Introduction

Princess Melon has been kidnapped by evil forces. Sir Regal has taken up the challenge to track her down as rescue her.

Navigate a medium-size castle sub-divided into six separate areas. Includes 16 different upgrades, a 24 x 24 map grid, 143 rooms, 4 bosses, and a couple dozen enemy entries.

A map is available in the download section.

Game Details

File Size241 kb
GenreMetroidvania Platformer
Console StyleNintendo Entertainment System
ThemesNES Jam: "Save the Princess"
* The main plot of the game is to rescue the princess, but all is not as it seems.
Metroidvania Month: "Evolution"
* Given I had 4 days notice before the submission deadline for the first jam to complete this game ahead of schedule, there was no time to modify the game. That said, one could argue the various equipment, upgrades and story telling elements evolve as you collect items along the way.
Resolution 256 x 240
Palettes* 4x 4-colour tile palettes
* 4x 4-colour sprite palettes
(The game was designed to use an array of 8 palettes that had to be updated as the game progressed, rather than sourcing the master array. There is only one 64-color palette in memory and that serves as a reference for the available colours. It is impossible by design to display any tile or sprite in the game beyond 4-colours.)
Sound/Music*2 Square channels
*1 Triangle channel
*1 Noise channel
*1 sample channel dominated by sawtooth.
(sometimes multiples of a channel are setup, but only one plays at a time)
Input Support* Keyboard
* Touch Screen
* Controller (experimental)

How to Play


Keyboard
Set1
Keyboard
Set2
Keyboard
Set3
Touch Controls Description
Arrow Keys WASD WASD Directional Pad * Move the player around.*Down = Crouch
* Select options on the menu
Z Z J X A BUTTON
* Jump
* + Down = Slide or Jump through platform
* Execute
X X K O B BUTTON
* Attack.
* + UP = Use ability
* Cancel
ENTER + START BUTTON
* Pause game
SHIFT - SELECT BUTTON
* Switch ability
  • Changes to the keyboard set will not take place until after the player leaves the OPTIONS page.
  • The default setup when playing for the first time is Keyboard Set 1. If this is an issue, the touch screen buttons can be controlled with a mouse to allow a player access to the OPTIONS page and change the setup to one of the WASD options.

Important Rooms

Save Room
Players can save their progress and restore HP and MP in these rooms.
Warp Room
Instant travel can occur with the rooms, allowing the player to quickly return to areas of the castle already explored.
The first three rooms are already unlocked (As they all require Jump Boots to reach them).

Upgrades

HEALTH BOXIncreases the number of hearts carried by 1.
Maximum Hearts: 12
MAGIC BOXIncreases the number of magic stars carried by 1.
Maximum Magic: 12
ATTACK UPIncreases the amount of sword damage by 1 point.
Helpful in cutting through enemy armor.
Maximum Upgrades: 4
PRINCESS' DIARYThis book details the events of the kidnapping.
SHIELD BASHLaunch into enemies with a shield attack.
Provides a speed boost and protection from the enemy when in use.
HAMMERSmash various walls and enemies in the castle.
It is said this can break skeletons, easily.
WHIPA long-distance weapon, but it lacks real power.
It is more useful to grab onto rings and cross over great distances.
FIREBALLA magical spell that does heavy damage to enemies.
his spell can destroy the red doors that appear in the castle.
SUPER FIREBALLAn upgraded fireball that devastates enemies.
Can open yellow doors.
GAUNTLETBasic armor. Helps to reduce incoming damage.
AQUA ARMORSuited for underwater environments, this improves underwater jumping and increases defense.
FIRE ARMORBlessed with protection, this red armor reduces incoming damage and negates all damage caused by acid and spikes.
SLIDERSlide around on the floor.
Is useful in going through narrow passageways.
WINGAttached to boots, these enable the wearer to jump up to three more times in the air. Fall to quickly and they will not work.
JUMP BOOTSCan jump much higher and reach new ledges.
The many portal rooms scattered through the castle are now accessible.
KEYOpens a special door marked with it's symbol. Most doors that require this key have something special behind it.

Updates

July 5th, 2025 -- 1.02

  • Fixed a Firefox-related issue that would cause slowdowns on builds beyond version 110 or so.
  • Found and fixed missing warp room and save points, pointed a wrong warp to the right room (which helps with the good ending) and fixed a minimap tile. Thanks to game tester tbleazy for noticing.

June 30th, 2025 -- 1.01

  • Fixed three warp room target locations.
  • Fixed some minimap layout problems.
  • Removed a destructible wall to make for easier access to a heart in the Dungeon.
  • On tbleazy's insistence, I went through and rebuilt the collision detection for enemy projectiles. Credit: tbleazy
  • 4 new save rooms have been added. They can be found in:: Library, Dungeon, Flooded Tunnels and Tower
  • Map tiles were cleaned up, changing the appearance of a few rooms (a little). Rooms that connect to a warp room have tiles from the room to indicate what is there.
  • Slime projectile damage reduced (Did not realize how excessive it was).
  • Save stations recover HP and MP.
  • Fixed crouching bug while hugging a wall.
  • Introduced readable signs.
  • Added an arrow that hovers over the player under certain conditions.
  • Fixed an issue with odd animation after casting a spell.
  • Standing too close to a door while hitting it with a fireball is no longer an issue.
  • Hammers now do extra damage to the Spikey Crawlers.
  • Some enemies in the last half of the game had their health reduced slightly (Concerns arose regard later enemies becoming damage sponges, though sword upgrades are available through the game). Credit: PiePie
  • The correct palette ID now shows for Regal if he obtains the Fire Armor. Credit: CryptRat
  • Decoration objects have been included. This allows for statues, waterfall, sparkles and other objects.
  • Some save rooms were modified a little to allow for decorations.
  • Princess now has furniture in her room.

June 15th, 2025 -- 1.00

  • Project has been uploaded.

Download

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Click download now to get access to the following files:

map_master.png 10 kB

Development log