Shadowgate (NES) Playthrough
474A playthrough of Kemco-Seika's 1989 graphic adventure for the NES, Shadowgate.
The NES received conversions of a good many point-and-click PC adventure games in its heyday. It seems like an odd match given the NES's relative lack of hardware muscle and a mouse, but the system's huge install base offered a far larger potential audience than the fragmented PC market of the time.
That apparently proved to be too tempting carrot to pass on since "the big three," the pillars of the genre in the late 80s PC space, were all represented in cartridge form. Sierra had King's Quest V (https://youtu.be/XEydkEz6tUQ), LucasArts had Maniac Mansion (https://youtu.be/2nKrn3lzg-M), and Icom had a whole series.
Icom's MacVenture series was a popular line-up of games that helped to pioneer point-and-click interfaces in computer games, and while the NES versions of Deja Vu, Uninvited (https://youtu.be/WSe_KzXvJ8Y), and Shadowgate lacked the mouse cursor, they still managed to capture a lot of imaginations with their stories, their puzzle-oriented gameplay, and their hilariously morbid sense of humor.
(Speaking of, since the death scenes are half the fun in Shadowgate, I've compiled them all into a collection that begins at 1:05:21)
As Shadowgate begins, an evil wizard bent on ruling the world is preparing to summon a behemoth from the depths of Hell. As the last of your heroic bloodline, you assume the role of the "seed of prophecy" who must infiltrate the wizard's castle to put a stop to his plans before he destroys the planet.
The game is tough but fair - though clues can be found everywhere, the puzzle solutions are often fairly obtuse - but it does relish the opportunity to punish you for trial-and-error tactics. Death is swift and brutal, but thankfully, failure isn't usually a major setback... so long as you remember that you can save anytime, that is. You can also whack the select button for a vague hint if you find yourself stumped on what to do next.
The graphics and the music lend Shadowgate a good sense of tension when called for, the narrator is good for a few smiles in its cheekier moments, and the controls have been adapted well for the controller. The game overall feels much more polished than a typical Kemco NES game.
The setting is what really sells the package for me. The old castle full of magic, the death traps, and the mythological creatures are all good for scratching that horror-fantasy adventure itch, and it's easy to lose hours at a time absorbed in it.
If you like Shadowgate, you might also want to check out its follow-ups...
Beyond Shadowgate: https://youtu.be/HH0VBu_QJEw
Shadowgate 64: https://youtu.be/RSQesC1JefA
The 2014 Remake: https://youtu.be/Ic5QiNk3YAA
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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