One thing very mysterious is occurring with a sadly obscure however fondly remembered gem from the Famicom period. It was constructed on the identical sport engine as the unique Legend of Zelda, however not like Hyperlink who many years on stays on the vaunted heights of gaming’s all-time greats, the protagonist of this bygone basic by no means even acquired a correct worldwide launch in its day, by no means thoughts a sequel.
Spare a thought, then, for the lone samurai Takamaru.
To say that The Mysterious Murasame Citadel, initially launched in 1986 on the Famicom Disk System, nonetheless holds up nicely is an understatement. It presents up a number of the snappiest gameplay of the 8-bit period and has through the years been given quite a few nods by Nintendo themselves. The truth that it stays lacking in motion on the Swap is each baffling and a obtrusive missed alternative.
That’s significantly because the latest closure of the 3DS eShop eradicated the one technique of legally buying the sport with its first worldwide launch in 2014 through Digital Console. Aside from the proprietary floppy disks that ran on the Famicom’s Japan-exclusive {hardware} add-on, its solely different bodily launch got here when was ported to the Recreation Boy Advance in Japan in 2004.
Right this moment, Murasame Citadel is presently nowhere to be seen on the Nintendo Swap On-line service, neither within the West nor Japan, making the 36-year-old title extra elusive than ever. That may be a actual disgrace, particularly contemplating how revered it continues to be, with the likes of Hideki Kamiya and Suda51 each saying lately how they might like to do a contemporary reboot.
However what precisely makes this sport so compelling? Murasame Citadel is the end-product of the Zelda crew’s experimentation with including velocity to their sport engine. Although retaining a top-down angle, it eschews the puzzling and slower-paced exploration of Hyperlink’s maiden entry in favour of a extra linear, action-oriented expertise that, oddly sufficient, is usually in comparison with a bullet-hell shooter.
Set in Edo interval Japan, the expert swordsman Takamaru is named upon by the ruling shogunate after an extraterrestrial object falls out of the sky and possesses the massive stone statue of a creature generally known as Murasame, which makes use of its darkish affect to take management of the titular fortress whereas possessing the daimyos, or lords, of 4 different neighbouring castles.
Wielding a katana for shut quarters and an infinite provide of upgradable shuriken for ranged assaults, Takamaru should beat again wave after wave of ninjas, demons, and diverse baddies whereas infiltrating every of the 5 castles. With seemingly all the things that strikes making an attempt to kill you, a medley of fantastically catchy themes from legendary composer Koji Kondo ties it collectively superbly.
Like many video games of the period, Murasame Citadel is troublesome – particularly so in its latter half. Although it is usually truthful and surmountable, with a checkpoint system at the beginning or mid-point of every respective stage. It’s solely a sport of ability, with progress relying on the participant’s prowess in weaving via chaotic battles and grabbing power-ups for simpler killing blows.
Takamaru can parry most incoming projectiles whereas shelling out fireballs, casting lightning bolts, and harnessing invisibility. Every fortress brings progressively tougher foes and frantic battles, with the one reprieve being additional lives granted when daughters of noblemen held captive within the castles are rescued. The blue-haired warrior can stand up to three hits from an enemy earlier than dropping a life.
In distinction to the fantastical Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule, Takamaru’s world is one steeped in Japanese tradition, and it’s stated that this obvious lack of ‘common enchantment’ was the issue that the majority performed into its Japanese exclusivity. However the Nintendo Leisure System was no stranger to ninja video games and Jap themes, and Murasame Citadel’s gameplay completely speaks for itself.
