Frustrating But Fun: A Risky Woods (QUBytes Classics) Review

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

Risky Woods is an Action Platformer that originally released on the Amiga, Atari-ST, and the Sega Genesis back in 1992. This re-release, brought to players by way of QUByte Classics, is based on the Sega Genesis version and adds some modern conveniences like save states to the mix. It's available on just about all modern consoles and we're going to take a look and see if this game is a must-have for retro enthusiasts, or if it's something that you'll want to leave sitting on the eShop shelves.

There isn't much of a story to Risky Woods, and I'm not even 100% sure that it's actually present in-game, but let's talk about that for a bit. You take on the role of Rohan, a random warrior who enters the titular Risky Woods to free several imprisoned monks. Apparently these monks were encased in stone when a very devil-like being named Draxos appeared. As you set the monks free, while carefully avoiding evil ones mixed in with the good ones, you face off against various monsters, eventually culminating with Draxos himself. The lack of a deep story probably shocks no one due to its age and console(s) of origin, so take that as you will. It's gameplay that really sells this game.

I just love these zombie skeleton guys!

Get used to this screen...

Risky Woods is an Action Platformer in the vein of Ghosts "N Goblins, right down to that game's infamous difficulty. Unlike Ghosts 'N Goblins though, you have a life bar. Don't let this get your guard down though, as you don't have any continues at all that I know of. I found reference online that you can get some as items in-game, but I was unable to find them in any of my playthroughs. You have 4 lives, the ability to gain an extra one or two if you're good, and that's it. Also, while there are items that replenish your life, there are several that take it away too. Actually this is my biggest gripe with the game as you're given a ton of items via chests with no explanation on what they do. Obviously don't grab things like the skull, but why did that one potion hurt me and the other one heal me? Oh, and god forbid the items fall too close to each other and you find yourself carefully navigating pixels to grab only the ones you want. Besides chests you gain coins by defeating enemies, but not only did I not find any particular use for these, you lose some each time you get hit and all of them if you die. They're basically a fool's item and not worth bothering with at all. There are several weapons like the ax, boomerang, and knife that all power-up, but you can only carry one at a time and often lose them accidentally in the heat of gameplay. The comparison to Ghosts 'N Goblins still applies, but it's as if they took everything good about that game, took it out, and then added more things to make this one more difficult instead.

The level checkpoint minigame thing.

Honestly, this is just ridiculous.

Your goal is to rescue monks, and you'll find them scattered throughout the level in the form of statues that you can break open. What's annoying is that not all of them are the ones you're supposed to rescue; some can actually kill you. You have no way of knowing which is which outside of trial and error and memorization though. You also have to collect two pieces of a wheel to advance in levels, and if you don't have them by the time you reach said checkpoint, you're sent back in the level to get them. This is the worst thing that can happen to you as you also have a time limit that ends in death if it runs out. Oh, and that backwards arrow item? It does the same thing as if you hit the checkpoint without the wheel items. If you make it to the level checkpoints with both halves of the wheel you do a Simon Says-style minigame that lets you proceed and also gives you weapon upgrades. You can only complete levels that you find all the monks in, and are forced to restart completely if you reach the goal and are missing any. Every few levels you have a boss encounter, with these creatures having a life bar similar to yours, and being quite difficult to kill. Seeing as there are no continues the entire game is an exercise in patience as you're expected to make a perfect run of the entire game, including barely getting hit, to read the end. You can use save states in this version of the game, but they are hidden behind so many clicks in the menu that they're all but useless. I got to level five twice before I just couldn't take it anymore. I refused to save every few steps to complete the game, which I'm convinced is the only way to beat the game beyond playing it dozens of times until one "gits gud". Your mileage may differ of course, and I'm not trying to say the game is horrible due to its difficulty, but it is something to keep in mind and definitely not for me.

I timed out on a boss fight and wanted to scream.

This was the boss by the way.

