GuffNFluff
Ocarina of Time is another that places within my top 5 Zelda titles, constantly competing with A Link to the Past for first. The series' first foray into 3D was a solid one, but is not free of issues. The main issue at least that I had was the controls, but that is just 'cos the N64 controller's analog stick is rubbish and not necessarily an issue with the game itself. The game never got too hard, even though the Water Temple got confusing easily and is a lot of fun. For all of its flaws, it is still a really high favourite and is, as it stands, my most replayed Zelda title. And the music, of course, is wonderful, timeless, and iconic.
1994
Super Metroid is the third instalment in the Metroid series and is my favourite Metroid game. Everything in this game is wonderful. The graphics, the sound design, the music, everything. It is one that I return to frequently, attempting to beat my record for clear time while 100%-ing it. I believe my best time at present is 2 hours 33 minutes. Anyway, 'tis a stellar entry and one of my favourite Super Nintendo games.
A Link to the Past is placed among my top 5 Legend of Zelda games. It was a welcome return to the original style that Zelda II departed from, while adding more features and things that would become staples of the franchise. From heart pieces and Kakariko village to Zelda's Lullaby and the idea of 7 sages (though they are called "wise men" in this game, granted), and many more things to appear later, A Link to the Past was quite formative for the series. The game is truly wonderful. It plays well, looks great and has wonderful music. Definitely worth your time.
Aria of Sorrow is the last of the Advance titles, and it is great. They figured out at this point how to utilise the Game Boy Advance properly and make the game both look and sound great. Everything about the game feels very reminiscent of Symphony of the Night and I really enjoyed it. This game takes place in the then-distant future of 2035. At this point the year the game takes place is closer than the year the game released, which I find slightly amusing. Again, you do not play as a Belmont in this one. The music is, again, composed by Michiru Yamane and has an almost Super Nintendo RPG-style sound. Definitely the best of the Advance titles.
Here is the second of the Gameboy Advance ones. This time around, you play as Juste Belmont, a descendant of Simon and ancestor of Richter. The game's design shifted slightly from the look of Circle of the Moon into one a bit closer to Symphony of the Night. The game also has interesting animations for the bosses. They are smoother and some have multiple moving parts. This was quite intensive on the Gameboy Advance hardware, so sacrifices had to be made. Those who played the game likely noticed it. The music is distinctly of a lower quality. It is still passable for what it is, but the others are better with the music. The game plays well and I did get confused going through the game in places, but it was still enjoyable.
Circle of the Moon is the first of the run of Gameboy Advance Castlevania titles. You can kind of tell. That's not to say that it's bad, nor is it a bad thing, but you can tell Konami was still experimenting with things. There is quite a bit that feels similar to the classic Castlevania games but still utilising gameplay elements of the Igavania style and adding new ones. The similar feel to classic Castlevania is mostly in how it looks.
This is another Castlevania game in which you do not play as a Belmont. This time you play as an apprentice to a different vampire hunter. The gameplay implements an intuitive system of cards that provide different effects depending on what card is paired with another. There are two types: Attribute and Action. They function as they sound. It adds a lot of variety and allows for different strategies. Michiru Yamane was not involved with the music this time around, but it is still really good. I especially like Clockwork Mansion, which is a remix of the music from Block 4 in Super Castlevania IV. Anyway, Circle of the Moon is pretty decent. Go for it if you wish.
This is another Castlevania game in which you do not play as a Belmont. This time you play as an apprentice to a different vampire hunter. The gameplay implements an intuitive system of cards that provide different effects depending on what card is paired with another. There are two types: Attribute and Action. They function as they sound. It adds a lot of variety and allows for different strategies. Michiru Yamane was not involved with the music this time around, but it is still really good. I especially like Clockwork Mansion, which is a remix of the music from Block 4 in Super Castlevania IV. Anyway, Circle of the Moon is pretty decent. Go for it if you wish.
Symphony of the Night is the first of the Castlevania games that has the Metroid-like style that puts the -vania in "Metroidvania", a term I do not really like to use as the Castlevania games did not always follow that style of gameplay. I tend to refer to these types as "Igavanias", which more accurately just refers to the games in which Koji Igarashi (credited "IGA") had a strong involvement and not necessarily the Metroid-likes. Since the gameplay shift aligns with Iga's increased involvement, I equate the two. This game also marks the first appearance of Ayumi Kojima's more Gothic character designs that would set the standard going forward.
