Platforming Week: Super Castlevania IV

Most of you reading already know this, but Super Castlevania IV was actually not the first Castlevania game I played. Instead, I had a bit of an odd introduction to the series with the Nintendo 64 Castlevania. Calm down, take it easy... set that hate aside. I say that simply to illustrate what a drastic change I was in for playing Super Castlevania IV the first time and what a treat it was for me.

Soundtrack
The Castlevania series is known for having excellent soundtracks, and Castlevania IV doesn't disappoint. From subdued, eerie atmospheric tracks to Simon's exhilarating and powerful theme, the game has a wide variety of music. I'm not saying all of the music is memorable, but if it isn't getting you pumped, it's usually contributing to the atmosphere. Not to mention, towards the end of the game, some of the classic themes from previous Castlevania games return triumphantly to pump you up for the final battle. The soundtrack adds a lot to the experience and helps make a great game even better.

Difficulty
Castlevania IV is, with little doubt in my mind, the easiest game in the classic Castlevania series. This, however, does not mean that Castlevania IV is an easy game by any means. Super Castlevania IV poses enough of a challenge that it feels satisfying to beat, but not so much of a challenge that it results in feelings of extreme frustration and shouting at your television. This is a delicate balance that many platformers struggle with.

It should be noted that I have completed Castlevania IV several times, so it's difficult to remember how much harder the game was for me on my first attempt. I'm sure it took me many more continues than it does today, but thanks to its password system, I was always able to pick up not too far from where I left off. It has recently come to my attention that if you play through the game a second time without resetting or turning the game off, you will be able to play a harder version. I realize I'm not taking that into account when considering the difficulty, but to me, playing a game through to the end usually is considered "beating" it. It's not as though Dracula suddenly flies away and you don't kill him so you have to start all over to get back to him. It doesn't pull that crap.

Control
Perhaps the biggest reason Castlevania IV seems easier than its predecessors is its control. Castlevania I and III (and II, I suppose) feature that stiff jump mechanic, where if you line up a jump wrong, you're done. Castlevania IV allows you to change your jump in the air, which is a lot more forgiving. Not only that, but Simon can whip in 8 directions. That's 6 more directions than usual, and damn does that help. While rarely useful, Simon can even move while crouching. These play mechanics make for a lot fewer cheap deaths. There certainly still are some deaths you'll never see coming the first time, but not nearly as many as you'll encounter in Castlevania I and III.

Overall Fun Factor
Less frustratingly cheap deaths = more fun. A wide variety of levels, such as a rotating room and swinging chandeliers add to the fun as well. Add a neat Indiana Jones style whip-swinging mechanic and you've got icing on the cake. Simply put, this game is fun and I'm glad I played through it again today. I technically can't call it my first Castlevania, but some would say I could still call it my first "real" Castlevania. I prefer just to call it a damn fine example of a platformer.

"So... you like to play Castlevania..."

That's right Mantis, I do. Being a Castlevania enthusiast, I've played nearly every game in the series except the latest DS game, so the obvious thing to do would be to play the latest installment, right? Yes, so of course I did something else. I went back and played the 3 Gameboy games. No... not the Gameboy advance games, the 3 original Gameboy games, The Castlevania Adventure, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, and Castlevania Legends. While I will talk about all three, I will be predominantly talking about The Castlevania Adventure, as it is the outlier of the three.

After playing through and thoroughly enjoying The Adventure ReBirth on Wiiware, I figured it'd be good to tackle the original Castlevania Adventure on Gameboy. I have to say, this was probably the hardest game in the entire series for me to trudge through. Difficulty had nothing to do with it, however, as there are certainly much tougher games in the series. The difference is, they're enjoyable gaming experiences, unlike The Castlevania Adventure. Now now, I hear you, "It's Castlevania! A 2-D Castlevania at that! It can't be that bad..." Well, yes it can, because it is. In fact, I would go so far as to say this is the worst game in the entire series. That's right, I'll wager that anyone who claims the N64 Castlevania games are the worst in the series has not played The Castlevania Adventure. Let me explain.

Remember how earlier I talked about "trudging" through the game? I can't think of a better word... though "crawl" and "limp" work just fine too. This game is extremely slow. Now, I realize the original Gameboy had limited visibility, so slowing the action down may have made it more manageable, but this is ridiculous. There's a section of the game where you have to outrun a wall of spikes (stage 3); it should be exciting, but it just ends up being frustrating when you feel you've got plenty of time, only to forget just how slowly you move.

While the slow speed is definitely the worst aspect of the game, that's not all that's wrong with it. This game throws Castlevania convention to the wind. While I realize it's an early entry (1989), there's no excuse for the lack of a sub-weapon. This is the only game in the entire series that doesn't have a sub-weapon. Which brings to mind another one of the series' conventions that The Adventure breaks. This game still has hearts, but now they're health. While I normally would equate hearts with health, this has never been the case with Castlevania. Oh well... at least it makes more sense than having hearts be currency.

