Intellivision Thunder Castle | Swords & Sorcery in an Ever-Changing Maze!

Thunder Castle is a 1986 maze video game for the Intellivision. The player controls a knight navigating three mazes, defeating enemies to progress. To defeat the enemies, the knight must interact with objects throughout the maze before interacting with them.
The game was designed by David Warhol. It was initially going to be shipped by Mattel Electronics but the company closed its electronics division in 1984. It was released in 1986 initially by mail order by INTV who specialized in releasing Intellivision games following Mattel Electronics closure.
The game received praise from publications like Computer Entertainer and Allgame, with Dave Beuscher calling it one of the best games for the Intellivision.
In Thunder Castle, the player controls the knight via the Intellivision direction disc, moving the night up, down left and right in the maze. The knight continues in that direction pushed until a turn is possible. The game can be played single-player or two-players alternating. The player guides their knight through a series of mazes slaying three dragons in the forest maze, six sorcerers in the castle maze, and nine demons in the dungeon maze. Magical objects are scattered through the maze to energize the knight to slay the monsters. The game is set in three dungeons: a forest, a castle and a dungeon. After completing the final maze, the game restarts with enemies moving faster. The player can energize their knight for a few seconds by interacting with a bat in the forest, a mouse in the castle or a red skull in the dungeon. Being energized lets the knight slay a monster in its maze. Each dungeon has gates in its maze, magical creatures can move through the gates, while knights can not. Scattered through the mazes are various magic item power-ups which are activated by using any of the action buttons on the Intellivision controller. These items are very in their ability to energize the knight, increase its speed, let him move through a gate, or move to a random location in the maze. Collecting a comb item will cut the player's score in half.
The goal is to complete a high score by slaying the monsters in the maze until you run out of lives by interacting with a monster when not energized.
‪@discostu9654‬
#atari #intellivision #mattel #genxgrownup
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[@Bikeguychicago1]

Easter Egg: The game's graphics were designed by Connie Goldman. Looking at the intermission screens carefully, you can see her initials integrated into the screen design.

[@stevewahlin7110]

Love it! The Intellivision library is super underrated, I enjoy seeing people discover how good some of these games are. You're going to love the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons games

[@jefflanoux1063]

The sound in this game is amazing. It would make a great homebrew on the 7800 - with a pokey chip.

[@Androsynth75]

This is one of Inty’s showstopper games. Incredible music and sound, great graphics, fun gameplay and it’s challenging as heck. Much as I love Atari, the Intellivision, when handled correctly, could do amazing stuff. This game, and the three ad&d games I still play regularly.

[@unconbentional2044]

Thank you for giving this game the attention it deserves! IMO, it's not only a hidden gem, but also one of the best Intellivision titles.

[@JC-vd6yi]

A lot of similarities to Pacman. Eating rat/pellet chasing after dragon/ghost fruit / chalice, ring popping up. Wonderful soundtrack. Solid game.

[@miked4377]

i remember when this came out in 1982...it was previewed in electronic games magazine....cool game...music is awesome...

[@-Ricky_Spanish-]

OMG that music brought me right back to being a kid. I have such fond memories of Intellivision, it was an amazing system for its time. The Speech Synthesizer brought a whole other dimension to games like B-17 Bomber and Bomb Squad.

[@urmie]

In case anyone is wondering, the main tune is Schubert's 8th Symphony. I remember playing this on Xbox 360 Game Room, was amazed at this game, wish Xbox brought GR back.

[@KristianWontroba]

Thunder Castle looks like something straight from Homestar Runner/Strong Bad Emails! Love it! 😊

[@kevinlawson1746]

Hover Force is one of the most impressive games I played back in the day for the Intellivision.

[@ObsidianContraption]

Thunder Castle is awesome! I didn't have this for my intellivision growing up, but i later discovered it on an xbox collection. I really hope we can get this to come out on the Atari VCS

[@GenXGrownUp]

I've gotta think this would have been part of the acquisition - just Recharge it! 😁

[@ObsidianContraption]

@@GenXGrownUp 💯

[@autoneurotic]

Played this as a kid back in the late 80s and early 90s. Just picked up an Intellivsion a few weeks ago and Thunder Castle is one of the 23 games (so far) that I've picked up for it. It's been great to play it again. I'm playing it on a CRT using a shielded RF cable. It's about as close to recreating that childhood experience as I will ever get.

[@GenXGrownUp]

That's very cool.

