Maldita Castilla Review

Obscurity Corner
Maldita Castilla (PC)

The game I will be reviewing is a game produced by a Spanish indie game creator known online as Locomalito (translates to something like “crazy little evil”). The game is named “Maldita Castilla” or “Damn Castle” for those unfamiliar with Spanish. It was released on December 12 of 2012 and it seems to be even now relatively obscure as of this time, at least compared to the likes of Cave Story, Nitronic Rush, Spelunky, Iji, among others. Now for the game itself...

Story:

A witch named Moura cries for her lover who died in an armed conflict (one that leaves a lot to the imagination). A demon finds her in her sorrowful state and manipulates her into magically forming a key out of her tears. She then uses this key to open a portal which releases other demons from Hell upon the land of Castile. The king of Spain then instructs four knights to go on a quest to “put an end to this nightmare”. The four knights are Don Diego, Mendoza, Quesada, and Don Ramiro, the latter being the protagonist of this game. They then head off to find a way to save Castile from the demons.

Setting:

This game takes place in the fictional Spanish region of Castile in AD 1081. The portal to Hell also releases spirits of the dead as well, causing the rise of undead forms such as ghosts, zombies, animate skeletons and armor as well as other various monsters. As Don Ramiro, you go on this quest to put an end to this invasion from Hell. It turns out that putting a stop to it involves getting the tears of Moura which was what started this nightmare in the first place...

Gameplay:

Maldita Castilla is clearly influenced by the game “Ghosts 'n Goblins” in terms of its medieval setting and gameplay. In this action platformer, you play as Don Ramiro, an obvious expy of Sir Authur from Ghost 'n Goblins in which journey through the land fighting various creatures and undead. It also takes a bit from the Castlevania series in that it has a number of creatures from various mythologies as well. The controls are also pretty simple, can run and jump, and throw an infinite amount of different weapons. You start with a sword you can throw but with certain item pick-ups, you can get an axe (which are thrown at an arc), a sickle (which functions like a boomerang), and a spiked flail (which has a greater width when thrown you can depend on accuracy a lot less when using it). There is also a sheild item that can protect you from one hit.

Over the course of several stages, you have to deal with some pretty challenging gameplay. From tricky enemies and bosses to, to the fact that three hits from an enemy will kill you, it will quite challenging getting through this game, not to mention a time limit within stages. Although personally, I think this game is not as hard as the original Ghost 'n Goblins. Also, you don't HAVE to play through it multiple times to beat it.....but this game does have multiple endings so there is a best ending to get. It involves both getting Moura's tears and how many continues you use. You do have infinite continues but how many you use does affect the ending. And this may not surprise many but you can't save your progress either.

The gameplay in Maldita Castilla can be a lot of fun, if a little frustrating from time to time.

Graphics:

The game looks like something from the 16-bit game system although it is clear that this game is supposed to have an arcade feel to it. The loading text upon starting the game, the classic point system and the continue screen upon dying are examples of the arcade style this game has. Despite virtually the entire game taking place at night, there are a lot of examples of the game being a joy to look at despite it's retro look, or even because of it depending on if it is your cup of tea. The variety and detail in both the environments and the characters and enemies make this game visually appealing.

Sound:

Much like the game's looks, it is supposed to be “arcade-esque”. To me, it sounds like something on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. I think it sets the mood quite nice and was well-executed.

Overall:

Maldita Castilla is a rather interesting game. It looks like a Ghost 'N Goblins fangame due to many strong resemblances to the original game but it has it's own “original” settings and characters so it still technically is a strongly-inspired fan-game. I had fun with it. It is difficult, but at least I was able to finish the game, just not on the best ending. In fact, the methods to get the best ending for the game are what is the most annoying part of the game for me. It's far from a game-breaker butt I just wanted to mention them.

Getting the best ending requires finding ALL of Moura's tears, finding an object so you can meet certain characters in a certain stage, and going through the game without using any continues. The latter being quite the challenge due to the game's difficulty. I personally think it is a bit much but a few out there have succeed ed so I can't say it's impossible.

So in conclusion, this game is really fun but challenging, especially if you want one of the better endings. I give this game an B+. Definitely worth at least a look.

That's it for this review. I hope it was informative.


I