Dark Castle

A trilogy of platform games for the Apple Macintosh. The original in particular has been ported to everything from Commodores to Cell Phones.


 * Dark Castle (1986)
 * Beyond Dark Castle (1987)
 * Return to Dark Castle (2008)


 * Anachronism Stew - Wizards, dragons and self-pushing brooms share the castle with lasers, conveyor belts, and iMacs.
 * In the original version, there's graffiti in one of the rooms that say "Alaric was Here" and "Huns Rule". In the Genesis version, it's "Saddam was Here" and "Gamers Rule". Huh?
 * And Then John Was a Zombie -
 * Anvil on Head - with a 16-ton weight.
 * Black Knight - The Big Bad.
 * Bookcase Passage - A fireplace, activated by tugging on a wall-mounted torch.
 * Computer Equals Tapedrive - The mainframe in the Computer Room... although there's a 9" Mac just a few feet away.
 * Critical Annoyance - Your heartbeat becomes audible and accelerates as you near death.
 * Deflector Shields - Subverted;
 * Difficulty Levels
 * Embedded Precursor - Return to Dark Castle consists of three areas which you can visit in any order; two are remastered versions of the original games (and the third is larger than both put together).
 * Faceless Eye - Huge floating eyeballs that hurl fire or weep acid...
 * Funny Background Event: "SADDAM WAS HERE"
 * Gainax Ending - Beyond Dark Castle. Cleared up in the next sequel - which came out 19 years later.
 * Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress - Step off a ledge, and you'll pause to look down before plummeting.
 * Holiday Mode - Stockings adorn the fireplace, and a Christmas tree supplants a decorative suit of armor.
 * Hyperactive Metabolism
 * Incredibly Lame Pun - Your quest is, literally, to topple the Black Knight's throne.
 * Jet Pack - More like a helicopter pack.
 * Kill It with Fire - Your only weapons are the rocks you throw, but with a powerup, they become fireballs.
 * Life Meter - Takes the place of the level timer starting in Beyond Dark Castle.
 * Lightning Can Do Anything -
 * Mouse Hole - Ubiquitous, and complete with cute little brick arches. Disgorge plague-bearing rats.
 * Non Lethal Bottomless Pits - Falling into one from anywhere in the castle will send you to the dungeon to fight your way out.
 * Not the Fall That Kills You - Oh so averted. Falls in the third game are deadlier than in real life.
 * One-Hit-Point Wonder - Duncan, but only in the first game.
 * Poison Mushroom - White potions with black labels teleport you. Black potions with white labels kill you. Got that?
 * Save Game Limits - In Beyond Dark Castle, you can only save from the Computer Room (with its five sets of matched SAVE and RESTORE levers).
 * Scoring Points
 * Secret Level
 * Sequelphobic - MacUser's product index infamously dismissed the first sequel as "more of the same."
 * Spikes of Doom - Extend and retract in an automatic cycle.
 * Super Drowning Skills - Falling into the water in the "Fireball" levels of the first games will kill you . ..
 * Convection, Schmonvection - . . . but in Color Dark Castle, the water was replaced with lava.
 * Temporary Platform - Ditto.
 * The Maze
 * Throw a Barrel At It - The Brewery Henchman.
 * Vaporware - Return to Dark Castle was released after 12 years of development.
 * Video Game Remake - Color Dark Castle: A remake of the original with enhanced graphics made to celebrate Delta Tao's acquisition of the series.
 * Weaksauce Weakness - Your character can die from falling down the stairs.