Cursed Castilla

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Title: Cursed Castilla
Developer: Locomalito & Gryzor87
Publisher: Abylight Studios
Website: http://abylight.com/game/cursed-castilla/
Genre: Adventure, Action, Platformer, Arcade
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Audience: 12+
Release Date: 24/01/19
Price: £12.59 – Rapid Reviews UK was very kindly provided with a review code for this title.

What the Developers say

The tears of a young witch have been turned into a key by a demon to open a gateway to hell.

In Cursed Castilla, one takes the role of Don Ramiro, a knight appointed by King Alphonse VI, to fight and banish the evil invading the lands of Tolomera.

Don Ramiro will face Mouras, Ojáncanos, Nuberus and Malismos: creatures from the European folklore, as well as from chivalric romances such as Amadís de Gaula. For that, one will use a different range of weapons to defeat the enemies, in a pure classic arcade action style.

Features:

Explore Tolomera del Rey in depth through 8 game stages.
Fight against more than 48 types of enemies and 19 final bosses.
Depending on the mission success, meet 1 of the 4 different possible endings.
Know all the myths featured in the game with the illustrated bestiary.
Brag about your combat skills with 16 unlockable achievements.
Yell your battle cry with the songs of the original soundtrack.
Revive the glory of the Arcade Times with 4 different view modes.

Introduction

Battle your way through creatures of folklore and demons from hell to restore harmony to the land, Cursed Castilla plays like the retro Ghouls ‘N Ghosts platformer. With an unlimited supply of projectiles to throw across the screen at your foes. I loved Ghosts and Goblins as a youngster and wanted to know if this Spanish tribute to Ghosts ‘N Goblins held a candle up to the classic game from Capcom’s past.

Looks and Sounds

Cursed Castilla has been given the nostalgic 16bit treatment, this being a medieval demon slayer, there is no end to the gory details being left behind. From the explosions of blood when vanquishing an enemy to having bodies hanging in the background of the once happy villagers. A great level of detail has been given to make sure the evil creatures are very unique and above all else, terrifying. Sprite animation is spot on, and I loved the flowing chain of sprites that create the body of Zarrampla, an early worm-like boss.

The music undeniably has a medieval feel, giving the sense of a grim lullaby that sounds both gorgeous and haunting at the same time. Along with the melancholy soundtrack, there are the muffled grunts of our hero and the clashing sound of metal. Sound effects have not been given a sharp treatment, and I completely understand why, with the retro splendour to be upheld, no way having perfect sounding screams are going to give you that nostalgic feel.

Gameplay and Replayability

This old fashioned platformer is straightforward to pick up and play from the get-go. With just the directional buttons and being able to jump and shoot makes Cursed Castilla seem simple enough a game, but with many hidden secrets concealed within the game and the occasional Mini-game thrown in between levels for fun, there’s a lot to accomplish in this game of heroic knights.

And what can I say, the immensely satisfying pops of red goo from the possessed undead keeps you coming back for more. But despite the urge to slay all those gooey monsters, as the levels are all on a timer, you have to be very swift and eliminate the ones standing in your way in or die on the spot when the timer reaches zero.

With 4 different endings added to the game and many different hidden tasks to complete you may wish to challenge yourself again and again in this old skool platformer. There is also the very extensive codex which gives you some added information on the heroes of the game. All of the items you can find on your journey and the foes you have defeated with added creepy pixel art images of those evil beings, and of course, do not pass up listening to those gorgeous chiptune melodies while you’re there.

This game will require some skill in completing as there are only a set amount of chests with additional health and lives littered about this grim world, and with the extra feature to add a speedrun counter to your game, this will definitely make the whole experience even more of a daring challenge.

Conclusion

Playing almost identically to Ghosts N’ Goblins from the past, Cursed Castilla is a fun platformer with some brilliantly gory elements, I loved the detail of a headless corpse trying to find his own head upon a pile of discarded body parts or little demons who light your path in the darkest caves.

This dark and gruesome game is by far the best Ghosts ‘N Goblins clone you could ever wish to come across and with monsters being based upon legendary folklore creatures, and a music score that is an absolute feast for the ears.

Cursed Castella feels darker and more mature than Ghosts and Goblins, Monsters seem more of a threat, and the many bosses are absolutely terrifying. The story itself makes Cursed Castella stand out with little snippets of dialogue and action throughout the game that make it so compelling to carry on to the bitter end.

Rapid Reviews UK Rating

You can purchase Cursed Castilla on the Nintendo eShop at the following link, https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Cursed-Castilla-1500243.html#Overview