[@jbponzi1]

Any INTV game with running man is going to be fun.

[@MrPoestyle]

This is my all time favorite Intellivision game !!!! Great video !!!!

[@bc2907]

Love the graphics, gameplay and music...trifecta! Thanks Jon for delving into intellivision.

[@WagnersTechTalk]

Looks like a fun game, thanks for sharing Jon! Congrats on 50k subs, proud of ya man.

[@Treeplanter73]

Great looking graphics for the time. Fun!

[@ctbinary42]

For the era this is amazing! I hope Atari puts out some kind of Intellivision collection soon. Maybe even like the 50th anniversary collection! I'd love to hear from the people who worked on this system

[@exidy-yt]

What a great little maze game! I hope the 3rd Intellivision game you pick is The Dreadnaught Factor, the funnest side-scrolling tactical shooter i've played on an 8-bit machine. Do you take out the guns shooting you? The drone missile launchers? Bomb the vents to destroy the dreadnaught as fast as possible, or bomb the engines to slow it down so you can make multiple passes on the crippled ship at your leasure as it closes in on Earth to blow it up? An absolute blast that I know you will love as well. It came out in a top-down format on the Atari 8 bit computers and looks a little better, but the Intellivision version is the most fun and some of the later dreadnaughts are just fiendish if you play at higher difficulty. There was also a ROMhack with new ship designs floating around too as I recall. Anyway this game was a hoot, and with surprisingly good music! Thanks for sharing.

[@80sRetroVibes]

I happened to have had headphones on when I played your video... the soundtrack in this game is awesome!! 🎹🎵🎶

[@GenXGrownUp]

I know! Really surprised me!

[@EugenioAngueira]

I love this game! Great graphics, music, and gameplay!

[@stephencianci2026]

Great Game! And great coverage as usual. thank you so much for starting to covering Intellivision. I loved your channel and podcast before but Intellivision was my first system and these games getting some attention warms my heart.

[@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785]

wow....this game looks and sounds absolutely amazing! the music is great, and some I recognize as being actual songs from various composers. neat how the music and invincibility theme is different for each stage. thanks for sharing this with us! now I seriously got to find someone who can fix my Intellivision console and get it working.

[@discostu9654]

Oh wow, I thought you were just going to try it out, I didn't think you were going to feature it. Thanks for this great video Jon. I still love this game today and I'm really glad you enjoyed it too!

[@GenXGrownUp]

I was just going to try it out, and then I couldn't get it out of my head, so I decided to make it the next episode. Thanks for the great suggestion! 😁

[@michaellakeartofficial]

I'm 29 and have been an avid gamer my whole life. You and Cinemassacre/AVGN have always been my favorite channels for retro titles. 🔥

[@briansellers7673]

Great video. I missed out on the intellivision back in the day too. That game looks like a lot of fun. The music and sound effects are pretty amazing too.

[@ZMAN_420]

Great game for the time! This is high quality retro content!🤘🏻👍🏻🇺🇲

[@Inadvisablescience]

Thunder Castle is one of my favorite Intellivision games! Great graphics, too!

[@GenXGrownUp]

I don't know many, but this one is on my favorites list already!

[@ButterSpider3]

Such a clever game. Looks like lots of fun.

[@Bikeguychicago1]

If you haven't tried Tower of Doom, I highly recommend that one as well. It plays like a combo of the original AD&D game (Cloudy Mountain) with the upgrades (spells, weapons, etc.) introduced in the 2nd AD&D game. Regarding Thunder Castle, there's a hacked version of the game available called Mystic Castle that speeds up the game a bit and increases the challenge factor.

[@tedadamgreen]

This is … very worthy!! Thanks for doing this video Jon

[@agentmith]

Please cover the 3 D&D games too! Those plus Thunder Castle and a handful of others are why I still keep my Intellivision hooked up.

[@SciurusBelnades]

Awesome. I vote for you to do B-17 Bomber for the Intellivision. I loved that game so much.

[@gator-freighterlpd-1334]

I have the Intellivision, and many games, but never heard of this one, but looks fun. I was in to the Atari 8-bit computer at the time, so newer INTV games probably never registered with me. My 3 favorites on INTV were both of the "Advanced D&D" games, and "He-Man & The Masters of the Universe". Give them a shot some time.

[@white-dragon4424]

Really good for its period. I remember seeing it advertised in our magazines, but it was never (as far as I know) released in the UK, as a lot of late titles weren't due to the crash. Same with the Dracula game. If I could've bought it I would've enjoyed it.

