is a 1986

action-adventure game An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action ...

developed by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

and

Human Entertainment was a Japanese video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher founded in 1983. The company produced games for a number of platforms, including home consoles, portable consoles, and personal computers. Human declared bankruptcy in 2000 ...

and published by Nintendo. It was originally only released for the

Family Computer Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment System, Family Computer (Famicom) home video game console, released in Japan on February 21, 1986. The system uses proprietary floppy disk ...

in Japan as the second original game for the platform. ''The Mysterious Murasame Castle'' was later released worldwide on the

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

in 2014 and for the

Nintendo Classics Nintendo Classics is a line of Video game console emulator, emulated retro games distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Nintendo Switch 2. Subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service have access to games for ...

service in 2023.

Gameplay

''The Mysterious Murasame Castle'' is an action-adventure game where the player controls Takamaru, who is tasked with traveling through four castles, consisting of Aosame Castle, Akasame Castle, Ryokusame Castle, and Momosame Castle, to obtain the four gems from the castle lords and reach the titular Murasame Castle to defeat the alien entity inside it. The player moves from different directions in a top-down view with no side-scrolling. The game only has a limited number of power-ups, forcing players to rely on their own action skills more than anything else. The game world has scrolls scattered throughout the castles for Takamaru to collect, and special raccoon suits may reveal power-ups. Players are given a certain number of lives, and may gain additional lives by rescuing the castles' princesses and playing through bonus rounds after completing the first half of each level. One life is lost when Takamaru's health gauge runs out or if the time expires. When all lives are lost at any point, the game over screen will appear, in which the player can continue or save their progress. The appearance of enemy characters (including

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

ninja A , or was a spy and infiltrator in pre-modern Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding.Kawakami, pp. 21–22 Antecedents may have existed as ear ...

and

hannya The is a mask used in a traditional Japanese Noh theater, representing a jealous female demon. It is characterized by two sharp bull-like horns, metallic eyes, and a leering mouth. In Noh plays, the type of mask changes according to the degree ...

) borrows heavily from existing Japanese culture. Each level, divided into two parts: the path to the castle, and the castle itself, is of considerable size, and Takamaru must defeat generic enemy characters to reach the innermost region where the castle-lord resides. The player's only weapons are a

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

and

shuriken A is a Japanese concealed weapon used by samurai or ninja or in martial arts as a hidden dagger or '' metsubushi'' to distract or misdirect. History The origins of the ''bo-shuriken'' in Japan are still unclear, despite continuing researc ...

s; upgrades to the shuriken can be obtained, but are lost whenever Takamaru dies. The katana can only be used when Takamaru is close to an enemy or projectile (excluding fireballs), while the shurikens can only be used when he is further away. The katana can also be used to deflect projectiles. Other items include fireballs, which are more powerful than the shurikens; a lightning-themed explosive, which inflicts heavy damage to every enemy on screen; and a cloak, which makes Takamaru invisible and invulnerable to enemies and objects for a short period of time. When Takamaru reaches more than 99 lives, he becomes invincible.

Plot

Edo-period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Japan, Murasame Castle 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 ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' 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 led by

Tokugawa Ietsuna was the fourth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan who was in office from 1651 to 1680. He is considered the eldest son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, which makes him the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. ...

sends Takamaru, a

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.

Development

Due to the game's initial obscurity, not much about its development is known, but

Goichi Suda , known by his alias Suda51, is a Japanese video game director, designer, and writer. Affiliated with Human Entertainment from 1994 to 1998, he founded Grasshopper Manufacture in 1998 with a number of other Human Entertainment staff to produce the ...

, in an interview with ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...

'', stated that

(where he started video game development) was involved in development of the game to some degree.

Release

''The Mysterious Murasame Castle'' was released for the Famicom Disk System on April 14, 1986, in Japan. A one-shot television drama special of the same name was produced by

Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

in 1986 for the weekly series ''Monday Drama Land''. The special featured a plot loosely based around that of the game, and starred

Masaki Kyomoto is a Japanese actor, singer-song writer, and guitarist. He is famous for playing the role of Ryu on the television jidaigeki Hissatsu series. He has appeared in films and television series including '' Legend of the Eight Samurai'', ''Sukeban De ...

alongside members of the all-girl J-Pop group

Onyanko Club was a large all-girl Japanese pop idol group in the 1980s. Some members of the group participated in spin-off groups, such as Nyangilas, Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi and Ushirogami Hikaretai. Many of the latter two groups' songs were used as theme ...

. The special was later released on DVD as part of a box set of other ''Monday Drama Land'' episodes in 2005. ''The Mysterious Murasame Castle'' was ported to

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

on August 10, 2004, as part of the Famicom Mini Series in Japan. It was released on

in Japan for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

on August 19, 2008, and for the

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

on July 30, 2014. The game was released outside Japan for the first time on the

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

in Europe and Australia in May 2014 and in North America in August. It was added to the

service on October 31, 2023. In June 2010, the game was featured amongst others from the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

and

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...

as part of a tech demo called ''Classic Games'' at

E3 2010 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 (E3 2010) was the 16th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It began on June 14, 2010, and ended on June 17, 2010, with 45,600 total attendees. The ...

