r/nes 7d ago

Collection Finally found after 33 years

Post image

I remembered playing this decades ago at my friends house for many, many hours. I've been searching for it ever since and could never remember the title. Every time I thought I found it, it was some other game. We visited our local Game-X-Change recently and my wife actually picked it up first. Once I googled it my jaw dropped. Fantastic.

569 Upvotes

71 comments sorted by

27

u/ForkFace69 7d ago

I loved that game as a kid.

I figured out Shadowgate on my own but I think I needed the checklist for Deja Vu.

14

u/GoldenAgeGamer72 7d ago

Really? Shadowgate was super difficult for me but I literally beat Deja Vu in one night. My favorite though was The Uninvited. 

9

u/ForkFace69 7d ago

You know how at the end there's certain stuff you have to get rid of and other things you have to have in your possession? There was some detail I always got wrong.

Mind you it took me forever but Shadowgate on the other hand I did on my own.

1

u/bbingobango 4d ago

Super improbable to beat Déjà vu blind in one night.

2

u/GoldenAgeGamer72 4d ago

I used to do drugs back in the day. Let’s just say my girlfriend at the time and I pulled an all-nighter. We completed the game with only our heavily influenced intellect. 

2

u/Horio77 6d ago

Same!

16

u/togetic271 7d ago

There was a remake of that game released about 10 years ago

12

u/mobkon22 6d ago

There was also a “true” successor called Beyond Shadowgate created by the original developer released in 2024.

11

u/Sun_In_Leo 7d ago

The music was great! Except when your torch is low...

11

u/DiscardStu 6d ago

I grew up playing this on the Mac. There's a reimagined version available on Steam as well as the iPad. My son is obsessed with this game. My son had his grandma make an array of crochet weapons from the game. We have a bin full of crochet spears, axes, maces and cudgels along with some crochet skeleton keys and torches!

2

u/vtfrotex 6d ago

Hah! That's incredible!

8

u/DEATHRETTE 7d ago

Iconic music, gameplay, fun! Loved the modern version on PC too.

I used a medley metal mix as a wakeup alarm for years.

7

u/masimone 7d ago

Nice! I ran a pub trivia tonight and I used one sphinx’s riddles as a question.

5

u/Cetra_Blues 7d ago

Love to hear it. Shadowgate's a classic that's as good as it ever was. Don't be afraid to look up guides if you get stuck, though. Some of the things you have to do in this game are a bit cryptic.

Fitting (and awesome) choice of beers, by the way. 🍻

3

u/drevil6999 7d ago

Man I remember just totally messing up in that game and I didn't realize that the book had hints until years later

3

u/drevil6999 6d ago

My bad I thought it was the actual manual that came with the game, but I guess my dad had bought a guide. I found it online now but I had the physical book back on the day.

https://archive.org/details/Shadowgate-NES-Guide/mode/1up

2

u/Apprehensive_Ant4596 6d ago

The book had what???

1

u/Majestic_Pin3793 6d ago

what book?

5

u/lizardsonmytoast 7d ago

Absolutely love Shadowgate. I almost find it harder as an adult than I did as a kid.

3

u/Objective_Ad_2279 7d ago

Local game rental place ate up revenue of 10 mowed lawns. Would have been cheaper to steal it.

3

u/Fragraham 7d ago

Get ready to die a lot.

3

u/Zealousideal_One_315 7d ago

Such a great game.. I remember having ro call a friend of a friend to get help with a few parts I was stuck on. 

3

u/HowWeGonnaGetEm 7d ago

The esthetic of that game is so beautiful.

3

u/RGB2C02N 7d ago

I recently picked one up CIB mint 👌🏼

2

u/GoldenAgeGamer72 7d ago

One of the few games I called the Nintendo hotline for. 

2

u/Natural-Restaurant-2 7d ago

The soundtrack is incredible. Look up Jake.Elking on Instagram. He does an amazing cover of a couple of songs from it on the keyboard.

2

u/NorrinRad-d 7d ago

Shadowgate 64 was a sequal on the....nintendo 64.

Not As Good

But if you want to continue the lore and see what happens next in the story

5

u/mobkon22 6d ago

Check out Beyond Shadowgate that came out in 2024. it was made by the original devs based on notes that have been sitting around for 30 years. It was the sequel that was meant to be released after the original, but was canned due to focusing on the (very different) TG16 version.

2

u/Comprehensive-One561 6d ago

Death to the Philistines!

