...denn das neue Jump & Run bietet nur solides Mittelmaß; daß Dinamic nun unter den Fittichen des Branchenriesen Electronic Arts softelt, hat wenig geholfen. So zieht man mit dem jungen Krieger Rohan eher gelangweilt durch die riskanten Wälder, erwehrt sich (unter Zeitdruck) mit Wurfmessern seiner drei Bildschirmleben, killt Hundertschaften von feindlichen Kreaturen und befreit Mönche, die der fiese Draxos versteinert hat.

Das alles haben wir bereits x-mal anderswo gesehen, genau wie die herumliegenden Schatzkisten, von denen einige nette (mehr Zeit, Energie, Unverwundbarkeit, Continues, Punkte), andere weniger nette Extras (Zwangpause, Energieabzug, gekippter Screen etc.) enthalten.

Wie nicht anders zu erwarten, hinterlassen die atomisierten Gegner Münzen, mit denen man sich in den Shops stärkere Waffen bzw. frische Energie besorgen kann, und Schlüssel zum Aufsammeln fehlen ebensowenig wie der obligate Obermotz am Levelende.

Grafisch wird anfangs nur Hausmannskost geboten, die sich aber nach und nach zu einem Delikatess-Menü mit Parallax-Scrolling und Tag/Nacht-Wechsel steigert. Die großen Sprites sind schön anzuschauen, sie bereiten dem Scrolling allerdings mehr Schwierigkeiten als dem Helden - trotz reichlich Action und der manchmal pingeligen Kollisionsabfrage sind die vier Level mit je zwei Unterabschnitten relativ bald durchgespielt.

Da nützt auch die erträgliche Soundbegleitung (Musik & FX) wenig, simple Jump & Run-Games mit hübscher Präsentation aber ohne spielerischen Tiefgang gibt es bereits mehr als Bäume im Wald! (pb)

OUT OF THE CUPBOARD
Every now and then a game smashes on to our screens from out of nowhere, blazing a red hot trail through the piles of over-hyped software before it. Risky Woods is going to prove to be just that sort of phenomena. The majority of code was finished more than ten months ago, but for reasons best known to the Spanish programming team, Dinamic, it's taken all this time for the game to come up to light.

Risky Woods is an arcade beat 'em/shoot 'em up of incredible console quality. Looking more at home on a Super Nintendo, the game's amazing array of colours and detailed backdrops put most other Amiga offerings to shame.

The game's hero is a young adventure seeking warrior by the name of Rohan. His habitat, The Lost Land, is a peaceful isle that generates a great power which has been entrusted to holy monks for safe keeping. Fortunately this scenario doesn't last long and the evil demon, Draxos, turns all the brothers into statues and scatters them throughout the world in order to exploit the guardian's power. The world contains four zones, each with two stages of combat. In every stage you must free all of the monks before time runs out.

MAPPING IT OUT
Before you commence your journey you are presented with a screen that maps out in miniature the path ahead. The whole complex that you are about to slice, smash, burn and slash your way through is displayed in minute detail, but the later stages are kept tantalizingly out of view beyond the edge of the screen. A tiny animated version of your warrior makes purposeful strides forwards on the map every time you complete a level.

From the outset you'll notice the standard of colours used. No pasty pale substitutes here. The backdrops and sprites are delivered in darkest blues and deepest reds as is the compound quality for every colour used throughout the spectrum.

Rohan's first route is through the dense foliage of the forest. In each of the lands you are given four minutes to come out the other side, although you can gain extra time by locating a tiny hour glass which appears occasionally. The first level won't give players of any standing any real problems as it's very easy to fight through. What presents the real challenge is picking up the many extras that are needed to make it through future stages. Rohan is armed with an unlimited supply of knives which he sends hurtling towards in his adversaries with incredible speed.

Anything less than lightning fast reflexes and your adventure will be short lived, as the forest's skeletal warriors look like contenders for the American 4x4 team. Most of the monsters are content with simply running straight towards you and depleting energy from your meagre supply by suicidal touch. However, others such as the fireball spewing plants and multi-clawed bats have more advanced forms of attack.

The compact score panel is packed with information and at first glance is slightly bewildering. There are only three things you need to look out for: time remaining, lives remaining, and keys. Other information is important, but not for the initial stages. You have three lives, each divided into eleven segments, and when this health level falls out of the yellow and into the red it's a safe bet that death's just around the corner.

