Maldita Castilla

Maldita Castilla, known in North America and PAL regions as Cursed Castilla, is an arcade action video game developed by Locomalito and released in December 2012. The game is primarily based on myths from Spain and, to a smaller degree, other parts of Europe. Maldita Castilla was developed as a tribute to the video games of the late 1980s, such as Ghosts'n Goblins, Tiger Road, Black Tiger, and Shinobi. The game was inspired by Amadis of Gaul, a sixteenth-century Spanish chivalric romance.

Background
Castilla is Spanish for Castile (a place of historic significance in Spain), while maldita, meaning "cursed" (also meaning "damned" or "maledict"), is used as an exclamation of anger at times of difficulty or danger.

Development
The game can be downloaded for free from the website of its author, Juan Antonio Becerra, who uses the pseudonym "Locomalito". The chiptune music was composed by Gryzor87.

Features
The game has six levels, each of which culminates with a boss. Defeating the boss enables the player to advance to the next level. Each of the game's levels corresponds to an era of history, and each has four different endings that vary depending on the tasks performed by the player.

Plot
The action takes place around the year 1081, when an ancient demon hears Moura's laments for her fallen love and uses her tears to create a magic key, which unleashes demons into the Kingdom of Castile. King Alfonso VI of León orders Don Ramiro, Quesada, Don Diego, and Mendoza, to Tolomera to end the demonic nightmare that looms over the kingdom. As the demons get to his comrades, however, Don Ramiro must fight alone to rescue them and bring peace to the land.

Reception
Maldita Castilla was well received by Spanish press. The blog portal IGN Spain praised the game's demo. MeriStation and Vandal echoed these positive sentiments, and portal 3DJuegos gave the game a score of 8/10. Lainformacion.com discussed the game's details and its use of Spanish culture. It has been recommended as one of the best free online games by Coca-Cola Spain. English-language and French-language sites have also echoed these positive opinions.

There are several videos on YouTube with speedruns of the game, and the 2013 RetroMadrid fair hosted a championship.