How to play Robin Hood online
- Move Robin: arrow keys (use diagonals to run up stairs)
- Shoot an arrow: Space bar
- Player 2: T/F/G/H to move, A to shoot
- Start a new game: F12 (Reset)
- Choose the number of players and skill level: F11 (Select)
- Extra difficulty / two-player handicap: F4 and F9 (difficulty switches)
Gameplay
The game has three stages. In Sherwood Forest the Sheriff’s henchmen ambush you, and you must bring down at least 11 of them before you can leave on the right. You can only hit a man when you face him on the same line of the screen. Be careful: Robin’s own Merry Men also walk through the forest, and shooting one costs you a life. You have 16 arrows per life, and six lives in total.
At the castle entrance you defeat six guards, then get inside in one of two ways. Stand under the drawbridge and time your run for the moment it opens, while dodging arrows. Or climb the stone ladders on the castle walls, which is harder. Inside the castle you open doors by touching them and look for a secret passage. You then climb stairs to the upper level, where Marian or the gold is waiting, while knife-wielding henchmen come after you. If Robin steps off the stairs, he falls and loses a life.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Henchman defeated | 2,000 |
| Screen completed | 8,000 |
| Rescuing Maid Marian | 20,000 |
| Taking the gold | 20,000 |
There are three skill levels to choose from with Select, and the game moves you up a level after each successful castle raid. The difficulty switches add a fourth level and a handicap for two-player games. Two players take turns, swapping each time a life is lost.
Tips
- Check who you are aiming at. In the forest, make sure the figure on your line is a henchman before you fire.
- Count your arrows. Sixteen arrows for eleven kills leaves little room for misses, so line up each shot.
- Take the drawbridge. The wall climb is the harder route; timing the bridge is usually safer.
- Hug the steps. On the stairs, keep the joystick on the diagonal so Robin’s feet stay near the top of each step.
History
Xonox was a Minnesota-based division of K-tel, founded in 1983. Its trademark was the double-ender: a cartridge with a game at each end, so you flipped it over to play the other one. Robin Hood came out alone and as Robin Hood / Sir Lancelot in North America; in Europe it was also paired with Super Kung-Fu. Xonox closed during the video game crash, and AtariAge rates the North American cartridges as very rare.
