Are we making precious memories yet, Bill?!!
So you tangled with the wolves? Big deal. Those lunatics have been grouchy ever since they lost their flea collars. You haven't even seen the knife throwing ghouls, the vampire bats, much less the evil Doctor himself.
—Frankie's Dungeon shareware advertisement.
Frankie's Dungeon is a horror-themed belt-scroller for the Apple Macintosh. The game's creator and primary developer is Bill Appleton, who put together the prototype in 1989 under the name Combat. Frankie's Dungeon was only available through mail order from Stingray Entertainment in 1990, reaching the market some time before August. The first chapter, "Wolves in the Woods", went around as shareware. Within a year of release, the rights to Frankie's Dungeon were purchased by Reactor, which had it updated as Creepy Castle in 1991, some time before September.
The story between Frankie's Dungeon and Creepy Castle differs slightly. In Frankie's Dungeon, the male protagonist and his girlfriend are enjoying a camping trip when they are attacked by a Frankenstein's Monster and the girl is abducted to be turned into another such monster. It is up to the protagonist to rescue her. In Creepy Castle, the Mad Scientist and his crew have abducted a girl for undisclosed science purposes. The protagonist has no apparent relation to her, but has resolved to go save her because it's the right thing to do. In all cases, the protagonist has to make his way through werewolf-harboring woods, a graveyard that is ghoul territory, the castle where vampires dwell, and finally face the Doctor and his creations in the dungeon.
Gameplay consists of getting from A to B without dying and there's a distance meter to show how travel is going. By default, the protagonist can jump, crouch, punch, and kick, as well as combine these commands. If a projectile had been obtained, throwing becomes an option. If the protagonist stands upon an item to be picked up, the action command will do so. Otherwise, the action command will activate a Smart Bomb if one's in the inventory. Items are divided in five groups: projectiles, smart bomb, boss battle essential, melee weapon, and miscellaneous items. Boss battle essentials cannot be used outside of the Boss Battle, but they can be missed before the boss battle occurs, which renders the game (near) unwinnable. Melee weapons are large objects that make short work of enemies, but also cut off all commands except for wielding the weapon and walking left or right. Miscellaneous items are singular objects that give a permanent power boost for the level they're found in. The only example of such is the silver ring in the woods.
While both versions of the game are slow to react to input and the hitboxes are a little funky, their presentations are top notch, tapping richly in classic horror lore. The presentation is also where the game's differ from each other. Graphically, Frankie's Dungeon uses a comic book-style, while Creepy Castle sports highly dithered graphics that approach the look of Pre-Rendered Graphics. This does make things harder to see in Creepy Castle. Sound is largely the same between the two games, but there are two main exceptions. In Frankie's Dungeon, the protagonist is voiced by Dick Noel. Mike Saenz, the founder of Reactor, replaces him in Creepy Castle. The other difference is that each chapter in Frankie's Dungeon is introduced with an atmospheric title card and a Mood Motif. Creepy Castle omits these, but does add a Title Theme Tune. Gameplay-wise, in Frankie's Dungeon the protagonist communicates the use of items to the play through thought bubbles, while Creepy Castle adds a Horror Host, the Crypt Creeper, to guide the player. Mercifully, Creepy Castle also adds a save function.
Frankie's Dungeon and Creepy Castle contain examples of:
- Alliterative Name: Frankie's Dungeon gives names to its four chapters, a.k.a "sections", and each of those names is alliterative: "Wolves in the Woods", "Ghouls in the Graveyard", "Bats in the Belfry", and "The Doctor in the Dungeon".
- Alliterative Title: The new name, Creepy Castle.
- Ballistic Bone: The large skeleton that acts as the boss of the graveyard throws an endless supply of bones at the protagonist to take him out.
- Bat Out of Hell: Bats fly around in the castle. Not only are they hostile and do not carry items like the previous two levels' airborne critters do, they're also indistinguishable from vampires disguised as bats.
- Cloak of Defense: Vampires can block stakes thrown at them by holding up their capes as shields.
- Combat Tentacles: In the cave system in the dungeon, tentacles rise up from the crevices. They will drag the protagonist to his death if they aren't avoided and can intercept him mid-jump.
- Creepy Cave: The dungeon is divided into a proper dungeon and a cave system, both of which eventually lead to the Doctor's laboratory. Fewer monsters and igors roam around in the caves and there aren't any rats at all, but there are many crevices to fall to one's death into. Most of these crevices have a tentacled monster dwelling at the bottom that occasionally reaches up and grabs whatever is too close to the edge.