As for the game itself, the gameplay is solid. It was an interesting direction to take the series that would prove to be very successful. You play as Alucard this time, the same Alucard from Castlevania III. Being a direct sequel to Rondo of Blood set 5 years after its end, Maria and Richter both appear in this game and play important roles. Both are also playable post-game in the Dracula X Chronicles (same version as Castlevania Requiem) and Japan-only Saturn versions but Maria is not playable in the original. There are also different endings which is another feature that appears in the later games. The game is sprite-based despite being on systems capable of 3D, and it works really well. The only real 3D the game has is in background elements and certain effects such as the save animation.
The game also has voice acting. The voice work in the original release is laughable and the first dialogue of the game between Richter and Dracula is notorious and has been memed many times. The Dracula X Chronicles version was re-translated and the lines were re-recorded using the same VAs Rondo of Blood had. The music is god tier and nothing short of amazing. This game is one of many to have music composed by Michiru Yamane, and it is this game's soundtrack that is the most well-known. My personal favourite tracks are Crystal Teardrops, Dance of Pearls, and Tragic Prince. These are the tracks for Underground Waterway, Olrox's Quarters, and Clock Tower respectively.
So yeah. it is a great game and is most certainly worth your time to play if you never have before. It is my favourite of the Igavanias and is tied with Rondo of Blood as my favourite Castlevania game. Fitting for its sequel.
Also, a fun little detail I really like, the clock tower in Symphony is a full recreation of the clock tower from Rondo in terms of layout and design.
As for the game itself, the gameplay is solid. It was an interesting direction to take the series that would prove to be very successful. You play as Alucard this time, the same Alucard from Castlevania III. Being a direct sequel to Rondo of Blood set 5 years after its end, Maria and Richter both appear in this game and play important roles. Both are also playable post-game in the Dracula X Chronicles (same version as Castlevania Requiem) and Japan-only Saturn versions but Maria is not playable in the original. There are also different endings which is another feature that appears in the later games. The game is sprite-based despite being on systems capable of 3D, and it works really well. The only real 3D the game has is in background elements and certain effects such as the save animation.
The game also has voice acting. The voice work in the original release is laughable and the first dialogue of the game between Richter and Dracula is notorious and has been memed many times. The Dracula X Chronicles version was re-translated and the lines were re-recorded using the same VAs Rondo of Blood had. The music is god tier and nothing short of amazing. This game is one of many to have music composed by Michiru Yamane, and it is this game's soundtrack that is the most well-known. My personal favourite tracks are Crystal Teardrops, Dance of Pearls, and Tragic Prince. These are the tracks for Underground Waterway, Olrox's Quarters, and Clock Tower respectively.
So yeah. it is a great game and is most certainly worth your time to play if you never have before. It is my favourite of the Igavanias and is tied with Rondo of Blood as my favourite Castlevania game. Fitting for its sequel.
Also, a fun little detail I really like, the clock tower in Symphony is a full recreation of the clock tower from Rondo in terms of layout and design.
This is the version of Rondo of Blood that did get localised, a remake carrying the Japanese denotation that Rondo and its sequel use: Dracula X. This remake is noticeably different from Rondo of Blood since the Super Nintendo hardware lacked the capabilities of the PC Engine Super CD-ROM2. The plot and mechanics are mostly the same and it does retain alternate paths. The music is good and the game plays well enough, but it is noticeably inferior to Rondo. The game is pretty damn difficult to come by, so you would have to use an emulator, virtual console, or the Castlevania Advance Collection if you do want to play it. Or you could, y'know, just play Rondo instead. 'Tis the better option.
Rondo of Blood. Easily my favourite of the classic Castlevania games. Sadly, it is the last of the classic style before the permanent shift to the Metroid-like style. Either way, Rondo is peak Castlevania. The Super CD-ROM2 allowed for a new experience, with voice-acting, cutscenes, and god-tier music. This game introduced the Item Crash mechanic seen in Symphony and some other later Castlevanias. The game has Maria Renard as a second character with her own moveset and subweapons. Like Castlevania III, there are alternate paths that one can take, assuming the player can find them. It has multiple endings like later Castlevanias in a sense. The only thing that changes as Richter is the credits sequence depending on whether or not all of the maidens are free. In the case of beating the game as Maria, the final speech with Dracula is different as well as the credits. I briefly mentioned the music, and I will say that the music is among my favourites of the Castlevania games. The Dracula fight in this game pretty much defined what many of the Dracula fights in the later games entail in terms of attacks he uses, at least for the first phase. The game looks and sounds fantastic and is a lot of fun to play. I have played it several times already and would gladly play it again. I have the final speech memorised at this point. I may be a little obsessed. It is definitely recommended and there are different ways you can play it. It was never released outside of Japan initially. Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP was the first time we see Rondo localised in some form, but it is distinctly different from the PC Engine version that gets properly localised later in the Castlevania Requiem collection. Those would be your best bet. Castlevania Requiem is the one I played.
