Shadowgate

Adventure gamers from back in the day may remember a little title known as Shadowgate. From its first appearance on the Apple IIc, Shadowgate has been one of the most fondly remembered graphical adventure games of all time. It has appeared on many systems since, from the original NES up to the Nintendo 64. Now, Shadowgate Classic is making its appearance on cell-phones everywhere as a mobile title. Pretty much a port of the Game Boy Color version several years ago, Shadowgate is just as you’d remember it, although the lack of a mouse in the interface is sorely missing. However, Shadowgate is a good game for the cellular interface, and should provide owners with hours of entertainment.

Shadowgate doesn’t reveal much of the storyline from the beginning, but you get what’s going on after a while. Basically, you start out standing in front of a castle, having been sent there by a wizard to stop a terrible force.

The game uses the cell phone setup nicely, by having the number keys correspond each to one action, like the 1 key to use an item, or the 3 key to open a door and so on. If you lose track of what key goes with what action, you can open a menu of commands to perform.

In order to interact with objects on the screen, you move the reticule around the screen until you find something to click on and use. You solve puzzles to get from one point to another, progressing through the castle and discovering its secrets, eventually making your way to the final encounter.

Shadowgate is a great game that presents challenging puzzles and a compelling story to keep you glued to the end. Nostalgia buffs will find it a worthy diversion on their cell phones.

Gameplay: 8.0
Shadowgate’s classic graphical adventure gameplay works well on the cellular interface, making for a quest that is not only easy to get into, but also hard to put down.

Graphics: 6.0
Nothing much to speak of here, just some well-rendered static images.

Sound: 7.0
The game doesn’t have any sound effects, but it does have a rich musical score that shows up at certain moments of the game.

Difficulty:  Medium

Concept: 8.0 
Shadowgate is a nice translation of the Game Boy Color version, and adapts nicely to a keypad layout.                                                           

Overall: 8.0  
Shadowgate is a great exercise in nostalgia, with fun gameplay and an easy interface.