Dark Castle

The Good
I worked at a software store when this game came out. Though we didn't carry it, several co-workers and I spent hours playing it and learning the precise controls to beat each level. We loved this game, right from the opening credits with the digitized sample of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor to the animation within the game and the humorous death sequences.

Through experimentation, we learned the precise positioning of Duncan's arm needed to defeat the bats in one level and the timing for the boulders in another. The developers used the high resolution Macintosh display to full effect for this game.

The Bad
The only drawback to this game was that--at the time--it wasn't available for any other platform but Macintosh. It also lacked a save game feature, but so did most other video games of the era.

The Bottom Line
Great platformer with innovative graphics and sound for the nearly game-less 80s-era Macintosh.

The Good
For an early Sega Genesis game, the graphics are okay and so is the sound. The AI isn't that bad either, though it has one flaw.

The Bad
Almost everything in this game is bad. As I said above, the AI has one flaw: some of the enemies might take some time to realize you are close to them. But, that's not all. The controls are bad, the main character is a coward in this port of the game that makes goofy sounds and there is only ONE song that plays during the game. Wait, why do I call it a song when it's just one part of "Toccata and Fugue" that loops? Also, the aiming system used to throw rocks at enemies should have been removed from this version. It doesn't work well on a Sega Genesis. Also, if you jump from a high place, the character might stop moving in mid-air for a second or two, and then keep falling, until he collides with the floor and dies. I forgot to mention that, in the game there is a cute-looking dragon. Isn't this game supposed to be scary? Oh well.

The Bottom Line
The only thing that makes this game scary is the fact that it sucks. The Macintosh port is the real deal.

The Good
Dark Castle is a platform game that relies more on timing and careful planning than quick reflexes and shooting things. It's clever--a thinking man's platformer.

One thing that contributes to this is a completely 360 degree firing direction. When you throw a rock, you can rotate your arm to any angle. This takes time to learn effectively, but after about half an hour, it really helps knock out some enemies threatening to get you.

I don't usually talk about ports, since games should really be evaluated amongst their peers on the same platform, but I feel I really must talk about it: It must have been a herculean effort to port this game to the PC. The entire game was first created on the classic Macintosh, which is a 512x384 1-bit (black and white) screen, while the PC at that time used a 320x200 2-bit (4 colors) screen. All of the playfields and sprites needed to be redrawn and the game logic rewritten to fit the smaller resolution of CGA. But even with those obstacles, the PC port really shines. The game physics feel identical to the Mac, and the solutions to each screen remain the same. In fact, some screens are improved, as they use some color which the Mac didn't have at that time. They even managed to include the same digitized sound.

The Bad
The digitized speech went the opposite direction from the graphics, from 8-bit sound to 1-bit sound through the PC speaker. It is very distorted, but audible.

Some of the areas you need to get through are extremely difficult and frustrating. For example, you can spend 5 minutes getting to a jump that must be timed properly, then missing the jump, then having to do it all over again.

The Bottom Line
Dark Castle is clever and funny. You owe it to yourself to try it out.