Little Bit of History: Produced by Palace Software for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. Though the ZX Spectrum version was never given a full release and only available as a “B-side” to Cauldron. The C64 version was given a full retail release in 1984. This was the first ever licensed game based on the film of the same name.
Little Bit of Plot/Story: The game is set in the cabin from the film where you have to fend of demons attacking you until you can find the Necronomicon (Book Of The Dead) to destroy it and stop the evil demons once and for all. Demons would continue to spawn and break into the cabin, you would have to kill the demons with various weapons while barricading the windows where the demons were getting in. This sounds familiar…
Little Bit of Character: You play as Ash from the movie and he is the only real character in the game aside from the nameless demons.
Little Bit of Influence: As I said before, the basic premise of this game sounds familiar. Ever play the “Zombies” mode on Call Of Duty? Stuck in a building with ever spawning enemies (zombies) and having to barricade yourself in to slow down the horde while you dispatch them with a variety of weapons? The Evil Dead on the C64 was one of the first (of what is now known as ) survival horror games and could really be credited with helping to shape an entire sub-genre of gaming.
Little Bit of Memories: I recall having this on a compilation tape for my C64 and playing it quite a bit. It was never a scary game and the graphical limitations at the time meant you never saw any blood or gore. It was a pretty family friendly game based on one of the most infamous and gory films of its day.
Little Bit of Playability: It seems very rough by todays standards. But its still a enjoyable game, though it quickly becomes repetitive and redundant. The bore factor settles in fairly quickly with this one, but it is an interesting history lesson to see one of the very first survival horror games and main influences for Call Of Duty’s Zombie mode.
There’s more Evil Dead to come with my look at the original movie as well as try to clear up the “is Evil Dead II a remake?” misconception…join us…
Little Bits of Gaming & Movies 