During the first Pixel Arcadia showcase, two very different aspects of gaming history were shown, when the modern retro publisher Ziggurat Interactive gave trailers for a reissued 1998 horror adventure and a set of software for the Commodore 64 dating back to the early 1980s.
The first game is Sanitarium Enhanced, an improved version of the cult horror title by DreamForge Intertainment released in 1998. It is a point-and-click adventure in which the player takes on the role of a man with no memory who wakes up inside a deteriorating asylum, aiming to escape from the cell and work out how they came to be there. Beyond this lie villages composed of deformed children together with other grotesque and mutated inmates, and Ziggurat is presenting the psychological horror game as a genuinely disturbing experience for people who missed it the first time.
The reissued version will be available on PC through Steam and GOG, as well as on the Xbox Series X|S, the PlayStation 4, the PlayStation 5, and the Nintendo Switch, which is the first time the game has appeared on consoles. This new version includes full controller support for all consoles and the Steam Deck, a widescreen format, bonus content not previously made public, and several quality-of-life improvements.
The second reveal of Ziggurat goes even further back. A title previously announced under a different name, Cosmi: Forbidden Forest & Beyond, has now been named and described, comprising titles from the Cosmi Corporation’s Commodore 64 collection, with the earliest dating back to 1983. The publisher says the range covers a variety of genres, including short-session shooters and platformers, as well as adventure and simulation software.
The package contains Forbidden Forest and its sequel, Beyond the Forbidden Forest, as well as Aztec Challenge, Caverns of Khafka, Seal, Delta Man, Chomp!, Chornobyl: Nuclear Power Plant Simulation, Spite & Malice, and Navcom 6: The Persian Gulf Defence.
The compilation also features a medieval-style version of the original Forbidden Forest, plus digital comic book stories, the box art, and a few additional behind-the-scenes items.
‘Cosmi’s Forbidden Forest & Beyond’ will be available for Windows PC through both Steam and GOG, as well as on the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 5.
