USA: August 7 (Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console) $4.99
EU: May 29 (Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console) 4.99/£4.49
JPN: April 14 1986 (Famicom Disk System), August 10 2004 (Game Boy Advance), August 19 2008 (Wii Virtual Console), July 3 2013 (Nintendo 3DS eShop), July 30 2014 (Wii U Virtual Console) 514 円
For the first time ever, The Mysterious Murasame Castle (Nazo no Murasame Jō
is coming to America! Often described as a fast-paced Zelda, the game is an action/adventure title that focuses on hectic combat and quick reflexes, with some exploration and plenty of secrets to find. Released in the same year as The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus, it has long been overshadowed by Nintendos other franchises. Takamaru finally gets his moment overseas with a 3DS Virtual Console release and an appearance as an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS.
From Wikipedia:
The game takes place in Edo period Japan ruled by the fourth shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna. Murasame Castle, located somewhere in Japan, houses a gigantic stone statue known as Murasame. The people lived peacefully until one stormy night, when a shining golden object fell onto the castle from the sky. Deafening shrieks arose from the castle, and the shining object is later revealed to be an alien creature who gives life to the stone statue Murasame and takes over the castle. The alien creature extends its power to four other neighboring castles, giving the daimyo lords each an evil sphere of power. The lords are taken over by the alien's evil power, and use the spheres to summon ninja armies and monsters to attack villagers. Hearing of these strange occurrences, the shogunate sends Takamaru, a samurai apprentice, on a secret mission to investigate the castle. As Takamaru, the player must infiltrate the four castles to defeat each castle lord, before going on to face the alien entity itself.
Each level has two parts, a field and a castle interior. Areas have many branching paths that hide useful items, so you are encouraged to explore. Fields typically have more branching paths and areas, while castle interiors have fiercer enemies and a boss battle. Before you enter a castle, you have a chance to hit statues for power ups, which youre going to need if you want to survive. Enemies include hordes of ninjas, tengu, demon masks, samurai, naginata twirlers, bomb chuckers, axe hurlers and more. Lets take a look at the UI.
Lives: You are given three lives after every game over. You can find more by saving princesses in the castle or finding special items.
Score: How many points you rack up. Important for self-gratification.
Item: The special item currently equipped.
Scrolls: Ammo for your upgraded projectile attacks. Dont worry, you will never run out of these.
Level: The level you are currently battling through. As you can see there are five castles in this game (thanks for the spoilers, Nintendo).
Time: How much time you have in a level. Perhaps even more useless than time in a Mario game. It does enhance your score though.
Health: You can withstand three hits before biting it. Some items refill health.
Attacking is done with the A button, and special items for B. Takamarus main weapons are projectiles that he can throw quickly at enemies far away. When they get too close, he pulls out his katana for a swift strike. Takamaru can also deflect enemy shurikens with his katana, but not enemy fireballs or bombs.
Special attacks include powerful lightning strikes and the ability to turn invisible. Each item can only be used three times, so try not to spam it.
Though the game has plenty of items, they arent similar to those you would find in Zelda. Items in this game are just temporary boosts. If you die, you lose all your boosts and have to recollect them. Items can be found by Tanukis, or in secret treasure chests you have to walk past to uncover. After each field stage, you get a chance to grab some items to help you with the castle.
+Damage done to a boss carries over into the next life: Having a frustrating time taking down a boss? Any damage you do to the boss will carry over to the next life! That means if you were one hit away from killing him, it doesnt reset if you die. Lives are fairly precious in this game, so use this strategy wisely.
+Deflect deflect deflect!: You can deflect shurikens! As long as you are facing the right direction, if a shuriken is close enough, Takamaru will pull out his sword and slap it away! He cannot deflect fireballs or bombs, so dodge those!
+Katana, THE BEST SWORD: Is some bomb throwing maniac dodging your shurikens? Get close to him and take him out with the sword. The katana is a powerful weapon if you can get in range.
+Be patient and aware: You may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies (those ninjas just keep coming!), but dont fret! Just pay close attention to where you are having the most trouble and try a different tactic next time. Are you deflecting shurikens like a mad man yet get picked off by a single fireball? Take that guy out first next time!
+Abuse Virtual Console save states: Hey man, this game is hard, no one will judge you.
Do I need to know Japanese to play the game?: Outside of the title screen and the ending, there is pretty much no Japanese in the game at all. Even the castle names are in English for some reason when you enter them.
How hard is this game?: THE DARK SOULS OF ok its pretty hard. NES hard. There are a lot of enemies and you lose your power ups when you die. However its certainly not impossible. I mean I beat it with VC save state abuse but I still did it!
How long is this game?: I beat it in 2:45 with save state abuse. It will certainly take longer for those more authentic and hardcore than me. The game starts over again after you beat it so uh, pump up that score.
What is the save system like in this game?: Fortunately if you lose all your lives, you dont start the entire game over again. You just go back to the beginning of the area. If you lose all your lives in the castle, you start the castle again. If youre in the field, you start in the field again.
This is an old Famicom game, so theres gotta be some super hidden secret right?: There are two. An armor item that will probably never drop that gives you an massively upgraded projectile, and Takamaru becomes permanently invincible when you get 99 lives. Getting 99 lives requires multiple playthroughs of the game and takes at least 12 hours supposedly.
Why isnt Takamaru a playable character in SSB4?: I dont know man I just dont know.
Where else can I witness the glory of Takamaru?: There was also a board game based on this title, of which I can only find box pictures of. The game disc also appeared in Pikmin 2 as an item. Music from the game and a sticker of Takamaru appeared in SSB Brawl. The Takamarus Ninja Castle portion of Nintendoland is based on this game (the ninjas look very similar). Takamaru was even a playable character in a special mode in Samurai Warriors 3. As I mentioned before, he will be a *sigh* assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS. There was also an episode of Onyako Club in 1986 based on this game. Thankfully, HG101 has a picture of this.
Nintendo Life: 8/10
Nintendo World Report: 7.5
Nintendo eShop trailer
Orchestral version of the main theme
Special thanks to DICKS AHOY for the amazing header images. Fonts by this Wolf's Rain website. Some pics liberally borrowed from Hardcore Gaming 101 and Nintendos Virtual Console website.