1990
Kid Dracula is not a Castlevania game, really. 'Tis a spin-off. You play as a Dracula's son (but not Alucard) who has to reclaim the title of Demon King from Garamoth, the king of time and space (for those familiar with Symphony of the Night, yes, that Garamoth). This game has a much lighter tone than the Castlevania games it came from, exemplified by the bright colours, slight comedic tone, character design, and the more upbeat music. As a matter of fact, if you listen, you'll notice that the music of the first stage is Beginning from Castlevania III in a major key. The gameplay is distinctly different, so one should not go into it expecting any similarity to Castlevania's in that regard. Though related to Castlevania it may be, the game has to be judged entirely on its own merit and not in relation to Castlevania. The game is quite easy and looks and feels like a kid's game, which it likely was. It was never localised until the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, so I have no idea how it was marketed. It very well could be for children. Regardless, the game is quite fun to play and one I still enjoy.
This review contains spoilers
Here we have what is as far as I know the only Castlevania game released on a Sega console with the exception of Symphony of the Night on the Saturn, but that one never left Japan. This game changes things up in several ways. It is set in semi-modern times, specifically during World War I. The primary antagonist is not Dracula, but a woman named Elizabeth Bartley. Don't worry, you still have to fight Dracula. There are two characters to choose from that you can play as, each with different gameplay styles and movement options. Neither of them is a Belmont, but the one that wields the whip Vampire Killer, John Morris, is a descendant of the Belmonts. Also new is a continue system. In the original Castlevanias, you would start at the beginning of the block if you chose the Continue option when you lost all of your lives instead of a mid-block checkpoint. In Bloodlines, you have 2 continues. If you use them all and lose all of your lives, you start the game over from the very beginning. Brutal, especially for a Castlevania game. There is a password system to help soften that blow, but the password tracks your continues and lives as well. Suppose you make it to the final block on your last life with no continues. The password will restart you with that life and no continues. That leaves no room for error as you work your way through the level. Since Dracula's keep has 3 bosses in a row, 2 phases to each with the exception of Dracula at the usual 3, and a boss rush for Death's first phase, it could get tedious quick having to enter the password so many times depending on your skill level. To be fair, there is a difficulty option, so that can make that experience less painful. Aside from that, the game is really good. It looks nice, plays well, and does some really cool stuff with the stages. The music, though being a Genesis, was really good. This game was the first Castlevania game to feature music composed by Michiru Yamane, who became legendary for the music she did for many later Castlevania games. She did an absolutely fantastic job with the music, even given the arguably inferior quality of the sound and music capabilities of the Genesis when compared to the Super Nintendo. All in all, it is definitely worth playing and I would still recommend it, though getting an actual copy would be very difficult. Either emulate it or get the Castlevania Anniversary Collection if you want to play it. I did the latter. I do not emulate unless there is absolutely no other option like with Mother 3.
1991
Here we are with Super Castlevania IV. A stellar entry in the Castlevania series. As an early Super Nintendo title, it demonstrated the capabilities of the system really well and showed people just how much better video games could get. Everything in this game is an improvement over the NES titles. All of it. The graphics, sound, and music give the game a great arcade-type feel. They implemented new mechanics around the whip and the ability to whip with nearly full omnidirectionally. There are other basically quality of life changes that make the game a bit more accessible and consequently easier, such as mid-air directionality, multidirectional whipping in the air, snapping to stairs as you approach them instead of needing to input each time, and being able to land on stairs to name a few. Because of things like this, it is often considered the easiest of the classic Castlevania games. I do agree with this, but it is by no means an easy game. It's still Castlevania. The blood sewers (which have been censored in the NTSC release by being coloured green) and the ascent to Dracula can be particularly vicious. As stated, the graphics are amazing and they make great use of mode 7 and parallax scrolling. The music is truly incredible. Simon's theme is one of my favourite pieces of Castlevania music. This game's version of Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears, and Beginning are really well done. The bosses are interesting and the Dracula fight in this game is one of my favourites. The way Simon's theme started to play during the final phase of the Dracula fight was just so well done. Definitely a must play. Super Castlevania IV is placed as my second favourite of the classic Castlevanias. It may seem strange that after all of the praise I've dumped on this game it is only placed second, but that's 'cos my first place just barely edged out over it. Those who have seen the Castlevania games I've reviewed up to this point and are familiar with the Castlevania games know how many classic Castlevanias are left before we hit the Igavanias and can probably easily surmise which one is my favourite.
