by In 1987, Hewson Consultants created Nebulus, a platformer that was often renamed and ported to many different systems, including the Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and more. In the USA, the NES version was known as Castelian.
The goal is simple. You play as Julius, an alien tasked with destroying 8 towers that have mysteriously shown up on his home planet. Climb to the top of the tower, where you will detonate a bomb, avoiding various enemies and obstacles along the way.
So, is Castelian a diamond in the rough, or is it worth less than coal? Let’s find out.
Gameplay
Let’s start with the controls. At the opening screen, the Select button opens a menu that lets you change options such as difficulty and number of players. I’ll discuss one of these options later, as it pertains to the game’s music and sound. The Start button begins the game and can skip the options screen altogether, which is pretty unusual.
Once you are playing the game, the D-pad moves Julius left and right, and hitting up on the D-pad activates elevators. If you hit the A button while standing still, you throw a bomb. Certain enemies can be destroyed, some are stunned, but most are unaffected. Also, a few blocks can be destroyed with the bombs. Hitting the A button while moving causes you to jump. The B button is completely unused.
The controls are very awkward. Having to stop moving to throw bombs causes a lot of problems, especially when you are on a timer. Every time you try to turn, there is a short turning animation; because of that, the controls are not the most responsive. Not unplayable by any means, but still not good.
I give the gameplay a 3.5/10.
Graphics
The graphics are the best part of Castelian, but they aren’t great. When you move around the towers, they rotate. This gives the game a 3D look. It’s actually pretty cool, and I haven’t seen it in many other games from the time. Other games pushed this technique to the limits, but not for several years. Battletoads is probably one of the best examples.
The rest of the graphics aren’t nearly as impressive. The stages are all one color in different shades. Julius’ design is kind of cute but very simple, and the enemies look okay but are as monochromatic as the stages. You can tell that it is a port from weaker hardware just from the graphics and controls.
I give the graphics a 5/10, largely due to the cool 3D effect.
Music or Sound?
Castelian makes the odd decision to force you to make an add choice. Do you want music or sound effects? You don’t get both. If you are going to play this game, I recommend going with the sound effects. The music isn’t great. It’s on a very short loop and gets annoying pretty quickly. Other than stage introductions, you get only one music track for the entire game. I don’t mind listening to it in short bursts, but having it the whole game is awful.
The sound effects are ok. They aren’t great, but they aren’t terrible. They are just kind of there.
I give the music and sound a 2/10.
Difficulty
The difficulty is absolutely brutal. You get 3 lives and 2 continues/credits. You are also on a timer. The first level gives you 99 seconds to reach the top. You can take unlimited hits, but each one knocks you down to whatever was below you. If you land in the water, you die.
Not only does Castelian have a low number of lives/continues, but the level design is extremely frustrating. Many of the tiles will vanish beneath your feet when you walk on them. There is no visual indicator that they will disappear. You have to figure it out through trial and error. When platforms are set up like stairs, they always seem to be slippery, which is really annoying. Then there are the enemies. The vast majority of them are invulnerable, and the one that isn’t can’t reliably be killed. Sometimes you can only stun it.
Final Score
I give the game a 3.5/10.
Add the janky controls, poor music, and monochromatic graphics to a frustrating level of difficulty, and you get a game I think is best avoided. However, if you are a collector or a masochist, the game goes for about $35 loose.
Time for a fun fact. Orson Scott Card, famous for writing Ender’s Game and related novels, gave Castelian a positive review for its gameplay, graphics, and animation in an article he wrote for “Compute!” titled “Light-years and Lasers: Science Fiction Inside your Computer.” In this review, the game shows up under the name Tower Topplers for anyone interested in checking it out.
