31 nights of castlevania Archives • Page 2 of 2 • The Lifecast Network

31 Nights of Castlevania: Castlevania: Rondo of Blood

October 9, 2017 colin

Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo Screenshot

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is the only Castlevania to be released for the PC Engine CD. It was also a Japanese only release until the compilation the Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP and the official release on the Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console.

It was worth the wait, because what a game Rondo of Blood is. Konami took full advantage of the system’s sound capabilities and managed to show off some stylish cutscenes as well. Rondo of Blood may not have the graphical tricks and whip controls of Super Castlevania IV, but the overall package is a fantastic one.

Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo Screenshot

A new Belmont takes on Dracula in Rondo of Blood
Players will take control of Richter Belmont, the latest member of the Belmont clan to wield the Vampire Killer whip. One aspect of Rondo of Blood players will take note are the graphics. Not just with the creepy intro and anime-styled cutscenes, but with the game itself. It’s a well-animated game, as backgrounds will also have a life to them.

Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo Screenshot

Enemies won’t have just one walk cycle, but will sometimes disintegrate or break down after being attacked. Richter himself is also animated in his confident idle pose. There is just as much color as seen in the SNES games, but the graphics are not quite as crisp. Regardless, Rondo of Blood is a nice game to look at.

Richter is not the only playable character, as the little girl Maria Renard joins him. Maria uses cutesy animals as weapons and is actually pretty fun to play as. Their initial meeting is actually pretty humorous.

Controls are back to the usual two-button format and the awkward jumps are back. Not to mention, Richter doesn’t know how to whip in all different directions. However, he does know a backflip which helps dodge enemies. He also has the Item Crash attack in which, at the cost of a few hearts, he will create a super attack based on a particular item.

Level design is not just linear, as each stage has more than a few exploration options. Richter is not only looking to defeat Dracula, but also rescue is girlfriend and other maidens. Rondo of Blood’s levels are huge and has a similar branching path system seen in Dracula’s Curse, except done in a more organic manner.

Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo Screenshot

Every stage is well designed too. The opening stage in the burning village, the clock tower, and rest of the castle are actually fun to play in. There is a lack of adventure feeling, but it’s still a great experience.

Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo Screenshot

To complete this phenomenal game, the soundtrack is superb. The addictive sounds of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood are a unique mix of original music and classic Castlevania tunes. Combined with some crisp voice work from the characters, and this is easily one of the best sounding games.

Challenge is a bit high but does not bring down Rondo of Blood
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood brings the controls brought back to basics, which actually creates a lot of challenge in the game. Enemy’s attacks will send Richter flying back and precision jumping is a lot more difficult. His backflip may not help too much in certain situations as well.

Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo Screenshot

Enemies and bosses are also in complete defense mode and are borderline merciless in some stages. For example, the knights in the clock tower and dragon heads take a lot of hits, regardless if the player is using Maria or Richter. It’s nowhere near as brutal as its SNES counterpart Dracula X, but it will cause a few broken controllers. Especially in the later stages.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood succeeds in being a fantastic Castlevania game because of its impressive levels and gameplay. It also manages to capture the horror atmosphere well with the soundtrack and graphics, despite being on a unique system. Its bizarre spikes in difficulty may turn players off and the true lack of any major gameplay changes may turn fans off. However, sticking through it, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood stands head and shoulders above many entries in the series and can be considered one of the best.

31 Nights of Castlevania: Castlevania: Bloodlines

October 8, 2017 colin

Castlevania: Bloodlines Screenshot

Castlevania always appeared to be a franchise only for Nintendo consoles and handhelds. In 1993, Genesis/Mega Drive owners finally got to experience this classic series. Castlevania: Bloodlines features one of the best presentations of the entire series. Aside from a generally engaging story and gameplay as fun as ever, Castlevania: Bloodlines is a very good entry in the series. Not as great as other entries, but absolutely worth owning for the Genesis.

Sega’s only Castlevania game is a one bloody adventure
Bloodlines is, strangely enough, connected to a famous literary source; Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula actually plays a part in this game. The main character, John Morris, is the son of Quincey Morris from the novel.

Taking place in the early 1900s, Countess Elizabeth Bartley, based off of the infamous historical figures Elizabeth Bathory, is resurrecting her uncle. And his name is Count Dracula. John and his friend Eric Lecarde, a French knight wielding a lance, travel all over Europe to put a stop to the evil Countess.