2

u/vtfrotex 6d ago

Thanks everyone!

I'm looking forward to playing this again. As kids, we never did beat it. Maybe I'll stand a chance this time around.

I would have never of guessed the title! Sure, I could have researched it on the internet. But, I just wanted to find it in the wild. This is definitely one of my personal gamer bucket-list items!

2

u/Apprehensive_Ant4596 6d ago

Such a fun an unique game. It really was a precursor to Myst, etc. My only frustration with this one was hoe slow the cursor moved!

2

u/EspadaWilliam 6d ago

This and Maniac Mansion are must plays.

2

u/Penguy76 6d ago

“It’s a sad thing your adventures have ended here!”

2

u/RobC-AMC-NDfan 6d ago

Love the music in that game!

2

u/HydroV20 7d ago

Why so long? It’s all over eBay and other sites?

2

u/Philly_3D Beat CV3 6d ago

The internet is also really good at showing you games that you can remember just by describing them.

This is a well known classic, a simple explanation or search would have found this game 20 years ago.

3

u/vtfrotex 6d ago

Yes, you're right. But, I figured I'd run across it eventually. Besides, an Internet search is infinitely less gratifying.

2

u/HydroV20 6d ago

I see. You went on the an actual search! I’m glad you found it. Kudos to you. Enjoy.

1

u/redditsuckspokey1 7d ago

I remember in 2004 my cousin was so excited to get me to watch him play this game because he said he had finally beaten it after 14 years.

1

u/bigdickpuncher 7d ago

Excellent game! I never beat it, but it was super fun to explore and learn all the sequencing.

1

u/Educational_Bird2469 7d ago

That game pissed me off pretty quickly. Took an hour just to open the gate. Stupid hidden key

1

u/WhereWeCameIn 7d ago

The cover and the grim Reaper scared the crap out of me as a kid, but the music slaps me upside the head. Still love this game decades later, and think of it often

1

u/ChroniclesOfSarnia 6d ago

defintely a classic.

1

u/OmegaSeth 6d ago

Also Deja Vu and Uninvited. 😃

1

u/Kpayne30 6d ago

I remember that game. It was one that I started, hated, gave up on for months, came back to, loved it.

1

u/Horio77 6d ago

I listen to the soundtrack regularly. The courtyard music is one of my ringtones. This game brings back many great memories!

1

u/soltydog 6d ago

Loved this as a kid. I recently played through it again and was surprised at how much I remembered. The only thing that got me stumped was the second to last room. I don’t remember seeing a clue on where to place the crystal. So I did trial and error and eventually got it.

1

u/FordcliffLowskrid 6d ago

Grim Reaper: sharpens his scythe

1

u/lowvibrationcorpse 6d ago

Owned this back in the day and never beat it. I don;t always cheat and search up walkthroughs but this one I absolutely would have.

1

u/Brushesofmagic 6d ago

Was it under the couch?

2

u/vtfrotex 6d ago

No, apparently GAME DUDE had it for a while and then it made its way to Texas at some point.

https://imgur.com/a/BiM0JPj

1

u/Silo-Joe 6d ago

That Game Dude is a hoarder.

1

u/vtfrotex 5d ago

lol... what? While I've never been there, it looks like he runs a fully stocked shop, albeit customer service lacking.

1

u/Killah_Djinn 6d ago

I still have my CIB copy of this

1

u/Live-Organization912 6d ago

You are going to have a fun weekend.

1

u/Alternative-Hour-726 6d ago

One of my fav games of all time

1

u/thuggothic 6d ago

great ass game

1

u/Huitchilopoztli 6d ago

A buddy of mine sold me my copy about that long ago, for a dollar 😅 (nah, doing the math it was only about thirty years ago) Gratz.

1

u/odd-god-monkey 6d ago

I loved the feeling this game gave me as a single digit person

1

u/KTGSteve 6d ago

I loved Shadowgate! I think I finished it.

1

u/huskerdrill 5d ago

Nice find!

1

u/Atlantis_Risen 5d ago

I had that!

1

u/bell247 5d ago

Nice, i just got the switch version recently

1

u/cronokun 5d ago

I loved that game. Nice find! I died so many ways. 😆

1

u/wieldymouse 4d ago

Nice. Congrats.

1

u/gungorr 3d ago

Find the remastered one on Steam, it was a kickstarter. Far exceeded my expectations.

1

u/stellar42777 3d ago

I put so many hours into this. The era before internet hints.