Graphics are exactly what you'd expect from a 16-bit Sega Genesis game and the game does have some really cool monster designs. This actually kept me going through much of my gameplay as even the most generic enemies look pretty cool. I only saw half of the game, but what I saw was quite impressive and it ran perfectly the entire time. The latter point might seem like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised how many times emulated classics aren't exactly playable on modern consoles. I guess if I had any complaint it would be the fact that Rohan feels a little too big of a sprite, and the enemies are just as bad. Navigating tight areas full of enemies is all but impossible without tanking a hit or two and this is yet another aspect of the game that one just has to live with. I guess that's just par the course for this type of game though.

Music is pretty good throughout Risky Woods (what I managed to hear before I gave up at least) and if you're a fan of 16-bit music you're in luck because that's what we have on the menu today. While I won't be running out to buy the game's soundtrack, every song occasionally made me forget that there was a timer continually forcing me to move quickly and a few, such as the boss theme, gave me an extra sense of urgency to go along with the anxiety said clock was already giving me. Sound effects are what you'd expect too and there isn't much else to say about this except that I wish a sound test could've been added to this new version so I could've at least checked out the songs that I wasn't able to hear through normal gameplay.

I'm not sure how I got the armor actually.

What collecting a lot of coins gets you.

Retro games don't have to have wonky controls, but there's a bit of that here in Risky Woods. Knockback is the name of the game here and while it's not Mega Man levels of bad, you'll miss your fair share of jumps due to annoyingly placed enemies. Hits from enemies also stop your attacks, so you often find yourself backed into a small corner, repeatedly being hit, until you die. This is obviously annoying in general, but totally unfair considering the limited lives and lack of continues. Jumping can be tricky too as there are several pits that you're just barely able to clear if you manage to angle your jump perfectly. This means you have to play around with pressing the button slightly before the d-pad as it's pretty unreliable if you try to jump as you're moving forward. Also, if there's an enemy where you want to land, or a projectile headed your way, you can just forget about your current life altogether as there's no real way to fix your jump's trajectory enough to save yourself. Get ready for lots of unfair hits, and to abuse the save state system if you choose.

Seeing as Risky Woods requires you to play the game quickly and perfectly one time through (without continuing) I don't know how to talk about replayabilty. It'll take many practice runs and trial and error to get to the end, but I'm not sure if modern gamers will have the level of patience required. Seeing as the save state system is rather clunky itself, there isn't even a good way to use it to save scum your way through the game. If your idea of fun is replaying a "Nintendo Hard" style game over and over again until you perfect it, then this one's for you. Most others will go my route and give up once you realize you have to do all the lower levels again just to get back to where you were when you lost all your lives. You could use this game for challenges, or to prank your friends, but I don't see many playing it after either getting frustrated or actually beating it.

50/50 chance you don't die here.

This was the point I gave up. IYKYK.

Risky Woods is available on all modern consoles for $9.99 and I'm not sure how I feel about that price point. If this game were half of that I'd give it a recommendation if you're a fan of retro action platformers, but for the current price I'd wish that there were at least more features in this new version to justify that price point. With that said there is a lot of retro charm here and I really wanted to like this game, so maybe pick it up if hard games don't scare you away. Maybe you'll just make better use of the save state system and get that sweet, sweet satisfaction of sending Draxos back to Hell. If not, then at least make sure to watch that timer!

For More Information on Risky Woods:
https://www.qubyteinteractive.com/games/risky-woods/

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Story: C-
Gameplay: B-
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B
Value: C-

Overall: C+

Pros:
+ A classic retro game is saved from obscurity with a re-release.
+ Music, graphics, and overall aesthetics are great as are the updated bonuses like the screen border.
+ While I gave up on the game at Level 5, some might find the challenge entertaining.
+ Has a save state system to help those willing to use it see the game's ending.

Cons:
- Extremely hard and unforgiving, complete with limited lives and no continues.
- Controls are a bit clunky and issues like knockback and a lack of damage cooldown make things frustrating at times.
- Repeated tries due to extreme difficulty aside, the game is actually quite short.
- The save state system requires too many menus to get to.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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