In The Castle, players traverse the titular castle as Prince Rafael in order to rescue the imprisoned Princess Magarita. Along the way, he must navigate around a series of dangerous puzzles in order to progress through each of the 100 rooms, all of which are connected in a 10×10 grid with different-colored doors (each consuming a key of the same color).The game is known as a predecessor of the "Metroidvania" sub-genre of platformers, as the game focuses on exploration of a large 2D open world where backtracking is often necessary. In addition, it features a limited-use game saving mechanic (which consumes one of the prince's lives) and some versions allow the player to hasten up the game speed at-will.Ports of the game by Keisuke Iwakura were later released for NEC PC-9801 and NEC PC-8801 computers on July 1985, for MSX computers on April 1986, and for NEC PC-6001 mkII computers in 1987. It was also ported by Sega for their SG-1000 console on September 1986.The game received a sequel in late 1985, titled Castle Excellent. Although the core gameplay remains the same, it includes a new set of 100 rooms more challenging than the original. Its NES version received an overseas release (as Castlequest).