Reception

''s Marcel van Duyn gave the 3DS Virtual Console re-release of ''The Mysterious Murasame Castle'' a rating of 8/10, noting its fast-paced gameplay and high degree of difficulty. ''

Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...

'' rated ''The Mysterious Murasame Castle'' 3.5/5 for the release of the 3DS Virtual Console version in North America.

Legacy

While ''The Mysterious Murasame Castle'' was never officially released outside Japan in its original form, homages to it have appeared in other media by Nintendo. In the

GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...

game ''

Pikmin 2 is a 2004 real-time strategy puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the direct sequel to the 2001 game '' Pikmin'' and the second game in the '' Pikmin'' series. In the game, Olimar returns to the Pikmin ...

'', one of the objects found in the game is ''The Mysterious Murasame Castle'' game disk. Takamaru appears as a supporting character in '' Captain Rainbow'' alongside a plethora of "forgotten" Nintendo characters. A microgame inspired by this game appeared in the Japanese version of '' WarioWare D.I.Y.'', which was replaced with a ''Pikmin'' microgame in non-Japanese versions. Takamaru (voiced by

Hiroshi Okamoto is a Japanese voice actor. He began acting in 2003 and is affiliated with Aoni Production. He graduated from Momoyama Gakuin University, a private university. Filmography Television anime *2003 ** ''Sonic X'' – Jailer B ** ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bob ...

in Japanese and

Darrel Guilbeau Darrel Guilbeau is an American voice actor. He began working on voice acting in anime roles, when his friends asked him to audition for ''Overman King Gainer'' and he won the title role, Gainer Sanga. Guilbeau is also known as the voice of Mikado ...

in English) appears in ''

Samurai Warriors 3 is a hack-and-slash video game developed by Omega Force and published by Tecmo Koei for the Wii. It is the third installment in the ''Samurai Warriors'' series. The game was released in Japan in December 2009 and internationally in 2010 by Nint ...

'' as a bonus character in the "Murasame Castle" mode; it is exclusive to the Wii release which was published worldwide by Nintendo. In the

game ''

Nintendo Land is a party video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Wii U home video game console in 2012. The game was first announced at E3 2012 during Nintendo's press conference. ''Nintendo Land'' features twelve mi ...

'', the minigame ''Takamaru's Ninja Castle'' is based on ''The Mysterious Murasame Castle''. In ''

Super Mario Maker 2 is a 2019 platform game and game creation system developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the sequel to '' Super Mario Maker'' and was released worldwide on June 28, 2019. The gameplay is largely retained from that o ...

'', the "Ninja Attack!" sound effect causes Takamaru and ninja enemies from the game to appear on-screen.

, a former employee of developer

, expressed interest to remake the game for modern times.

''Super Smash Bros.''

In the

game ''

Super Smash Bros. Brawl ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 crossover fighting game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series and the successor to '' Super Smash Bros. Melee'', it wa ...

'', a song titled "Nazo no Murasamejo - Douchuumen", based on the overworld theme heard before entering the castles, appears as an unlockable song for the '' Mario Bros.'' stage, along with Takamaru himself as one of the many unlockable stickers. In ''

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and , both commonly referred to together as ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' or ''Smash 4'', are 2014 crossover fighting games developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U video game cons ...

'', Takamaru appears as an Assist Trophy and is voiced by

Tomokazu Sugita is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actor and author. He mainly plays young men and is characterized by his "deep bass voice," and he often performs ad-libs and imitations. He is best known for his roles as Gintoki Sakata in ''Gintama'', ...

; when summoned, he uses his signature Multidirectional Pinwheel Knife Rook Attack. Takamaru was originally considered as a possible playable character in ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U'', but was cut because he was not recognized as much as other Nintendo characters, with his main theme being used in the ''

Duck Hunt is a 1984 light gun shooter video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game was first released in April 1984 in Japan for the Family Computer (Famicom) console and in North America as an ar ...

'' stage. During a 2015 ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U'' presentation, a downloadable

Mii Fighter A Mii ( ) is a customizable avatar used by Nintendo on their video game consoles and mobile apps, first being introduced with the Wii console in 2006. Since their introduction, Miis have also appeared on the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, the Wii U, ...

costume based on Takamaru for the Mii Swordfighter was revealed. It was released alongside the rest of the DLC in February 2016. Takamaru's assist trophy and Mii costume returns in ''

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeeding ' ...

''. He also appears as a Spirit, one of the game's collectibles.

Notes

References

External links

Official Wii U Virtual Console version website

on the

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

40th Anniversary page {{DEFAULTSORT:Mysterious Murasame Castle, The 1986 video games Action-adventure games Famicom Disk System games Game Boy Advance games Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development games Nintendo Classics games Single-player video games Video games about samurai Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Koji Kondo Video games set in castles Video games set in feudal Japan Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console games for Wii U Virtual Console games Japan-exclusive video games Virtual Console games for Wii Human Entertainment games