- Creepy Cemetery: The graveyard is where the ghouls dwell along with vultures and spiders. The weapons that go around are pickaxes, shovels, and knives. Everything is crooked, there are open graves, and the ghouls all hide underground until a suitable time to strike at an intruder. The cemetery leads into the path to the castle, which is guarded by a large skeleton.
- Creepy Crows: Ravens are the airborne critters flying around in the woods with useful items. Punching them yields either a silver bullet or a wreath of wolfsbane.
- Damsel in Distress: The (most recent) female victim of the Doctor is the protagonist's girlfriend in Frankie's Dungeon and a random girl in Creepy Castle. In Frankie's Dungeon, she's been abducted to be remade into a female Frankenstein's monster, of which several already roam in the dungeon. In Creepy Castle, it's not explained what the Doctor wanted her for. In either case, the protagonist sets out to rescue her.
- Dem Bones: The boss of the graveyard is a skeleton about 1.5x the size of a human, who wears nothing but a crown. They may or may not be a ghoul, given that the other ghouls still mostly have flesh on them. The boss fights by throwing bones at the protagonist and can be harmed by nothing but electricity.
- Devious Daggers: Some of the ghouls in the graveyard start throwing knives around once they've emerged from the ground. The protagonist can also pick up knives to throw at and take out the ghouls. Doing so actually improves his throwing arm.
- Don't Go in the Woods: The woods are where the werewolves dwell along with wolves and ravens. The weapons that go around are axes, rocks, and a .44 magnum loaded with silver bullets. There are several ditches throughout the forest that are a falling hazard and the woods lead straight into the graveyard, a transition which border is guarded by a huge werewolf.
- For Doom the Bell Tolls: Inside the castle, the protagonist has to climb the bell tower and ring the bell. This wakes up the powerful vampire sleeping beneath the trap door that leads to the dungeon and provokes him to a fight in the open.
- Einstein Hair: While the mad Doctor in Frankie's Dungeon has normal hair, in Creepy Castle his hair stands up in all directions to give him a more unwell look.
- Frankenstein's Monster: Multiples of the male monster and the female monster as envisioned by Universal Horror roam around in the dungeon. The female monster has electric powers that allow her to keep a distance while attacking the protagonist. In Frankie's Dungeon, the Doctor's intent is to turn the protagonist's girlfriend into another one of these monsters. The male monster attacks with speed and brute force, but can be scared off by simply holding a torch.
- Frequently Full Moon: Atmospherically, it's a full moon when the protagonist sets out to fight an army of monsters and save the girl.
- Guide Dang It!:
- The protagonist can power up a specific way in each level by performing a specific action. These power-ups carry through the game and are majorly useful for the final level, but also permanently missable. Specifically, the protagonist has to jump-kick a werewolf in the woods to get a stronger jump-kick, throw a knife at a ghoul in the graveyard to get a stronger throwing arm, and punch a vampire to get a stronger punch.
- With the exception of the Doctor himself, the bosses are very strong and have a large range. Engaging them in melee combat is akin to suicide and ranged combat is limited by the amount of projectiles obtained prior to facing the boss. The most successful choice of action is to use the secret methods, but these are obscure and too require preparation. The only hint in-game is that the third item in the inventory is related to the boss, but how is not explained and once a boss has been engaged, there is no way back. Either the protagonist defeats them or it's game over. The manual does contain a decipherable hint for each of them, but it's still only a hint, and it needs to be deciphered. Specifically, the protagonist has to acquire at least one silver bullet in the woods and grab the .44 magnum in the boss arena, shooting the large werewolf only when it opens its maw. In the graveyard, the protagonist has to acquire two insulated rubber gloves and bring a shovel to the large skeleton. Then in the boss arena, he needs to use the shovel each time lightning strikes to electrocute the skeleton in two turns. Mind that prior to the boss battle, the shovel is only used as a regular melee weapon. Then for the large vampire in the castle, it's not the key that's the essential weapon, but a special smart bomb: a silver cross. Activating one will knock out the vampire and make it possible to kick him into a hook protruding from the wall. Where the key comes into play is that the boss arena cannot be left without it, so if it wasn't acquired, the game ends there even with the large vampire killed off.
- The boss battle against the Doctor is a process of avoiding and sabotaging three traps and then finally tricking him into one of his own traps to electrocute him. Failure to avoid any of the traps leads to an instant death.
- Haunted Castle: The castle where the Doctor resides consists of two areas: the ground floor portion of the castle and the dungeon and cavern underneath. The vampires reside on the ground floor and up, while the Doctor and his monsters dwell in the dungeon and cavern. The place is highly booby-trapped and also teeming with bats, rats, and tentacled creatures. The weapons that go around on the ground floor are halberds and stakes, while in the dungeon its torches and hatchets. The trap door leading from the ground floor to the dungeon is guarded by a large vampire.
