Maldita Castilla

By: Derek Yu

On: December 13th, 2012

Like Hydorah before it, Locomalito’s Maldita Castilla stays very close to its inspirations, in this case the venerated platformer series Ghosts n’ Goblins. From the overall look to the invariable jump, you’ll feel very much like you’ve stepped into the greaves of Arthur’s Spanish cousin.

So how does it stack up to its forebears? I’ve played through the game once and I think that it’s a mixed bag, although one worth trying if you enjoyed the GnG games. Compared to the best of that series (Ghouls n’ Ghosts, Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts, and Ultimate Ghosts n’ Goblins), Maldita Castilla lacks variety and charm. The rather dreary mythological theme doesn’t quite compare to Capcom’s colorful fantasy world, and while many of the levels will have you cursing like you’re playing a Ghosts game, they’re also more one-dimensional.

None of this is to say that Maldita Castilla is a bad game, only that it sticks so closely to its source material and falls a bit short in comparison. As I said, it’s still worth your time… but perhaps more as a highly-polished fan game than something that stands alone. As reminiscent of Gradius as Hydorah was, it was still enough of a mélange as to feel unique (the branching stage design and limited save concept also helped separate it).

Posted in Freeware, Platformers, Windows | Tags: Locomalito

a name

Cutscenes are too fucking long, and the checkpoints are placed stupidly.
http://twitter.com/SveTob Tobias Svensson

Finally beat this game 100% and got the super-ultimate 4th ending. The game is ridiculously well-designed and polished – it’s taught me one or two things about game design just playing it. Beating it completely was fun and amazing and I will never touch the game again ever :p

That said: Finding all the secrets takes too long time because you need to play through the entire game every time and they are very, very well hidden. TBH it was not enjoyable at all. With that in mind i’ll go ahead and post a list of all the secrets if you absolutely cannot find something. This takes a little bit of fun out of it but i’d rather have had a list than try three times through the entire game to find one secret. (In my case the note, fuck the note.)

!!!!!!!!!!!!! SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER ofc !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tears:
Lvl1 – Breakable wall after beheaded knight. Look for a tiny cross on the right side of the coat of arms, next to the chandelier which sinks when you stand on it. This marks the breakable wall. Remember this cross!
Lvl2 – Can’t miss it :)
Lvl3 – First time you can jump down a pit, instead go right for some time to get a key. The key opens a door on the left side of bottom floor of the same room.
Lvl4 – When the imp is lighting a path thru the dark, you will see a dino skeleton.Go to the right of it and then jump up back left, run on top of the skeleton, jump through obstacle course, get tear.
Lvl5 – This one is the hardest to find. Remember the cross on stage 1. It will be on a tree in the background – i think it’s in the 2nd or 3rd room. Look very carefully on all the trees, another thing to look for is this tree does not have any branches you can walk on. Once you find it, pray under it (crouch under it for 2secs). It will reveal a statue. Hit it and get the tear.

LEGEND secrets:
Save the Amadis from the fire – In Lvl3, in the room that is on fire, the 3rd stack of books is burning, stand on top of it and shoot into the roof. A book (the best book ever!) will fall down.
Be kind to the sirens – don’t hit the mermaids.
Awaken the lady of the lake – In first part of lvl4 there is a place where you jump from one fallen tree to another while swamp monsters are coming. Shoot down inbetween the two trees, down at the lake. You’ll see sparks, hit 3 times and the lady will raise her sword.
Find the Gamusin people – Again in lvl4, when the imp lights your path. Go all the way to the right of the room. At the wall next to the pillar and closest to the floor, you can break it and it will reveal an orb. Take this orb, and backtrack left until you find the gamusin people.
Find Juan’s note – This one is fucked up. In stage 6, after you kill the 2 beheaded knights which surround you, look to the right. One of the pillars has the cross which you used to find 2 of the tears. It is barely visible at all! Pray under it. (If you can’t see it just pray under all the pillars until you hit the right one) The note will fall down.
Use no continues – Use no continues. For real.

Don’t forget you have to do all of this IN ONE RUN. That’s right. Secrets found are NOT remembered between playthroughs. So make a list and don’t forget anything.