Difference between revisions of "Dark Castle"

From Sega Retro

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{{sub-stub}}'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is [[Sega Mega Drive]] action platform game developed by [[Artek Digital Productions]] and published by [[Electronic Arts]]. Released in 1991 to overwhelmingly negative reception, it is a port of the classic 1986 [[wikipedia:Macintosh 128K|Apple Macintosh]] game [[wikipedia:Dark Castle|Dark Castle]].
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{{stub}}'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is [[Sega Mega Drive]] action platform game developed by [[Artek Digital Productions]] and published by [[Electronic Arts]]. A port of the classic 1986 [[wikipedia:Silicon Beach Software|Silicon Beach Software]] game ''[[wikipedia:Dark Castle|Dark Castle]]'', it was released in 1991 to overwhelmingly negative reception.
  
 
==Plot==
 
==Plot==

Revision as of 22:59, 15 August 2021

n/a

DarkCastle title.png

Dark Castle
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer:
Original system(s): Apple Macintosh
Developer(s) of original games: Silicon Beach Software
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
US 		703401
Sega Mega Drive
EU 		E177SMXI
Sega Mega Drive
UK 		£34.9934.99[1] E177SMXI
Sega Mega Drive
AU
Sega Mega Drive
BR
Non-Sega versions

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

Dark Castle is Sega Mega Drive action platform game developed by Artek Digital Productions and published by Electronic Arts. A port of the classic 1986 Silicon Beach Software game Dark Castle, it was released in 1991 to overwhelmingly negative reception.

Plot

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Prince Duncan traverses a treacherous castle to defeat the dreaded Black Knight.

Gameplay

Prince Duncan can run, jump and duck, interact with parts of the scenery and throw a limited number of rocks. Elixirs can be found to protect from animal bites, and acquiring a bag of rocks with replenish his projectiles. Duncan can also equip a magic shield, and upgrade his projectiles to powerful fireballs.

The game is infamous for its weak protagonist. Prince Duncan frequently trips on the scenery, grows dizzy after short falls, and dies in a single hit. To compound things even more, while the original game was designed to aim Duncan’s arm with a computer mouse, the home versions instead rotate his arm with a button. This exhausting control scheme is the primary reason for the poor reception of the Sega Mega Drive port.

Gameplay

Rooms

DarkCastle MD GreatHall.png

Great Hall

DarkCastle MD Trouble1.png

Trouble 1

Notavailable.svg

Trouble 2

Notavailable.svg

Trouble 3

DarkCastle MD Fireball1.png

Fireball 1

Notavailable.svg

Fireball 2

Notavailable.svg

Fireball 3

Notavailable.svg

Fireball 4

DarkCastle MD BlackKnight1.png

Black Knight 1

Notavailable.svg

Black Knight 2

Notavailable.svg

Black Knight 3

DarkCastle MD Shield1.png

Shield 1

Notavailable.svg

Shield 2

Notavailable.svg

Shield 3

Notavailable.svg

Shield 4

History

Legacy

Most versions of Dark Castle were critically panned on release, with the Mega Drive being no exception. Having originally been designed for high resolution monochrome graphics and mouse controls, the move to the Mega Drive, as with other ports, saw the game run in a smaller screen resolution with slower d-pad controls. While most ports add colour, many choose to recycle as many of the original Macintosh assets as possible, leading to very mixed results, where it can be difficult to see what is happening on-screen.

Dark Castle was quite popular among Macintosh fans, however, gaining sequels such as Beyond Dark Castle and remakes such as Color Dark Castle.

Production credits

  • Producer: Keith Francart
  • Product Manager: David Bamberger
  • Programming, Music, and Sounds: Artek Digital Productions
  • Documentation Layout: Jennie Maruyama
  • Quality Assurance: Jonathan Skolnick
Source:
US manual


Magazine articles

Main article: Dark Castle/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
66
[2]
Console XS (UK) PAL
52
[3]
Cool Gamer (RU)
10
[4]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
13
[5]
Gamers (DE)
7
[6]
Games-X (UK)
30
[7]
Joypad (FR) PAL
41
[8]
Joystick (FR)
55
[9]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
38
[10]
Mega (UK)
44
[11]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
55
[12]
Mean Machines (UK)
23
[13]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
23
[14]
Player One (FR)
19
[15]
Sega Power (UK)
69
[1]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
49
[16]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
52
[17]
Supergame (BR)
87
[18]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
38
[19]
Video Games (DE)
25
[20]
Sega Mega Drive
 40
Based on
20 reviews

Dark Castle

Mega Drive, US
DarkCastle MD US Box.jpg
Cover
DarkCastle MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
DarkCastle MD US manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
DarkCastle MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
DarkCastle MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, AU

Mega Drive, BR
Darkcastle md br cover.jpg
Cover
DarkCastle MD BR Cart.jpg
Cart

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 0464aca4
MD5 56965eb7dde9bc22d16ffa72331c0e09
SHA-1 23e1ad9822338362113e55087d60fb9a1674bf8a
512kB 1991-09 Cartridge (US/EU)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sega Power, "January 1992" (UK; 1991-12-05), page 49
  2. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 55
  3. ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 128
  4. ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 59
  5. ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 36
  6. ↑ Gamers, "Februar/März 1992" (DE; 1992-xx-xx), page 48
  7. ↑ Games-X, "10th-16th October 1991" (UK; 1991-10-10), page 33
  8. ↑ Joypad, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-10-1x), page 52
  9. ↑ Joystick, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-1x-xx), page 150
  10. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 91
  11. ↑ Mega, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-17), page 62
  12. ↑ Mega Force, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-11-19), page 70
  13. ↑ Mean Machines, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-28), page 176
  14. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 138
  15. ↑ Player One, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 78
  16. ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-21), page 69
  17. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 64
  18. ↑ Supergame, "Novembro 1992" (BR; 1992-11-xx), page 45
  19. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 48
  20. ↑ Video Games, "4/91" (DE; 1991-12-06), page 31


Dark Castle

DarkCastle title.png

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