Castlevania: Bloodlines Screenshot

Bloodlines is an adventure, as the player is no longer just confined to a castle. Instead, John and Eric’s excellent adventure has them traveling all over Europe. The two will be fighting all kinds of monsters in Atlantis, a munitions factory in Germany and in the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Castlevania: Bloodlines Screenshot

It’s easily one of the more creative setups in the whole series, as each level has its own unique flavor. There is also some unique graphical tricks that rival Super Castlevania IV.

Castlevania: Bloodlines Screenshot

Bloody does describe the game quite well. This is one of the few 2D Castlevanias which features blood on enemies. It’s a little gimmicky, but it fits the atmosphere of certain stages.

Castlevania Bloodlinesreaches for greatness, but falls short in one way
Castlevania: Bloodlines has a few flaws that set it back from greatness. The controls are a little awkward at first, but once a player gets used to them, it’s no trouble.

Castlevania: Bloodlines Screenshot

Oddly enough, the game’s biggest flaw is the gameplay. It’s as fun and challenging as ever, but there are no real additions to it. It plays fine, but for a game which is pushing the boundaries in terms of level design and graphical aesthetics, it would have been nice to see a little more improvement or additions to the gameplay.

As a standalone Genesis action game, Castlevania: Bloodlines is great. As an entry to the legendary Castlevania franchise, it’s one of the better entries. Not one of the best, but still a solid game in its own right.

31 Nights of Castlevania: Super Castlevania IV

October 7, 2017 colin

Super Castlevania IV Screenshot

By the time the 16-bit era rolled around, Castlevania was one of the many franchises making the jump. The first game to take the plunge was Super Castlevania IV.

While it is essentially a big budget remake of the first game, Super Castlevania IV is a game that showcases the best of the best of the SNES. Super Castlevania IV contains graphics and music that utilize the hardware of the new system.

Super Castlevania IV Screenshot

Those features are just the icing on the cake, though.

A cinematic-like intro sets the mood for Super Castlevania IV
Super Castlevania IV marks the first time in the series a full length animated introduction. A lightning strike destroys a gravestone, followed by creeping fog and evil sounding organ music. This is accompanied by a text crawl similar to the one in Dracula’s Curse, but far more sinister and atmospheric. It plays more like a Hammer/Universal studios intro that fits the aesthetics of the Castlevania series.

Players will be taking control of Simon Belmont once more. This time, he is prepared to fight the forces of darkness and end Dracula’s reign once and for all.

Super Castlevania IV Screenshot

Super Castlevania IV plays like a Greatest Hits…plus more!
Once Super Castlevania IV kicks off, it hits the ground running and does not stop going. It very much keeps what made the last three games so incredible. The platforming and combat are completely on point in this game. Controls have been refined, so players won’t have to make any awkward jumps. The whip can now be used to attack enemies below, above and even diagonally, adding more moves to combat. The weapons are still helpful as well, as sometimes the whip may not be enough to beat a boss.

Super Castlevania IV Screenshot

Longtime Castlevania fans can breathe a sigh of relief at the decrease in the challenge, as the game is not unfair. Players will still have to use skills, but it’s no longer a steep curve.

Simon will be traveling to Dracula’s castle through villages, underground caverns, and ruined temples. When he finally steps foot into the castle, our hero will have to fight off all kinds of monsters in the library, the catacombs and the rooftops themselves. Every stage in this game contains an ingenious level design full of creativity and tests for the player.

Super Castlevania IV Screenshot

Boss fights reflect the originality of the levels, in the sense that each of them is a unique fight that requires a different skill from the player. Konami crammed in a few bosses based on Greek mythology as well to add to the innovative enemy types.

Finally, there is the beautifully composed soundtrack. It very much fits the ambiance of the game and feels very much like a horror/adventure film.

Super Castlevania IV’s minor flaw does not come close to ruining the game
Super Castlevania IV has a lot going for it and very little negatives. The cons of the game are almost nitpicky, but there is one that could be a turn-off. For starters, Super Castlevania IV is a very long game. There is over 10 stages, each split up into three sections of varying length and challenge. Even the speed runs of this game are significantly longer than Dracula’s Curse. Which is saying a lot, considering Dracula’s Curse’s overly unfair difficulty.

Super Castlevania IV Screenshot

All in all, Super Castlevania IV is seen by many fans as one of the best “old school” Castlevanias. It’s a damn near perfect experience no Castlevania, or even gamer should pass up. The flawless design of the levels, the sound controls, the faultless graphics that use all the tricks in the SNES and it’s even a blast to play. Super Castlevania IV stands the test of time when compared to many platformers of the day, and is worth every second.

