And by low-fi The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] features the sort of four-colour CGA graphics found in computer games from the 1980s. We say computer games instead of PC games because that's what they used to be called. Anyway, having reviewed this on PC last year, The Eternal Castle offers us a visually striking and minimal take on the sort of game that defined that era - the original Prince of Persia and Another World.


In fact, prior to its release the team behind The Eternal Castle were hyping it as a long-lost remaster of a PC game that never saw the light of day. Which, a lot of people bought. I mean, why would anyone create a 2-bit four-colour game? The answer of course is - reasons. Here's a snippet from our review.

At first glance it’s remarkably easy to buy into the idea that The Eternal Castle is an old PC game from the 1980s. The simplistic visuals immediately date the look by a few decades at least. But with the addition of modern rendering and improved animation you can begin to see the modern ‘remastered’ touches shine through. The heavily pixelized 2-bit look and minimal use of colour could be seen as a way to simplify the presentation and visual communication that takes place within a specific scene, but instead it opens the door for some truly impressive sequences and set pieces. Where the eye is drawn to simple shapes and objects, flickering lights, shadows, silhouettes, and strange structures.

Playing into this aspect is the mysterious story, a sci-fi tale about crash landing on a strange planet only to have to find the right bits to restore your ship so you can save, her. Coupled with the 1987 hoax, the sparse and minimal visuals, deciphering the hidden meaning behind it all takes on a quality that is very much of the early PC-game era. There are hints about it all being a dream, with locations that vary from dry desert-like war zones, temples, and haunted mansions home to strange experiments. After a brief opening section, you then get to choose which location to head to first with each offering a different approach to exploration, puzzle solving, and combat.

Available now for Nintendo Switch - like everything else this is a great fit for Nintendo's console and well worth looking into if you dig the whole CGA 2-bit vibe.