This manual was last updated on January 2nd, 2021. Check for revisions at the above url. 3. Contents 6. Boot menu. 7. Beta version. 8. Promotional video. 9. Full game. 11. Main menu. 13. Options menu. ... -AUTO MANUAL: Although the camera is automatically rotated, players can also manually
This manual was last updated on January 2nd, 2021. Check for revisions at the above url. 3. Contents 6. Boot menu. 7. Beta version. 8. Promotional video. 9. Full game.
RPG NTSC-J Magic Castle 1998, 2020 KAIGA For more info about the game and its development, you can read an interview with its creators at http://netyaroze-europe.com/magiccastle This manual was last updated on January 2nd, 2021. Check for revisions at the above url. 3 Contents 6. Boot menu. 7. Beta version. 8. Promotional video. 9. Full game. 11. Main menu. 13. Options menu. 17. Character selection. 18. Controls. 21. Equipment menu. 23. Heads-up display. 24. Treasure chests. 25. Fountain of wishes. 26. Non-playable characters. 27. Ivy. 28. Booby traps. 29. Keys. 30. Coins. 4 31. Experience 32. Characters 33. Knight. 37. Wizard. 40. Fighter. 43. Archer. 46. Fairy. 47. Common items. 51. Enemies. 54. Ending stats. 55. Unlockables 58. Tips and tricks. 61. Credits. 5 Boot Menu Press up or down on the directional pad to select an option and left or right to change the selected value. Highlight START and press to launch the desired feature. Once the game is loaded, you can return to the boot menu pressing SELECT+START. 6 Beta version This version has been built from the original untouched source as it was left in 1998. It lacks many features later included in the final build but the controls are basically the same except for the right analog stick and the L3 and R3 buttons which have no use. The only menu available is the character selection screen which can be triggered by pressing SELECT+L2+R2 at any time. 7 Promotional video This is the video with game footage that was sent to different videogame companies when trying to reach a deal for producing and distributing the finished product. It is based on an even earlier beta version than the one featured on the disc. The video loops endlessly and you must reset your console/emulator to load the boot menu again. A better quality version is available online at https://youtu.be/9PhHFm9kjuc 8 Full Game There is a treasure hidden inside the Magic Castle. An evil warlock has been hoarding stolen wealth and turning coins into an army of monsters. These creatures return to their inanimated original self after being defeated. Many adventurers, eager to find the treasure, have previously attempted to raid the castle but no one has ever come back from such a perilous journey. It is said four brave raiders joined forces against this common enemy and sneaked into the castle decided to put an end to this constant threat. But that was two decades ago. Now it's up to you to decide which was their destiny. 9 Your main goal is to find and defeat the castle master. The castle has endless floors and its layout changes every time you start a new game. Some characters, both allies and enemies, will always be roaming in the same floor, but others can only be randomly found beyond a certain floor number. Along your way you may face additional challenges. The completion of these optional tasks will get you a better rank in the end. There are 4 main side quests and 4 secret ones. While you're at it, get all the coins you can. That's one of the reasons you're raiding the castle. 10 Main menu Use the directional pad to move the cursor through the different options. Press to confirm your selection and to go back to the previous screen. 11 - New game: Start a regular game. - Training: The training mode is based on the same concept demo from the promotional video. Additional controls are as follows: -SELECT: Skip to next section. -L1+R1: Return to main menu. - Options: Change different game settings and save or load your preferences. - Unlockables: Start a new bonus game if it has been previously unlocked. 12 Options menu Press left or right on the directional pad to switch between the different values. - Memory card: From this screen you can load and save your personal settings and unlocked mini games. In case you get an error message when accesing the memory card, check if it's properly inserted, it's correctly formatted and there's at least one block available for saving your game. - Scoreboard: Your best scores are stored here. You can check which game modes have not been completed yet for unlocking new bonus games. 13 - Sound options: Here you can enable or disable sound effects and background music. In training mode, music will play even if the BGM option is OFF because it is required for showcasing the dynamic transition between music tracks. - Game options: - Screen Adjust: In case you are playing the old way in a classic CRT TV, the screen borders may be uncentered. Use the directional pad to move the display area and press START to confirm or SELECT to restore the default settings. 