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From: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Review: Dark Castle
Message-ID: <4393@well.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 7-Nov-87 04:06:57 EST
Article-I.D.: well.4393
Posted: Sat Nov  7 04:06:57 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 9-Nov-87 07:13:21 EST
Reply-To: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Distribution: na
Organization: GROT:  Junk at retail prices.
Lines: 78
Summary: Good stuff, Maynard.

[ What'll I do with the middle button on my mouse? ]

	One of the more popular games to come out for the Macintosh was a
goodie called Dark Castle.  Now, this game is available for the Amiga.  I
recently picked up a copy, and have played around with it for a while.  For
those who care, here are my impressions of the game.

	Amiga Dark Castle attempts to be as faithful a recreation of the
Macintosh original as possible, right down to the title screen.  Thanks to
the Amiga, we get to enjoy this game in color and stereo.  The game is
published by Three-Sixty Pacific, and comes on two very full disks.

	For those who have seen neither version, the game works like this:
You are a local small-time adventurer who has taken up the task of
destroying the Black Knight who lives in the Dark Castle on the hill.  To
defend yourself, you carry a number of rocks to throw at enemies, which
include rats, bats, vultures, mutants, guards, gargoyles, and the Black
Knight himself.  Bags of rocks are scattered throughout the castle to
replenish your supply.  Also scattered about are elixirs for warding off the
lethal bites of the rats and bats.

	You wander through the castle, collecting artifacts and powers which
will be necessary for you to effectively combat the Black Knight.  While
your task is a serious one, the activities of the characters of the game
will make it hard for you to keep a straight face.

	I have played the Macintosh version extensively, so I was able to
pick out similarities and differences, including minor ones.  By and large,
Amiga Dark Castle is an excellent port.  Almost every detail of the MAC
version has been replicated on the Amiga (right down to the mutants',
"Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah!").  There are a couple of differences regarding
sound effects, but are unnoticeable (sp?) unless you know what to listen
for.  The Amiga version is also slightly easier to play than the MAC
version.  The game plays virtually identically to the MAC version (both
mouse and keyboard are employed).  A joystick option is also provided.

Good Points:
	o Game is started from, and returns to, the WorkBench.
	o Works with expanded memory.
	o Attempts to utilize stereo sound.
	o The color screens are a nice embellishment.
	o All sound effects are great; perfect duplicates of the MAC
	  sounds.

Not-so-good Points:
	(Note that these are all minor details, but I tend to pick out
little things like this.)
	o I get the impression that the screens are merely "colorized"
	  versions of the MAC screens.  I.e. the artwork in some places is
	  not the greatest, which is understandable (we can't all be Jim
	  Sachs).
	o The MAC version allows you to remap the keyboard commands to keys
	  you like.  No such facility exists on the Amiga version
	  (fortunately, I like the default settings).
	o The MAC version allows you to type your whole name in on the high
	  score chart.  The Amiga version only allows three initials.
	o The animation on the Amiga version seems to bog down as the number
	  of objects on screen gets large.
	o Appears to dislike MicroBotics Mousetime.
	o Printed manual (a card, really) could be much better.

Bad points:
	o Disk access gets to be painfully slow.  The program does no
	  caching of already-read data for large-memory systems.
	o Copying main data file to RAM: doesn't work (Guru).
	o Program refuses to work with FACC ][ (Guru; Dark Castle must be
	  doing something awfully stupid to not work with FACC).
	o Works perfectly on my 2.5M 1000, but Guru'ed imtermittently on a
	  1M 500, apparently dependent on the Phase of The Moon.
	o Copy-protected.  It's a game; what did you expect?

	Despite shortcomings, it's a very entertaining game, definitely
worth your attention, and probably even worth the $40 I paid for it.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape	ihnp4!ptsfa -\
 \_ -_		Recumbent Bikes:	      dual ---> !{well,unicom}!ewhac
O----^o	      The Only Way To Fly.	      hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack")
"Work FOR?  I don't work FOR anybody!  I'm just having fun."  -- The Doctor