Beyond Dark Castle

Beyond Dark Castle from 1987 is the sequel to the action platformer Dark Castle, created by Silicon Beach Software and published by Activision. This record covers the Commodore 64 version, which the game reached from its original home on the Macintosh.

That Mac origin defines the series. Dark Castle was built as a showcase for the black-and-white graphics and mouse-driven interface of the early Macintosh, famous for the detailed animation of its hero and its elaborate sampled sound. The sequel expanded the recipe: hero Duncan returns to the Black Knight's castle, and to the running and rock-throwing it adds flight with a helper device and a larger map of connected screens.

The series is notorious for its difficulty. The controls carry momentum, enemies follow exact patterns, and every screen is essentially a choreography exercise that has to be rehearsed. That is precisely what made it a cult item – and the subject of eternal argument over whether the design is brilliant or sadistic.

Porting to the 8-bit Commodore meant unavoidable compromises in graphics and sound, but it also opened the game to an audience that could not afford a Macintosh – in 1987 one of the most expensive computers money could buy.

Silicon Beach Software ranked among the most technically ambitious studios of its day, and that ambition is still visible in the game. For Commodore owners the title was also a rare taste of Macintosh design philosophy: emphasis on animation, sound and atmosphere over the sheer count of enemies on screen – an approach that makes the series recognisable at a glance.

You can enter the castle straight from the game's card: OldGame.cz boots Beyond Dark Castle right in the browser.