[@dyscotopia]

This is so much more advanced than even the best 2600 games that I feel bad for Mattel

[@GenXGrownUp]

It's pretty great. Why do you feel bad for Mattel, though? They produced it.

[@jonyak1221]

My favorite intellivision game, would love a recharged version.

[@jayme69]

Love this game :-) Keep up the awesome work Jon!

[@MrClawt]

The music is pretty good on this one.

[@stephens4175]

I have a few Boxed Intellevision games complete, need to get the system now, played it a little back in the 80's on a friends system never had it myself but today it is very cheap to collect for, one of the few that are.. so I'm going all in, awesome video, you should do Night Stalker too, another maze game that is intense.

[@pierregareau6590]

I'm happy to see that you explore the Intellivision and you see that in the intellivision library , there's great games and it make you understand more why Atari buy the intellivision brand, thanks for the video Jon !

[@DrEd-th2lu]

Jon, I love your reviews. You have given me so many reasons to go back and play my 2600 VCS games, and now Intellivision. Thank you for all you do.

[@travis303]

Plus that power up tune is so catchy. It really gets stuck in your head.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Makes me feel like slaying evil guardians!

[@2112Relayer]

I loved my intellivision as a kid, but recently, playing either my real intellivision or the intellivision flashback, I realize just how much the challenge of those games were simply due to the controller.

[@SkiBumMSP]

I actually have an Intellivision down in my basement, but don't have this game. Don't know if the unit still works, though. Anyway, that game did have some cool sound effects, plus love that music. Sounds like a Mozart composition. Also, can't help notice something here. Green Dragon? Yellow Dragon? Red Dragon? A Chalice? A Castle? Bats? Gee, what other game have we seen all that in before, eh? 😉

[@bw3230]

I was once stuck on stage 2 for about a half hour one rainy, cold October afternoon - the wizards kept giving me trouble. Good times. Best game on Intellivision although I am partial to Thin Ice and Tower of Doom. If you ever get the chance to review another Intellivision game, I'd love to see you do a walkthrough of Utopia.

[@ridiculous_gaming]

This is a very decent game all around.

[@JGreen-le8xx]

🎶Thunder Castle is on the move, Thunder Castle is loose! Feel the magic, hear the roar Thunder Castle is loose!🎶

[@IsaacKuo]

I consider the basic gameplay concept to be related to Pac-Man, but the feeling is so different! It shows how the basic Pac-Man formula never got fully explored. Another interesting variant is Rootin Tootin (for the C64 and maybe other platforms?)

[@Apexflipper]

Fantastic! Never knew abt this one

[@johnnym196]

OMG! That was my favourite game back in the day for the Intellivision! If I can ever find the time to get someone to look at my used Intellivision to fix it, I will be trying to find this game again. Which Intellivision game will you show next? Can’t wait!😅

[@kenwheeler3637]

Thunder Castle is such a great game. One of my favorites on the system. Sadly I'm stuck playing on an Flashback since the cart I have always locks up on the wizards level. Try out AD&D Cloudy Mountain, Tron Deadly Discs and Night Stalker. All great stuff.

[@hardkoregamer1981]

Awesome video Jon thanks again buddy 👍😎👍

[@hollowneedles]

When he walks horizontally it kinda looks like one of his legs is hobbled and he's dragging it behind him. lol

[@Torq_theReal_Brutal_Deluxe]

Give that in-game dragon a BEEFY arm and a couple of wings, and you've got Trogdor - The Burninator (he comes in the night ...). Very cool ... time to fire up the MiSTer ...

[@GenXGrownUp]

I can do it. I can do it nine times.

[@Torq_theReal_Brutal_Deluxe]

@@GenXGrownUp A proper Homestar Runner/Strongbad response!

[@PuzZLeR_00]

Ironically using the "Unfinished Symphony" with Schubert's 8th since this was an Intv Corp completion of a Mattel "Unfinished Game".

[@jeremiahthomas8140]

This heel turn by Jon was very unexpected.

[@GenXGrownUp]

❓

[@jeremiahthomas8140]

@@GenXGrownUp A joke about you leaving Atari for Intellivision.

[@edwardmclaughlin719]

@@jeremiahthomas8140 Atari owns Intellivision. So that makes little sense.

[@Picverse]

I have this game on an AT Games system

[@IsaacKuo]

Thunder Castle could have been a much better known classic if it had come out earlier (when the Intellivision was more popular), or it had been ported to more popular platforms.

