice touch for the time -- the image wasn’t static.

From the manual, I learn that I had better remember the description of the screen the first time around, because it won’t be repeated.  This screen doesn’t have much in the way of a description, so it’s not an issue yet.

If I type LOOK, it says:

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO LOOK AT?

OBJECTS:  NONE

So I guess they don’t count the animated owl  as an object.  But I try to LOOK OWL anyway, and it speaks to me:  “WHO?”.  I try to TALK OWL and I’m told that it is impossible at this time.  Does that mean I’ll be able to later?  Or just a generic error message?  I’m not sure yet.  I try to TAKE OWL, but I’m told I cannot take it.

Just testing:  LOOK PATH:  “I can’t tell you any more about it.”

I continue traveling north, with more pathways.  And north some more.

♫ Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married. ♫

We end up outside a wedding chapel. Shall we go in?

I can't help but be reminded of Zero Mostel doing Shakespeare in this image.

Okay, so to anyone who is familiar with my past playthroughs, this is a good sign.  I like this kind of humor.  The friar is “...looking at you religiously.”

I try to talk to him, but no go.  LOOK FRIAR, however, and, “He mumbles something about quickie service....cash only, please....”

Anyone good with graphic editing?  Could you put Fawn into this picture somehow?

Ok, the description is useful.  No guessing how to enter the store.

There’s also a tailor shop, empty inside for now, except for a note.  I read it, and it says the shopkeeper ran out of some things, and to leave any work I need done here and he’ll get to it.

Looks like the Friar needs to put his (comically oversized) nose to the grindstone.

Down the path some more, I found a blacksmith shop.  Yeah, there’s a pixel search for something, but it tells me it’s there.  I picked up a small piece of steel from the floor.  Looking at it, “It’s just an old hunk of steel.”  But I want it anyway.

I look at the broken grinder.  “It’s a grinding wheel.  There seems to be a piece missing.”

And we will pause it here.  Time for placing some bets.

This Session: 15 minutes