Dark Castle

The Good
... The rendition of Toccata and Fugue in D minor is good, I guess? But still, you'll probably be sick of it the 30th time it plays.

The Bad
Literally everything else. The controls suck ass, the rotating rock throws, getting dizzy/fainting after falling from 5 pixels, and those goddamn annoying bat sounds. And here's a fun fact: the items to defeat the Black Knight are USELESS. You just need to push a couple levers and THAT'S IT! THERE ARE SPEEDRUNS OF THIS GAME THAT ARE UNDER 3 MINUTES. I'm not making this up.

The Bottom Line
Yes, the same EA that milked FIFA annually published this waste of plastic. The original Macintosh game is good, but if you see the Genesis version, just go ahead and burn it. Don't get me started on the CD-I version too...

The Good
I loved the Mac version of this game, so was excited to try it out when it came out for my platform of choice, the Amiga. While I was a little put-off by the cover art--it looked rushed and lacking--I was eager to give it a try.

The graphics, while in color--a feature the Mac lacked--were lower-resolution than the Mac version, but the developers used the Amiga's wide range of colors to minimize this shortcoming. The other artwork and digitized sound were carefully ported and--in some cases--completely remastered.

The Bad
The artwork and sound were about the only good things about this port of the game. The gameplay was uninspired and frustrating. My friends and I mastered the Mac version's controls and knew all the tricks needed to pass each level. This version seemed to completely ignore the Mac version's carefully tuned control system. Instead of being able to master Duncan's arm position for one level as on the Mac, the Amiga version's controls seemed random. The player couldn't be assured of a "hit" as he could on the Mac version: it was more or less up to chance. So passing a level relied on frustrating repetition instead of skill, which got old quickly.

I was so disappointed with this port that I quickly gave up on it, despite the $30 or $40 I shelled out for it. I was never able to finish the Mac version due to the lack of access to a Mac for extended periods of time. I was never able to finish this version because it was unbearable to play.

If you want to play the game, play the original Mac version in glorious monochrome graphics. This version has more eye candy, but is ultimately a frustrating experience.

The Bottom Line
A feeble attempt to re-create a classic, ground-breaking game on the Mac. It was clear the developers fell well short of the mark. Instead they created a game for the dustbin of history.

The Good
I do not recall when or where I played this game, but I do recall I have played the game and that I was still in elementary school when I did. Regardless, I do recall that this was probably one of the "real games" that later defined what PC games came to be...although it seems it was a port.

One distinctive aspect about certain games in this era of gaming was that it was a combination or compilation if you will, of many action games packaged into one neat game. Unlike most platform games where basically most of the gameplay is practically similar from beginning to end, Black Castle introduced different types a little more different style of gameplay for each "level" or in this case "room", with different monsters, different puzzles, different action strategies. This "many action games into one" concept evolved into a similar game called Hillsfar.

The non-linear action game (during that time anyway) made the game quite addictive as you keep trying to find new ways "not to die" and the process of figuring out new areas and the process of interacting via trial and error (e.g. can I climb those ropes) certainly intrigues your curiosity to a certain extent.

The Bad
Although the game provided a major upgrade in gameplay as well as new features, the is not without many irritating features...repeat irritating.

Movement controls were upmost horrible. Walking, especially jumping and walking down the stairs require precise timing but the controls were kind of slow and grogy, often resulting in certain death.

Monsters keep regenerating endlessly, some bigger monsters only pass-out for a short period of time, in addition to your limited number of rocks you can throw makes it a little frustrating, not to mention trying to aim to the direction you want is worse than climbing and jumping combined sometimes.

I don't think I've actually passed any one room in the game, as it was very difficult to complete the level without being knocked by some flying bat or scurry rat. Regardless, it was fun for a while.

The Bottom Line
Nice ol' little classic...with a lot of great new features back then.