Review: Super Castlevania IV

When the Super Nintendo Entertainment System launched in 1991, it came with the renowned Super Mario World. However there were a few other titles available if you were a day-one purchaser, and Super Castlevania IV was one of them. For being one of the first games on a new system, it was in the spotlight - which means critiques would be particularly harsh if it bombed. Twenty years have passed since then, but the question remains the same - is this game worthy of your time and money?

Gameplay.
Super Castlevania IV's gameplay, like its design, is based very heavily on the first game in the series. Once again, you control Simon Belmont in his quest to kill Dracula. You'll be using the whip and special items just like you remember, and anyone who's played the first game, will instantly feel at home in this one. At the same time however, changes have been made that make the game significantly more fun to play than its older brothers.

First off, the special items. In the NES series, you had to press Up+B to use your special item. This worked OK until you were near a staircase and the game got confused - are you trying to go up the stairs or use your item? In SCIV, special items are thrown using the Y button. Much better.

One of the fantastic themed stages

 The jumping has also been improved. In the original, once you jumped in one direction, there was no changing it. No tweaks to make sure you landed in the right spot. While the jumping still feels stiff in SCIV, you can "course correct" in mid air - which makes for a lot less cheap deaths.

All in all the game controls the way you imagined the first one should have controlled. Smooth, intuitive, and fun.

The level design in this game is a real treat. There's a total of eleven levels - five taking place outside Castle Dracula and six within the confines of the fanged fascist's home. All of them are remarkable and the variety on display is simply jaw dropping. Levels like the gold-doubloon-laden haunted treasure trove or even the opening stage's lush, green garden really makes each stage stand out and gives each area a distinct identity.

The enemy design has been improved upon as well. No longer are you facing seemingly invincible knights, or an endless stream of Medusa heads. Sure those guys are still around, but have a much more recognizable pattern and can be dispatched much more easily. Which leads me to my only real complaint - it was a little too easy. I didn't use a single one of my infinite continues until, like, level 9.

When I finished the game I wondered why I didn't feel the same connection I did when I finished the first Castlevania. And I think its because the first one was so hard, that I was forced to memorize every single level and can even now probably draw maps that are pretty close to the design of those levels. In SCIV, aside from the last three stages, I only saw each level once.

Nit picking aside, the game is a genuine blast to play. The last few levels pose the perfect level of challenge and definitely left a good taste in my mouth.


Presentation.
Again, this being an SNES launch title, all eyes were on the game's graphics - so its a good thing that they are flippin fantastic. Everything animates smoothly, character models are large and well drawn, bosses are huge and detailed and the levels feature some of the best artwork on the system. The devs also did a little showin off with some of the stages - a famous stage where the background is spinning as if you're walking through a tunnel is particularly impressive for the hardware, but there are hundreds of little visual treats sprinkled throughout the experience.

Spinny Stage.

Then there's the music. Ohugh the music! Its so freakin good. The game's soundtrack consists of mostly original scores, but its sprinkled with 16-bit remixes, nay, reorchestrations to make the nostalgic little girl in all of us squeal just a bit.

Stuff I Loved:

• Completely overhauled controls make the game infinitely more enjoyable to play than its predecessors. 
• Beautifully and intricately designed stages make you look forward to each new level.
• The music is stunning

Stuff I Hated:

• Jumping controls, while improved, still felt stiff
• Relatively easy until the end 

Ultimately, what you're getting here is a fantastic reimagination of Castlevania. Its been finely tuned to be enjoyed buy a larger market, and everything about it screams "AAA product." Its a shame this game isn't mentioned more often in best classic games lists because it's definitely up there for me.

Review in Ten Words or Less: 
The blueprint of how to rerelease a game.