14 - Camera: Select camera behaviour. Available options are: -AUTO: Camera automatically rotates when needed. -MANUAL: Right analog stick controls the camera. -AUTO+MANUAL: Although the camera is automatically rotated, players can also manually control it with the right analog stick. - Difficulty: Switch between NORMAL and HARD. In HARD mode, enemies respawn after being defeated. To prevent quick experience raising, respawned enemies provide only one experience point (Sorry, but HARD mode is meant to be hard). 15 - Fairy: The fairy provides a bird view when a playable character jumps and hits her with his or her head from below, but she may sometimes get on your way and shorten your jump, so you can optionally disable her. - Quick turn: When turned off, characters rotate up to180 degrees before facing the different direction you want them to walk. Turning it on supresses this animation making them less vulnerable as they switch directions with one tap of the directional pad, but you lose accuracy when performing long distance attacks. - Tag style: Choose one of the four available sets for marking which character belongs to each player. 16 Character selection In this version, only two simultaneous players are allowed. The pad plugged to port one controls players 1 and 3. Players 2 and 4 are controlled with the second pad. Press START to confirm your selection and begin the game. 17 Controls These are the common controls for all characters. - Directional pad or left analog stick: Move your character and the cursor in equipment menu and shops. - : Jump or close equipment menu. - : Attack and interact with environment or other characters. - : Special ability and accept in menus. 18 - : Use selected item. - L1 and R1: Rotate selected item. Rotate camera when in bird view mode. - L2 and R2: Unequip weapons and accessories or drop unequipped items. - SELECT: Enable and disable player tags. -START: Bring up player status and equipment menu. 19 - Right analog stick: Left and right rotate the camera. Press up for bird view camera and down to return to normal view. - L3: Bring up statistics. Press left and right to switch between screens. This option is useful for keeping track of objectives already cleared. - R3: Switch between master and slave when controlling two characters with the same pad. - SELECT+L2+R2: Exit current game and return to main menu. 20 Equipment menu This screen displays the character's status. The following attributes are measured here: - LV: Player level. - HP: Current and maximum health points. - SP: Current and maximum soul points (magic). 21 - AT: Attack strenght. - DF: Defensive power. - EX: Experience points. - $: Collected money. Players can wear up to 5 accesories. A minimum of one weapon and armor are required. Press up and down to select a cell and left and right to switch between available items. On horizontal menus up/down and left/right functions are switched. Press to unequip an item. 22 Heads-up display Every player has an individual HUD providing general stats, like class (the medal with a kanji), health and magic points and selected item. Player 1 can relocate HUDs bringing up the equipment menu and pressing START again. Use the directional pad to move the HUD around the screen and press START or to fix it in that position. 23 Treasure chests Walk beside a treasure chest and it will automatically open itself releasing its contents. In case a treasure box remains closed, a key may be required to unlock it. Also, be careful, some treasure chests contain bats inside them. 24 Fountain of wishes This is not your average tourist attraction where people throw coins and make wishes. This one actually works. Press to go shopping. Confirm your selection pressing . No refunds. Like in actual vending machines, items may sometimes get stuck in unreachable corners. There must be a magic item somewhere for fixing these situations. 25 Non-playable characters Along your way, you will meet other allies who need your help. Walk closely and press to talk to them. Step back and press L2 or R2 to give them the selected item. It has to land right on them. If they want it, they'll accept it and will become more talkative. After they have been assisted, they will provide hints and trade more items with you. 26 Ivy Sometimes, your jump is not enough to reach high areas. In these cases, ivies grow right beside the wall. Walk and jump towards them to get a grip. Use the directional pad to move up and down and to rotate your character. Press to release the ivy and jump. 27 Booby traps Watch your step. Hidden traps, like geysers and flames, are triggered as you walk on them. They don't cause any damage but your character will get stunned and become vulnerable for a moment. Same happens if you fall from heights. For a quick recovery, repeatedly tap , , , or . Watch out for haunted pianos. 