Captain Silver

Moby ID: 13749
Arcade Specs

Description official descriptions

In Captain Silver, you play the role of Jim, a brave young lad with a taste of adventure. You embark on a journey to find Captain Silver's secret treasure hoard, which is rumored to be hidden on an island in the Eastern Seas.

There are six scenes in the game. During his travels, Jim will explore villages, fight his way on board ships, venture through caves, and wander around tropical islands. In each of these six scenes, Jim must use his sword to kill cats, rats, bats, witches, skeletons, and other creatures that are waiting for him. When Jim touches, or is shot at, by a creature, he loses one of his lives, but when he kills a creature, he can collect some gold that they leave behind, which can be used to buy items from shops. However, rather than getting gold, enemies leave behind some gold containing one of the letters that spell the word "CAPTAIN SILVER". If Jim manages to get all of these letters, he will be awarded an extra life.

Jim may only use his sword to start off with, but once he collects a fairy that floats toward him in every scene, Jim will be able to shoot stars at enemies, making his kills more efficient. The maximum number of stars that he can have is six. There are other power-ups that Jim can collect in the game. These include the "clock" power-up, which gives Jim extra time; the "boot" power-up which allows Jim to jump higher; and the "coffee?" power-up, which enables Jim to shield himself from creatures until he is hit by one.

There is a boss in each scene, which he must defeat in order to proceed to the next round. There is also a certain time limit, which Jim must complete the scene before it expires. If he does not, then he will lose a life.

Spellings

  • キャプテンシルバー - Japanese Spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Credits (NES version)

17 People (13 developers, 4 thanks)

Publisher
Coordinator
Promoter
Director
Programmer
Sound Creator
C. G. Designer
Special Thanks

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 67% (based on 17 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.9 out of 5 (based on 20 ratings with 2 reviews)

Best Arcade Port to Starboard

The Good
The vibrant colours you see in every level are really eye-catching compared to the dull and patchy graphics of the original arcade version. Even the music has better tunes, rhythm and instrumentation and even better when FM (YM2413 chip) is enabled. The makers of this version took a big step for the European and Japanese versions and added two new levels, four new bosses and an actually ending to the game instead of the arcade-style looping.

The Bad
Just like any port from an arcade, a few sacrifices are made that don't carry from the original, including lack of vertical scrolling, no longsword powerup and less vocal sounds, but nothing that ruins the game in the least. It's disappointing that the US version of this game was a straight port of the arcade and did not get the deluxe treatment as the European and Japanese versions did. Comparable to Ninja Gaiden, there are some unforgiving areas where enemies spawn and spam you, but with the right powerups and reflexes, you can overcome them.

The Bottom Line
If there was ever a port from the arcade that completely bested it, this would be the one game. It's like playing Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" in an arcade style platformer. For a port, this brings together some of the best elements and mechanics the Sega Master System has to offer. You can't go wrong with this game. If a specific regional version of the game does not pose an issue, you'll want this title for your own personal home arcade.

SEGA Master System · by Kayburt (30393) · 2021

A good Master System pickup. IF it's the right version.....

The Good
The graphics blow away the NES/Famicom's graphics. For a late 80's SMS game, you could almost call it an early Mega Drive game if you only saw it. This was an arcade game and SEGA did a great job porting it to 8-bit hardware.

 The game has some very catchy tunes. Even if you don't have FM sound, you might still be humming later on.

  The controls are well and tight and pretty responsive.

  The gameplay is extremely fun and addicting. It plays like a beat-em-up combined with a side scrolling platformer. It is a nice pirate game that will surely be a regular on your old Master System.<br><br>**The Bad**<br>      However, you really should get the PAL or Japanese version over the American version of Captain Silver. In the version we got, TWO WHOLE LEVELS are missing. Why SEGA of America would even think this was a good idea I'll never know. Instead of a 6 level game, we get a short 4 level game.

 The game is very cheap. You get a 1 hit death system. And you get killed from birds, crabs, and small town fountains of water! C'mon!!!

 This might not be a real complaint, but I don't know if there's really a story to this game. All I know is you're some pirate going around beating enemies.  <br><br>**The Bottom Line**<br>     Overall, this is a pretty fun game and one of the better Master System titles. But you really need the one of the European of Japanese versions. Like I said, 4 LEVELS???!!!

SEGA Master System · by Weston Sharpensteen (13) · 2013

Discussion

Subject By Date
Short review(arcade and SMS) Andrew Fisher (697) Sep 29, 2022

Trivia

Version differences

The two-mega European release of Captain Silver contains stages and enemies that don't appear in the U.S. release. It appears that the Canadian release was the full version, but before Sega/Tonka released the game in the U.S., they pared the game down to a cheaper one-mega cartridge. The resulting game contains only four levels (instead of six).

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Katakis | カタキス.

Arcade added by Alaka. NES added by Mobygamesisreanimated.

Additional contributors: chirinea, Psionic, Patrick Bregger, Jo ST.

Game added June 24, 2004. Last modified September 8, 2023.