You would be hard pushed to talk to any gamer of a certain age to find one that has no experience playing the iconic side scrolling action game Ghosts n Goblins. The class story of a Knight fighting evil and monsters to save the day is one that has held up over many gaming generations and in the current climate of retro styled games flooding current consoles, it still holds up today. Now a PC game from 2012 has added its own take on this gaming genre and instantly has all the aspects that made Ghosts n Goblins so popular. Madilta Castilla Ex – Cursed Castile pays both respect to the past age of gaming and brings it up to date for a modern player but can it live up to the legacy that inspired it?
Poor old King Alfonso the VI of Leon in the Castilla Kingdom, it is never easy for a monarch. His reign made worse when demons capture the tears of a young witch and use them to create a gateway to their world, allowing more to enter and threaten Castilla. The King summons his greatest knights led by Don Ramiro and sets them on a quest to end the evil.
Straightaway you can see just how much the influence of the 16 Bit era has influenced this game. The visuals are gloriously retro and instantly make you feel as though you have stepped back in time and playing on an old generation Megadrive instead of the modern Xbox One console, the main menu and music are a full on nostalgia trip on their own. If you are someone who played on 16 Bit consoles then this will no doubt resonate with you adding that all important retro buzz such games look to create and this is before you have even entered the game itself.
Once you do the trip down memory lane continues and you can see how much Ghosts n Goblins has inspired this game and it is important to say that it does feel like it has been inspired rather than simply trying to imitate it. You can see how much respect Abylight Studios the developers have for the original genre in every little detail from the animation to the level designs and character models. It successfully blends together to conjure memories of playing the very games that inspired this one and leaves you as the player with a great big smile whilst playing.
The gameplay is also a throwback to days gone by in gaming, offering a real challenge in difficulty but never feels cheap or forced to frustrate the player. It starts off with the familiar side scrolling levels but soon adds in a vertical element to the platforming changing the level layout to mix things up. You take control of Don Ramiro throughout the game, despite at times being shown amongst his three travelling companions, you only play as him. He has the ability to throw weapons, starting with short swords but these can be changed via power ups obtained from treasure chests to daggers, axes and bombs. Deciding which type of weapon to use will be important when tackling the different stages and enemies you encounter from slow-moving zombies, other knights to airborne enemies like harpies and evil bomb dropping birds.
Fighting your way through the stages will take you to the various boss fights, each with a different attacking style but all with a large health bar you will need to whittle down to defeat it. Boss fights are fun and there is a real sense of achievement for beating them as doing so will take you to the next chapter and level. The difficulty is strict but not impossible and the classic health bar consisting of only three hearts for Don Ramiro can quickly disappear so it is rewarding when you reach a checkpoint allowing you to continue from that point should you die instead of having to replay the entire level again. Having such a low health bar with every enemy hit taking a heart adds a degree of tension to each fight and level but thankfully the old school style of picking up food to regain health is a welcome relief to the action. That action is excellently enhanced by the musical score which flooded my mind with more nostalgia of playing Golden Axe, and was a very lovely touch to the experience.
There is a danger whenever developers try to venture into retro gaming and can end up creating something that simply feels like it has copied something gamers used to love but only end up missing what made it so favoured. Madilta Castilla Ex – Cursed Castile managers to respect its muse Ghosts n Goblins as a game and genre and maintain a refreshing take on so many elements to make it a great game for players of that generation and more modern gamers. It is a fantastic trip down memory lane and the depth in its simplicity of gameplay and challenge makes this a must play for fans of retro style games.
Great arcade action with brilliant old generation gaming elements makes this game a wonderful cocktail to savour and is definitely worth giving a go to step away from the blockbuster big budget AAA tiles of today’s releases.
