Catch ghosts and blast them at monsters in nostalgic arcade puzzle shooter Castle Scout
Ghost to ghost
There is so much that I like about Castle Scout.
It combines a retrotastic arcade shooter with match-3 puzzle action.
You catch the ghosts floating above you, and then shoot them upwards towards the monsters that slowly descend the castle's floors towards you.
The ghosts will only kill the monsters if they match their colour. If they don't, the monster will leap down to your level and explode to weaken the floor.
Below the floor is lava, which will kill you if you fall in. If you get caught in an explosion, you'll also die. It's easy to die, trust me, I've done it enough times.
It's a solid idea, and the presentation is superb.
The explosions feel really good even though their only purpose is to kill me. The colourful and rascally monsters that cause them also make me smile.
All the music and sound effects hit my nostalgia bone and really round the game off, too. The look and sound of it has been nailed. It's solid in that regard.
StompedAll of this goodness is why it's such a shame that the controls aren't as responsive as they need to be. They sap the game of the enjoyment it would otherwise provide.
But the rest of the game's aesthetic is so appealing to me that I'm almost, almost willing to ignore the controls. But I can't.
The problem is that you need to move the character by dragging your finger across the screen.
This is too laborious, and I think could be solved with virtual buttons, probably. Something that doesn't allow for any slippiness, as the touch controls currently do.
I'm hoping that developer DYA Games will work on new control options, as that's all that's stopping Castle Scout from becoming a very satisfying little game.
You can check Castle Scout out for yourself by purchasing it for 69p / 99c on the App Store right now.
Maybe it's just me and you'll get along with it just fine (I doubt it)? But I know it's not good when a death feels like the fault of the controls, rather than my own.
