Castleween | DJcube

This is Alicia and Greg’s incredible adventure!

EU release: 30th May 2003
JP release: 19th June 2003
NA release: 29th September 2003
Developer: Kalisto Entertainment, Wanadoo Edition
Publisher: Wanadoo Edition (EU), MTO (JP), DreamCatcher Interactive (NA)
NGC Magazine Score: 16%
Mods Used: Widescreen Hack

Receiving a score of 16% in NGC Magazine, I was expecting something truly horrific or broken. But Castleween is neither, it’s just a fairly basic kids platformer with a path-based style similar to Crash Bandicoot. It’s Halloween and some monsters have taken the souls of some kids and it’s up to siblings Alicia and Greg to save them. As only one human can enter the land of the dead, you need to use magic stones to swap between them. Castleween was called Spirits & Spells in North America and Pumpkin Magic in Japan.

Each of the kids have a different set of powers. Alicia (dressed as a witch) can throw her hat for an attack, walk on ice, crouch and activate blue pumpkins while Greg (dressed as a devil) has a short range attack, can walk on hot surfaces, perform a bigger jump and activate red pumpkins. Because you have to use up gems to transform, it means you just stick with a character until the obvious signs that you need to use the other one. There’s no puzzles that utilise swapping them in any interesting way, it’s all just telegraphed clearly.

There is one level late on that does use the mechanic well, where you’re getting chased by a large robot. It’s the obligatory run-towards the camera level, but it alternates between hot and cold sections and you have to swap characters mid-air. They should have ditched the limited transformation and had more stuff like this, as well as puzzles that actually utilise both of them.

Castleween, despite still being short, also re-uses levels multiple times, with slight differences. The game’s story doesn’t make any explanation as to why you’re revisiting the same areas, and it is shocking that the game is still short even with the repetition. Still, it’s not a bad little platformer.

Fine

Although it looks like it’s aimed squarely at the ultra young market, we can’t imagine many small children having the patience to endure an ‘entertainment’ experience as arduous as this. Not when pushing lolly sticks into dog turds offers so much more long-term excitement, and is a good £40 cheaper.
NGC Magazine #81

Remake or remaster?

Nothing for this.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Castleween.