Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania ... roguelikes?!

by John Bardinelli { Apr 10th 2007 at 11:04AM }

Santiago Zapata has done something horribly, horribly geeky. As if The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Castlevania weren't retro enough, Zapata has re-created each game as an ASCII roguelike. Now, instead of hopping across pools of lava to collect an energy tank, you press "D" to jump, then tap the arrow keys to scoot across slightly darker characters that symbolize higher ground. Despite the obvious limitations the roguelike style presents, Zapata has managed to accurately emulate the feel of each game. You know, even though Link is a purple @ symbol.

All three games include a full arsenal of music and sound effects, and CastlevaniaRL packs its own graphical tileset. Very little documentation is provided at the moment (the games are still works-in-progress), so start pressing buttons and you'll get the gist of things. Fortunately they aren't nearly as complex as most roguelikes, so you don't need to remember that "Q" stands for "quaff" which means "drink".

Tags: capcom, castlevania, fan, fanmade, independent, indie, java, metroid, nintendo, pc, retro, roguelike, zelda

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

RYAN @ Apr 10th 2007 11:30AM

awesome?

HaloBreaker @ Apr 10th 2007 12:29PM

Roguelikes make my balls empty.

Jerk Face @ Apr 10th 2007 11:57AM

No, not awesome, STUPID.

Who freaking cares!?

Ken @ Apr 10th 2007 12:15PM

I, for one, think its great. I'm glad people are doing stuff like this. You may think it's pointless and lame, but lets see you go out and do that?

Oh you can't? So what does it mean if you can't do something that's lame. That makes you a douche bag.

Keep doing what you're doing Zapata. Some people still have respect for a user-created replica.

Steve @ Apr 10th 2007 12:27PM

3. Ken:

Whether or not Jerk Face can create ACSII Roguelikes is irrelevant to his opinion. If he thinks these things are stupid then he's completely within his right to do so. Surely you have criticized someone for something when you do not have the ability to do it either. I cannot sing and I complain about Atlanis Morrisette being tone deaf. Because I cannot sing does that mean I am not entitled to that opinion? (Or, more technically, acknowledge that fact?)

Personally I agree with Jerk Face. If Zapata wants to make these things, well, whatever floats your boat, but I find the idea of creating or even playing these things to be a monumental waste of time.

JodyAnthony @ Apr 10th 2007 12:27PM

does any video game have a point?

Alfredo @ Apr 10th 2007 1:12PM

Considering that roguelike games gave birth to Diablo, which is one of the best and most "used for inspiration" games, there is nothing that can be said against it. With some tilesets, roguelike games are one of the few evolving games nowadays, going from medieval set to future set, and now to videogames set.

Zapata @ Apr 10th 2007 2:46PM

Roguelikes have a charm that can only be understood once you get into them. There's a lot of work (and fun) behind that simplistic looking 80x25 characters screen. The fact that the major roguelikes carry giant fanbases and the genre has survived for almost thirty years is an alive proof of this.

I hope my games can at least give you a small sample of this without requiring you to learn a bigger than needed command set ;)

Thanks for your post

PS: A much enhanced version of CvRL is coming this month ;)