Violence in computer games eh? Where will it end?! Come to think of it, where did it start?!

Well long before Resident Evil was a game on the C64 called 'Forbidden Forest' by Paul Norman, who went on to create Aztec Challenge and Super-Huey. Although a very early Commodore game it's one that must go down in gaming history as being one of the creepiest and most atmospheric ever (at least for a sprite based game!). Playing a lone bowman your task was to tackle the monstrous cronies of the evil Demogorgon in his forest domain, before confronting him in a very creepy set-piece finale.. The lego-brick graphics were hardly awe-inspiring, but the music was very cool, as was the fact that nightfall was simulated rather well by neat use of the 64's limited colour palette.. Oh and loads of 8-bit ketchup and grisly death scenes.. take a look at some of these!

Pictures on Left:
(Top) Roasted by
a dragon..bah!
(Bottom) About
to be speared by a
vicious skeleton..Aaargh!

Pictures on Right:
(1) Giant spiders.. not much fun for arachnophobes here..
(2) Giant Wasps?
Mind out for that sting.
(3) Raining Frogs.. Don't
get squished...

Here's the evil Demogorgon: your final nemesis. Dead atmospheric this bit.. it takes place in pitch darkness and you can only see him for a brief second or two when a flash of lightning occurs..

A nasty acid-spitting snake..
don't get dissolved by that
corrosive snake goo..
nasty way to go..

Nostalgia fans can download
some of the great music from
thegame here. Enjoy!

Intro/main theme
Victory theme

Aim carefully between his eyes and he goes down
in a flash of light, dally too long though and this is
your fate.. scared the bejeezers out of me first time
I saw this happen! ;)

Forbidden Forest was a hugely successful game
at the time, and was one of the first on the Commodore machine to sell over a million copies. It was followed in 1987 by a sequel 'Beyond the Forbidden Forest', which had better graphics but worse music!