hikouky
1997
Genuinely insane level of fanfiction
There's a lot of things I like and dislike about this game.
Starting with the positives, the atmosphere is definitely a highlight. The areas are very distinct and memorable with incredible art direction and some of the best music the series has to offer. The map is also very open so you always have a lot of options on where to go and ultimately get what you need to defeat Dracula. All of this comes together to make the act of exploring very immersive and engaging alongside a moderately fun combat system.
The addition of RPG elements to Super Metroid's formula is a little hit or miss. On one side, having a lot of different equipments for Alucard makes the experience very customizable. On the other, however, it introduces a lot of the same problems RPGs tend to have, which is inconsistent difficulty.
In terms of combat, the general enemy placement starts pretty well made but goes to shit on the inverted castle. There's some areas that have so many enemies that it'd make any classicvania blush. However, due to the RPG elements, I almost never took meaningful damage and it was just a nuisance holding me back from exploring.
And then there's the story. I really liked what they added for Alucard and Dracula's relationship but the way they handled Richter feels insulting. I don't believe anyone with the will necessary to face Dracula's castle and eventually defeat the vampire would be succetible to mind control and ESPECIALLY not to Shaft, the guy he defeated TWICE in Rondo of Blood. As for Maria, she's pretty much there only because of fanservice. She helped defeat Dracula at such a young age and the game wants me to believe that, even with the holy glasses, she wouldn't be able to save Richter? That's just lame to make Alucard being the only protagonist more plausible.
In conclusion, it's a game with a lot of merits that drops the ball in a lot of places that I don't think quite lives up to the legacy of being a direct sequel to Rondo of Blood.
Starting with the positives, the atmosphere is definitely a highlight. The areas are very distinct and memorable with incredible art direction and some of the best music the series has to offer. The map is also very open so you always have a lot of options on where to go and ultimately get what you need to defeat Dracula. All of this comes together to make the act of exploring very immersive and engaging alongside a moderately fun combat system.
The addition of RPG elements to Super Metroid's formula is a little hit or miss. On one side, having a lot of different equipments for Alucard makes the experience very customizable. On the other, however, it introduces a lot of the same problems RPGs tend to have, which is inconsistent difficulty.
In terms of combat, the general enemy placement starts pretty well made but goes to shit on the inverted castle. There's some areas that have so many enemies that it'd make any classicvania blush. However, due to the RPG elements, I almost never took meaningful damage and it was just a nuisance holding me back from exploring.
And then there's the story. I really liked what they added for Alucard and Dracula's relationship but the way they handled Richter feels insulting. I don't believe anyone with the will necessary to face Dracula's castle and eventually defeat the vampire would be succetible to mind control and ESPECIALLY not to Shaft, the guy he defeated TWICE in Rondo of Blood. As for Maria, she's pretty much there only because of fanservice. She helped defeat Dracula at such a young age and the game wants me to believe that, even with the holy glasses, she wouldn't be able to save Richter? That's just lame to make Alucard being the only protagonist more plausible.
In conclusion, it's a game with a lot of merits that drops the ball in a lot of places that I don't think quite lives up to the legacy of being a direct sequel to Rondo of Blood.
There's some interesting ideas, such as 3D environments, levels being a little more interactable (for instance, the bridge that collapses when you hit it, thus allowing passage) and the game taking place on a more modern setting. However, coming from Super Castlevania IV and Rondo of Blood, this one feels a little unambitious with very little added to the hunters' movesets (and even taking away a lot of what Simon and Richter had previously) but Eric is still pretty fun to use. Overall, it's Castlevania for the Mega Drive and not much beyond that.
Genuinely incredible game. The visuals are some of the best I've seen from games at that time and the soundtrack is incredible with special mention to Richter's theme that makes for and amazing first impression. Alongside that, Richter feels really smooth to control and, although we lost multi-direction whipping from Super Castlevania IV, the subitems are really expanded and fun to use. Alongside Richter's journey, the newcomer Maria is also incredibly fun to control and makes for an amazing inclusion to the game, increasing it's replay value. Overall, it's the best Castlevania game I've played so far.
1991
It's peak
Pretty much everything from Castlevania: The Adventure was improved here. Better performance, better gameplay, good music, fun level design and they even included the axe and holy water subitems. In general, a way better game than the first and a genuine Castlevania title.
1990
Perfectly fine game with a cute artstyle and solid gameplay.
This is just a mediocre action platformer with a Castlevania skin. None of what made the original game stand out is present here. Instead, the game presents terrible level design, terrible enemies, forgettable soundtrack, heavily downgraded combat with the absence of subitems and, to top it all off, abysmal performance.
1989
Massive improvement from the first Castlevania: better controls, the game runs better, incredible soundtrack, difficult but fair and the addition of new playable characters is genius.
In terms of visuals and performance, it's really impressive for the FAMICOM considering how bad the first game runs most of the time.
All-in-all, great game.
In terms of visuals and performance, it's really impressive for the FAMICOM considering how bad the first game runs most of the time.
All-in-all, great game.
This review contains spoilers
Ninten and Ana dancing made my day.
1989
Actual PowerPoint presentation only achievable by the miraculous blast processing.
1994
Annie is peak character design.
1994
Pretty substantial improvement over the first game but still far from being a great game. The random encounter rate is absolutely insane, most of the dungeons are gimmicky and a slog to get through and the combat is still barebones and leaving it on "auto" worked for 70% of the game. Besides that, the shaman system is a very interesting idea but it requires a massive amount of backtracking everytime you get to low health.
As for the story, it has some interesting ideas but doesn't flesh them out enough to leave a lasting impact (this point, however, might be due to the awful localization though).
All-in-all, it has Katt in it so it's a good game.
As for the story, it has some interesting ideas but doesn't flesh them out enough to leave a lasting impact (this point, however, might be due to the awful localization though).
All-in-all, it has Katt in it so it's a good game.
Pretty good game that's extremely limited by the Gameboy. Add to that some pretty uninteresting dungeons that seem more focused in boring you to death with loads of enemies you have to fight every time you need to go through a door and the experience doesn't reach the heights of the games that followed it.
2001
I've never seen an ending this disappointing and abrupt lmao. It's like if in Dragon Quest III when you get a ship to travel the seas the game just ends.
Besides that, though, It's a fun game with a very creative combat system, fun environmental puzzles and dungeons, nice music and a cute cast of characters.
Besides that, though, It's a fun game with a very creative combat system, fun environmental puzzles and dungeons, nice music and a cute cast of characters.