NGOTY: Tenebra (Public domain/BOBR Games, 2021)

Designed and written by Ali "Haplo" Pouladi, with occasional level design by Marukpa.

Originally released to public domain for the Commodore 64 in 2021, and an updated version "Tenebra Extended" published by BOBR Games in 2022.

Tenebra Extended was ported to Amstrad CPC, Commodore Plus/4 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum in 2022, and to Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Commodore Amiga and MSX in 2023 by Haplo.

Rewritten for Windows, Linux and Macintosh by Haplo in 2022.

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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS

When I began writing this comparison, it was February 2023, and I decided to wait for the Amiga version of Tenebra to arrive, which was hinted about in January, before I finished up this comparison. Of course, once the Amiga version was finally released in April, work got in the way and delayed the release of this comparison/review, but here it is, finally. In case you're still out in the blue on what Tenebra is, it's one of the most praised puzzle games of recent years on all the 8-bit machines it has been released for so far, and was popular enough to spawn a sequel in October 2022 for the Commodore 64 and Plus/4.

As I'm finishing up writing this comparison, the ratings and scores at our usual haunts are as follows: 7.78 from 9 votes at Lemon64; 8.7 from 8 votes at Plus/4 World; a solid 8.0 from 2 votes at Spectrum Computing; 8 out of 10 from the review at CPC Game Reviews; and a slightly disappointing 6.4 from 5 votes at LemonAmiga. The rating at the game's itch.io digital distribution page is full 5 stars from 15 votes, and the Spectrum and Amstrad versions have won the best puzzle game of the year awards from Planeta Sinclair and Amstream so it does seem like there's a new king of puzzle games in town!... at least if you're playing the 8-bit versions.

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DESCRIPTION, REVIEW AND COMPARISON

When Tenebra was first released for the C64, the game did catch my notice on a visual level, but because I wasn't really interested in something that was decidedly basic in design at the time, I let it pass by. Almost two years later, I found out that Tenebra has been ported to four other retro machines and there was also a remake for modern computers - all written by the same person. This intrigued me more than any of the reviews and praising comments I had seen.

So I downloaded all the available versions and prepared myself to play the original first. If I knew my latin, which I don't, I would have known the word "tenebrae" means either darkness (of night) or shadow of death. So, a game about darkness? Actually, it's about this man, who refuses to walk in complete darkness, so you have to make a pathway for him using torches and other light sources. So it's actually a game about light. Some people seem to point out Rogue as some source of inspiration for Tenebra, but I can only see this in the form of movement and overall graphical style. Tenebra is a puzzle game about enabling yourself to move, not a dungeon-crawling action-adventure.

Title screens. Top row, left to right: Commodore 64, Commodore Plus/4, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC.
Bottom row: NES, Windows, Commodore Amiga.

The man is able to carry three different items, one of each at a time. The first item to be introduced in the game is the torch, which can be carried and dropped at will. There are two different torches - a dim one with a short reach of light, and a fully lit one, which reaches three steps in all directions. The dim ones can be boosted up by dipping them in a pool of oil, if you can find one. Torches are also used to light up cold braziers. The second item is a key, which can open doors that require a key. An unlocked door stays open. There are other kinds of doors in the game, which are a bit broken, so once you pass through them, the path becomes blocked. The third item is a hammer, which is introduced closer to halfway through the game, and it is required to fix rails, on which braziers can be pushed around. You start all levels empty-handed, so you need to find each item all over again for each new level.

In-game screenshots from the Commodore 64 version.

 

In-game screenshots from the Commodore Plus/4 version.

If you know a thing or two about 8-bit game graphics, the style of Tenebra tells you right away from the title screen, that this game is very much based on character block-based graphics and movement. In other words, Tenebra has the style of a game that could have been made using the BASIC language. But it's much more complex than that. First off, the movement is faster than what you would get in a strictly BASIC-language programmed game. Secondly, all the visual effects and the way that the held light follows you around feels too complicated to be a BASIC game. In addition to the graphical things, all the tricks you need to perform to get the puzzles solved feel like a higher programming language and skill is required to pull this sort of a game off. It just feels a bit too complex to be merely BASIC-coded.

In-game screenshots from the Sinclair ZX Spectrum version.

In-game screenshots from the Amstrad CPC version.

Tenebra is, all things considered, a fairly modern game, since it has a linear but fair sense of progression in all the additions to gameplay and difficulty. There is also a four-digit passcode system that allows you to continue the game where you left off on real hardware, without the need for a freeze cartridge.

