Hamster shows off Mr. Do!'s Castle gameplay ahead of launch

Hamster Corporation has released a gameplay showcase previewing tomorrow's launch of Mr. Do!'s Castle. The 1983 Universal arcade game joins the Arcade Archives lineup on September 17. It hits PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, while an Arcade Archives 2 version arrives on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch 2.

The three-minute video demonstrates the core loop of the action platformer. Mr. Do, a clown armed with a hammer, navigates a multi-story stone fortress. Instead of jumping on enemies, he knocks out floor blocks to trap the pursuing unicorns.

Once a unicorn falls into a gap, Mr. Do can crush it by hammering the block directly above it. It's a mechanic borrowed heavily from Universal's 1980 release Space Panic, but the pacing here is much faster. The game also features a risk-reward sprint mechanic. Players can't just hold the sprint button, because using it drains the stage timer at an accelerated rate. Taking too long spawns faster enemies, forcing players to balance speed against the clock.

Dropping skulls for points

The stage layouts get complicated fast. Small ladders can be pushed left or right to change paths, acting like a kickstand on a bicycle. This lets players cut off enemies or create temporary safe zones.

The footage covers the game's alternative scoring methods. Finding all the cherries is the standard path to clearing a stage, but players can also spell out the word EXTRA by collecting letter tiles at the top of the screen.

When the screen gets too crowded, Mr. Do can drop giant skull blocks down multiple stories.

The video shows one of these skulls crushing three unicorns at once for a 500-point bonus. I'm curious how tight the timing window is for those multi-kills, since the enemies move erratically. The unicorns themselves don't look much like mythical beasts. They're closer to angry dogs in party hats. It works, which is the nicest thing I can say about early arcade sprite design.

A sequel with a new identity

The original Mr. Do! wasn't a platformer at all. It was a maze game about digging through dirt, and the sequel ditches that mechanic entirely. It started development as Knights vs. Unicorns, but Universal's US division pushed to rebrand it. They wanted a sequel to capitalize on the first game's popularity.

The result is a game that shares a main character with its predecessor but completely abandons the mechanics that made him famous. Despite the shift in gameplay, it was a success in arcades. Game Machine listed it as the second most successful new table arcade unit in Japan in October 1983.

Parker Brothers eventually published home ports for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and ColecoVision. It also landed on the Commodore 64 and MSX. This Arcade Archives release uses the original arcade ROM, skipping the console adaptations.

The digital release includes the standard Hamster features. Players can adjust the difficulty settings, compete on global leaderboards, and use display filters to mimic the look of a CRT monitor. It'll be available on digital storefronts for $7.99.