This review contains spoilers
Here we have the sequel to Castlevania: The Adventure, and it is so much better than that was. At this point, developers had figured out how to utilise a Game Boy to its full capabilities. The game looks better and most certainly plays better. Subweapons return, but there are only two: the Holy Water and the Axe. With subweapons, they can now add a bit more variety to the enemies and their placements. There is also a stage select, so you can actually play them in whatever order you want. Christopher now moves at a decent speed and is now capable of whipping from ropes as he climbs. They also added interesting stage gimmicks that vary the gameplay a bit more. The music is fantastic here as well. The fight with Soleil got a bit rough, but the difficulty seemed reasonable enough. The home console games are still superior, though.
Castlevania: The Adventure is the one I liked the least. Since the Game Boy was a new thing, devs were still trying to understand the limitations of the system and trying to find ways to work with it. This is readily apparent in this game. There are no subweapons in this game as they had not figured out how to implement them within the constraints of the Game Boy. They changed how the whip upgrades work. with the first upgrade increasing its range and the second adding a fireball that shoots out of the end. If Christopher Belmont gets hit, he loses the upgrade. It's an interesting idea, but it can get annoying if you're not careful. Another annoyance was how some of the jumps feel like they have to be pixel perfect. Like, more so than usual. Also, the speed at which the player moves is really slow. I'm sure those moving rocks in Death Valley move faster than Christopher does in this game. Also, being an early Game Boy title, it is designed to be beaten relatively quickly in one go. No battery, no passwords. I would not be willing to slog through this game again. The music is still good, though.
1989
Okay. This one seems to stand out among the games I've played and those who know what I've played may understand why I say that. For those unaware, this is the Japanese version of Castlevania III, and it is the version I played. One may find it strange that I played the Japanese version of this and the NTSC versions of the others, and via the Switch no less. Allow me to explain. The Castlevania Anniversary Collection has the Japanese versions of all of the games (with the exception of Simon's Quest) in addition to the North American releases. As I already stated, I played the Japanese version of Castlevania III. Please permit me to explain why. This is already getting pretty lengthy and I haven't even reviewed the game yet, but please bear with me.
The Famicom version has a chip in it that the NES does not have called the VRC6 chip. What this chip did was allow for better music and in some cases better graphics. One reason I played the Japanese version was so that I could listen to an even better version of the music which was already incredible to begin with. The other reason is that the game is not brutally unfair. What I speak of is the fact that the NTSC version of Castlevania III was intentionally made harder. Konami, and Nintendo sometimes as well, despise the American video game rental system. As a way to retaliate against it and discourage renting the games over buying them, they would unfairly ramp the difficulty.
Now to actually review it. After Simon's Quest, Konami returned to the original style. This time, you play as Trevor Belmont (or Ralph Belmond in my case with it being the Japanese version), a distant ancestor of Simon. In addition to Trevor, there are three other characters the player can play as depending on the path the player takes, 'cos that's a thing I forgot to mention. There are multiple paths you can take. You have Grant with his higher jump and ability to climb walls and ceilings, Sypha Belnades has attack magic, and Alucard can transform into a bat and fly at the cost of hearts. Though the difficulty on the Japanese version is noticeably easier than the NTSC version, it is by no means easy. Castlevania III is the most difficult of the Castlevania games regardless of the localisation one plays. Regardless of the difficulty, I had a lot of fun with the game and place Castlevania III as my 3rd favourite of the classic Castlevania games.
The Famicom version has a chip in it that the NES does not have called the VRC6 chip. What this chip did was allow for better music and in some cases better graphics. One reason I played the Japanese version was so that I could listen to an even better version of the music which was already incredible to begin with. The other reason is that the game is not brutally unfair. What I speak of is the fact that the NTSC version of Castlevania III was intentionally made harder. Konami, and Nintendo sometimes as well, despise the American video game rental system. As a way to retaliate against it and discourage renting the games over buying them, they would unfairly ramp the difficulty.
Now to actually review it. After Simon's Quest, Konami returned to the original style. This time, you play as Trevor Belmont (or Ralph Belmond in my case with it being the Japanese version), a distant ancestor of Simon. In addition to Trevor, there are three other characters the player can play as depending on the path the player takes, 'cos that's a thing I forgot to mention. There are multiple paths you can take. You have Grant with his higher jump and ability to climb walls and ceilings, Sypha Belnades has attack magic, and Alucard can transform into a bat and fly at the cost of hearts. Though the difficulty on the Japanese version is noticeably easier than the NTSC version, it is by no means easy. Castlevania III is the most difficult of the Castlevania games regardless of the localisation one plays. Regardless of the difficulty, I had a lot of fun with the game and place Castlevania III as my 3rd favourite of the classic Castlevania games.