Magic Castle, a game made using the original PlayStation’s Net Yaroze dev kit, was finished and released this weekend after 23 years.
For the uninitiated, Net Yaroze was a basic dev kit for budding programmers and hobbyists that Sony released between 1996 and 1997. The brainchild of Ken Kutaragi, Net Yaroze went for approximately $750. A number of folks who made games using the dev kit eventually ended up in the games industry, including the developers behind Magic Castle.
As reported by Eurogamer, Magic Castle was made by K. Matsunami (who now works for SEGA) and a game designer who goes by the online name PIROWO on social media. The game’s prototype was completed in eight months for a pitch. Although Sony was interested in the game, it wanted its developers to work on another project, which they refused. Last week, PIROWO announced that Magic Castle‘s development is complete, and it can now be downloaded via NetYaroze-Europe.com.
If you want to know what the game’s all about, we’ll let the original VHS pitch below do the talking. You’ll find an English translation at the same link we shared above.
“This game is a fantasy action RPG that explores the magic castle,” reads an official description. “The goal is to find the items and grow your character and ultimately get the illusionary treasure. Endless adventure, real-time action is the theme of this game.”
Magic Castle has four character types: Knights, Magicians, Archers, and Fighters. Each of them come with unique abilities and up to four players can band together to win battles.
Anyone planning to give this a shot?
[Source: Eurogamer]
