Castelian

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a game by Triffix
Genre: Arcade Classics
Platforms: NESNES, GameBoy
Editor Rating: 8.1/10, based on 6 reviews, 7 reviews are shown
User Rating: 8.0/10 - 3 votes
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See also: 2D Platformer Games, Side Scroller Games
Castelian
Castelian
Castelian
Castelian

Jemmerville was just another quiet island on the planet Centrus in the Triangulum galaxy. That was, of course, until 7 alien towers surrounded the island. If one more tower plants itself, the gemmining island is certainly doomed. It's your job as Julius to climb each tower and topple them. You can grab gems along the way to increase your score, as well as shoot or avoid l-balls, metafili's and other baddies!

People say:

5.0

Castelian sports an excellent graphic effect with a rotating column of bricks. But after you've played the game for awhile, the effect wears off and the game play isn't that spectacular. It is innovative, and as an action/puzzler, it offers more than the rest. Originality is its saving grace.

4.0

There isn't a lot of game in Castelian. It starts out as a different type of action cart, but quickly becomes repetitive. The difference between each tower that you climb is neglible, and since there is plenty of challenge, you end up doing the same level over and over. Boring.

4.0

There s not much that you can really say is very good about Castelian, except the turning, scrolling tower effect. Other than that, there isn't enough of a thread demanding play techniques to overcome the challenges. Make it to the top and other tower awaits. Big deal.

4.0

This game was O.K., I really liked the way the towers rotated when you enter them and the creatures moved without stagger. Sound was about what you would expect from the NES. It was a little disorientating at first, but once I got the hang of it, I enjoyed the game.

Download Castelian

NES

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • P-200, 32 MB RAM
Gameboy

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

  • Manufacturer: TRIFFIX
  • Machine: Nintendo Entertainment System

Castelian is yet another game that may be familiar to those of you that have a computer as well as an NES. The name Tower Toppler may be more recognizable, that's how it has appeared on the Atari ST, Amiga and possibly other systems as well. If you have seen Tower Toppler before, there are a few differences between it and Castelian; if you haven't seen it, then listen up gamers!

Castelian and two suns both revolve around a planet known as Centrus, where summer lasts the whole year. Our friend Julius on the island nation of Jammerville has been awakened to learn that seven alien towers have surrounded the island, cutting off the export of Jammerville's chief products: centrubies, diamonds and sapphires.

If one more tower appears, the island will be completely enclosed, and everyone will be trapped. Our friend Julius has been charged with the task of toppling these alien towers to save the island from being cut off.

To take out each tower, Julius must make his way around the ramparts, along ledges that are protruding from the outer walls. Along the way, lifts and passageways that pass into and directly back out of the tower must be navigated in the quest to reach the top. Only when the top has been reached safely can Julius proceed to topple the tower.

There is more to this job than climbing however. Some of the steps are set up so that gravity will pull him down to the bottom if he doesn't keep moving. Other steps are weak and may crumble, plunging Julius to the level below - if there is one! If there is, Julius may simply climb back up, though the time lost may prove critical. If there isn't a ledge below...well, our friend can't swim and will perish if he hits the water below each tower.

Some areas have gaps in the pathways where Julius must jump and hope for the best. Sometimes there are obstacles blocking the way; however, Julius has brought along his carbonobombs, which can be used to blast his pathway clear of some, though not all of them. Unfortunately, there are several alien critters that populate the pathways; some of which may be destroyed or possibly stunned, while others will pay no heed at all to the carbonobombs lobbed their way.

Time is a big factor. Julius has a set limit for reaching the tower's peak and detonating his Destructo Bomb. If the time runs out, Julius goes bye-bye. He begins the game with three lives, with extras awarded depending upon which of the two possible difficulty levels are in effect.

In the novice skill level, extra lives are awarded at every 5, 000 points, but in the expert level it's double that. Also, though the time counter reads the same, the timer and aliens both move a bit quicker.

After a tower has been knocked to the ground, Julius gets to take a small break in the bonus round. Here, he travels along a pathway, gathering as many jewels as possible while avoiding pitfalls or the occasional alien that swings by. If Julius makes it to a clock tower, he can collect bonus points for the jewels collected. If not, it's off to the next tower and better luck next time!

While there is certainly a little bit of action involved, Castelian really depends more upon puzzle-solving ability and good coordination for success. Each tower has its own little tricks and strategies to be mastered before the tower can fall. Once the tricks are known, it's a game of beating the clock. Either one or two players may participate. Continues are limited, so don't expect to just push your way through the towers; finesse will prove more rewarding.

Visually, mediocre is a fair term, as there isn't anything flashy about the land of Jammerville. I personally couldn't really get into this game, though I did play halfway through it to try and be fair about it. Sound effects are very limited: other than the opening music, there isn't much there. If you are familiar with Tower Toppler and you liked it, Castelian is a faithful reproduction with an addition of bonus rounds to give it some freshness. Give it a try before making any investments.

Are You Game Enough To Take On The Towers?

