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Well,
let's face it, it had to be done sooner or later. The
general adulation lavished on Crowther and Woods' original
masterpiece, Colossal Cave, positively cries
out to be satisfied; and I'm surprised that no-one has
done it before. However, St Brides have filled the gap,
and filled it very well indeed.
The
Very Big Cave Adventure is Quill-ustrated, and the
graphics are excellent. In fact, half the fun of the
game is playing a graphics version of Colossal --
I've always wondered what the Hall of the Mountain King
looked like. St Brides have really made a great contribution
to the game.
The
game itself is, let's face it, absolutely farcical.
It's chock full of the most appalling jokes I have even
encountered. Right from the very beginning when you
find yourself having to insert a penny in the slot to
enter the small brick building, you are assaulted by
a series of comic situations, some of which are genuinely
amusing and some so un-funny that you have to laugh
anyway.
The
structure of the game itself is well thought out. The
program takes on the role of a guide to show you through
the caves. As such, it continually belittles your efforts
('You can't carry that much, wimp') and eggs you on.
The responses are humorous and light-hearted, all combining
to raise the level of enjoyment.
Just
to give you the flavour of the game, you are almost
immediately confronted by an angry bull that refuses
to let you wander down the infamous locked grille. 'Are
you still there?' roars the bull, having refused to
let you pass . . . If you reply 'No', he goes away,
because -- you guessed it -- he's a gully-bull.
OK,
don't say I didn't warn you.
As
it is, I found the game very enjoyable to play. There
are one or two moments where I felt that the Quill-pauses
were overdone and one had to wait rather longer than
is desirable for an action to proceed on-screen. Apart
from this, however, I feel that this game represents
the Quill at it's best. Despite the rather high cost
of £7.95, I feel that this is a must for all spelunkers.
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