To my utter surprise, all 8-bit ports of Tenebra feel exactly the same, although the PLUS/4 version was a bit slower to play than the others, and the AMSTRAD version had a bit of slowdown, when too much was going on in the level. The only visual differences are the obviously slightly different palettes, fonts and screen resolutions, which make the game look just a little bit different on each machine, but all that is natural. Bigger differences are in the sound effects, all of which utilise each machine's sound chips in a fairly expectable, but effective manner.

In-game screenshots from the NES version.

At the time of writing this comparison, the latest version was made for the AMIGA, which plays pretty much exactly the same as the C64 original, but it features two graphical modes - one with classic non-interlaced graphics and another with slightly more modernized interlaced graphics. Naturally, the interlaced graphics look better, but you would need to use a monitor to take full advantage of them. On a classic CRT television, the interlaced graphics look a bit muddled. The sound effects are, as you might have expected, more realistic with sampled windy ambience and wooden footstep noises as you enter a staircase to the next level. All the other sounds are as unassuming in their execution as in all the other versions, but clearly upgraded appropriately minimalistically, yet in a style very specific for the Amiga.

In-game screenshots from the Commodore Amiga version's enhanced mode.

It seems to me, that the only question now remains is, does the upgraded 16-bit version fit Tenebra's necessarily basic approach, or are the hi-res interlaced graphics too much? To me, it makes the game feel a bit off, but fortunately, the AMIGA version does have an old-school lo-res graphics mode as well, so you can pick your preferred graphics mode. 

Screenshots from the MSX version.

UPDATE! - 19th of June, 2023: Today, Haplo released a surprise 40th Anniversary birthday present for the MSX, so I had to punch it into the comparison as soon as I had the chance. From the quick run of the first 15 levels that I went through so I could get the necessary screenshots, I can say that it plays, looks and sounds much like all the other 8-bit versions, with a slight MSX'ish tinge to it. Most notably, one of the grey shades that the game flashes with has a greenish tint to it. I have yet to test it out on my actual MSX computer, but at any rate, it doesn't feel too different from the others. There was, however, a small problem with the game when playing it on OpenMSX - I'm not sure if it's an emulation-related problem or an actual bug, but my torch would often get dropped on its own accord, and I might even pick it up again without touching the fire button/Space bar. Other than that, it's very nice.

There is also a relatively modernized version written by Haplo for the current Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems, which actually costs a bit of money. Not much, but it feels like a minimum amount of tip you might want to leave for the person responsible for creating such a fantastic game. The modern version plays notably differently, since your walking is smooth as silk instead of block-based, and the lit area is a bit less pronounced, so you can't tell exactly where the line of reluctance starts. Also, the info screens between levels are integrated into the bottom of the screen, and the levels seque much smooth into each other because of it.

In-game screenshots from the Windows version.

All things considered, it's practically impossible to do any sort of a comparison of this game, apart from the AMIGA and PC upgrades, which really have little or no effect on the game itself. Tenebra is, as far as I can tell, pretty much exactly the same game across all different platforms, and the graphical enhancements don't really make the game feel any more or less special. The upgraded sounds do add a layer of ambience to the game that isn't quite as... well, layered, on the 8-bits, but again, the relative silence on the 8-bits can be just as moody, if not more so. Depends on your preferences, really. Therefore, I can only give Tenebra a classic-style review scoring, without any regards to the different platforms.

Concept:       8
Playability:   9
Graphics:      7
Sounds:        7
Addictiveness: 9
Replay value: 7.5

OVERALL:      8.5

Tenebra is definitely one of those games, where the end result is more than just the sum of its parts. If you're feeling a bit baffled about these results, I have prepared a video comparison of all the current versions, so you can see them in action.

Of course, you could do yourselves a favour and actually download the game from itch.io and play it. If you want to have a go at the Windows/Linux/Mac version, that one is going to cost you a bit, but being such a great game, you should definitely support the creator by purchasing this one. And what's more, once you have finished Tenebra, you can pick up the sequel and complete that, too - although, Tenebra 2 is so far only available for Commodore 64 and Plus/4.

UPDATE!: Since writing the original comparison, Haplo and others have ported Tenebra (Extended) to Acorn's Electron and BBC Micro, the 8-bit Atari computers, Atari ST and Jaguar, Tesla Ondra and PMD 85, and even something called Playdate, which I know nothing about. A similar, if not as extensive treatment has been given to the game's sequel. Seeing as the game is largely exactly the same with very little variation in graphics and sounds across all the platforms it ever reaches, it feels like there is no incentive for me to give this game any further notice, since comparison in this case is mostly futile.
That's it for now, I hope you enjoyed it, and perhaps learned something about an excellent new game for retro platforms. I can definitely see Tenebra being ported to even more platforms in the future, if  - and when - Haplo can be bothered. Next time, we shall be getting back to some classic stuff. Thanks for reading (and watching) - see you later!