Evil Spreads
The four apocalyptic horseman of CRL
Dracula
Sometimes wordy, often byzantine in the solution to its puzzles, Dracula took the player, as Jonathan Harker, to the count’s abode, and then back to England as Doctor Seward. As would become standard for the series, there were few, if any, location graphics; instead, images popped up in front of the player whenever Harker had a dream, Dracula appeared or they took a wrong step and were killed, usually in gory way. The C64 version contains lovely blood-stained pictures, with the Amstrad just behind it. The Spectrum version isn’t good at all, It suffers from bad colour – featuring gold text on a blue background.
Frankenstein
Rod Pike’s follow-up to Dracula followed the three-act template of its predecessor, with the third part seeing a change of character for the player again as they take on the mantle of the tortured monster itself. The plot, however, chiefly concerns Victor Frankenstein himself as he attempts to destroy his creation. Leading the way once more is the Commodore version, this time with tiny animations inserted into some of the death scenes. It was not enough to secure an 18 certificate as Frankenstein also received a 15, including, bizarrely, the Spectrum game, which contained virtually no graphics whatsoever. At least it was more legible this time round.
Jack the ripper
This was game that spread the word of what CRL was doing, possibly due to its real-life monster rather than a work of fiction. Written by St Brides, which subsequently distanced itself from the garish graphics added on by CRL, Jack The Ripper comfortably secured an 18 certificate, and with it countless pages of the newspapers. Fighting with the game’s parser is as common as evading your foes. Unlike Rod Pike’s games, it’s written with the Professional Adventure Writer, and as such takes advantage of that system’s real-time and Ram-saving elements. Quite horrific in places, it fully deserves its 18 rating.
Wolfman
Rod Pike’s last game for CRL saw him achieve the strictest restriction, chiefly thanks to the player taking on the role of the titular killer, terrorising the nearby population whenever there’s a full moon. While the game mainly follows the human protagonist’s fragile relationship and attempt to cure the lycanthropy, its razor-sharp violence against innocents disturbed the BBFC enough to ensure an 18 rating. The player would take on the role of the wolfman for parts one and three and his fiancée, Nadia, for the middle segment. In addition to its controversial theme, the animation was upped too, with a scene where a young woman has her head ripped off by the wolfman.