I think I've sufficiently torn this game apart, but I'd like to point out one final quirk. Like the original Castlevania, there are orbs that you can collect to improve your whip strength. Unlike the original, however, every time you get hit in The Adventure, your whip goes down a level. What a load of shit. That means if you start fighting Dracula with a max level (level 3) whip, the first time he hits you, your whip will go down a level. Get hit twice, and you're down to a level 1 whip which does significantly less damage. Pure, grade A bullshit. Unfortunately, it actually gets worse. In the original, after you lost a life and went back to the beginning of a checkpoint, it usually didn't take very long to get full power again because the game gives powerups more frequently if you have a level 1 whip. The Castlevania Adventure isn't programmed as well, so the powerups are in set locations. They're usually at the beginning of checkpoints, but remember: every time you get hit, your whip goes down a level. Here's what usually happens: Start of a checkpoint- Max power within seconds, get hit twice, then play the rest of the stage with a level 1 whip. That's not just hard, that's a flawed design.

I said this post would include the latter 2 Gameboy Castlevania games, but I can sum those up pretty quickly as they're extremely similar. Both games are a vast improvement over The Adventure and have all the conventions we've grown accustomed to. Hearts are ammo for the sub-weapons (which you actually have), and powerups don't go away every time you get hit. It should be noted, however, that the sub-weapons are a little weird in Castlevania Legends. You get a "sub-weapon" after you beat a boss, and as far as I can tell, you can only use the sub-weapon of the last boss you defeated. I rarely ever used these "sub-weapons," but the rest of the game is pretty good, so it never really bothered me. You actually can lose whip powerups in Belmont's Revenge, but only a very limited amount of enemies can do it. Finally, these games also included a password system. I forgot to mention it, but The Castlevana Adventure has to be completed in a single sitting which wasn't uncommon for the time. Still, The Adventure's not long, but the last 2 levels are very challenging, so a password system would have been appreciated, especially considering this is a portable game.

In conclusion, the latter 2 Gameboy Castlevania games are classic and enjoyable, but The Adventure is just a waste. Well, now all I have to do is play Order of Ecclesia, and excluding the arcade game, Haunted Castle, I'll have played every game in the series. Unless... oh God no... please... I mean, it's not even a real Castlevania! It's a fucking fighting game! No... No! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! (Castlevania: Judgement- to be played SOON.)

The OTHER Playstation Castlevania

First off, what the hell is Castlevania Chronicles? That's actually a fairly complicated question, but I'll try to answer it to the best of my (and Wikipedia's) ability. First off, I'll say what I'm sure of with my experience. If you have played the NES version of Castlevania, a lot of this game is going to be familiar to you. Essentially, this version is like an "extended edition" of Castlevania, or to use more video game terms, it's like Castlevania with an expansion pack. Well, that's my take; let's delve into the more technical aspects. Castlevania Chronicles has two game modes: "Original mode" and "Arrange mode." The Original mode is that of a version of Castlevania that was only released in Japan on the Sharp X68000 home computer. The Arrange mode, however is *All New! (*- This version is nearly identical to the original version with the exception of a new sprite design for Simon and a decrease in difficulty.)

I started this game by playing through the Original mode. This game is tough... I mean really tough. You get four hits. No if's, and's, or but's, you get four hits. A bat running into you is the same amount of damage as Death's scythe slicing through you. (To be fair, that's not entirely true... at the start of the game, you get more than 4 hits, but at the start of the game, it's pretty simple, so that doesn't stick out in my mind.) While I found this to be illogical, the Arrange mode isn't necessarily any more logical. At the start of the game, everything only does one piece of damage from the life gauge. While I don't know how many hits that allows you exactly, I'm pretty sure it's over 10. By the end of the game, however, each hit takes 3 pieces from your life gauge allowing for a total of 6 hits. In other words, all enemies/objects do the same amount of damage, that damage just changes as the game goes on.

Anyways, seeing how technical this has already gotten, I'll try to keep it simple. Certain aspects of the game are absolutely ridiculous with only 4 hits. The doppleganger has no clear pattern, so the only way I was able to beat him was to just whip like a crazy mofo and hope he died before I did. Compared to this and other aspects of the game, I actually found Dracula to be a relief since he has a very consistent pattern (identical to his NES one.) To put into perspective how much of a difference the 2 hits make, however, I used 18 or more continues (it doesn't record the last few) in Original mode, whereas I only used 3 or more continues in Arrange mode. Granted, I played Original mode first, but the big challenges like Death, I had already seen in the NES version, so only a few of those continues can be attributed to learning the game.

Like all challenging games, it's very rewarding to finally beat this one. If you're not in the mood for a brutal beating, and would instead prefer a light spanking, just go with the Arrange mode. It's all of the gameplay of the original mode and 2/3 of the difficulty. One last thing I realized was that this was the 2nd of the only 2 Castlevania games on the Playstation. I sure as hell hope there isn't anyone who bought this game because they loved Symphony of the Night. If they were expecting the same style of gameplay, they must've been disappointed. If you know what you're getting into though and are a fan of classic Castlevania, Castlevania Chronicles is a fun "enhanced remake" of the original game.