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Castle of Dragon (NES)

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Oh dear, I do believe I have the vapors.
This page contains content that is not safe for work or other locations with the potential for personal embarrassment.
Such as: Pixelated topless princess.

To do:
More regional differences

A loose port of the arcade game of the same name. It is essentially a brand new game, lacking the 2 player co-op, 2 lanes, and vertical stages. However, it's considerably longer, and allows you to select from 5 stages of the enemy castle in the second half or so of the game. One of these features the final boss, who can only be beaten after collecting the required items in the other 4 stages.

Sword Master, which released later in the same year, can be seen a spiritual (and more enjoyable) sequel to this.

Test Mode#

A test mode is still available in the game as a button cheat! To access it, press A, A, Left, Left, A, A, Left, Left, A, A, Left, Left, A, A, Left, Left, A, A, Left, Left, A, A, Left, Left, A, A, Left, Left, A, A, Left, Left. In this menu, you can choose from a variety of options. Press A or B to change the ones digit, and where applicable, Left and Right change the tens digit.

  • XXXXXX: Unknown. Can switch between 0 and 1.
  • WEAPON: Weapon select. Can choose from 00 to FF (Hex).
  • GAGE: Life Meter select. Can switch between 04 (smallest) to 08 (largest).
  • SOUND: Sound Test. Press Start to play the selected track.
  • SPTEST: Sprite Test. Press Start to enter. A moves ahead one sprite, B moves back one sprite.
  • BGTEST: Background Test. Press Start to enter. Press Up / Down to change the screen, Left / Right scrolls through the scenes horizontally (if applicable). Start exits.

(Source: CaH4e3)

Unused Bosses#

This needs some investigation.
Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.
Specifically: Are these bosses functional and have more animations beyond these static poses?

There are two unused bosses that would have presumably been used in the lower two stages of the castle, which are the only two without a big boss at the end. The graphics for them can be viewed in-game using BGTEST in Test Mode.

Castle_of_Dragon_(USA)_unused_boss-1.png Castle_of_Dragon_(USA)_unused_boss-2.png‎

Easter Egg#

The following content is NSFWIcon.png and has been hidden by default. Click to reveal content: ;

Castle_of_Dragon_(U)-easteregg.png

While walking through the corridor to the princess after beating the last boss of the game, the Red Dragon, press and hold A + B + Select + Start + Up + Left on Controller 1. The princess, surprisingly, meets you topless.

You can't see the topless princess in the Sprite Viewer of the Test Menu, though. But, even dressed, the Princess sprite itself consists of two parts, the nude top (which even has a couple of animation frames, better seen in motion) and the dress, which covers the nudity. When the cheat is used, the top part of the dress is simply removed.

Regional Differences#

Title Screen#

Japan

US

Miscellaneous#

  • A flash with a lighting sound occurs when a boss or mini-boss appears in the US version.