Eight colossal towers that almost crack the sky! You and Julius - the Anurian Hybrid - are charged with the task of collapsing the alien towers. As Julius climbs and leaps across the face of each tower, he is confronted by potent and very deadly adversaries. Their mere touch will cost you your life! Yet, somehow, you must reach the tower's top in order to detonate your powerful D-Bombs.

Your courage, skill and determination will guide you to the summit of Castelian.

Like the version for the NES, Castelian for the GameBoy features the same tower climbing and alien conquering game play. Scale the tower walls while looking out for alien beings trying to bump you off, literally!

In Castelian, you are a cross between a pig and a mouse. Your maze is actually a castle tower full of pitfalls, enemies, and traps. Guide your character to the top, and you'll be rewarded with a colorful bonus wave where you collect jewels for points!

You can jump and fire, but not much else. Only by using strategy and agility can you scale the walls of the towers. Take care, however, a spinning jack will appear to wipe you off your ledge if you stall for too long. Keep moving!!

Your main obstacles are objects that move methodically back and forth. These require you to time your movements and avoid certain areas. Another problem is getting trapped. Not all paths are correct! Since time isn't on your side, it's hard to recover from a mistake.

Some things always seem to come in the middle of the night - wrong numbers, babies, alien invasions. Of course, to the good citizens of Jemmerville, an alien invasion seemed only a matter of time. The wealth of their tiny island nation was the talk not only of the rest of the planet Centrus, but also of the entire Triangulum galaxy.

So it wasn't much of a surprise when your boss, the president of Domoloco and Sons, called you with the news that aliens were surrounding Jemmerville with a series of towers. Seven of the structures were already built, and when the eighth was finished, Jemmerville and all its riches would belong to the aliens. And that's where you, Julius, come in.

It's up to you to scale each tower and demolish it with a well-placed Destructo Bomb. Getting to the top won't be easy, however. The towers have an ingeniously designed system of platforms, passages, and elevators that spell certain death for the unwary. And not only that, but the towers also swarm with various guard machines, such as I-Balls and Hexalons, which make climbing a veritable nightmare.

You a re equipped with Carbon-obombs, which can destroy or stun some of the guards, but your most effective defense is good timing. Knowing when to jump on a platform or duck into a doorway is essential to survival. Even then, Castel-ian can be a mighty frustrating game to play. While the action can hardly be called blazing, it is nonstop and very unnerving, even for experienced players.

If you do manage to make it to the top of a tower in one piece before time runs out, you'll visit a bonus round. This lets you pick up extra points, in addition to the points you earned on the tower by eluding the guards. You can trade these points for extra lives, and considering the ample opportunities for getting snuffed in this game, it's a very necessary feature.

Castelian - a close translation of a British computer game called Tower Toppler - isn't for anyone with a short fuse. But the graphics are quite cute, and the rotating towers give the game a unique look. If you make it to the top of the final tower, you'll feel that you've really accomplished something.

It was Shakespeare who wrote: "A rose, by any other name, smells just as sweet." That sentiment can be applied to this game, as in (with apologies to the Bard) " Tower Toppler, by any other name, plays just as neat." I had no idea what Castelian was when I first plugged this cartridge into my Game Boy, but I was surprised to find myself looking at a familiar face and hearing a familiar tune. Name change aside, this is a Game Boy translation of the computer game Tower Toppler. Just why the name has been changed is a mystery (probably related to legal issues of copyright and trademark) and regrettable because Castelian is an unwieldy title that really says nothing about the game. The name Tower Toppler, on the other hand explains what this game is about: toppling towers.

Then again, even that description is imprecise. In the game you control a little creature--pig-nosed, with bug eyes and a round little body held up by two legs (sorry, no arms)--who must scale a series of towers, trying to reach the summit of each before a timer runs out. When he reaches the top, the tower is destroyed, and it's on to the next tower, pausing for a bonus stage on the way.

Scaling the towers is done by navigating a series of platforms that circle the structures. Your on-screen alter ego walks, jumps and rides elevators in his quest, evading and (sometimes) destroying opponents along the way. Any contact with an opponent causes your creature to get bumped off of the current platform and fall until he either lands on another platform or plunges into the sea. Getting knocked to another platform costs precious time; plunging into the surf costs a life. Opponents can be dealt with in a number of ways. Some types can be blasted to atoms, others can be frozen by your shots and others must simply be avoided altogether. Getting past such indestructible baddies can involve running past them, jumping over them or ducking into a tower tunnel (which brings you out on the other side of the tower).

The music in the game is good. The graphics are pretty good and detailed, but more impressive is how they move. As you walk around the (round) towers, the picture rotates, as if the towers were really 3-D. This means that you can be totally unaware of what's just around the bend. It's a nice affect that gives the game a unique look.

More an action-puzzle game than a pure arcade contest, Castelian is one title that will definitely get more than an average amount of play on my Game Boy.

Snapshots and Media

NES/Famicom/Dendy Screenshots

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