Ludography
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Players16 ratings

Where to get it

BS Do-Re-Mi cover

1986 · Hudson Soft · Adventure · Metroidvania

BS Do-Re-Mi

Nintendo exclusive

Guide Milon through the four levels of Garland Castle in his quest to reach the top floor and vanquish the big boss! The journey is a difficult one though, because the castle is locked up tight and Milon doesn't have the keys. You will have to use your bubble attacks to fend off the castle baddies while busting up every block in sight trying to find all of the hidden treasure and other secrets throughout the game. Unlike most platformers, Milon's Secret Castle is less about defeating all of the enemies in an area, and more about scouring every bit of each room to find the secrets that lie within Garland Castle!

Released
1 September 1986
Platforms
Game BoyNESNintendo 3DSWii
Genres
AdventureMetroidvaniaPlatformerPuzzle
Developers
Hudson Soft
Publishers
Hudson Soft
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Side view
Themes
Action
Country
Japan
Age ratings
ESRB ECERO ACLASS_IND LPEGI 3
Languages
English
Composers
Takeaki Kunimoto

About

Milon's Secret Castle, known in Japan as Meikyū Kumikyoku: Milon no Daibōken (迷宮組曲 ミロンの大冒険, "The Maze Suite: Milon's Great Adventure"), is a 1986 action-adventure game released by Hudson Soft for the NES. A Game Boy version was released in 1993.

A sequel, DoReMi Fantasy, was released in 1996 for the Super Famicom.

Keywords

  • digital distribution
  • shopping
  • virtual console
  • cheat code
  • wii virtual console
  • nintendo 3ds virtual console

Media

BS Do-Re-Mi screenshot 1

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player controls Milon by running, jumping and shooting bubbles. The player starts out at the bottom floor of a four-story castle, named Castle Garland, and must navigate upward, searching the three main stories, the well, two side towers and the very top. If the player remains outside of the castle for too long, lightning bolts start falling from the sky. Each room of the castle contains many enemies and hidden items.

Milon's bubbles are both a weapon and a tool; throwing bubbles at soft blocks causes them to break apart and either create additional routes, reveal hidden shops, or expose specific items. The bubbles can also destroy the demons that inhabit the given rooms, though they will come back to life after several seconds. Each story can only be reached by defeating the first boss. Although seemingly basic, the only way the bosses can be reached is by finding a host of secrets, some of which require sheer luck or a helpful manual.

Story

The protagonist of the game is Milon, a boy who suffers from tone deafness. Milon lived in Hudson land, where its denizens communicate with each other using tone. Milon then decides to travel throughout the land of Hudson. Before leaving for his trip, Milon visits Queen Eliza who lives in Castle Garland.

However, when Milon arrives at castle Garland, the castle is already invaded by an evil wizard named Maharito (Warlord of the northern region in the English game manual) and his demonic army. They are terrorizing Hudson, seizing the people's instruments of music, and occupying the castle. In response to this situation, Milon decides to enter the castle to fight the invaders, rescue the queen, and return the musical instruments seized by the forces of Maharito from the people of Hudson.

Reception

Upon release in 1986, Famicom Tsūshin (Famitsu) magazine gave the original Famicom version a score of 29 out of 40. The Wii Virtual Console version released in 2007 later received a negative reception. GameSpot's reviewer Frank Provo described the game as one of the worst games, as he criticized the control scheme, giving it a "terrible" and score of 2.0/10. Power Unlimited gave the Game Boy version a score of 83%; they noted the game lacking originality, but they praised its gameplay and graphics.

Legacy

In 1996, a Super Famicom sequel to the game was released only in Japan, known as DoReMi Fantasy: Milon no Dokidoki Daibouken.

There are some references to Milon's Secret Castle in a few Hudson Soft games. Milon made a cameo appearance in the Sega Saturn game Saturn Bomberman, and in Star Soldier there are hidden Milon tiles that can only be uncovered and destroyed for a 40,000-point bonus when certain score conditions are met.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
NES13 November 1986Japan · North America 1 September 1988
Wii10 April 2007Japan · North America 4 June 2007 · Australia 19 March 2010 · Europe 19 March 2010
Nintendo 3DS26 December 2012Japan · Europe 26 September 2013 · North America 31 October 2013

Editions and related releases

Included in
Hudson Best Collection Vol. 3: Action Collection
Derivative works
Milon no Hoshizora Shabon: Puzzle Kumikyoku
Followed by
DoReMi FantasyDoReMi Fantasy: Milon no Dokidoki Daibouken
Ported as
Milon's Secret Castle
Built on it
Milon's Secret Castle

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.