28 Keys The golden key takes you to the next floor after hitting it. To obtain it, you must first find and defeat the enemy who is carrying it. Tougher enemies are more likely to be holding it. If there is no boss on that floor, any regular random enemy could be hiding it. In some floors you will find cursed silver, bronze and platinum keys. To break the incantation, the creature who cast the spell must be destroyed. 29 Coins Coins can be found in several places around the castle and their color determine their value. Silver: x1 Gold: x2 Platinum: x3 They can be traded for items in the fountain of wishes and they also represent your score at the end of the game. 30 Experience. Every time an enemy is destroyed the player who defeated it is awarded with experience points. After earning enough experience, the player's level raises. By doing so, your attack and defense power are increased too as well as your maximum health and soul points. The highest level a player can reach is 20. 31 Characters. Each character class has its own weapons and accesories. Even though every character can carry each other's items, only the ones designed for its class can be equipped. Items exclusive to a specific character class are tagged under the item's name in the equipment menu. In case an item also provides an extra ability when worn, it will be advertised too. 32 . Knight ( ): Although his homeland has not yet been attacked by the creatures of the Magic Castle, he knows it's just a matter of time. Neighbouring areas have already suffered their nuisance and he does not want to put his people in jeopardy. Wearing a heavy armor, he's a slow character and lacks long distance attacks. However, he has a wider variety of weapons than other characters and can be very powerful in short distance fights. With the proper equipment he can promote to Holy Knight ( ). 33 Knight gear and accesories: - Armor: Basic armor. - Fire Armor: Provides stronger defense. - Chain mail: His strongest armor. - Copper sword: Initial weapon. - Dash sword: Hold down for one second and release it to perform a quick and strong attack. You can also do it while jumping. Hold down , press and release . 34 - Kabutowari: Also known as the helmet- splitter. Jump and hold down for stabbing enemies. - Light blade: Provides abilities from both the dash sword and the kabutowari. It is also very lightweight and faster than any other sword. - Heavy metal: This is the strongest sword, but it adds no special ability. - Warrior boots: Player does not get stunned when falling from heights. Press three times for triple jumping. They also increase walking speed. - Iron shield: Press to block frontal attacks. 35 - Red shield: Same as the regular shield but provides more protection. 36 Wizard ( ): Being the youngest of her coven, she's not taken seriously by her fellow witches. So she has decided to risk her life gathering magic artifacts to increase her powers and perhaps even dispatch the evil warlock and conquer the Magic Castle. That would certainly prove she's no apprentice anymore. The wizard starts being the weakest character, but with her strongest weapon and accesories she becomes the most powerful of all. Get her best gear to promote her to Monk ( ). 37 Wizard gear and accesories: - Wizard tunic: Her basic armor. - Holy tunic: Provides stronger defense. - Magic tunic: Her strongest armor. - Wooden rod: lights a small fire in front of the character. - Magic rod: Same ability as wooden rod. Also, press twice to fly. Hold down to fly faster. Tap to fly higher. Flying higher consumes magic points. Press to stop flying. 38 - Flying rod. Same abilities as magic rod and more. The tip of the rod hurts enemies while flying. When not flying, shoots a row of big flames instead of just one small flame. - Witch boots: Player wearing them walks faster. 39 Fighter ( ): The fighter has seen many loved ones daring to go into the Magic Castle only to never return. After training hard, he feels confident enough about his chances of succeeding on beating the warlock and his minions. By doing so, no more lives will be lost trying to get fame and fortune. He is the fastest and strongest character and also the most versatile. He's deadly in short distance fights and with a better equipment he can use enemies as throwing weapons. Find the best accesories to become a Ninja( ). 40 Fighter gear and accesories: - Tracksuit: Initial apparel. - Kenpogi: Enhances defense. - Black belt: Even better defense. - Iron bracelet: Initial accesory. - Power bracelet: Press to grab an enemy. Press to throw him vertically. Press to throw the enemy in front of the character. Hold down or to throw him farther. 