I’ve taken a look at Bloodlines, and I’ve taken a look at Rondo of Blood. So it was
only a matter of time before I did the same to this title. It’s without any doubt in
my mind one of the most popular titles in the series, so it’s about time I did.
That game of course being Super Castlevania IV. The first Castlevania game of
the 16-bit era. Here in the US, it was released a couple months after the launch
of the Super Nintendo. When familiar franchises made the jump from 8-bit to 16-
bit, it wasn’t just a cosmetic thing at this point. Mario, Mega Man, Metroid, all
made HUGE leaps in what you could do in their games. Super Castlevania IV
was no different. Before I get into the meat and potatoes—or the blood and
guts of this review, if you prefer, the gameplay footage for this one was captured
from both the Japanese and US versions, as I have it on Virtual Console and
a Japanese cartridge. There is some minor censorship of nude statues and
crosses on gravestones in the US version which isn’t in the Japanese. Aside
from that there’s no other changes, I thought it was worth noting.
Super Castlevania IV is a re-telling of the story of the original Castlevania. In
Japan, this game is titled Akumajou Dracula, just like the original on the Famicom
Disc System. Which means we’re once again in the role of Simon Belmont. For
those who aren’t familiar with the story behind Castlevania, the legend goes that
every hundred years or so, the Demon Castle appears through the mist and
Count Dracula manages to come back from the dead, and it’s up to the Belmont
family to stop him.
Compared to the NES games, character movement is a lot more fluid and you
have much better control of your jumping and whipping. Overall the controls and
movement just feel a lot less stiff, making platforming a lot more comfortable to
do. You have more control over your jump this time around as well. Adding a
new dimension to the platforming is another new ability, you can swing and hang
from your whip. Being able to do this, just looks cool, and the level design the
developers made around this new technique are so unique. Rooms spinning,
hanging from moving rings, nothing like this had been seen before in side scrolling
action-adventure games.
Which brings us to the whipping. This was a huge deal, something I’m not sure
they’ve done in many games since, and I’m not really sure why. This game gave
Simon the ability to whip in multiple directions. While standing, you can whip in
5 different directions, and in mid-jump you can whip in all 8, making this version
of Simon Belmont the most formidable of them all.
Now this brings up something that a lot of people nit pick about when it comes to
the game. One of the few things, really. Having this ability to whip in multiple
directions makes the sub-weapons and hearts, a staple of Castlevania games,
redundant in some cases. That doesn’t mean they’re complete useless, the holy
water is great when there’s an enemy below you, the cross is powerful and will
often hit multiple times, and the stopwatch is handy when medusa heads are
coming at you.
Personally, I don’t think that having such an advantage is a negative. I don’t see
being able to max out on hearts before meeting the first boss if you’re careful, it’s
not like using your familiars to farm XP in Symphony of the Night. It’s just being
better equipped for battle. It’s not like this game is a cakewalk. It might not be as
challenging as the other classic linear-style Castlevanias, but it does have it’s
moments.
Now that we’ve gotten the gameplay out of the way, let’s talk about presentation.
Now, when the game came out in Japan, the Super Famicom had been out for
nearly a year, but many of us here in the US had virgin eyes when we saw it for
the first time. When you think of the time frame that this game and the Super
Nintendo came out, I bet there were many kids out there who got this game and
their SNES for Christmas. I know when I played it for the first time, I was really
impressed with the detail and style of the game. It doesn’t have quite the color to
it that the later 16-bit games have, but more often than not, the look is quite
striking.
One department where the Castlevania series rarely seems to disappoint, in my
opinion, this game is no exception. Many of the songs in this game are
absolutely epic, what you would expect out of a classic Castlevania title. Some
are less epic and more ambient, which still fits the game quite well. A favorite
part of the soundtrack to me is the inclusions of “The Beginning”, “Bloody Tears”
and “Vampire Killer”, three of the main themes from the previous games, which
not unlike Simon’s Theme from this game have gone on to have numerous
remakes and remixes made of them. Testament to how great some of these
pieces of music are. Who said that video games aren’t art?
If you were to ask me two years ago which of the old-style linear Castlevania
games was my favorite, I would have said this one without thinking. Now, I think
I might like Rondo of Blood a bit more. That doesn’t mean that this is a bad
game, not by a long shot. When it comes to Super Nintendo games, this one is
one of those essentials, just like how the first Castlevania is for the NES, and it
holds up remarkably well 24 years later. If you want to play this game for
yourself, you can find it on Virtual Console for the Wii and Wii U and in its
original form.
Where are your thoughts on the classic linear-style Castlevania games?
Which one is your favorite? Leave a comment down below.
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