Return to Dark Castle

I've waited to play this game again since I was a kid since it was only available on Mac. Despite its flaws I really like this game. Thank you for reading my boring review.

[b] Review After 100% Achievements [/b] This is one of my favorite games of the year so far! Return to Dark Castle is a super challenging retro platformer that will crush your soul even on Novice (easiest) difficulty. This title is the third game in the series, which builds upon each entry in the Dark Castle world. Featuring the 30 levels of the previous two games, RTDC adds over 50 new rooms for you to master. The main objective is to fight your way through rooms in order to avenge your missing uncle, who never returned from his quest to the Dark Castle. Gather orbs, gain abilities, and find secrets as you explore the torturous castle. Huge shoutout to Z Sculpt & Ludit, they sent me a code because I thought the game looked really cool, and now I’m a new super fan of the series. I had a blast mastering the movement, memorizing each level, and perfecting the timing of enemy attacks. My Advanced difficulty playthrough was insanely fun, and in my opinion, this game is truly a work of art. Thank you for bringing it to Steam and I look forward to what comes next! Achievement Count: 42 Time to 100%: ~50hrs Difficulty: ★★★★★ Genre of Game: 2D Platformer, Retro, Action Fun Rating: 10/10 Checkout my YT video review or my [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/twigmastergaming] Steam Curator Page! [/url] https://youtu.be/hiRqJycjgEU

An absolutely incredible game! Growing up on the 1986 Mac Dark Castle, this game brings back everything I always loved about the original, but so much more on top of that. The game is massive, and filled to the brim with secrets and puzzles on top of the precise platforming you expect from Dark Castle. I was incredibly impressed with how the game hugely expands on the formula while somehow still feeling completely faithful to the original. I don't know that I could have described what I would have wanted from a DC sequel, but Return absolutely nails it. The game is challenging, and it took me several hours to get the completion percentage to go above 0%, but making small and incremental progress felt satisfying, and once I started learning more and more of the game and that number started gradually going up, I was truly addicted. I can imagine it being especially tough to approach if you have no familiarity with Dark Castle and the game's structure - you should be ready to flail around pretty aimlessly for a bit until you start finding your bearings and get a sense for what you should be trying to achieve - but the training level and "info" book does a good job of giving you just enough help without giving away any of the puzzles or mysteries. I got stuck at one point in the game where I needed to acquire an ability that wasn't really hinted at how to get, and I seemingly got killed by trying to do what was intended, leading me to go elsewhere for several hours before eventually figuring it out - with a little external help. It stood out to me because while a lot of the game had me stumped (and there are still plenty of secrets I haven't found), this was the only thing critical to completing the game that had me completely stuck, and the game is otherwise quite good at doling out occasionally cryptic but ultimately useful hints. But outside of this stumbling block, I had a consistently great time trying to piece together puzzles and mysteries, and making slow but satisfying progress. Return to Dark Castle is filled with countless cool little moments, surprises and discoveries on top of very compelling platforming challenges. It's an absolute must-play for any fan of the original Dark Castle games, but I also wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who's up for a bit of precision platforming and puzzle solving.

Love it. Played Dark Castle as a kid in black and white on my dad's Mac. The only thing missing is a retro B&W mode. Worth supporting.

CONTAINS HINTS / EARLY SPOILERS Amazing port of a class retro platformer with precise (keyboard and mouse) controls. Constantly keeps you guessing with various gameplay styles, and secrets to discover. Requires determination to get started, but once you've obtained a power-up or two, really becomes interesting. DEVS : Have you considered the Speed-running community? It might be interesting to include time (to the milli-second) taken to complete each section. (Minus load-times and screen-transitions.) It might be good to optionally within each profile record number of deaths/quits/restarts. Personally I enjoy NOT seeing that stuff, but maybe competitive people would like it? Anyway, great work. Thanks! NEWBIES : It's difficult to know where to start, right? You want to go for the... [spoiler] shield and the fireballs first. Fireballs are in the top/left door in the Ante-room with the hydra/dragon. Shields are in the top/right door in the same Ante-room, but you must go when the sun is setting or night has only just begun. If the in-game sun rises before you get to the actual shield, then no shield for you! After those two items, without giving too much away, it's worth trying for the main central doors in the first two Ante-rooms (the two without the big skull) as soon as they become available. [/spoiler] There's still lots more to find after this, but that's a solid start. Oh, and play in the easiest mode, for sure!

I never expected this one to get re-released and ported to other systems than the Mac. Definitely feels like a continuation of the original black-and-white games. Maybe you had to be there - the controls can be a bit frustrating at times - but so far it's everything I hoped it would be, so I like it.

The original Dark Castle was one of my favorite Mac games as a kid, and I was very excited to get my hands on Return to Dark Castle. Not only did it tickle my nostalgia bone in a major way, but the game is even better than the original in many ways. For one thing, it's in glorious color, whereas the original Dark Castle and Beyond Dark Castle were black-and-white games. For another, while all the original levels are present, there's a ton of entirely new levels as well. The game strikes the rather difficult balance of staying true to the originals while adding a ton of new challenges to contend with. Something else that is true to the original is that the game is quite challenging, especially on higher difficulty levels. Some people find this frustrating at first, but if you persevere, the dopamine hit when you master a level is that much greater. And as if in acknowledgement of this, there is a "Novice" difficulty level now that gives you a more gentle introduction to Return to Dark Castle than the original Beginner level did, let alone Intermediate and Advanced. There's also added treasures, secret rooms, additional Steam achievements and other things that were not in the original. And if the game controls are unfamiliar, there's not just a tutorial, but a whole separate training area to get you familiar with the controls. For those who are new to the Dark Castle family of games, this is a traditional 2D platformer. There are some scrolling levels, but most rooms are static levels where you either have to simply make it from one side to the other, or achieve some other objective. Sounds deceptively simple, but trust me, it is not. While you can use a controller, the original game relied on the input devices the Mac had at the time: Mouse and keyboard. The mouse is used to aim and throw rocks at various enemies; the keyboard is used for walking, jumping, climbing, ducking and most other actions. This is in order to keep game play similar to the original games. For those who HAVE played the original Dark Castle or Beyond Dark Castle, while this game is a reimplementation, it is so true to the originals that your muscle memory for the controls will still work. Disclaimer: I was a beta tester for this game, but this review is my own. I got involved in the beta because I was excited about the game, not the other way around.

I just want to leave a Thank you to developers from giving this game a place in the modern systems. It would have been a shame to have this wonderful thing lost in the void of old computer systems. Y grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, and played this constantly in my dad's Macintosh. I think the most endearing to me is the sound effects. I actually play it with the music off to hear the old voice of Duncan (now Bryant) whenever if tripped, fall and (alas) died. I will play this constantly. From what little I played it feels like the remake I bought back in 2011. so it is wonderful to see it in Steam. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much!

It's as engaging and addictive as the original. Oi.

Great game, very classic. Controls as I remember it.