[@amare65]

This is the greatest thing since sliced bologna!

[@kyoban6673]

Fragments of Beethoven's ninth here and there in the music

[@VEGANVANIA]

A serious contender for the greatest game on the Intellivision... ALAS, not a contender for the "greatest music and sound" award. ;-)

[@GenXGrownUp]

No, I thought it sounded pretty nice. What would you hold up as the "best in show" of Intellivision music and sound?

[@VEGANVANIA]

From the classical period, it's gotta be (1) SNAFU, and (2) Thin Ice. The sound hardware was capable of more, and I'd assume 21st century homebrew will prove the point, but "from the classical period", that's my _top two_ list. ;-) @@GenXGrownUp

[@SomeRandomDudeOnTheInternet827]

Have you ever played K.C Munchkin for the Magnavox Odyssey 2?

[@GenXGrownUp]

I hadn't before, but I'm about to fix that oversight. Thanks for the recommendation.

[@CarlToonist]

There was a poisonous comb in the original story of Snow White. It was to cause Snow White to become unconscious.

[@neugey]

Cut-scenes and sound design both a little ahead of their time. Did not expect that!

[@mikeburkhart8336]

Evil Skulls!!! HA! HA! HA! 💀

[@JumboJosh-lv3mo]

Hey Jon, for a Friday plays episode maybe put in Secret quest, later released title in 89, very fun. Side question, do you ever play the recharged games after you played them for the review?

[@JumboJosh-lv3mo]

Also Jon, J don’t think you realize what you just said about 2600 games in 1986-1992. Calling these games lackluster is almost criminal.I don’t think you realize what games came out in 86-92. Secret quest, Jr pacan, Solarius, desert falcon… I could go on and on about how good these games are.

[@jeremiahthomas8140]

I do not believe Mattel had anything to do with the later Intellivision releases. INTV Corp. bought the rights from Mattel for all things Intellivision.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Learning Intellivision history as I go.

[@The_Real_DCT]

Sorta, a number of intv era releases like thunder castle and Tower of doom were games that were in development during the Mattel era but were shelved when the crash hit and later finished by intv corp.

[@Bikeguychicago1]

This game was in progress when Mattel Electronics closed its doors. Intv Corp finished it and released it as one of their first titles.

[@superangrybrit]

Feels weird seeing a 2nd gen console game with background music. 🤔

[@GenXGrownUp]

And GOOD music, too!

[@Carlb328]

How about Tower of Doom and Cloudy Mountain!

[@mikemonk4375]

You should try Night Stalker. Same type of game only better in my opinion. For two player games you need to get Triple Action Biplanes, and sea battle.

[@bltvd]

This video made me feel very bad for any kid in 1986 who still had to play Intellivision because his parents would not replace it with a NES!

[@GenXGrownUp]

Don't feel bad for us. We got to live the origin of gaming!

[@bltvd]

@@GenXGrownUp I am 48 and lived through it that is why I know how bad the Intellivision was! There was always that poor kid who tried to sell you on the “sports games” and “better graphics” of the Intellivision but the Atari 2600 was still king until the NES hit the scene. H.E.R.O and Pitfall II were superior to anything on the Intellivision and Atari 5200.

[@PuzZLeR_00]

@@bltvd Ha ha. The "poor kid" was unlikely to have an Intellivision back then.

[@lbjon8469]

@@bltvd I don’t think your memory is clear or maybe you just didn’t understand the Intellivision during the time. It was critically the superior system to Atari and more expensive.

[@bltvd]

@@lbjon8469 it is perfectly clear. The Intellivision may have been newer, more expensive, and technically better but that did not matter. The 2600 was still a superior system because of the games and controller.

[@michaellarocca1435]

Try Tower of Doom! I didn’t know about either until I purchased both on XBox 360’s Game Room. Awesome Intellivision games! ( Thunder Castle & T.O.D) Great episode, as always, Jon! 🎉

[@CallousCoder]

Okay I’m old enough for dad jokes now: “it aMAZING game” 😊It reminds me of the 80s Dungeons and Dragons electric game by MATTEL.

[@CFF1974]

I will like to suggest Burger Time. This was the game that made be get an Intellivision. And if you are in the market for a console, I recommend the Sears Super Arcade. It has the detachable controllers like the Intellivision II, but the BIOS of the original Intellivision for 100% with all third party games.

[@tobycanrun]

Check imagic Swords and Serpents 👀