Take control of Reinhardt Schneider, a whip-toting Vampire Killer who has waited his whole life to meet his destiny, or Carrie Fernandez, a young girl with a strong magical presence who is mysteriously drawn to Dracula's evil Castlevania. It is their duty to seek out Castlevania and put an end to its residents' plans. What is your destiny?
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Despite a number of flaws, Castlevania 64 showcased some interesting concepts that were later further developed and used in other 3D games. Graphics were not the best (even for the time) but the game created a good atmosphere thanks to its setting and art direction. Being able to pick between two characters added variety and provided different attack systems (close combat vs. ranged). Level design was average, with linear for the most part with a few open areas to explore in order to get items like keys. Platforming was a bit on the frustrating side.
Bonus points for this game having one of my favorite intro sequences: an epic pan of the castle with a very appropriate Castlevania-type soundtrack followed by a violin solo.
Bonus points for this game having one of my favorite intro sequences: an epic pan of the castle with a very appropriate Castlevania-type soundtrack followed by a violin solo.
Pretty fun and interesting. The slipperiness of the characters can get in the way during some more challenging platforming sections, but they seem to have fixed that in Legacy of Darkness. The combat is also not the most thrilling, so going with easimode might be the pick here.
I appreciate the devs who, despite going with a 3D game direction, decided to still implement parkour and platforming mechanics.
...actually no. Fuck you. I don't appreciate that at all. The controls are excruciating, the combat is annoying as hell, and I'm fed up with Castlevania titles ignoring the story until it's too late. I really, really wanted to give this a chance, but I think I realized it overstayed its welcome at the point a werewolf fucked me up beyond recognition.
The respawn rate of enemies is so high that I couldn't even take a second for myself to figure out where I came from and where I should be going. It doesn't help that the environment is bleak, monotone, and unhelpful as fuck.
...actually no. Fuck you. I don't appreciate that at all. The controls are excruciating, the combat is annoying as hell, and I'm fed up with Castlevania titles ignoring the story until it's too late. I really, really wanted to give this a chance, but I think I realized it overstayed its welcome at the point a werewolf fucked me up beyond recognition.
The respawn rate of enemies is so high that I couldn't even take a second for myself to figure out where I came from and where I should be going. It doesn't help that the environment is bleak, monotone, and unhelpful as fuck.
I know this game has a very mixed reputation. Personally, I liked it a lot. It felt like it mixed together ideas from Castlevania 1-3 - changing day/night, all levels taking place in or near Dracula's castle, NPCs in some levels, monetary system, two playable characters, and different levels that you can only play as certain characters (vaguely similar to CV3's routes system, or that's how I saw it then).
I liked its ideas, and to me, the good outweighed the bad. I just put up with the flaws.
I liked its ideas, and to me, the good outweighed the bad. I just put up with the flaws.
In 1997, the PlayStation got Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It got great reviews and is now considered to be an amazing game – it’s even the reason for the “vania” part of the phrase “Metroidvania”. However, it didn’t sell well. Unfortunately, this era of consoles looked down poorly on 2D games. This was even worse on N64 than on PlayStation, so Castlevania on the N64 had to be in 3D.
This one isn’t a “Metroidvania” game, but seems like its taking the style of the first few Castlevania games and turning that into 3D. I should note that I’ve never played a Castlevania game before.
In Castlevania on the N64, you get to pick between two characters: Reinhardt, a vampire hunter with a whip, or Carrie, who has magical powers. They sense that Dracula has returned and seek to destroy him.
The graphics are nice on the N64, and Castlevania has the right atmosphere for the style of game – creepy, but adventurous. The levels are long but mostly linear, with you occasionally going off the path to hit a switch or find a key.
Combat is quite simple, you have a melee attack and ranged attack, and can also use magical items as weapons. You can lock on, but can not move (other than a jump to the side) while doing so.
Movement is a bit more of an issue. The jump is tall and floaty, and really difficult to judge – and definitely not helped by the camera. To make matters worse, any missed jump us usually instant death, and you’ll need to load your previous save or start the level from scratch.
The saving is one of the game’s big frustrations: they are quite a distance apart, meaning you have to fight through many enemies before you can start a jump again. In one instance, you fight a couple of bosses and then walk down a corridor. The floor will give way and you’ll die. Your last chance to save was before the bosses. Luckily, save states solve this, but it was still frustrating with that.
Another issue are some doors and events that only happen at certain times of the day. You can use sun and moon cards to skip forwards, but sometimes the only choice is to wait around for the right time.
That said, I was mostly enjoying the game until Castle Keep. Here, you have to move an explosive substance to a crack elsewhere in the castle. If you jump or get hit, you die. Of course, they set up a massive, winding narrow bridge you need to cross, with lizards spitting fireballs at you. It’s the hardest part of the game, but not for good reasons.
Then the game put its middle finger at me. I finished the level when it faded to black and told me I had finished the game and to start again on a higher difficulty if I want to see the rest. As I know I’m going to play a slightly different version of the game later on, I instead downloaded a save file just before defeating Dracula (incidentally, if you don’t get there fast enough, you’ll get a bad ending).
Castlevania has some nice ideas, but a lot of frustrations. The gameplay is still enjoyable and I was expecting much worse from it’s reputation. Still, it’s an odd game because a port of Symphony of the Night would have been much, much better.
This one isn’t a “Metroidvania” game, but seems like its taking the style of the first few Castlevania games and turning that into 3D. I should note that I’ve never played a Castlevania game before.
In Castlevania on the N64, you get to pick between two characters: Reinhardt, a vampire hunter with a whip, or Carrie, who has magical powers. They sense that Dracula has returned and seek to destroy him.
The graphics are nice on the N64, and Castlevania has the right atmosphere for the style of game – creepy, but adventurous. The levels are long but mostly linear, with you occasionally going off the path to hit a switch or find a key.
Combat is quite simple, you have a melee attack and ranged attack, and can also use magical items as weapons. You can lock on, but can not move (other than a jump to the side) while doing so.
Movement is a bit more of an issue. The jump is tall and floaty, and really difficult to judge – and definitely not helped by the camera. To make matters worse, any missed jump us usually instant death, and you’ll need to load your previous save or start the level from scratch.
The saving is one of the game’s big frustrations: they are quite a distance apart, meaning you have to fight through many enemies before you can start a jump again. In one instance, you fight a couple of bosses and then walk down a corridor. The floor will give way and you’ll die. Your last chance to save was before the bosses. Luckily, save states solve this, but it was still frustrating with that.
Another issue are some doors and events that only happen at certain times of the day. You can use sun and moon cards to skip forwards, but sometimes the only choice is to wait around for the right time.
That said, I was mostly enjoying the game until Castle Keep. Here, you have to move an explosive substance to a crack elsewhere in the castle. If you jump or get hit, you die. Of course, they set up a massive, winding narrow bridge you need to cross, with lizards spitting fireballs at you. It’s the hardest part of the game, but not for good reasons.
Then the game put its middle finger at me. I finished the level when it faded to black and told me I had finished the game and to start again on a higher difficulty if I want to see the rest. As I know I’m going to play a slightly different version of the game later on, I instead downloaded a save file just before defeating Dracula (incidentally, if you don’t get there fast enough, you’ll get a bad ending).
Castlevania has some nice ideas, but a lot of frustrations. The gameplay is still enjoyable and I was expecting much worse from it’s reputation. Still, it’s an odd game because a port of Symphony of the Night would have been much, much better.