Maldita Castilla — 2012

Plot

It's said that a young witch was crying for her fallen love when an old demon heard her sorrow. Seduced by the beast promises, she turned her tears into a magic key. And so, with that key, demons were released all over our Kingdom of Castilla. The King Alfonso VI of León has gathered his loyal knights in a mission to finish the nightmare. Guide the valiant Don Ramiro through the cursed lands of Tolomera and fight demons and undead creatures for God and Castilla!

About

Maldita Castilla (Cursed/damn Castile) is an action platformer full of actual myths from Spain and some regions of the medieval Europe. The player must run, jump and throw weapons along 6 chapters, divided into sections filled with dangers and bosses. It takes the visual style of 80s arcades, with no more than raw pixel art and a dark palette displayed through a dirty old monitor. Gryzor87 has composed an epic and aventuresque soundtrack with the true arcade sound of the YM2203 chip.

Features

• Look and feel of an arcade game from 1985-1987.
• Places and creatures based on actual myths from Spain.
• The real FM sound of the YM2203 chip.
• 6 levels, 14 bosses and more than 40 unique enemies.
• 4 different endings that depend on merits and secrets.
• Around 50 minutes of game length (once fully mastered).

Influences

Medieval paintings, codex and places from the old Spain, specially from the Kingdom of Castile. The Amadis of Gaul, the best chivalry book ever. Arcade games from the mid 80s like Ghost n Goblins, Black Tiger, Tiger Road, Shinobi, Rygar, Karnov, Rastan, Trojan and others.

Stories

The game idea came during a weekend in Segovia. The project was almost abandoned because of a RSI that became a chronic problem. Maldita Castilla had a warm welcome in the arcade and speedrun communities. It won the 2013 HóPlay award for the best sound. Its main suite has been performed by the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra (PlayFest, 2014) and the Games&Symphonies orchestra (Valencia, 2016). Maldita Castilla EX, an arranged version of Maldita Castilla, was published for the big consoles in 2016 thanks to some circumstances and the collaboration of Abylight and YoYo Games.