Konami has always been famous due to its tradition in game series, like the
Nemesis (Gradius) Saga. Amongst these well known sequels, the Knightmare
Saga was one of the first and, maybe, one of the most variable. The complete
Saga is a trilogy consisting of: Knightmare, Maze of Galious - Knightmare II
and, finally, Shalom - Knightmare III. The first game is a classic shoot'em
up; the second, an action-adventure game and the third, a classic RPG. Maze
of Galious, besides the MSX version, has also been published to NES and,
recently, Knightmare has received a version converted to i-Mode for mobiles.
Only the MSX versions of these games will be addressed here.
The stories below are adaptations of the narratives included in the original
manuals of the games. The differences in this adaptation (specially
concerning the names of one and another game) are also found in the original
stories.
Knightmare
Majou Densetsu
Konami 1986 (MSX)
Aphrodite, godness of love and beauty, was held captive in the Knightmare
Castle by the Underground Demon...to rescue her is the quest of our beloved
hero Popolon.
In the long journey towards Knightmare Castle, Popolon was already losing
his hope to find it. His nights were filled by terrible knightmares, with
the horrible creatures that threatened his beloved one.
One night, however, Popolon had a different dream. Hera, sister of Zeus,
came to visit his dreams and told him the location of the Knightmare Castle:
beyond the scarps of Mount Athos.
Hera then gave him an advice: for him to use wisely the jewels Aphrodite has
left along the way, as well as the magic cristals sent from Mount Olympus to
help him find and rescue Aphrodite.
With his renewed hope and the protection of Hera, Popolon then headed
towards Mount Athos...
Will Popolon rescue his beloved on time?
The Maze of Galious - Knightmare II
Galious no Meikyu - Majou Densetsu II
Konami 1987 (MSX)
According to a tale which has been told since long, long time ago, princess
of Greece Aphrodite was, at certain time, kidnapped by Hudnos, Master of
Darkness. To save her from Hudnos, Popolon headed towards the Castle of
Darkness, in the deeps of Mount Athos.
However, this kidnapp was just to deviate the attention from a much bigger
plan created by the Supreme Priest of Hell: Galious, an old wizard of
darkness that sold his sould to the devil, becoming himself the own
encarnation of evil.
Managing to get Popolon out of Greece, Galious invaded the kingdom with his
demons and transformed it into its headquarters for his plan to make the
world become a kingdom of darkness...The true Castle of Darkness was the own
Greek Castle!
Galious then turned to the sky and kidnapped the unborn Pampas, future son
of Popolon and Aphrodite, and held him captive in his Castle.
When Popolon got back to the Greek Castle, after rescuing Aphrodite, Popolon
felt a strange presence and promptly realized what has happened then.
In order to overtake the Castle and rescue his future son from the power of
Darkness, Popolon and Aphrodite crossed the gates of the Castle, knowing
that what was still to come could cost them their own lifes...
And then the stage was set for the true climax of the "Demon Legend"....
Shalom - Knightmare III
Majou Densetsu III - Kanketsuhen
Konami 1987 (MSX)
This is the story of a high-school kid, leader of the Computers Club...that
he really wished it was the Computer Games Club.
After school, he always used to spend hours in front of the computers,
playing so many different games...instead of using his spare time to do his
homework.
Then one day, while playing in the Computers Club, a girl from his class
enters the room. Even though she was in love with him, he was never able to
realize it. Besides, he rarely paid much attention to her or any other girl,
as he was really interest in playing games.
This day, however, she brought a new Konami Game: Shalom. He, without
thinking it twice, asked her to let him play it. She told him the game was
weird, and that it was better for him not to play it...
Even with her complain, he ripped the game from her hands and plugged it
onto the computer, turning it on. The game starts but, before she was able
to say anything...he disappears in front of her eyes...
Some time afterwards, he wakes up in a totally strange place, next to Butako
and, without undertanding what was going on, starts to be prepared to find
his way back home...A long journey, that may never come to an end....