| Castlequest/Castle Excellent | |
|---|---|
 Box cover of Castlequest for the NES |
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| Developer(s) | ASCII Corporation[1] |
| Publisher(s) | ASCII Corporation, Nexoft Corporation[1] |
| Platform(s) | MSX, Famicom, NES |
| Release date(s) | US September 1989[1] |
| Genre(s) | Adventure/Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | n/a |
| Media | Cartridge |
Castlequest (known in Japan as Castle Excellent (キャッスルエクセレント)) is an adventure/puzzle-hybrid video game. It was developed and published by ASCII Corporation in 1986 for the Famicom console and MSX computers, and was subsequently released in 1989 for the NES in the United States by Nexoft Corporation.
It is the sequel to The Castle, released in 1985 for the MSX, Sega SG-1000, and other systems (though not the Famicom or NES).
Contents |
The object of the game is to navigate through Groken Castle to rescue Princess Margarita. The player can push certain objects throughout the game to accomplish progress. In some rooms, the prince can only advance to the next room by aligning cement blocks, Honey Jars, Candle Cakes, and Elevator Controlling Block. In some rooms, this can be quite time consuming since the prince can only open a particular door if he can stand by the door. Meaning that he can not open the door while jumping in mid-air. The prince must also carry a key that matches the color of the door he intends to be open. The player can navigate the castle with the help of a map that can be obtained from the first room that he/she begins. The map will provide the player with a matrix of 10x10 rooms and will highlight the room in which the princess is located. The player must also avoid touching enemies like Knights, Bishops, Wizards, Fire Spirits, Attack Cats and Phantom Flowers.
In the Famicom and NES versions, each room is wider than the screen, so the display scrolls horizontally as the player moves. Because of the different room sizes, many adjustments to the room layouts were made in comparison to the MSX version. In the Famicom version, the player starts with 4 lives, and the game supports the ASCII Turbo File peripheral for saving and loading game progress. When the game was reworked for the US NES release, the save/load feature was removed (the NES does not have the 15-pin expansion port which the Turbo File connects to). However, the player has 50 instead of 4 lives initially. There are two magical fairies to help. Another obvious difference between the MSX and NES/Famicom versions is that the player can attack enemies with his sword (or dagger) only in the NES/Famicom versions. While this attack is limited due to the fact that the enemy must be very close to the player for the kill to take place, which puts the player in the risk of being killed by the enemy because timing is crucial. The prince can dash and retrieve his weapon on a timely basis, and attacking in the wrong time can prevent the player from launching another attack when the enemy is in the right location to be attacked, leading the certain loss of one life from the player. This scenario, however, is not relevant to the MSX version, since the only way to eliminate an enemy is to throw an object on it.
Castle Excellent | Table of Contents |
Walkthrough
| Castle Excellent | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) | ASCII Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) |
Nexoft
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| Japanese title | キャッスルエクセレント |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Action/Puzzle |
| System(s) | NES, MSX |
| Players | 1 |
| Preceded by | The Castle |
Castle Excellent (known as Castlequest outside of Japan) the sequel to a popular game released on several Japanese computers, known as The Castle. The Castle was the winner of a software contest hosted by ASCII Entertainment. As a result, it was ported to several Japanese computer platforms and gained a large collection of fans. ASCII then went on to develop Castle Excellent and released it for the MSX, as well as developing a version for the Famicom in 1986.
The Famicom and MSX versions are not identical, although they share many of the same puzzles and solution techniques. While all of the rooms on the MSX version fit on one screen, the Famicom version of the game features rooms that are two screen width's wide, and thus scroll from side to side, allowing for much more content per room than in the MSX version. Another difference between the two versions is that in the Famicom version, the main character can attack his enemies with a knife, although it is a little difficult to actually succeed with such an attack.
Nexoft licensed and released the game in the United States for the NES and changed the title to Castle Quest. It did not enjoy the same level of popularity that it received in Japan, as it is considered slow and too light on action for most western gamers' tastes.
The kind-hearted princess Margarita princess was known for her rare good looks and beautiful singing voice, and she was loved by all of the people in the kingdom. However, Devil Mephistopheles who heard her singing, kidnapped the Margarita princess, and has confined her to Glocken Castle and made her his prisoner. Rafael Oji, a hero from the neighboring country, heard what happened, and is determined to help the princess by invading Glocken Castle and rescuing her.
 MSX box |
 American box |
| Castlequest | |
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| Developer(s) | ASCII |
| Publisher(s) | ASCII Famicom Nexoft NES |
| Release date | Famicom: November 28, 1986 (JP) NES: September 1989 (NA) |
| Genre | 2D platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Age rating(s) | N/A NES |
| Platform(s) | MSX Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Media | Cartridge NES |
| Input | NES Controller |
| Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough | |
Castlequest (Castle Excellent in Japan) is a game released for the MSX, Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System. The game is a sequel to the MSX game, The Castle.
The object is to navigate through Groken Castle to rescue Princess Margarita. The player has 50 lives with which to complete the game, and receives an extra life every 10,000 points. There are two magical fairies to help.
 Famicom Boxart |
 NES Boxart |
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