Welcome to our review of Cursed Castilla Ex, a throwback to the era of great arcade games. Oh Nostalgia, you are a bane sometimes!
Revive the glory of the Arcade times! The tears of a young witch have been turned into a key by a demon to open a gateway to hell.
In Cursed Castilla, one takes the role of Don Ramiro, a knight appointed by King Alphonse VI, to fight and banish the evil invading the lands of Tolomera.
Don Ramiro will face Mouras, Ojáncanos, Nuberus and Malismos: creatures from the European folklore, as well as from chivalric romances such as Amadís de Gaula. For that, one will use a different range of weapons to defeat the enemies, in a pure classic arcade action style.
Cursed Castilla Ex reminded me most of the original Ghosts ‘n Goblins, but just that little bit more. It has some added platforming features and more amazing weapons. Faeries that fly around you and throw their own projectiles at the enemies and so much more.
I loved the escape run on the cart where you basically enter a protection level with incoming flying enemies and creatures dropping pots filled with fire upon your heads. Once you hit the end of that small level, you get to face another enemy, even worse and tougher than the previous ones.
Unlike Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Cursed Castilla Ex is actually not near impossible to finish, challenging as it may be, some perseverance will do the trick.
As Cursed Castilla Ex is not a new title on the eShop but just another port, nothing wrong with that, it does feel a little late to the party. Do know that I enjoy this game very much and I actually double-dipped by spending my golden coins on this game. Yeah, this was not a review code but actual gold coins were used to buy this game a second time.
Cursed Castilla Ex is that good. Sadly it just takes a few hours to finish the game. I remember my only time finishing the game took me around 3 to 4 hours which is still nice value for the money.
Cursed Castilla Ex might be a great fit in anyone’s collection but I mostly would recommend it to lovers of the old-skool platformers and the harder to beat games of the old era. Again, nothing wrong for a new player to give this one a go, but the play on nostalgia is obvious and might be best enjoyed when you have played other masterpieces of the genre.
The aforementioned Ghosts’n Goblins being the one available on the online app for NES games, so if you are new to the genre, give that one a try. Cursed Castilla Ex is a little easier, do not forget that 😉
In conclusion, Cursed Castilla Ex might be yet another port, on a port heavy system, I only see the advantages in that though and despite maybe being a little late to the party, this is a must own in my humble opinion.