Life can be regained in any number of ways. Most monsters you kill will drop ornate spinning coins which can be collected and used to buy extra weapons and energy at the end of a level. Alternatively, you'll come across huge wooden chests that hide a multitude of power-ups and special features in a mixed bag of the good and bad.

Undoubtedly the most important items to locate are the two components to the level keys. These have two functions and can either be used as a weapon, clearing everything on the screen or to provide safe passage past the huge all-seeing stone monoliths that block your path. They are invariably found in hard to reach places and on cliff edges and the like.

Before you are allowed to exit a level you must crack the stone casing holding the monks. Draxos, in his infinite cunning, has put several decoy statues in the world that hide his own servants. Although the look the same as normal priests, when they smash out of their restraints they throw up a dark red fire that scorches the ground and burns your bones.

MONEY TALKS
If you're to get anywhere you'll need money. The weedy knives allocated to you at the beginning are not nearly enough to see you though every stage. There are four other weapons that you can turn your hand to, all available at the Olde Shoppe that appears amidst a dazzling sign at the end of the round. On offer are ball and chains, fire, axes and boomerangs. Each has its own special properties and can aid you in different ways during combat. For instance, the axe can be thrown straight up into the air and bounce around the screen until they hit their target or disperse. No matter what the weapons is, you can also buy up to three power-ups devices for them and, if you decide to change them, the difference in price will be refunded to you.

Risky Woods is packed full of delightful gameplay touches. From the multitude of humanoid and demonic monsters, all animated and coloured to perfection, to the special effects like the screen darkening when you go inside caves. The sheer beauty of its characters and the detail begs the question 'why can't all games be as good looking as this'. Every platform and pixel is a resplendent cacophony of colour and although we've seen the type before, never has it been presented with such class and attention to detail. It's a simple little game, but one that is utterly addictive.

"If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise." Not half, if your woods have been designed by the cunning Hispanic minds of Dinamic. You should be less sure of a surprise, and more sure of a six tonne rock falling on your head or a huge spiky whatchamacallit poking you up the nether regions. And don't think you'll be attending any nonce-based bears' picnic with tea and cakes and orange squash either.

Try and imagine sitting in on Satan's picnic, with walking skeletons, leathery harpies and a few thousand devils thrown into the bargain. When you hear the title, you may think, noncily enough: "Oh, there'll be a few overgrown roots for me to snag my foot on... and probably a few earwigs... and maybe an irate gamekeeper or something. Ho. ho." After a few games of Risky Woods, you'll be a-sweating and a-cursing God along with the rest of us...

HARDER THAN HARD
Dinamic games have a reputation for being a bit 'tough'. If you remember games like Narco Police, After The War and Satan, you'll remember them with the taste of adrenaline on your joystick and a few nice words that you'll never heard your parents say on your tongue. Risky Woods is no exception - it is hard. But it's also 'furious'.

"What's the difference?" I hear you ask. Well, hard games are usually hard because they're designed that way. Everything's planned so a normal gamester can't really get very far. 'Furious' games are hard, but only because you haven't got used to them yet. Furious games are arranged so that your normal non-ninja can learn the tricks and the skills within a few plays.

Risky Woods' character, Rohan, has a few tricks and skills up his sleeves. He bounds, shoots and stoops along the scrolling scenery, which is made of the usual four main elements. There's the flat bits, the sloping bits, the moving lift bits and the large gap bits. All these parts are combined over about thirty screens per level. There are four levels: Mountain Pass, Hanging Gardens, Catacombs and Hidden World. So there isn't a wood at all - what a con!

WHAT'S IT LIKE?
It's got everything you could possibly want from an arcade adventure. Lovely huge scrolling levels packed with colour and scenery bits. Ugly, disgusting, hateable nasties, including face-huggers and leaping helldogs. Lovely juicy chests, swollen with power-ups, literally falling from the sky. Gold coins to amass and buy extra weaponry with. A tight time limit where you really have to beat the clock. Smooth animation, good playability and incredible addictiveness. And all sorts of nice touches like gravity, special continue options and fab music.

Okay, so it looks and plays a bit like First Samurai. And yeah, it has elements of Sonic. But that's okay - with such a pedigree, you can't go wrong.