Dreadcastle (2026)
Oscar is a young vampire who has stayed out too late, and he has to get home to his family's castle before the sun comes up. Dreadcastle is a smooth-scrolling platformer that takes him through eight levels, from a village and its churchyard through woods, marshes and frozen mountain passes to the castle gate and the Throne Tower. In each level he gathers three family heirlooms to open the way on, switching between walking, jumping and flying as a bat. A werewolf chief waits at the very top. Written in 6510 assembly by Eric A. Norton as the companion game to a C64 programming book, and released with all its graphics and music under the MIT license (github.com/codeEbooks/Dreadcastle_C64).
Objective Reach the top of the Throne Tower and defeat Tom Darkfang before dawn. In every level, collect three heirlooms to open the gate to the next one. Controls • Joystick in port 2 • Left / Right: walk • Up: jump (hold for a higher jump) • Up + Fire: turn into a bat; then each push of Up flaps the wings, and Down dives • Down + Fire: turn back from bat to vampire • Fire: strike with the Count's staff (once you have found it) • Title screen: Up / Down picks music, sound effects or silence; Fire starts Tips • The bat can only fly while it has energy. Eat moths to refill it. • Use bat form to cross gaps and reach high ledges, then land to save energy. • The game ends at sunrise, so don't wander too long in one level. Modes • 1 player • 8 levels and a final boss