doesn't work on my 2.4 GHz MBP... just get a black screen and must Force Quit.

The full release is out. Check out the developer's website. This game was delayed to a ridiculous degree, but I must say, the end result is fantastic. All the levels from the original two Dark Castles are perfectly reproduced with tasteful upgrades to the graphics that in no way detract from the gameplay. The control system and responses are identical to those of the original games. The game seems to be thoroughly debugged, and I have yet to encounter any glitches whatsoever (rare in the first release of a platform game). I would have appreciated a little more variety in the music (the same few tracks are repeated for most levels), but hey, the originals didn't even have background music, so this is a small complaint.

Basically, if you were a fan of the original dark castle games, you won't be disappointed by this. If you've never played dark castle, get this anyway, as it is one of the best platform games available for any system.

Compared to the latest beta that was released 2.5 years ago on the Z Sculpt website, this release is *excellent*.

I experienced no crashes, no glitches, no bugs, and everything that's playable in the demo is feature-complete, including the training and the various new Return to Dark Castle rooms. It's a complete turnaround from beta 13; I thought RoTC was dead, but apparently not!

I noticed one small control scheme difference from the original Dark Castle and Beyond Dark Castle (if you are pushing up + one direction, Duncan^WBryant will continue up stairs in the other direction as well), which is admittedly minor and easy to adjust to.

What may be really hard to get used to, though, is that all the rooms from the original Dark Castle and Beyond Dark Castle are colorized, and the sounds have also been updated (when Duncan^WBryant runs across different kinds of ground, the sound his steps make are different), and the three episodes in the Dark Castle series are somewhat integrated via the various ante rooms, which is interesting but well-done.

If you're just looking for nostalgia, you can easily run the original versions of Dark Castle and Beyond Dark Castle (in their pristine black and white glory) using Mini vMac. But if you want a modern version, Return to Dark Castle (surprisingly) delivers in spades!

Hey, just letting you know that, as of 2/22/07, RTDC has been finished, but we're waiting for Delta Tao to release it. The decision is up to the following people:

Joe Williams: joe@deltatao.com
Mark Pierce: mpierce@shff.com (owns the rights to DC)

Send email to them if you want to see the final version released! (You can email Z Sculpt, and they will tell you the same thing.)

Would be a decent little game if a) there weren't so many bugs (major ones that make game play impossible), b) the demo didn't crash, c) the "training" area worked in the demo and e) if there was some clear way to learn the controls. It's got the graphics and sound, it's just missing in the details department something fierce.