Andrew Fisher (693) on 9/28/2022 10:19 PM · Permalink · Report

Captain Silver was the first game I rented after getting a Master System at Xmas '91. I knew the game from the arcade, knew it was ported to the SMS, knowing that and certain other arcade games were SMS ported led me to attempt to get a console. I'd never gotten a present that technical and expensive before, but the price had come down quite a bit so I just managed it. Another factor was, I read Treasure Island that year and had a kind of pirate fever, Captain Silver is clearly Treasure Island in an arcade/action format, you're Jim Hawkins, Captain Silver is Long John Silver.

Playing Captain Silver at the arcade, I liked the first stage, the port town full of fairy tales, werewolves, Cheshire cats, the Pied Piper of Hamelin and his rats, witches on broomsticks. I liked the power ups like the jumping boots and the potion to give you an extra hit. So Captain Silver was my first rental pick and I liked the Master System version, I didn't realize that it had been adapted to the typical arcade game format of about five stages, a boss at the end of each. The arcade game is divided into three scenes and there are only two bosses, the pirate captain aboard the ship and the undead skeleton of Captain Silver guarding his treasure. I missed some of the SMS bosses e.g. the Cyclops and the bizarre "Top Banana" or "Banana King". It's very uneven, scene 2, the pirate ship, is much shorter than the other two. Still I did like that the boat ride from pirate ship, landing on the beach at treasure island, the jungle stage and finally the mountain climb up to where undead Captain Silver guards his treasure chest are strung together as one stage, it's not something you often saw, often there would be a "curtain-fall" and a complete change of scene. Double Dragon of course, after beating each boss, moved you to the next stage, showing a quick transition of scenery and P.O.W also was different for having long stages that included transitions to a new scene e.g. climbing the ladder up to the long landing platform then jumping off(!) lading in a new part of the prison camp. There were a couple of "curtain-falls" of course, one showing an image of the heroes busting through the prison wall in the tank and another couple further on.