41 - Muscle ring: Same ability as power bracelet, but you can walk faster and jump while carrying enemies. - Fighting boots: Player does not get stunned when falling from heights. Bounce on walls holding a direction button and pressing twice near a wall. In narrow rooms you can bounce unlimited times. Bounce on enemies by jumping and pressing right after landing on them. 42 Archer ( ): After her village was robbed by the creatures from the Magic Castle, she had no option but to fight back and try to retrieve all the goods that were stolen from her folks. And perhaps she may take an extra tip for all the trouble caused. She is the only character with a long distance attack right from the start. This is a clear advantage over other characters. Although the Archer has less special abilities than her allies, she can still promote to Thief ( ). 43 Archer gear and accesories: - Hunting clothes: Basic attire. - Logger outfit: Stronger defense. - Hunter suit: Her best clothes. - Short bow: shoots vertically. Hold down or to shoot farther. - Long bow: Hold down or , release it and quickly tap the same button to repeatedly shoot arrows. 44 - Magic bow: Arrows go through enemies. One single shot can harm every enemy it encounters in its way. - Hunter boots: Player does not get stunned when falling from heights and also jumps higher. 45 Fairy: The fairy watched in despair as a big bat swallowed three fellow fairies and then headed towards the Magic Castle. It may not be too late for rescuing them so she has joined the four adventurers to provide them her assistance. A bird view camera can be triggered by headbutting the fairy. Place your character under her using her shadow as a reference and press . Use L1 and R1 or the right analog stick to rotate the camera while in bird view mode. If she gets hit by an enemy, don't worry, she won't die. 46 Common items. These items can be found inside treasure chests and any character can use them. Some of them are also available at fountains of wishes. Press L1 or R1 to rotate your inventory. Press to use or wear an item and L2 or R2 to unequip it. - Ring of life: Automatically trades soul points for health points when needed. - Ring of fire: Adds fire effect to regular attacks. The witch can also shoot fire while flying by pressing . - Ring of power: Player wearing it is invincible while soul points last. 47 - Mini HP potion: Restores 15 health points. - HP Potion: Restores your entire health bar. - Mini SP potion: Restores 15 soul points. - SP potion: Restores your entire soul bar. - Mini HS potion: Restores both 15 health and soul points. - HS potion: Restores both your entire health and soul bars. - Thunder scroll: Causes 50 damage points to all surrounding enemies. 48 - Drain scroll: Drains 3 health points from all surrounding enemies and adds them to your health bar. - Fire scroll: Sets the room on fire. Don't worry, magic flames won't hurt you. - Geyser scroll: Causes 25 damage points to all surrounding enemies. - Warp scroll: Takes you to a secret location. Use it wisely at your own risk. - Surprise bag: It usually contains a few coins, but be careful, some bats may have slipped inside the bag. 49 - Ghost trap: The only way to get rid of annoying ghosts is using one of these. Drop it and lure the ghost to the trap. Only one ghost per trap. - Lucky charm: Its carrier has an extra life. It is automatically used when a player dies. Additional items: Some extra items can only be obtained by defeating certain enemies or by trading with non-playable characters. There are no useless items. Some items have to be thrown onto something to activate them or to turn them into a different artifact. 50 Enemies. Enemies come in different color and sizes. Do not understimate small enemies. In hard difficulty respawned enemies are a different color. These enemies give only one experience point. - Rats: They may be weak, but a room filled with them will put you in a difficult situation. Females are more aggressive than males and some people think there is a rat hierarchy. - Slimes: Some of these creatures are barely a threat, but others can jump and split into smaller ones. Floating slimes carry rare and exclusive items. 51 - Bats: These winged enemies usually attack in groups. They unexpectedly come out of treasure chests and surprise bags. If you stay too long in the same floor, a small red bat will be released to make things a bit harder. - Skeletons: These unfriendly guys will relentlessly go after you no matter what. - Ghost skeleton: Ghosts can only be found in dark rooms. The dim light and slow music is a warning of their presence. Regular weapons and spells won't work against them. If you think you have outrunned a ghost, be careful, it may materialize before you in a blink. A ghost trap is required to get rid of them. 52 - Golems: Make sure you're strong enough before engaging in a fight against golems. They can empty your life bar with a couple of their powerful punches. - Knights: As you ascend to higher floors, encounters with these guards will be more frequent. They are usually holding the key, so fighting them is inevitable in most cases. One of these knights might be the castle master. ? - Doppelgängers: In higher floors, under certain circumstances you may face dark versions of yourself and your allies. 