Shalom: Knightmare III

Shalom: Knightmare III[a] is a 1987 adventure video game developed and published by Konami for the MSX home computer. It was re-released digitally for Microsoft Windows. It is the third and final entry in the Knightmare trilogy. Set a century after the events of The Maze of Galious, the plot follows a Japanese high school student teleported into the Grecian Kingdom who must prevent the resurrection of the ancient demon lord Gog. Gameplay revolves around interaction with characters and exploration, while taking part in battles against enemies and bosses. The game was created by the MSX division at Konami under the management of Shigeru Fukutake. The process of making original titles for the platform revolved around the person who came up with the characters. Development proceeded with a team of four or five members, lasting somewhere between four and six months. It received a mixed reception from contemporary critics and retrospective commentarists.

Shalom: Knightmare III
Developer(s)Konami
Publisher(s)Konami
SeriesKnightmare
Platform(s)MSX
Release
  • JP: December 23, 1987
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay edit

 
Gameplay screenshot.

Shalom: Knightmare III is an adventure game.[1][2]

Synopsis edit

Setting and characters edit

Plot edit

Development and release edit

Shalom: Knightmare III was developed by the MSX division at Konami under the management of Shigeru Fukutake, who revealed its creation process in a 1988 interview with the Japanese publication Micom BASIC Magazine.[3] Fukutate explained that the staffer who came up with the characters was in charge of designing and facilitating the development of the project, as the process of making original titles for the MSX revolved around the person who came up with the characters being assigned to do both planning and the story.[3] Fukutate further explained that the planner would then lead a team of four or five members to proceed with development, which would last somewhere between four and six months.[3] The game was published for the MSX exclusively in Japan by Konami on December 23, 1987.[4][5] Its ending theme was featured alongside music tracks from other Koanmi games in a compilation album titled Konami Ending Collection, distributed in Japan by King Records in 1991.[6] Although it was not officially released outside Japan, English and Portuguese fan translations exist.[1][7] It was re-released in digital form for Microsoft Windows through D4 Enterprise's Project EGG service on January 26, 2016.[8]

Reception edit

Shalom: Knightmare III garnered mixed reception from contemporary critics and retrospective commentarists.[11][7][4][1][12]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Japanese: シャロム 魔城伝説III 完結編, Hepburn: Sharomu: Majō Densetsu III - Kanketsu-hen, lit. "Shalom: Demon Castle Legend - Final Chapter" or "Shalom: Legend of the Devil Castle - Final Chapter"

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Kalata, Kurt (May 22, 2019). "Shalom". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 2022-09-05. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  2. ^ Shalom: Knightmare III (User's Manual [ユーザーマニュアル]) (Japanese ed.). Konami. December 1987.
  3. ^ a b c Yamashita, Akira (September 1988). "山下章のパソコン・ゲーム: ホンキでPlayホンネでReview — TARGET 5 コナミMSXゲーム". Micom BASIC Magazine [ja] (in Japanese). No. 75. The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation [ja]. pp. 278–282. (Translation by Arc Hound. Archived 2021-09-25 at the Wayback Machine).
  4. ^ a b Esteve, Jaume (April 28, 2015). "El hit de ayer: Knightmare y Maze of Galious — Konami conquista el MSX". IGN Spain. Marca. Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  5. ^ "MSX's Soft (1987~1990)" (in Japanese). Konami. 1996. Archived from the original on 1996-11-08. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  6. ^ "KONAMI ENDING COLLECTION | KICA-1046~7". VGMdb. Archived from the original on 2022-06-01. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  7. ^ a b Pérez García, David (March 6, 2012). "Regreso al Pasado: Knightmare". MeriStation [es] (in Spanish). PRISA. Archived from the original on 2022-08-27. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  8. ^ "「プロジェクトEGG」,「シャロム 魔城伝説III 完結編(MSX版)」の配信開始". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Aetas Inc. January 26, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-01-30. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  9. ^ Herps, José (March–April 1990). "Software: Shalom (Knightmare III)". MSX Gids (in Dutch). No. 27. Uitgeverij Herps. p. 38.
  10. ^ "Soft Review: シャロム" (PDF). MSX Magazine [ja] (in Japanese). No. 52. ASCII Corporation. February 1988. pp. 86–87.
  11. ^ "Computerspellen - Shalom Knightmare III". MSX Computer Magazine (in Dutch). No. 42. Aktu Publications. November 1990. p. 21.
  12. ^ Sasaki, Jun (May 25, 2021). "魔城伝説ここに完結!コナミの『シャロム 魔城伝説III 完結編』". AKIBA PC Hotline! (in Japanese). Impress Corporation. Archived from the original on 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2022-09-14.

External links edit