| Captain Silver | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Data East |
| Publisher(s) | Data East |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Sega Master System, Family Computer |
| Release date(s) | July 1987 (Arcade) |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Two-player (alternating) |
| CPU | 68000 (@ 12 MHz) |
| Sound | Sound CPU : M6502 (@ 1.5 MHz), Sound Chips : YM2203 (@ 1.5 MHz), YM3526 (@ 3 MHz), MSM5205 (@ 384 kHz) |
| Display | Horizontal, Raster, 256 x 240 pixels, 1024 colors |
Captain Silver (キャプテンシルバー Kyaputen Shirubā) is a side-scrolling action game released for the arcades by Data East in 1987. In the game, the player control a young sailor named Jim Aykroyd who goes on a journey to seek the lost treasure of Captain Silver, facing various perils along the way. Home versions were released for the Master System by Sega and for the Family Computer by Tokuma Shoten.
Contents |
The controls consists of an eight-way joystick for walking, crouching and climbing ladders, as well as two action buttons for attacking and jumping. The player is armed primarily with a sword, which he swings horizontally while standing and crouching, as well as vertically while climbing a ladder. The player can also move while crouching.
The player can gain a Magic Power by picking up flying fairies, which grants him the ability to shoot projectiles with his sword. The player can increase his Magic Power by up to six levels, allowing him to shoot greater and more powerful projectiles.
The player can also uncover other power-ups such as a longsword that allows him to destroy enemy projectiles, a pair of boots that allows him to walk faster and jump higher, a bottle of medicine that allows him to take a hit from an enemy, and a stopwatch that temporarily stops the time limit. Both, the longsword and the boots, can only be used temporarily at first, but if the player acquires a second version of either while still wearing the previous one, they can be kept permanently until the player loses a life. Bonus items such as coins, diamonds, and crowns can be acquired for points as well. Keys can be acquired which gives the player access to item shops and treasure vaults. The player's own score is used as currency, allowing the player to gain power-ups and extra lives at the expense of a lower score. Defeated enemies will drop letter icons that the player can collect for points as well. If the player collects the required letters needed to fill out the "CAPTAIN SILVER" gauge at the bottom of the screen, he will gain an extra life. Some enemies will drop icons that will change into any of the required thirteen letters.
There are a total of three stages (or "scenes"): a haunted town at night, a pirate ship, and a treasure island. Each scene features its unique set of enemy characters such as werewolves, witches, pirates, natives, and several kinds of animals, man-eating plants and other hazards. Scene 3 ends with a final battle against the skeleton remains of Captain Silver. After the player complete the game once, he much complete a second quest in which he must go through harder versions of the same stages in order to finish the game.
The Master System version was released by Sega on July 2, 1988. Two versions of the game were produced, a 1-Megabit cartridge for the American market and a 2-Megabit cartridge for Japan and Europe.
The play mechanics in the Master System version is roughly identical to the arcade game and mosf of the power-ups and bonus items are retained, the player can only increase his Magic Powers by up to three levels instead of six, the longsword power-up is removed, boots cannot be worm permanently. However, the medicine power-up can last permanently until the player gets hit and there are also treasure chests in certain stages that will give the player one of two rewards (a bonus item or free access to an item shop). Unlike the arcade version, the Master System can be completed
The American version only features four stages roughly based on the ones in the arcade version (a town, a ship, an island, and a mountain) and only two bosses (Captain Coppard and Captain Silver). The Japanese and European version features two additional stages set intermittently between the before the final two stages, several additional enemy characters, a boss for each stage in addition to the ones in the American version (a sorceress, a cyclops, a fire-breathing dragon, and a banana-shaped warrior). The ending epilogue in the Japanese and European version also features visuals as well instead of the text-only epilogue of the American version. Both versions supported Sega's FM sound module for the Master System.
The Family Computer version was released exclusively in Japan by Tokuma Shoten on December 16, 1988. This version features several substantial differences from the arcade version. The player now has a health gauge allowing him to take more than one hit before losing a life (which can be replenished by picking up hearts). However, some of the enemy grunts now take more than one slice to defeat as well. The player can now purchase all of his weapon power-ups in item shops, which can be changed through a sub-menu. The stages are different and the bosses include new foes such as Frankenstein's monster and a giant octopus. The player can enter houses and rooms where an old lady will offer advice to the player (such as an enemy's weak point). However, some of the old ladies the player will encounter are hostile and will bring a curse to the player (like reducing his health by half) in order to interfere with his progress. The ending varies depending on whether the player used a continue to finish the game.