Line #12 VideoGame/DarkCastle


1	[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DarkCastle_7239.gif]]
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3	A trilogy of {{Platform Game}}s for the Platform/AppleMacintosh. The original in particular has been ported to everything from [[Platform/{{Commodore64}} Commodores]] to Cell Phones.
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5	* ''Dark Castle'' (1986)
6	* ''Beyond Dark Castle'' (1987)
7	* ''Return to Dark Castle'' (2008)
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9	----
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11	!!These games contain examples of:
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13	* AirborneMooks: Bats, vultures, and mosquitoes, among others.
14	* TheAlcoholic: The Black Knight. He has a conveyor belt of what are clearly mugs of beer set up next to his throne, and chugging them then flinging the empty mug at you is his only form of attack.
15	* AnachronismStew:
16	** Wizards, dragons and [[WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}} self-pushing brooms]] share the castle with lasers, conveyor belts, and iMacs.
17	** In the original version, there's graffiti in one of the rooms that say "Alaric was Here" and "Huns Rule". In the Genesis version, it's "''Saddam'' was Here" and "''Gamers'' Rule". Huh?
18	* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: [[spoiler:At the end of the second game, after returning to the Scores of Merit screen, Duncan is turned into the new BlackKnight.]]
19	* AnimatedArmor: [[spoiler:The Black Knight is actually a haunted suit of armor. If it is destroyed, the dismantled pieces will try to possess someone and reform the suit]].
20	* AnvilOnHead: [[spoiler:One keyring]] will free you, the other is booby-trapped with a 16-ton weight.
21	* BlackKnight: The BigBad.
22	* BookcasePassage: A fireplace, activated by tugging on a wall-mounted torch.
23	* CartoonBomb: One of the additions in ''Beyond Dark Castle''.
24	* ClockTower: One of the areas from ''Beyond Dark Castle''. There is another tower you climb in the original, but no clocks to be found.
25	* ComputerEqualsTapedrive: The mainframe in the Computer Room... although there's a 9" Mac just a few feet away.
26	* ConvectionSchmonvection :In ''Color Dark Castle'', the water was replaced with lava that will not kill you unless you fall into it.
27	* CriticalAnnoyance: Your heartbeat becomes audible and accelerates as you near death in the games with health meters.
28	* DeflectorShields: Subverted; [[spoiler:the Shield power actually makes you briefly immaterial.]]
29	* DifficultyLevels: Four of them in the original.
30	* EmbeddedPrecursor: ''Return to Dark Castle'' consists of three areas which you can visit in any order; two are remastered versions of the original games (and the third is larger than both put together).
31	* EpicFlail: How you get past the Whip Henchman in Trouble III of the original. The sequels let you keep it or any other melee weapon you pick up instead of just dropping it, though you can only keep one melee weapon at a time.
32	* FacelessEye: Huge floating eyeballs that hurl fire or weep acid...
33	* {{Fireballs}}: Once Merlin enchants your rocks to make fireballs, it's a flaming death for the mooks standing in your way.
34	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: "SADDAM WAS HERE"
35	* GainaxEnding: ''Beyond Dark Castle.'' Cleared up in the next sequel - which came out 19 years later.
36	* GravityIsAHarshMistress: Step off a ledge, and Duncan'll pause to look down before plummeting.
37	* HedgeMaze: An area introduced in ''Return to Dark Castle''.
38	* HolidayMode: Stockings adorn the fireplace, and a Christmas tree supplants a decorative suit of armor.
39	* HyperactiveMetabolism: In the sequels, health depletes fairly quickly, leaving you only a few minutes in each area before you collapse. The way to restore your health is by picking up small bundles of food scattered around the levels.
40	* JetPack: More like a ''helicopter'' pack.
41	* KillItWithFire: Your only weapons are the rocks you throw, but with a powerup, they become fireballs.
42	* LifeMeter: Takes the place of the level timer starting in ''Beyond Dark Castle''.
43	* LightningCanDoAnything: [[spoiler:Hold the Shield up to a thundercloud to be imbued with its magic.]]
44	* TheMaze: Featured in ''Beyond'' and ''Return''.
45	* MouseHole: Ubiquitous, and complete with cute little brick arches. Disgorge plague-bearing rats.
46	* NonLethalBottomlessPits: Falling into one from anywhere in the castle will send you to the dungeon to fight your way out.
47	* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Oh so averted. Falls in the third game are deadlier than in real life.
48	* OneHitPointWonder: Duncan, but only in the first game.
49	* OrcusOnHisThrone: The Black Knight.
50	* OurGargoylesRock: And are immune to rocks.
51	* PlotCoupon: The Orbs.
52	* PoisonMushroom: White potions with black labels teleport you. Black potions with white labels kill you. Got that?
53	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The first game uses Bach's ''Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor'', and that's the only song that sounds in the whole game.
54	* {{Pun}}: Your quest is, literally, to topple the Black Knight's throne.
55	* SaveGameLimits: In ''Beyond Dark Castle'', you can only save from the Computer Room (with its five sets of matched SAVE and RESTORE levers).
56	* ScoringPoints: Each enemy has a specific point value, and the original has a bonus timer for each level.
57	* SecretLevel: Only found in ''Return to Dark Castle''. Could also be found in some of the pre-Mac OS X alpha builds by changing certain resource [=IDs=] around.
58	* SequenceBreaking: The infamous UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis port can be won in less than a minute by heading directly towards the Black Knight. While helpful, the Shield and Fireball aren't required to complete the game.
59	* ShovelStrike: Among the weapons introduced in ''Beyond Dark Castle''.
60	* SpikesOfDoom: Extend and retract in an automatic cycle.
61	* SuperDrowningSkills: Falling into the water in the "Fireball" levels of the first game will kill you...
62	* StaircaseTumble: If you don't climb down stairs correctly, you fall. This includes a single-step staircase.
63	* TemporaryPlatform: Some platforms extend and retract in an automatic cycle.
64	* ThrowABarrelAtIt: The Brewery Henchman. The Boulder Henchmen from the original are also using this concept, even though they're not using actual barrels.
65	* TortureCellar: The Trouble area.
66	* UrExample: The original ''Dark Castle'' was the first commercially published game to use the WASD+mouse control scheme.
67	* VideoGameRemake: ''Color Dark Castle'': A remake of the original with enhanced graphics made to celebrate Delta Tao's acquisition of the series.
68	* WeaksauceWeakness: Duncan and Bryant can die from ''falling down the stairs''.
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Context VideoGame / DarkCastle