The Maze of Galious

The Maze of Galious known as Majou Densetsu II: Gariusu no Meikyuu (魔城伝説II ガリウスの迷宮) in Japan, is a 1987 platform-adventure video game developed and published by Konami for the MSX home computer. A reworked conversion was released for the Family Computer. Both versions were re-released digitally for Microsoft Windows. It is the second entry in the Knightmare trilogy. The game stars Popolon and Aphrodite, embarking on a journey through Castle Greek to free their unborn child Pampas from the evil priest Galious. The player explores each map in search for items and power-ups to progress, while also fighting enemies and bosses.

Maze of Galious was created by the MSX division at Konami under management of Shigeru Fukutake. The process of making original titles for the platform revolved around the person who came up with the characters. A team of seven members were responsible for its development, lasting somewhere between four to six months, with Ryouhei Shogaki being the project's lead designer. The game garnered generally favorable reception from critics and retrospective commentarists. It was followed by Shalom: Knightmare III (1987).

Gameplay
The Maze of Galious is a platform-adventure game starring Popolon and Aphrodite, both of whom embark on a journey through Castle Greek to free their unborn child Pampas from the evil priest Galious. Being able to control two characters means the player can switch between Popolon and Aphrodite, both of which have slightly different abilities: Popolon can push stones and open heavy doors, while Aphrodite survives longer under water and she can shoot more projectiles. The game's structure is similar to The Legend of Zelda; Castle Greek acts as the main overworld, where entrances to the ten "worlds" are hidden throughout.

The player explores each world map, collecting items, defeating enemies and bosses, and obtaining power-ups to progress further. Each map also hosts three hidden items to aid Popolon and Aphrodite against a "Great Demon". In order to face a "Great Demon", the player must inspect a gravestone that reveals an incantation to invoke them at a boss room by typing their names. Some items are optional but others are mandatory such as the "Cross", which is needed to face against the final boss. Enemies can drop random items after their defeat, ranging from that can be spent in shops to upgrade the character's overall inventory, arrow stocks for projectile-based weapons, and keys to open locked doors.

There are several types of enemies, each with strengths and weaknesses; some monsters are immune to frontal attacks, while others are more vulnerable to fire and so on. The player can also kill enemies to fill an "experience" gauge, which replenishes a character's health when full. Another way to heal a character is entering a special room within the main overworld map, which contains a magic dust that can be turned into a fairy by standing at a certain spot. Should either character die, the other can visit a shrine and pay for resurrection. If both characters perish, the game is over, but the player can resume progress via passwords obtained from "Demeter's Shrine". Extra content is unlocked if the Game Master, Knightmare or Q*bert are inserted in the second cartridge slot available on most MSX machines.