Jump to content
IGNORED

Alcazar Appreciation Thread (with game tips)


wongojack

Recommended Posts

I am going through a phase of playing through Coleco games on my Ultimate SD, and last week, I started playing Alcazar: The Forgotten Fortress. I couldn't find a thread dedicated specifically to this game, so I decided to start my own.

 

I was surprised at how much I liked the game (having never heard of it before), and I just got finished making it to the throne on the hardest difficulty. This is truly a great game that reminds me of a handful of other games from the era like AD&D Cloudy Mountain, Swords & Serpents, Wolfenstein, and the original Metal Gear.

 

I really liked the way the game forced you to play differently as the difficulty increased. Here are some tips from someone fresh from playing this hidden gem:

 

1) Read the fnck!ng manual (LOL)

 

2) After #1, make note of what special item kills which enemy AND which color castle has which resources and shortcut item. I wrote this down on a small piece of paper and just kept it next to me for reference:

  • Oil kills Griffins
  • Bleach kills Oilmoebas
  • Water and Ring kill Genies
  • Only Bullets kill the Guards
  • Rope is in the Blue Castle (lots of guns)
  • Raft and WATER are in the Red Castle (no guns on lvl 4)
  • Ring is in the Purple Castle (little bit of everything; no genies)
  • Extra life is in the Black Castle (despite the manual, usually has guns)

3) Go slow and learn to recognize the hints about which enemies are where. On the higher levels, you can't let yourself get surprised. You'll almost always be killed by every enemy unless you have a plan.

 

4) If you do get surprised, carrying meat in your hand can help you quickly stun any enemy.

 

5) Follow the tips in the manual and learn to lure enemies down pits. I find that the tiger and the oilmoeba are especially easy to lure down the small pits in level 3 and 4 (4 is the highest) even if chasing you for a few screens (they're slow). The guard and the griffin are pretty fast, so only a direct lure down a pit is recommended for them.

 

6) Your route matters! You want to plan your route so that the last castle you visit before the Alcazar is either a Red or Purple Castle. If the map isn't favorable, don't wast time. Just reset the game until you see one you like.

 

7) Blue Castles are the easiest, but the rope is the least useful special item and bullets aren't very helpful in the Alcazar. Blue Castles are good to visit early to stock up on bullets and can be a relief to pass through on your route to the finish, but don't waste too much time on maps with large numbers of them near the Alcazar.

 

8.) Black Castles are a good first stop to stock up on supplies, but getting the extra man can be very tough (and expensive) especially on level 4. Step into Black Castles early and look around, but be prepared to backtrack and leave rather than waste resources. Also, you don't want to pick up a key too early or it will use valuable inventory space.

 

9) Carry 2 bottles of water with you into the Alcazar. Sometimes you can find one bottle in there, but don't count on it. You will almost always need to kill at least 2 genies to get to the throne.

10) On level 3 and 4, you will need to carry keys with you into the Alcazar. You can get these only from guards in the Purple or Black Castles. Ideal inventory starting Alcazar on level 4:

  • Water*
  • Water
  • Keys
  • Oil or Bleach**

*can substitute a ring

**You don't really need bullets in the Alcazar because there are no guards

 

11) When you find it, you need to make contact with the left part of the throne. That's the part that most looks like the seat. If you are racing a genie to the throne, be aware that you cannot just touch it anywhere.

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a gameplay video I made a few years ago.

 

 

 

Nice! You should try to make a Level 4 video and tell me if my tips are helpful.

 

 

Side note - this game is dying for a controller hack where Button 1 shoots, Button 2 shows the map, and Buttons 1-3 on the keypad change your hand item. The Coleco controller is just sitting there wasting away while I mash button 1, making it do 3 separate functions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

Question, I know on the title screen that they say the game came out in 1985, but since the game was released by Telegames wouldn't a 1986 date been more likely? I say this because there isn't really anything concrete or any source that I know of that states 1985 is correct.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Question, I know on the title screen that they say the game came out in 1985, but since the game was released by Telegames wouldn't a 1986 date been more likely? I say this because there isn't really anything concrete or any source that I know of that states 1985 is correct.

It is in the "unreleased before 1986" list : http://colecoboxart.com/colecovision_listofgames.htm#unreleased

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Question, I know on the title screen that they say the game came out in 1985, but since the game was released by Telegames wouldn't a 1986 date been more likely? I say this because there isn't really anything concrete or any source that I know of that states 1985 is correct.

The copyright year is when it was written, not when it was released.

 

I am going through a phase of playing through Coleco games on my Ultimate SD, and last week, I started playing Alcazar: The Forgotten Fortress. I couldn't find a thread dedicated specifically to this game, so I decided to start my own.

 

I was surprised at how much I liked the game (having never heard of it before), and I just got finished making it to the throne on the hardest difficulty. This is truly a great game that reminds me of a handful of other games from the era like AD&D Cloudy Mountain, Swords & Serpents, Wolfenstein, and the original Metal Gear.