- Have a Nice Death: Losing all of your lives treats you to a scene with the protagonist’s girlfriend, now converted into a female Frankenstein’s monster.
- Helping Hands: During the final boss fight, the Doctor is armed with disembodied hands he throws at the protagonist. Once thrown, the hands crawl all over the floor onto the protagonist, not unlike the spiders in the graveyard. There's a container holding a disembodied hand in the back of the lab that when destroyed limits the amount of hands the Doctor can sic on the protagonist.
- High-Voltage Death:
- Doors entered before the dungeon has been properly traversed always lead to trap rooms where electricity flows freely. The charges have to be avoided until a timed lock on the door runs out and can be opened again.
- Two coils are at the entrance of the Doctor's laboratory and the Doctor himself is ready to activate them should an intruder come too close. Getting hit by these charges means insta-death, for both the protagonist and the Doctor. It is up to the protagonist to get past safely and then manipulate the Doctor under the coils so electricity can put an end to hi schemes for good.
- Holy Water: Vials of holy water can be taken from vultures in the graveyard. Using one eliminates all enemies, those being ghouls and spiders, on the screen.
- Horrible Camping Trip: In Frankie's Dungeon, the protagonist and his girlfriend are out on an idyllic camping trip when at night they're attacked by a Frankenstein's monster. The protagonist is left unconscious, possibly for dead, and the girl is carried off as fresh material for the next monster. When the protagonist recovered, he has no choice but to go save his girlfriend on his own.
- Horror Host: In Creepy Castle, the protagonist is guided by The Crypt Creeper. No reason is given why he helps or so much as a hint as to who he is, but he does have some quips ready to lighten the mood.
- Hyperactive Metabolism: The protagonist heals himself by eating and drinking. In both versions, flasks of water can be found as drink. In Frankie's Dungeon, the food is pizza, while in Creepy Castle the food is a candy bar.
- Hypnotic Eyes: Vampires are able to put the protagonist in a trance with their mesmerizing gazes. He is then unable to do anything as the vampires walk up to take a sip.
- The Igor: Multiple hunchbacked igors roam around in the dungeon. They're armed with hatchets that they'll throw at the protagonist.
- Large and in Charge: With the exception of the Doctor himself, each of the bosses is a larger version of the monsters roaming around in their territory. The boss of the woods is a werewolf over twice the size of the other werewolves. The boss of the graveyard is a skeleton that may or may not be a ghoul who is 1.5x times as tall as the ghouls. The boss of the castle is a vampire who also is 1.5x times the size of the other vampires.
- Let the Past Burn: The ending screen shows the protagonist and the girl setting fire to the Doctor's castle to ensure everything inside gets destroyed.
- Lingerie Scene: The girl to be rescued in Creepy Castle is held captive in her lingerie and her undressed shapely form is front and Fibonacci-center in the ending screen. This is distinctly Mike Saenz's input, as he's produced several erotic games.
- Mad Scientist: The Doctor is ostensibly the ruler of the castle and therefore of the Frankenstein's monsters, igors, vampires, skeletons, ghouls, and werewolves that dwell inside and around. He himself hangs out in the dungeon where he has his boobytrapped laboratory for various projects and experiments. His latest project involves the abducted girl, which in Frankie's Dungeon he wants to turn into another female monster and in Creepy Castle has an undisclosed purpose for.
- The Many Deaths of You: The protagonist can get mauled to death, fall to his death, burned to death, electrocuted, drained to death, and if a vampire grabs him on either balcony of the bell tower, they will chuck him over the railing.
- Matchstick Weapon: Along the dungeon walls are elongated torches that the protagonist can pick and use as melee weapon. It works on all creatures roaming down there and has the extra benefit that the male Frankenstein's monster won't even come near as long as the protagonist holds the torch.
- Mood Motif: In Frankie's Dungeon, each chapter is introduced with its own distinct title card and accompanying tune. Guitar-heavy metal music plays over the title card of "Wolves in the Woods", on which the title is written in a lightning-style font. Suspenseful percussion tunes play over the title card of "Ghouls in the Graveyard", on which the title is written in a pirate-like font. Suspenseful percussion tunes plays over the title card of "Ghouls in the Graveyard", on which the title is written in a pirate-like font. Morose piano music plays over the title card of "Bats in the Belfry", on which the title is written in a Gothic font. Lastly, ominous organ music plays over the title card of "The Doctor in the Dungeon", on which the title is written in a clinical font.
- No Name Given: Not a single character in either version of the game is named. The Crypt Creeper and the Doctor do at least have titles to go by, and if the title Frankie's Dungeon is anything to go by, the Doctor's name is either Frankie or Frankenstein.
