Lost In Translation/Mr. Do's Castle

About The Game
Mr. Do's Castle is an arcade video game.

For the second game in the Mr. Do. series, the clown finds himself in a traditional platforms and ladders game. Each level is made up of 6 floors (7 including the castle's ramparts) and all are joined by a number of inter-connecting ladders. The ladders come if 2 different types : vertical ladders, which are fixed and cannot be moved; and diagonal ladders, which can be pushed left or right from the top of the ladder. This allows Mr. Do. to reach other areas of the level and is sometimes necessary to redirect the path of any pursuing enemies.

The enemies in "Mr Do's Castle" come in the form of unicorns; and as with the enemies of the first game, they will hunt down and try to kill Mr. Do. Replacing the 'Powerball' weapon of the original game, Mr Do is now armed with a mallet. This can be used to temporarily stun the game's unicorns and by the player time to escape; but its primary function is to knock out the floor stones that form each level's platforms.

Some stones are marked with a cherry and collecting all of these will complete the level. A level can also be completed by killing all of the unicorns. This is achieved by using the mallet to remove blocks and knock holes in the platforms. The unicorns will fall into any holes that the player has created; some simply fall through to the platform below, whereas others are trapped. Trapped unicorns can be hit with Mr. Do's mallet and knocked to a lower platform - useful for guying a few extra seconds for the player. If left alone, however, they will climb out, filling the hole in behind them, and transform into much nastier enemies; these cannot be stunned with the mallet and must be killed by dropping blocks onto them from the platform above.

Some sections of a platform have 2 'skull' stones on them, with normal stones in between. When both skull blocks are knocked out with the mallet, all the blocks in between will fall to reveal wooden floorboards. This is highly effective in killing several enemies at once.

Each level also has 3 'Key' blocks. If Mr.Do. knocks out all of the key blocks, a large pair of doors opens at the top of the screen. Behind them is a shield which, when collected, turns the unicorns into 'Alphamonsters'. The Alphamonsters flee from Mr. Do! and can be killed either with the mallet, or by dropping a floor stone onto them from the level above. When Mr. Do! kills an Alphamonster, its letter appears on a flagpole at the top of the screen. If the players collects all five letters, an extra life is awarded.

Trivia
Released in September 1983.

The Asian version of this game is known as "Mr. Do! vs. Unicorns".

Barry Lewis holds the official record for this game with 421,780 points.

A Mr. Do's Castle machine was shown at the 2003 classic arcade games show 'California Extreme' in San Jose, California.

Updates

 * The later revision has :
 * Extended game play by the inclusion of blocks with cherries embedded in them.
 * The replay Diamond was added.

Scoring

 * Knocking a block onto a red unicorn below so it falls one level : 500 points.
 * Knocking a block onto a red unicorn below so it falls two levels : 1,000 points.
 * Knocking a block onto a red unicorn below so it falls three levels : 1,500 points.
 * Knocking a block onto a red unicorn below so it falls four levels : 2,000 points.
 * Killing a green unicorn : x2 points.
 * Killing a blue unicorn : x3 points.
 * Killing 2, 3 or 4 unicorns with one block : x2, x4, x6 points.
 * Collecting the free credit diamond : 8,000 points.

Tips and tricks

 * Make use of the rows of blocks marked with a skull block at each end. Knock out one skull block and all of the middle blocks, wait for unicorns to fall into the gaps and knock out the other skull block. This will cause the whole row of blocks to fall, killing all unicorns in the holes and below.


 * Use your hammer to briefly stun a pursuing unicorn, allowing you to escape.


 * If a unicorn is chasing you up a diagonal ladder, push the top of the ladder away when you reach the top so the unicorn ends up on a different platform.


 * You can kill a unicorn on the same level as you if he is standing on a block when you hit it. The unicorn will fall and you will be awarded the same score as if you had knocked the block down onto the unicorn.


 * If a unicorn is filling a hole vacated by a block, you can hemmer it to knock the unicorn down to the next level. Note you CANNOT do this to a blue unicorn.


 * Wait until all unicorns are as close as possible before collecting the cross to turn them into EXTRA letters, giving you more chance to kill more of them.


 * You can fall from any height and will not die so jump down through gaps to avoid unicorns.

Series

 * 1) Mr. Do! (1982)
 * 2) Mr. Do's Castle (1983)
 * 3) Mr. Do's Wild Ride (1984)
 * 4) Do! Run Run (1984)
 * 5) Neo Mr. Do! (1996)

Ports

 * Consoles :
 * Colecovision (1983)
 * Atari 2600 (1984)
 * Atari 5200 (1984)


 * Computers :
 * Commodore C64 (1984)