 

...

Same programmer as intellivision AD&D. Edited by mr_me
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Slip of the tongue when it comes to written vs released. The million dollar question is does that mean that all the games below by Telegames that were for the Dina 2 in 1 were released in 1986. (yes, some games were built in, but I want to keep this tidy)

 

Alcazar: The Forgotten Fortress

Amazing Bumpman

Boulder Dash

Cosmic Crisis

Meteoric Shower

Motocross Racer

Rock 'n' Bolt

Skiing

Strike It

Tank Wars

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
  • 1 month later...

I bought this from telegames back in around 1987 via mail order. what a great game. 

 

I got boulderdash, Spy hunter, Alcazar and James bond at the same time. It was so nice to get some new games after colecovision was  gone from store shelves since 1985. 

 

The use of sound fxs as visual clues making you strategize before entering the next room only to run in and find 3-4 gaurds instead of 1 come at you.

 

the stupid transportation carpet that sometimes would transport you to a endless pit room.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
3 hours ago, sixersfan105 said:

@MarcusFrom1982 you jealous? Scored myself the eColeco cart version (a likely repro from the 1990s/early 2000s) along with a repro box from Marc O. and a scanned/printed copy of the manual. I know they're not original but I'm still excited to have them!

F5D6FFFF-CE57-4B8C-AEE7-FD3FAAC1898F.jpeg

Wow! I'd certainly take a repo. That looks really cool 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 6/3/2018 at 7:02 PM, wongojack said:

I am going through a phase of playing through Coleco games on my Ultimate SD, and last week, I started playing Alcazar: The Forgotten Fortress. I couldn't find a thread dedicated specifically to this game, so I decided to start my own.

 

I was surprised at how much I liked the game (having never heard of it before), and I just got finished making it to the throne on the hardest difficulty. This is truly a great game that reminds me of a handful of other games from the era like AD&D Cloudy Mountain, Swords & Serpents, Wolfenstein, and the original Metal Gear.

 

I really liked the way the game forced you to play differently as the difficulty increased. Here are some tips from someone fresh from playing this hidden gem:

 

1) Read the fnck!ng manual (LOL)

 

2) After #1, make note of what special item kills which enemy AND which color castle has which resources and shortcut item. I wrote this down on a small piece of paper and just kept it next to me for reference:

  • Oil kills Griffins
  • Bleach kills Oilmoebas
  • Water and Ring kill Genies
  • Only Bullets kill the Guards
  • Rope is in the Blue Castle (lots of guns)
  • Raft and WATER are in the Red Castle (no guns on lvl 4)
  • Ring is in the Purple Castle (little bit of everything; no genies)
  • Extra life is in the Black Castle (despite the manual, usually has guns)

3) Go slow and learn to recognize the hints about which enemies are where. On the higher levels, you can't let yourself get surprised. You'll almost always be killed by every enemy unless you have a plan.

 

4) If you do get surprised, carrying meat in your hand can help you quickly stun any enemy.

 

5) Follow the tips in the manual and learn to lure enemies down pits. I find that the tiger and the oilmoeba are especially easy to lure down the small pits in level 3 and 4 (4 is the highest) even if chasing you for a few screens (they're slow). The guard and the griffin are pretty fast, so only a direct lure down a pit is recommended for them.

 

6) Your route matters! You want to plan your route so that the last castle you visit before the Alcazar is either a Red or Purple Castle. If the map isn't favorable, don't wast time. Just reset the game until you see one you like.

 

7) Blue Castles are the easiest, but the rope is the least useful special item and bullets aren't very helpful in the Alcazar. Blue Castles are good to visit early to stock up on bullets and can be a relief to pass through on your route to the finish, but don't waste too much time on maps with large numbers of them near the Alcazar.

 

8.) Black Castles are a good first stop to stock up on supplies, but getting the extra man can be very tough (and expensive) especially on level 4. Step into Black Castles early and look around, but be prepared to backtrack and leave rather than waste resources. Also, you don't want to pick up a key too early or it will use valuable inventory space.

 

9) Carry 2 bottles of water with you into the Alcazar. Sometimes you can find one bottle in there, but don't count on it. You will almost always need to kill at least 2 genies to get to the throne.

 

10) On level 3 and 4, you will need to carry keys with you into the Alcazar. You can get these only from guards in the Purple or Black Castles. Ideal inventory starting Alcazar on level 4:

  • Water*
  • Water
  • Keys
  • Oil or Bleach**

*can substitute a ring

**You don't really need bullets in the Alcazar because there are no guards

 

11) When you find it, you need to make contact with the left part of the throne. That's the part that most looks like the seat. If you are racing a genie to the throne, be aware that you cannot just touch it anywhere.

Nice write up! Makes me want to play this. Adventure (VCS) is my all time favorite game and this sounds like it might have over shadowed it had I had it back in the day.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...