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キャッスルクエスト
©1990 Hudson Soft
©1990 OPR
Release: 1990-05-18 (¥5800)
Cartdridge HFC-V4
Strategy/Chess game
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Castle Quest is a strategy game loosely based on chess by Hudson Soft.
It is an interesting mix of heroic fantasy and classical chess - the player must use
his pieces, a move at the time, to capture the opponent's king while protecting his
own. However, Castle Quest features a lot more pieces than traditional chess
such as Wizards, Ninjas, Orcs, Mummies and even Dragons.
Each piece comes with a set of attributes such as Health, Magic,
Defense and Attack and these lie at the center of the gameplay - unlike
chess, when one piece attempts to take another they have to fight to determine who
takes the square. Each fight is round based and driven by the roll of a dice
(symbolized by playing cards going from 1 to 10). Some pieces can also use magic
spells or special attacks - some pieces use healing powers whereas others throw
fireballs or even resurrect lost pieces. The game features a lot more surprises
such as treasure chests, day/night cycles or the ability for all pieces
(except for the King and Queen) to be enhanced by moving them to the opponent's magic
star square. A boss awaits for the player between each stage and the option menu even
features a level editor.
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Castle Quest was only released in Japan. Castle Quest was
probably scheduled for an English release but it never happened - a Game Boy
port of the game however exists and was only released in Europe in 1993
(picture on the left). The
Game Boy version has a different level layout and the playfield is harder to
read, but overall both games are fairly identical.
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The Famicom game Castle Quest must not be mistaken with Castlequest
released for the American NES in 1989, port of a Japanese game called
Castle Excellent (1986).
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G
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Japanese guide Book
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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Castle Quest certainly reminds me of the good old Archon
released back in 1983, and both games share a lot in common indeed. Castle Quest's
mechanics are however a lot more complex than you might initially be led to believe
from the silly graphics. I took the game lightly at first but soon realized that I
had to invest a lot more time to fully appreciate it. I only wished the battles were
less based on luck than they are... anyway, to me, this game is a fun breath of fresh
air and cleverly mixes chess, turned based strategy and role playing elements.
However, be ready to put in a ton of your time and commitment to
Castle Quest before the fun really begins.
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