53 Ending stats. After beating the game, you will be presented with a screen summarizing your statistics and cleared objectives. In case there is more than one player, the one who has collected more coins will be declared the winner. If two players have the same amount of coins, the first player will beat the other. Unlocked game modes will be notified after the staff roll and if you obtain a better score than the one previously stored in the memory card you will be prompted to update your data. 54 Unlockables. Unlockables consist on a series of short missions with a time limit. In these game modes enemies don't carry the key, it is roaming free in a random room. - Escape the blaze: Reach floor 20 in less than 5 minutes. How to unlock: Beat the game in normal difficulty playing as the knight. - Raid at night: Collect 50 coins in less than 5 minutes. How to unlock: Beat the game in normal difficulty playing as the wizard. 55 - Treasure hunt: Find the treasure and get out of the chamber in less than 10 minutes. How to unlock: Beat the game in normal difficulty playing as the fighter. - Black knight: Playing as a black knight you must defeat the good knight at floor 8 in less than 12 minutes. This game mode is for one player only, but maybe there's a way another black knight can help you on your quest. How to unlock: Beat the game in normal difficulty playing as the archer. 56 - Cursed: Defeat 100 skeletons in less than 5 minutes without leaving the room. How to unlock: Beat the game in hard difficulty with any character. - Friendly deathmatch: Fight against other human players. How to unlock: Beat all the other unlockable games. 57 Tips and tricks. - The warp scroll comes in handy when you're outnumbered by stronger enemies. Use it as an escape route. - Golems won't attack unless provoked. You can walk right by their side without upsetting them. - When quick-turn is disabled you can switch directions faster by tracing a semicircle in the directional pad or left analog stick like this instead of just pressing the opposite direction. - Remember the castle has endless floors. If you can't find what you're looking for, keep going up. Also, if you have skipped an important place, you have a second chance. There is a way to go back to the starting point. 58 - Experience determines your strength and defense. Even if you find the key to the next floor, you can still explore the remaining rooms in search for more enemies to strengthen your character. You'll regret facing a black knight if your experience level is too low. - Some characters, like golems and knights, will also attack other enemies. It may be helpful but you won't get any experience points from this. - In hard difficulty, you can use respawning enemies to your own advantage. Casting a fire spell in a small room filled with rats or slimes will quickly provide you a large reserve of potions and you'll easily get plenty of money to spend on fountains of wishes. - The strongest weapon is not always the best choice. 59 - If an enemy seems to be invincible, there is a chance it might be invincible. - After walking through a door your character is invincible for almost two seconds. This is made to prevent unfair deaths when colliding with an enemy at the other side. - While helping non-playable characters is not essential, it centainly provides valuable information. - Your storage capacity is limited. Do not hoard. If you can't pick up an item you'll have to choose which one you discard. - Before playing in hard difficulty it is recommended to become a master in witchcraft. Learn how to create your own spells and unveil the secrets of alchemy to extend your own life. 60 Credits. Magic Castle was created in 1998 by: Keiichi Matsunami (Planning, game design and graphics) https://twitter.com/SG_matsu Hiroyuki Itoh (Game design and program) https://twitter.com/PIROWO1 https://www.youtube.com/undeadseatbelters Tetsuya Kanatani (Program) 61 Soshi Hosoi (Sound) https://www.hosplug.com/ https://twitter.com/hosplug_hosoi https://www.youtube.com/hosplugsound In 2020, Magic Castle was reworked as suggested by its original developers. Additional help: Mike Garcia http://mgarcia.org/ https://www.youtube.com/MikeMGarcia Ed H. https://www.youtube.com/qobol 62 Special thanks to Matt Verran Your message in the NY Europe newsgroups explaining how to run executables from another NY program was very helpful to us. Many thanks to all players. 63 netyaroze-europe.com/magiccastleWriter LibreOffice 6.4