31 Nights of Castlevania: Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge

October 6, 2017 colin

The second Game Boy outing of the franchise, Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge is a massively improved sequel. Taking one look at the monochrome screenshots, and it only looks like a cosmetic upgrade. However, Belmont’s Revenge improves on nearly every issue the first Game Boy game had and holds its own against the original trilogy on the NES.

Belmont’s Revenge tells a story and takes cues from other games

Replaying as Christopher Belmont from Castlevania: The Adventure, Chris is on a quest to save his son Solieyu (Author’s Note: Yeah, I can’t pronounce it either…) who has been kidnapped by Count Dracula and transformed into a demon. And now we have our title…Belmont’s Revenge. To be fair, it is nice to see a lack of damsel-in-distress.

Anyways, Belmont’s Revenge uses the stage select feature popularized by Mega Man. This is also one of the only times the series has ever tried this feature. Christopher can travel to a castle, a forest, a crystal castle (Author’s Note: That would be an interesting crossover) among others. The stages are more detailed than the previous game and look great.

How’s the rest of the game? Good!

Belmont’s Revenge moves at a much quicker pace than the previous games making action and platforming an overall better experience. The game drops the focus on long-range combat and excessive platforming. The stages are perfectly designed to suit this new development as well. It also helps the controls are tight as well.

There is also an inclusion of sub-weapons, granted it’s only the holy water and the axe (or cross-boomerang in the European version), but it helps change up the gameplay. Instead of relying on the fire whip in The Castlevania Adventure, players are given a chance to play around with more stuff.

Finally, like many games in the series, Belmont’s Revenge features a solid soundtrack.

Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge is a great sequel and a worthy addition to the series. Sadly, despite being a huge step forward, Belmont’s Revenge is not available on any of Nintendo’s Virtual Console. Whereas they questionably added The Adventure. That being said, Belmont’s Revenge is worth picking up.

31 Nights of Castlevania: Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse

October 5, 2017 colin

Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse is the series’ triumphant return to form. Instead of the adventure/RPG format, it’s back to platforming. Konami added a few twists and features to make this particular vampire-slaying adventure feel fresh. The majority of Dracula’s Curse is fantastic, carrying on the series’ trademark style and difficulty.

Although, the difficulty gets way too carried away in Dracula’s Curse. It gets to the point where the game comes off as an arduous, mind-numbing chore rather than a challenging video game. If you’re willing to accept the difficulty, then Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse is easily one of the best in the series and one of the NES’ best action platformers.

Castlevania III pulls a George Lucas and is a prequel to the series
Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse stars Simon’s predecessor Trevor Belmont and his quest to stop the evil Count Dracula. The intro to the game starts out with scrolling text, detailing the evil Dracula brings to Transylvania. It’s a great way to start, and there’s even a brief cutscene of Trevor getting ready to fight evil.

The presentation of Dracula’s Curse is first-rate. Konami pushed the limits of the NES hardware, making the third game the most diverse, in terms of graphics. The colors really stand out, but keeping in line with the spooky atmosphere.

For most of the game, Trevor must travel to the castle where Dracula is living, by going through graveyards, clock towers, forests and pirate ships. Besides the variety of interesting settings, Dracula’s Curse introduces a branching path system. Players are given a choice to go a certain way in the game.

Players are also given the option of recruiting secondary characters. Grant is a pirate who can walk on walls. Sypha, a mage who can wield magic and is also the first female playable Castlevania character. Finally, there is Alucard, Dracula’s own son. Alucard can turn into a bat and fly over enemies.

These elements, combined with tight and masterful gameplay, top notch level design, boss fights with classic monsters and a near-perfect soundtrack, it’s not hard to see why many gamers consider Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse to be the best of the NES trilogy. However, it has one major flaw.

The difficulty spike is a stake right to the heart of the player
Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse has a difficulty curve resembling a 90-degree angle. The regular levels are difficult but still fair.

Once Trevor and the Isle of Misfit Vampire Hunters reach Dracula’s castle, it feels like the player just ran into a brick wall. Head first. Repeatedly. Floors will crumble beneath you and enemies are out in full force. If the player has not recruited Alucard than the game is just about over at this point. The boss fight against Dracula is borderline impossible, cheap and unfair. Not to mention, he has three grotesque forms this time around. The player has to not be touched once by his two previous forms to even stand the slightest chance against him. It’s common to cheat and use the infamous HELPME code.

It’s an enormously unnecessary quick bend in difficulty that brings Dracula’s Curse down from legitimate greatness. It’s still a solid game, almost a total package. However, any gamer should be prepared for one of the most frustrating final thirds of any game in the NES library.

