| Mr. Do's Castle | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Universal |
| Publisher(s) | Taito Corporation |
| Year released | 1983 |
| System(s) | Arcade, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64/128, ColecoVision, MSX, Sharp X68000 |
| Preceded by | Mr. Do! |
| Followed by | Mr. Do's Wild Ride |
| Series | Mr. Do |
| Genre(s) | Action |
|---|---|
| Players | 1-2 |
| Modes | Single player, Multiplayer |
A year after the release of the original Mr. Do!, Universal decided to capitalize on its success by releasing a sequel, Mr. Do's Castle (Mr. Do! vs. Unicorns in Japan), in 1983. Although it bore little similarity to the original game, it still featured the friendly red clown, and had some other features in common such as cherries and the letters in the word "EXTRA".
In Mr. Do's Castle, it is Mr. Do's job to rid each stage of five enemy creatures known as Unicorns. The stages are made up of various levels that are composed of blocks. Like the first game, there are a couple of ways that Mr. Do could complete a given stage and advance to the next. He could pop every single cherry block out of the floors with his hammer. He could crush all of the monsters that are inhabiting the stage. Or he could succeed in smashing all of the letters in the word "EXTRA" and earn a free life.
It is hard to say whether Mr. Do's Castle was more or less popular than its predecessor. It was a more original idea (Mr. Do! was routinely compared to Dig Dug), and while it required deeper strategy, some players felt that the game was less approachable. Nevertheless, Parker Bros. took the chance to license the game for home play, and successfully distributed the game on several popular platforms slightly better than Coleco and Datasoft had managed to do with Mr. Do!.
-
Title screen
Gameplay[edit]
- You must guide Mr. Do through each castle stage. He can climb up and down ladders, and can even kick certain ladders from one ledge to another.
- Mr. Do starts at the bottom while five Unicorns begin at the top and descend to get Mr. Do. Mr. Do loses one life if a Unicorn touches him.
- Mr. Do can kill Unicorns by dropping blocks on top of them, or by knocking a block out from under their feet if he is fast enough.
- Three blocks contain keys. If Mr. Do can knock out all three keys, the doors on the roof will open and Mr. Do can collect a shield.
- If Mr. Do collects the shield, the Unicorns will transform into "EXTRA" Alphamonsters for a limited amount of time. Mr. Do can kill them to collect the letters.
- Mr. Do can advance to the next stage if he kills all of the Unicorns, knocks out every cherry block, or spells out EXTRA.
- If Mr. Do takes too long killing the last Unicorn, they will begin to transform into blue unicorns which split into two unicorns and multiply at regular intervals.