Commodore Free Magazine Issue #71 (PDF)

www.commodorefree.comNanako In Classic Japanese Monster CastleQuick catch-up on the historyMya, a witch apprentice and Nanako's younger sister, breakingthe palace rules and disobeying her mentor's orders, decidedto depart for Heún Tower in order to improve herknowledge of dark magic.The old tower, surrounded by a magic halo knitted by Godonly knows who, was populated by a whole army of Karakasasamong a multitude of other kinds of Tzukogamis(inanimate objects that become conscious after they aremore than 100 years old). Commonly, they are not hostile atall, but the way Mya broke into the tower made them veryangry and become really dangerous. Poor Mya hid herselfaway in a chamber located at the top of the tower, unable todescend the 25 floors and return home, surviving miserablyduring several weeks.Nanako, deeply worried about her sister’s disappearance,picked up on Mya's trail and followed her to the Heún Tower.Her mental connection with Mya was strong, and shecould tell that her sister was in trouble. Boldly, Nanako enteredthe tower - she knew that when she found her theywould be able to create a connection and be teleported to asafe place. But for now, the main problem was to dodge allthose Karakasa between them!In this game you control Nanako using the joystick pluggedinto port 2. The game consists on 25 levels, each one representingone of the floors in the tower. In each one, to reachthe following level you have to literally build up your pathto the top of the screen. This can be achieved via Nanako’sability to carry boxes (only one at a time) and drop themelsewhere.In each screen you’ll find a Karakasa. Nanako is able to walkover a still Karakasa, but if itmoves Nanako may fall from itshead and be ensnared in its viciousclaws beneath, losing a valuablelife. However, to be able touse a Karakasa as a platform tojump from and reach higher isessential in some of the levels.Another useful ability Nanakopossesses is to release a box duringa jump, causing the box toappear where she is and stayfloating in the mid-air. It's veryimportant to master the abilityof dropping the box at the highestpoint of a jump, so as to gainfast access to upper levels.At the beginning of each level apassword is given (using theKun alphabet - see below) whichcan be used to access previouslybeaten levels instead of havingSir Ababol / NanakoIn Classic Japanese Monster Castle (C64) RGCD CARTRIDGE RELEASECOMMODORE FREE REVIEWto start over once and again. Use LEFT/RIGHT/UP/DOWNto write the password and JUMP to validate it.The 'KUN' AlphabetNanako uses an ancient and magical character set known asKUN. An alphabet to help you decipher the text is providedbelow.Nanako In Classic Japanese Monster Castle ControlsJoystick Left/Right - MovementJoystick Fire - JumpJoystick Down - Pick up boxJoystick Up - Drop boxSuicide: Press R or hold DOWN and FIRE on the joystick(costs one life).Enter Password: From the title screen, press P or holdRIGHT and press FIRE on the joystick to access the passwordentry screen.GameplayVery playable with some atmospheric music.With no way to return back to the ROOT menu, I had to do areset on my machine.Again we are back to that amazing folding baseline and meanderinglead sound – blimey I may stay listening to this ....[ED – COME ON!...]What? Oh yes, the game....Anyway, eventually you move on by pressing down on thejoystick and selecting NANAKO. A very racy picture of a ratherscantily-clad Japanese woman appears, assuming she’snot a ladyboy! OK, moving quickly on then …Commodore Free Magazine Page 25