31 Nights of Castlevania: Castlevania: The Adventure

October 4, 2017 colin

Castlevania: The Adventure holds the honor of being the first-ever handheld Castlevania game. It also holds a dubious honor; The Adventure is easily one of the weakest, entries in the series.

Is there anything decent about the game? For starters, it’s another attempt at expanding the canon and universe of Castlevania. And as far as Game Boy launch titles go, players could do much, much, MUCH worse. Still, even playing the game today, something about Castlevania: The Adventure seems…off.

Castlevania: The Adventure doesn’t feel like one

Starring Simon Belmont’s predecessor, Christopher Belmont, Castlevania: The Adventure has this particular vampire hunter fighting off…Dracula! (Strange for this series to take such a huge risk, I know?)

The Game Boy, despite all of its technical limitations, can produce some decent-looking games. Castlevania: The Adventure is actually a well-detailed Game Boy title. Backgrounds are actually one of the game’s most striking graphical features, creating mountains, graveyards, and haunted forests.

With a simplified control set up, Castlevania The Adventure has responsive controls, which is perfect for the game’s platforming sections, which dominate the majority of the game.

There is a lack of weapons to play around with, so no Holy Water or knives to toss at zombies. However, Christopher has managed to wield a Vampire Killer whip that, when upgraded, shoots fire. Sweet

One of the weakest in the series? How so?

With all that summed up, The Adventure sounds good, right? When going on your quest to defeat Dracula, players will notice how unbelievably choppy and slow. In typical old-school Nintendo console fashion, flicker and slow down are all too commonplace. This goes against the game’s focus on platforming and long range combat.

Also, the lack of weapons makes the gameplay very repetitive.

Finally, Castlevania: The Adventure’s soundtrack does not translate well onto a Game Boy. It’s shrill, ear-piercing and just not pleasant to listen to.

It’s not a horrible game, (no game is as bad as Haunted Castle) Castlevania: The Adventure isn’t one worth seeking out. The game was actually remade for the Wii and could be considered to be the better game of the two. (Author’s note: that will be covered…)

31 Nights of Castlevania: Haunted Castle

October 3, 2017 colin

The first of two Castlevania games released for the arcades, Haunted Castle is a kind of awkward game. On one hand, it’s technically not part of the canon (Haunted Castle is one of the many, many re-imaginings of the first game) and it appears to be a cheap knock-off. But on the other hand, it’s a decent arcade game to look at. Playing it on the other hand, not so much.

Haunted Castle was only released in the arcades and has become one of the more obscure entries in the franchise. If you’re a diehard Castlevania fan, Haunted Castle might be worth checking out, even with its awful design choices.

Haunted Castle has great aesthetics and a…story?

Wedding bells are ringing for Simon Belmont and his lady love dressed in all white (it actually looks kind of hilarious), but then, in a scene totally not ripped off from Ghosts N’ Goblins, Dracula abducts her!

Problematic storytelling tropes aside, this marks the first time a Castlevania game gave a Belmont a personal reason to go after the Count. Not a great story, but it’s a pretty cool trivia thing for Castlevania nerds.

Anyways, Haunted Castle looks fantastic for a late-80s arcade game. Backgrounds are well-detailed and every stage has a unique little feature to them. For example, the fire that rises up in the first stage is actually pretty cool. Simon looks Conan the Barbarian-like and it’s a welcome change in his usual design. He’s still missing pants though…

Shockingly enough, it’s the music that will actually stick with you. “Bloody Tears” makes an appearance and a few of the original tracks are pretty great.

Short and difficult, Haunted Castle is perfect for the arcades

Ask any old school, hardened retro gamer what they think is the most difficult game and they will probably give you a different answer. The aforementioned Ghosts N’ Goblins, Ninja Gaiden, Robotron, etc. are all typical answers.

Haunted Castle is that kind of difficult. The kind that ruins your day and never makes you want to play it again. And one that brings it down from “decent” to “terrible.”

The controls are sluggish and exceptionally awkward. Having a constant barrage of enemies coming at you does not help at all, as Simon appears to wind up his whip. This makes the game cheap, as the control response is beyond atrocious. This also makes the platforming segments beyond frustrating and it always feels like pure luck whenever Mr. Belmont makes a jump.

Also, the enemies are incredibly uninspired. Bats? Zombies? Yay. Although, Dracula has an interesting final form…

Had the game just been a linear, single plane beat ‘em up, and a couple extra months of debugging, Haunted Castle may have been a better game. It would have been repetitive, but at least it wouldn’t be seen as one of the worst games in the franchise.

