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December 16, 2012 12:55 PM

Maldita Castilla (Cursed Castile) is an action arcade game in the style of Ghost 'n' Goblins themed after Amadis of Gaul*.

Maldita Castilla (Cursed/damn Castile) is an action arcade game full of myths from Spain and the rest of Europe. The graphic style is raw, made pixel by pixel with a limited color palette, like in the old days, and displayed through a dirty old monitor effect. Also, Gryzor87 composed the music emulating the Yamaha YM2203 sound chip, so that the game has real arcade sound.

It pays homage to classic arcade games from 1985-1987 like Ghost'n'Goblins, Tiger Road, Black Tiger, Shinobi, Rygar, Karnov, Trojan and many others… taking influences from medieval paintings and places, and inspired by the best chivalry book ever: The Amadis of Gaul.

*The first that Master Nicholas put into his hand was The Four Books of Amadis of Gaul. "This seems a mysterious thing," said the curate, "for, as I have heard say, this was the first book of chivalry printed in Spain, and from this all the others derive their birth and origin; so it seems to me that we ought inexorably to condemn it to the flames as the founder of so vile a sect."

"Nay, sir," said the barber, "I too, have heard say that this is the best of all the books of this kind that have been written, and so, as something singular in its line, it ought to be pardoned."

"True," said the curate; "and for that reason let its life be spared for the present. Let us see that other which is next to it."

- The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

posted by ersatz (10 comments total)

Is it as hideously difficult as Ghosts'n Goblins? I guess I'll find out...
posted by Fortran at 1:21 PM on December 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Yes, quite frankly.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 2:00 PM on December 16, 2012

You had me at Rygar.
posted by Sailormom at 2:26 PM on December 16, 2012

Good place as any to share that I've been using shinobi! as my own personal cursing-without-cursing curse word for decades now.
posted by sourwookie at 2:28 PM on December 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

Also you should totally point out that it's made by Locamolito, the guys behind the excellent Hydorah amongst many other retro-style games.

I look forward to trying this out. I hope it's as good as Hydorah. I love my some G&G!
posted by symbioid at 3:32 PM on December 16, 2012

Windows only, alas.
posted by scruss at 3:54 PM on December 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

scruss: Me too :(
posted by aubilenon at 6:27 PM on December 16, 2012

Fun to see a hero with "For God and Castile!" as a battle cry.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:54 PM on December 16, 2012

Does it have moor-killing? No good Spanish folklore without moor-killing.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 1:11 AM on December 17, 2012

After nearly four years, Sue Burke's online translation of Amadis of Gaul has reached Chapter 61 (in which "a giant damsel arrives from the sea and asks the King, in front of the Queen and his court, to have Amadis fight with Ardan Canileo").
posted by Iridic at 8:30 AM on December 17, 2012