The real Spanish inspirations behind Maldita Castilla

Late last year Spanish indie game maker ‘Locomalito’  released his latest ‘big’ game…  The beautifully Ghosts n Goblins-esque Maldita Castilla.

Just prior to the game’s release, I got chatting to ‘Loco’ (real name, unknown) and he told me a bit about the inspiration he’d got from researching Spanish history, characters and landscapes.

For example, the main character is based on El Cid (immortalised in the statue below). He was a well-known Spanish hero, who inspired many myths.

 

 

Locomalito had spent some time wandering around Castille and other cities in Spain, photographing buildings and artworks that led to the game’s rather unique look.

Here you can see the obvious inspiration behind the ‘Damned Castle’ the player is seeking to enter.

Even the smallest details in the game are often directly influenced by photos the programmer/artist had taken in his journeys.

The details in the fresco below are hard to make out, but still a close match to the photo on the left.

Finally, here are a few more architecture/detail photos that Locomalito shared and you can easily see styles and details that show up throughout the game.

And of course, the sort of ghoulish adornments you see on Spanish buildings on the right, were a great inspiration for a ‘ghostly/ghoulish’ game like this…

Thanks to Locomalito for sharing these photos and thoughts with us.

If you haven’t yet played Maldita Castilla, grab your free PC download here. As the man says himself, it “pays homage to classic arcade games from 1985-1987 like Ghost’n’Goblins, Tiger Road, Black Tiger, Shinobi, Rygar and Karnov“.