31 Nights of Castlevania: Vampire Killer

October 2, 2017 colin

Released not too far off from the first game, Vampire Killer is not just a port of Castlevania to the Japanese MSX2 computer. Instead, Vampire Killer is a different interpretation by taking on a non-linear approach. Vampire Killer is also a great game to look at, as the MSX2 had more powerful graphics capabilities.

Starring Simon Belmont on his one of many quests to defeat Dracula, Vampire Killer is an “okay” to the long-running series. There are more than a few major shortcomings that make Vampire Killer mostly known by Castlevania purists.

And it was only released in Japan and Europe.

But first… the good stuff about Vampire Killer
Booting up Vampire Killer (Author’s note: or emulating it in my case…) the first thing players will notice are the graphics. There is a great mix of colors and textures. For example, the trees look like trees and the castle’s architecture is well-detailed. It’s a nice lookin’ Castlevania game.

There is also a focus on exploration and, shockingly enough, melee combat. There are seven stages in the game, and each of them are non-linear. Simon can wield swords, shields, and maces to help combat zombies and other monsters. Since there are several weapons that need to be found, it gives the player a chance to see the game from a different point of view. In a strange way, Vampire Killer has more in common with Metroid than the first game.

Now…the bad stuff of Vampire Killer
Exploring seems pretty cool, right? Unfortunately, Vampire Killer’s exploration schtick is that: a gimmick. Once the player knows where everything is, it’s no longer fun. Plus, the levels aren’t that big to really be explorable. Also, since the MSX does not have the scrolling features of the NES, Vampire Killer moves at a sluggish pace.

This has the game varying in difficulty, as Simon does not have any real momentum to combat his enemies. Also, Dracula is almost a joke of a final boss fight with how painstakingly slow he moves.

Dracula does look pretty cool though…
Image courtesy of the Castlevania Dungeon.

Also, the music is downright awful. The chintzy rendition of “Vampire Killer” is not terrible, but it is skin-crawling. And considering how the MSX produced classic tunes from the early Metal Gear games, it’s not like the computer couldn’t not create some decent music.

By all means, Vampire Killer is not a bad game. It does, however, suffer from incredibly awkward controls and a difficulty curve that resembles a person’s nervous system. Also, it’s biggest difference is only skin-deep. However, much like Simon’s Quest, Vampire Killer is almost like a precursor to the Metroidvania phase of Castlevania.

31 Nights of Castlevania: Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest

October 1, 2017 colin

Castlevania for the NES is a bonafide classic. There is no question about that.

Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, on the other hand, is often regarded to be the red headed step child of the NES trilogy. Not without good reason either, as it is an immensely flawed sequel. It was also the first game to feel the Angry Video Game Nerd’s wrath.

However, that does not mean it’s a terrible game. Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest took the series when it was just starting out, and experimented a little. In this aspect, Konami should be applauded. Simon’s Quest is a solid entry in the Castlevania series, despite some glaring problems.

What a horrible night to have a curse!
Taking place a few years after the first game, Simon’s Quest has Simon Belmont traversing over Transylvania. After Dracula’s defeat in the first game, Simon has a curse placed on him. In order to rid the curse, he must find Dracula’s body parts, resurrect the vampire and defeat him once and for all.

The adventure format was a big departure from the first game’s linear platforming. This aspect is both Simon’s Quest’s best strength and worst weakness. It allows for more freedom and variety in the scenery. Although, the overly cryptic nature of the map and what little help the townspeople have in the shop sections make this quest a bit of a slog.

One of the best features of any Castlevania game is the amount of horror film/mythologic iconography Konami stuffs in. Unfortunately, Simon’s Quest has a lack of great boss fights and creative enemies. The Grim Reaper makes an underwhelming appearance and Dracula looks like a generic Halloween costume found at any dollar store. They aren’t even challenging boss fights too, which is exceptionally disappointing.

The morning light has vanquished the evil!
What’s good in Simon’s Quest? Quite a bit actually. The graphics and controls are as good as they were in the first game. This is almost required for a relatively long game like this one. The player won’t feel bored, as the day and night cycles keep the challenge coming on.

The music is fantastic too as this was the first Castlevania game to introduce the fan favorite music track “Bloody Tears.” If a player has also managed to fight with the game and stick to it, they will find a decent amount of challenge, and even fun, within Simon’s Quest.

The RPG elements, in a strange way, were a precursor to the Metroidvania-style Castlevania became synonymous with. The items and power-ups found in the game are actually some of the coolest in the series. When’s the flaming whip going to make a comeback?

It’s not perfect, but Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest is a worthy entry in the series. Newcomers will just have to push through the adventure parts. Longtime fans should forgive the cryptic nature of the game, give Simon’s Quest a second chance.