10 Forgotten Video Game Classics Resurface in Cosmi: Forbidden Forests
Ziggurat Interactive, a publisher of retro games, has set a release date of May 27, 2025, for Cosmi: Forbidden Forests, on PC, PS5 and Switch. Don’t be fooled by the singular name, though: this is a collection of 10 games from the Commodore 64 era, plus bonus material.
Cosmi: Forbidden Forests packages a remastered Forbidden Forest with the original versions of Beyond the Forbidden Forest, Chernobyl: Nuclear Power Plant Simulation, Aztec Challenge, Chomp!, Spite & Malice, Navcom 6: The Persian Gulf Defense, Caverns of Khafka, Seal, and Delta Man.
“Featuring 10 blasts from the past, first published by Cosmi more than 30 years ago, Cosmi: Forbidden Forests has something for everyone including pick-up-and-play shooters and platformers to adventure and simulation games with surprising depth,” Ziggurat said in a press release.
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Old Games With New Ideas
The version of Forbidden Forest that comes with this collection has two flavors: original, and what Ziggurat calls a “bardcore visual toggle” that replaces the original graphics with medival-style tapestry. All the other games look the same as they always did, but every one also now has modern gameplay features like manual saves and even a rewind function.
Cosmi: Forbidden Forests includes digital comics based on Forbidden Forest and Caverns of Khafka with artwork from Ideas&Inks, featuring Marvel and DC Comics veterans Ant Williams and Andy Lanning. Supplemental material related to the original releases is also included.
“Browse through a digital gallery of original manuals and other artifacts from the games’ history, as well as ads originally used to promote them.”
Out With The New, in With The Old
Whether it’s through emulators or homebrew companies, retro games have seen a real resurgence in popularity in the last few months alone. However, where those things tend to focus on older consoles like the NES, Ziggurat has targeted the C64 for a different hit of nostalgic gaming action.
A few of the games in the collection are by noted games designer Paul Norman, who worked with Commodore in the US on multiple titles, before moving onto interactive games for Tiger Media (who in turn made games for the Amiga CDTV).
Zigguart was founded in 2019 and has already published over 130 titles, with games being a mix of original and reimagined classics, plus new retro-flavored IP. These cover 25 platforms, from the C64 through to the Mega Drive and even Acorn 32-bit.
