Famicom box art
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Unofficial English translation.
Labyrinth: Maō no Meikyū (Labyrinth: Maze of the Goblin King) is a video game based on the film, developed by Atlus and published by Tokuma Shoten in association with Henson Associates, Inc. and Activision for the Famicom system (the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System) on January 7, 1987. The game was produced exclusively in Japan and did not see an American release. Besides a brief opening sequence which appears in English, the entire text of the game is Japanese. An unofficial English translation is available. There was also a separate game with the same name published by Pack-In-Video around the same time for the MSX and NEX PC88 home computers in Japan.
Gameplay and Elements[]
The game opens with Jareth talking to the player's character as if he or she was Sarah, searching the Labyrinth for Toby.
The play is similar to the original Legend of Zelda game, with an overhead view and an items menu accessible when the game is paused. (This menu features in-universe items collected by the player, such as Sarah's jewels, candles, books, and coins.)
The player's character can throw rocks at oncoming enemies, earning points. Weaker enemies (such as Fairies and small Goblins) are repelled with the hit of a rock; stronger foes (such as larger Goblins and Fireys) are stunned.
A clock in the upper left corner of the screen counts down from 13 hours. When a player is hurt by the attack of an enemy (either by contact or from magic orbs being shot at the player's character), minutes are taken off the clock which, when expired, ends gameplay.
Despite the technological limitations of the Famicom, the game is remarkably well adapted from the film. The player's character has many of the same pivotal encounters Sarah experienced: the player's character converses with the Worm and the Wiseman, and progresses through areas of the game in the same order that they appeared in the film. The game also parallels the difficulty in navigating the Labyrinth, as it can be confusing and players can easily get lost in the mazes. Hearts can be found placed sporadically about the levels. These hearts are then assigned to either Hoggle, Ludo, or Sir Didymus. When enough hearts are found and delegated to one of these characters, the player may elect to play as that character.