Category Archives: Castlevania

Delving Into..., Super Castlevania IV

Super Castlevania IV: Playing A Game “Right”

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I’ve been continuing to explore Super Castlevania IV recently, and a few things about my experiences have got me thinking.

Specifically, it’s got me thinking about whether or not the concept of playing a game in the “correct” way really exists — and if that’s the same thing as experiencing the game in the same manner and the same context as its original release.

This is a question that is particularly relevant to modern rereleases of retro titles such as Super Castlevania IV, so let’s ponder it together today!

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Delving Into..., Super Castlevania IV

Super Castlevania IV: The Quintessential SNES Game

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One thing I feel like we’ve lost somewhat over the procession of console generations we’ve lived through is a feeling of “uniqueness” for each platform.

Sure, Nintendo still does its own thing and its games are immediately recognisable, but I’m talking more about a very clear look, sound and feel of games on a specific platform; partially a product of the hardware itself, and partially that of the companies specifically choosing to produce work for that platform in particular.

I hadn’t really spent a lot of time with Super Castlevania IV for Super NES until recently, but within about five minutes of delving into it in earnest thanks to the Castlevania Anniversary Collection for Switch, Xbox One, PS4 and PC, I’m absolutely convinced that it is the perfect example of what a SNES game really “is”.

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Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Delving Into...

Delving Into Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse – #2

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One thing that I’ve been gradually learning over the course of the early Castlevania games that I’ve played so far is that it doesn’t always pay to be greedy.

Indeed, sometimes it’s in your best interests to forego potential rewards in favour of just proceeding onwards more safely. After all, you can’t make good use of those rewards if you’re dead, can you?

Castlevania III plays with this idea quite a lot, and it presents a few takes on it over the course of its early stages.

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Castlevania, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Delving Into...

Delving Into Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse – #1

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I have, as they say, been looking forward to this.

Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse is not a game I have any experience with whatsoever, aside from one critical aspect: its music. Specifically, back when the PS1 was current, I had an original copy of Symphony of the Night (which, believe me, I severely regret getting rid of now!) that came with a soundtrack CD. On that CD was a single track from Castlevania III — or more accurately, its Famicom incarnation, Akumajō Densetsu. It left quite an impression on me.

Now, thanks to the release of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, I finally get to experience Castlevania III as truly intended. And I’m very excited about it.

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Castlevania, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Delving Into...

Delving Into Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest – #3

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I finished Simon’s Quest! Yes, indeed, even after my podcasting buddy and good friend Chris Caskie suggested that I wouldn’t be able to stick it out to the end… I did!

It wasn’t even entirely down to stubbornness or a desire to prove him wrong. I actually enjoyed the whole experience. Well, all right, most of the experience. I didn’t love the bits where progression was dependent on doing something arbitrary in an equally arbitrary location, and the three bosses in the game were all complete garbage, being both ridiculously easy and mechanically uninteresting… but aside from that, I had a great time.

Let’s review what I’ve learned from my experiences, then.

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Castlevania, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Delving Into...

Delving Into Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest – #2

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I’m enjoying Castlevania II, but I’m also seeing some of the reasons people might bounce off it a bit.

There’s not really anything fundamentally wrong with it when taken in the context of its original release, but when revisited from a modern perspective it’s easy to find yourself missing the conveniences of modern games.

Let’s take a look at some of those areas where newcomers might struggle!

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Castlevania, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Delving Into...

Delving Into Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest – #1

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One of the games in Konami’s Castlevania Anniversary Collection that I was most interested to dig into was Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest.

I say this with the full knowledge that it has a bit of a reputation as being one of the least well-regarded Castlevania titles out there — but that was, in part, why I was curious to check it out for myself.

The other reasons I was keen to explore it was that the very concept and ambition of it intrigued me — and it’s one of the few early-era Castlevania titles that I’ve never, ever played before at all. So let’s take a first look!

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Castlevania, Delving Into...

Delving Into Castlevania – #2

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Last time around, we looked at how Castlevania’s overall mechanics and sense of game design can be traced forward to technical action games such as From Software’s popular titles.

Today, I wanted to focus on some other important and distinctive aspects of this original NES installment: specifically the platforming component, and the boss fights.

All of the elements we’ll have talked about by the end of today combine together to create the distinctive experience that is Castlevania — not just for this first game, but for much of the early series.

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Castlevania, Delving Into...

Delving Into Castlevania – #1

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One of the nice things about revisiting old games from a modern perspective is the fact that you can see how certain genres have evolved over time… and sometimes seemingly morphed into different things altogether.

The original Castlevania is a great example of this. Far from being your common-or-garden everyday mascot platformer that we saw a fair bit throughout the 8- and 16-bit home console eras, Castlevania provided an experience that was altogether its own thing, immediately recognisable and immensely influential.

Atmospheric, idiosyncratic and consistently challenging, it’s a game that still holds its own today — just don’t expect an easy ride!

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