Castelian:

Platform: Game Boy
Developer: Triffix
Release: 1991

Back in the early ‘90s, you didn’t have to import to get your hands on crazy, wacky games. Picture this scenario: You’re sunning yourself on a planet that is basically like Florida- a tropical paradise where sunshine and surf is abundant, everyone spends their days relaxing on the beach, and yet no-one gets skin cancer. All of a sudden, that beautiful sunlight is blocked out by seven towers- that is, seven living towers that just pop up out of nowhere. If you want a world-class tan, you’re gonna have to topple them!

But as you get up from your folding chair, something doesn’t feel right. What strange form has this game asked you to take control of? Well, you’re a pig… with only two legs. And eyes that are literally bigger than your stomach. And the nametag reads… uh… Julius? That’s a pretty generic name for such an imaginative creature, isn’t it? Oh well, it’ll do I suppose.

It's a long way to the top...

So, Castelian- also known as Nebulus, Kyorochan Land, Subline or Tower Toppler, depending on which console you bought it on- was a 2D platformer, and it wasn’t for the faint-hearted. If the challenging stages and enemies didn’t kill you, the controls might. Not that they were bad or anything, they just took some getting used to, but those who were able to master the controls were rewarded with a fun and challenging game.

Castelian was also available on a variety of other platforms. This is a screenshot from the NES version.

One thing that the game did really well was the graphical effect used for the stages. Your character always remained in the middle of the screen, but as you walked left and right, the platforms would move, stretch, shrink, disappear, and re-appear. This created the illusion of walking around the outside of a tower, and it worked like a charm.

In a way, Castelian was a precursor to Shadow of the Colossus, because every stage in the game was a giant creature (a living tower in this case) that had to be defeated. But in a more accurate way, it was absolutely nothing like SotC. It was, however, a fun and unique platformer, and while it’s not exactly a masterpiece, it is a fun way to kill a few hours.