Colorado

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The game's story takes place in the end of the last century and you play the role of David O' Brian, a trapper from the American South. After an uncharacteristic act of bravery you are rewarded with a treasure map that you believe it will lead you to the location of a lost gold mine. You now need to explore the land through wild forests and mountains, solve mysteries and confront unfriendly Indians and outlaw people that aim to steal your precious map. You are armed with a rifle, a tomahawk battleaxe and a knife, and fighting involves holding the fire button down and moving the joystick in order to shoot, hit or stab. Without the fire button pressed you can move in any available direction. Clues and objects are found scattered along the way and can be picked up (i.e. extra ammo etc). You can also trade various of those items in exchange to energy, ammunition and potions. Apart from the 2D style gameplay in the forests you can also jump into your canoe (!) and play some pseudo-3D parts in which you paddle downstream the Mississippi River avoiding boulders, logs and enemy Indians before pulling in at a new location.
The controls of the character are a bit awkward and frustrating at times, a fact that which spoils playability especially when defending yourself by using your weapon and trying at the same time to avoid being hit. More on that, gameplay is quite tough since you have one life only, so you must be careful not to end up on a deadly pit. Other than that, and because of its cool story, Colorado is good title to play.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The PC (DOS) version runs on either 4-colors CGA or VGA modes and features great visuals, pretty much identical to the Atari ST version as only 16 colors are displayed.
The CGA version looks good although it might be a bit frustrating as it is difficult to see obstacles at the background due to the limited number of 4 colors.
The sound features sampled sound effects (provided that the PC has the relevant hardware) and other ambient sounds that accompany you through your adventure.