- Our Ghouls Are Creepier: The graveyard is where the ghouls are holed up. Ghouls are decaying undead creatures that reside underground unless they have reason to get up to the surface, like when they need to deal with an intruder. Some wield pickaxes, others throw knives, and some don't come up at all but reach out from the ground to grab at an intruder's legs and hold them still for the others to finish. Ghouls can be punched into submission, thrown knives at, and holy water also works to end them. At one spot in the graveyard resides a skeleton about 1.5x the size of the ghouls. It's unclear if this too is a ghoul, but their crown suggests a connection to the ghoul "commoners" and their flesh-less state my signify that they're the oldest undead in the graveyard. They attack by throwing bones and only electricity, in the form of lightning redirected, can take them down.
- Our Vampires Are Different: The castle itself is where the vampires and regular bats reside. Vampires pretend to be bats until they go in for the attack and take humanoid form. They melee by scratching or biting, the latter restoring their own health. Additionally, they can mesmerize a victim from a large distance, rendering them unable to move for a few seconds. When a stake is thrown their way, they can block it by holding up their capes. Other than stakes, they can be taken out by punching or garlic. There's also a vampire about 1.5x the regulars' size that can fly in humanoid form. The most effective way to end him is to get out a silver cross, incapacitating him long enough to kick him into a hook protruding from the wall.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: The woods are werewolf domain, which they share with regular wolves. Werewolves are brawlers and deal quite some damage with their punches. They can be taken out by punching back, throwing rocks at them, or using wolfsbane against them. There's also a werewolf about twice the regulars' size that can shoot balls of fire from its hands. The most effective way to end him is to shoot him in the mouth with a silver bullet.
- Over-the-Shoulder Carry: In Frankie's Dungeon, the protagonist's girlfriend is carried off by a male Frankenstein's monster over the shoulder. Unlike her boyfriend, she is conscious and putting up a futile fight.
- Playing with Fire: The giant werewolf that guards the border between the woods and the graveyard can generate balls of fire from his hands and shoot them at whatever his target.
- Powerful Pick: Some ghouls are armed with pickaxes. They're the only type of melee weapon the protagonist can't wield himself.
- Rise from Your Grave: Ghouls are hidden underground until the protagonist approaches and they deem it necessary to attack him. Some come out in full, while others only reach out of the earth with their hands to grab at the protagonist's legs and hold him in place while the others open attack.
- Savage Wolves: In addition to werewolves, there are regular wolves running around in the woods. They are just as hostile to the protagonist as the werewolves.
- Shock and Awe: Female Frankenstein's monsters can generate and shoot electricity from their hands.
- Shovel Strike: Abandoned shovels are lying around in the graveyard, which the protagonist can pick up and use as melee weapon.
- Shout-Out: The Crypt Creeper in Creepy Castle is based on and named — but not modeled — after the Crypt Keeper as he appears in Tales from the Crypt.
- Silver Bullet: Silver bullets can be found throughout the woods, mostly in the possession of ravens, but are useless against the common werewolves on account of there being no gun available for the entire trek. Only past the woods lies a .44 magnum ready conveniently in time to deal with the giant werewolf guarding the area.
- Smart Bomb: There are level-specific items to be found that when activated destroy all enemies on screen. For the woods, these are wreaths of wolfsbane. For the graveyard, these are vials of holy water. For the castle, these are cloves of garlic during the bulk of the level and silver crosses during the boss battle. And for the dungeon, these are amulets. The amulets are extremely rare and it's likely none are found while moving through the dungeon.
- Speech Bubbles: In Frankie's Dungeon, the identities and uses of items are communicated to the player by means of thought bubbles generated by the protagonist once a given item is picked up for the first time.
- Spiders Are Scary: There are many, many spiders crawling around in the graveyard. They leave the ghouls alone, but go for and crawl up on anyone else and bite.
- Swarm of Rats: The furnished portion of the dungeon is home to many, many rats. And while they leave the monsters alone, they'll leap at intruders with their teeth ready.
- Trap Door: The ground floor of the castle is filled with trap doors that don't leave much time for a hapless victim to step off of them. They are weakly outlined, presumably from the light coming up from the dungeon, so they are visible and avoidable.
- Vampires Hate Garlic: Cloves of garlic can be found inside the castle. Using one eliminates all enemies, those being vampires and bats, on the screen.
- Vile Vulture: Vultures are the airborne critters flying around in the graveyard with useful items. Punching them yields either an insulated rubber glove or a vial of holy water.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Male Frankenstein's monsters are large, fast, and strong, but they cower at the sight of an opponent wielding fire and will keep their distance on such occasion.
