Lupin Sansei: Cagliostro no Shiro

About

Lupin Sansei: Cagliostro no Shiro is a side-scrolling platformer that adapts the Hayao Miyazaki anime film into seven levels of action. You play as Lupin, navigating stages filled with traps and enemies to collect red and green rings. Each level ends by placing these rings on a goat-shaped target to unlock the next area. Basic moves include jumping and slashing, but you also have a limited-use gun and flash-bombs to clear crowds of foes. Breaking hidden wall niches with your sword reveals items like bullets, invincibility shirts, and oddities such as goggles that slow your movement. The goal isn’t just survival, it’s gathering cups scattered across levels, which convert to health when paired with a collected teapot. What sets this apart is its mix of resource management and quirky rewards. The lady who appears in some levels trades items for coins, adding a minor puzzle element. While dated by modern standards, the MSX game’s password system and tight controls keep it functional for retro fans. Its charm lies in the eccentricities, like the goat head reward target and the bizarre but practical item logic. Released in 1987, it’s a niche entry in Lupin III’s legacy, offering brief but brisk challenges for those hunting down every hidden cup.

Storyline

The game is a platformer with seven levels, and features many of the same locations that appear in the anime. You control Lupin, and your goal in each stage is to find a red and a green ring, and bring them to a goat's head mounted on the wall to open the secret exit to the next level. In addition to the typical walking and jumping controls, Lupin has several attacks: a short range sword strike, a long range gun shot (if you have enough bullets) and a flash-bomb which is triggered while jumping, and destroys all enemies on the screen. Special items, such as the rings, can be found in niches which Lupin can break open with his sword. Some of the niches are hidden. In addition to the rings, there are other items that can be found in niches, or occasionally dropped by defeated foes. There is ammo for your gun, a shirt that gives you temporary invincibility, rockets which can be used to launch a rope to access higher parts of the level, as well as goggles which hinder your ability to move. On some levels, a lady occasionally runs across the screen, and if you have a coin when she runs past, you will receive an item in return. Most of the items found are cups. These add to a special slider at the top of the screen, and When you pick up a tea pot, the cup statistic is converted into life energy. Energy is lost by touching enemies, or traps such as falling chandeliers. When your energy reaches zero, the game is over. A password is shown at the end of each completed level, allowing you to start where you left off without having to replay the entire game.