The graphics are pixel perfect 16 bit art, with nice animations and a great arcade feel. You can aim your attacks to hit above and below by holding up or down as you throw, but that’s it, and once again it’s all the better for it.
Any other additions would have seen you fumbling for the right action at the most inopportune times, and the developer has wisely omitted any needless special attacks or fancy graphical effects in favour of simple, precise control. Killing the zombies and demons of this cursed land, avoiding their attacks and trying not to fall to your death while doing so is a pleasure because of the tight, pick up and play mechanics.
It’s the tight, simple gameplay of yesteryear, and this straightforward approach plays to the games strengths. You have a button to jump, and another to throw lances, axes, or anything else you may pick up on your travels. As this Knight, you progress left-to-right, and sometimes bottom-to-top, through run and gun platforming levels. You play the part of a Knight of the Kingdom of Castile, although any semblance of story and characterisation is almost nonexistent, and largely irrelevant. For those who have no basis for comparison, read on! Not the Knight’s underwear the gameplay, I mean. For some people, that will be enough to make or break their experience with the game.
It’s practically identical to the classic 1985 Capcom arcade game – the only thing we don’t have here is the hero in his love-heart boxers. Maldita Castilla EX is Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins in all but name. Praise the Lord, then, that it’s most definitely, certainly, absolutely not. Of course, all of the above achievements would be meaningless if the game was a steaming turd. This right here is the most convincing 16 bit game you’ll play without actually booting up your SNES or Megadrive, or wiring your Amiga to an old CRT monitor. Everything from the start screen animation to the occasionally jerky background scrolling, the difficulty to the control scheme, the scan lines to the hi-score table it nails it. It takes much more effort to get that X factor, that feeling that you’re actually playing an emulated ROM. Emulating the Commodore 64 SID chip or the NES low pass filter is fine, but it’s all in the composition of the tunes, largely influenced at the time by hard rock and guitar music.
There’s the audio of course, but that’s just one element. Some games purport to be 8 bit or 16 bit experiences, but it takes a far more nuanced approach than chunky or pixelated sprites and filtered, lo-res backgrounds to nail the true feel of the golden age of home computer gaming. Hand drawn graphics have charm there’s no doubt about it. Please COMMENT if you down vote - I take the time to create these reviews for this community I'd love your feedback! My reviews are not influenced by general opinions, they do not draw reference to other people’s experiences (unless I’m reviewing couch co-op play), nor are they based on any one particular element rather they are an account of my own experiences, and as a result are entirely subjective – as they should be! I try to be as spoiler-free as possible, but in the interest of providing an honest account, some reveals may be necessary. As with all of my reviews, the verdict below is based purely on my personal time with the game. Please note I play a lot of these games on my 'review' tag, and often before achievements are live.
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