One way to gauge how much of an old-school Mac gamer you are is whether or not you remember Dark Castle. It’s a platform-jumping action game from the days of yore that played on Apple’s ancient black and white classic Macs; the game first appeared back in the mid-80’s. Now, shareware developers Z Sculpt Entertainment have released a new demo of Return to Dark Castle, their sequel of the legendary Mac game.
Z Sculpt Entertainment describes themselves as “yer average garage programmers from Idaho” and two guys who love the Mac. The company has two other games under their belt, as well: Retro, a “classic” style action game; and Meteor Storm, a top-down scroller. Other projects in development include a networked game, OpenGL support, and developing OS X compatibility for their titles. Both games are distributed as shareware.
Even if you’re not familiar with the original games, Return to Dark Castle is worth checking out. Return to Dark Castle puts players back in the role of an errant hero exploring a dark castle (hence the name) populated by all manner of beasties and terrible foes. Players must scale heights and avoid pitfalls as they make their way through the castle, occasionally picking up weapons and other goodies along the way.
Positioned as the sequel to Dark Castle and Beyond Dark Castle, Return to Dark Castle has been in development for about four years, according to Z Sculpt. The game will feature all levels from the original two games, remastered in full color, and will also feature “dozens upon dozens” of new levels, too.
The public beta version of the Return to Dark Castle demo is available for download from Macgamefiles.com. System requirements call for a color-capable Mac. Some features have not been implemented in the demo; you cannot lose lives, for example, and scoring isn’t in yet, either. Some levels are missing items or monsters, also — those will be in the next release, say the developers.
More info || Download Return to Dark Castle demo beta 1 [Link]