Madpenguin
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The 2004 Game Boy Advance 2D Platformer video game
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Taking place in 1691, Count Dracula is wreaking havoc with his minions. Simon Belmont, whose family has a long history in battling the vampire sets off on a quest to destroy him. In order to make it to Dracula, Simon must venture through Dracula's castle armed with his whip and guts. -summary
+4
When I speak to most folks about Castlevania, I get responses like "the best Nintendo game I ever played", "the best franchise ever!", "real cool weapons". But the one response I will always hear is," those f'in games are hard!". Yeah, I can definitely relate to that. For some strange reason, Konami seemed dead set on producing the hardest games ever. I often wondered was the company made up of masochist.
Castlevania was released in the states back in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System and it was an instant classic. Sequels would begin to follow, and the franchise happens to still be running strong up to this very day, with the release of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow last year. Therefore, it's no wonder that the original would be re-released for the Gameboy Advance as part of the Classic NES Series line. I remember this game giving me pure hell when I was a kid, and I felt like I conquered the world when I beat it, and with the exceptions of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out and Ninja Gaiden 2, no other games made me feel like I was the man. So I decided to give it another try and see if I was able to do it again. Although I was able to finish it, I did learn that my tolerance has gotten better since I was a kid, because I didn't throw the game across the room once.
Gameplay:
For those who may not know, Castlevania is a one player side scrolling 2-D platformer. The game follows Simon Belmont on a linear path as he journeys through six levels to confront Dracula. The stages can be very creative and they end by defeating the boss at the end of the stage. The bosses are based off horror creatures of literature, and many, if not all of them, have went on to become horror icons; Dracula, Frankenstein, The Grim Reaper, The Mummy, and even Medusa's Head. On the way to meeting these creatures, the player will encounter ghouls, ghost, merman, and other creatures.
Simon Belmont is armed with a whip for his primary attack, and it can only be used in one direction which is straight. He can also attack from jumping and crouching positions. Along the way, the player will be able to pick up secondary weapons to help during the journey, with many of them possessing a different trait; such as axes being hurled in the air in an arc like motion, daggers thrown straight across the screen, a cross being used as a boomerang and several others. These weapons can also be upgraded and fired up to three times in succession. The secondary weapons are very helpful and can make boss battles much easier.
Now it's time to talk about the difficulty. The first stage is apparently meant to get the player accustomed to the gameplay, because this is the only easy stage in the game. From the second stage on, this game is hard, but it can be mastered though. Konami games appear to follow a certain formula. Their games are based on memorizing patterns and enemy placement, as well as understanding which weapons are best suited for certain areas. You will die a lot in this game, but it's best to look at each death as a learning experience. If you have the patience, then some of those deaths you will suffer are likely not to happen again or not as much.
The player will die a lot of cheap deaths on his/her path to mastering this game. Some of the levels have platforms that are incredibly small, and a single attack will knock the character back and send him falling to his death. The game doesn't restart you too far away, but when your game is over, you will have to redo the entire stage again. Surprisingly, this can actually be the best approach, because once you die, you will lose the secondary weapon you once had, and it can seem impossible to get through a stage or some boss battles without it.
Controls:
The control set up is very simple and easy to understand. There's an attack and jump button, and to operate the secondary weapon, the player simply holds the directional pad up and press attack. When climbing up stairs, the player must hold the directional pad up or down, to ascend or descend them. The controls kind of have a rough-like feel I think, when compared to many of today's games, but they are responsive and getting use to them takes no time.
Graphics/Sound:
Visually, the game feels very dated with some lack luster animation. But it was definitely good for its time though. The stages have a few nice designs with many areas not looking the same, some are very well lit when the action is outside, while others feel a little darker with different color schemes. The character designs for the boss monsters are really cool though. The sound effects aren't something I would say are great, but I really didn't detect anything that I would consider to be a standout. The soundtrack feels just right for the stages and they set the right mood for an action game.
Replay:
In regards to the Gameboy Advance, this is the exact same Castlevania for the NES. The only difference is that the levels can now be saved, and you will not have to play through the whole game to get to a certain point. The game is very difficult and I've known of many people to just give up on it. But after beating it again, I seriously doubt if I'll bother with this monster of a game any time soon. Still, if you're a serious gamer who is looking to play through the classics, this is one that shouldn't be skipped.
Pros:
-Lots of cool weapons, will challenge you
Cons:
-Very very difficult, too many cheap deaths
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voilodion
November 13, 2012
Back then, completing a game was an exception, not the norm.
Madpenguin
November 13, 2012
Well, when we learned that some games actually had some type of ending, it became the norm for me and everyone I ran with.
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BaronSamedi3
November 07, 2011
Yeah, ALL games back then were tough. I'm 30 years old, old enough to have been around for the first generation of the Nintendo age. Yes, they were difficult, but I haven't ruled out the possibility that the scavenger hunts, fetch quests, and half-assed combat of today's games have softened me up.
Madpenguin
November 07, 2011
When I think of tough games, the NInja Gaiden series normally pops up. Video games were hard because the AI was also cheap. You kill an enemy, turn around, they're right back there again. That annoyed me so much in Ninja Gaiden and Megaman series.
BaronSamedi3
November 07, 2011
Yeah, but those cheap games toughened us up and made us better gamers. Today's games aren't doing that.
Madpenguin
November 07, 2011
That's true. My tolerance has gotten so much better that I truly believe there's no game made in this day and age I can't beat.
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jbeswick
October 14, 2011
I have to get this immediately. Great review!
Madpenguin
October 15, 2011
Thanks. You're a gamer too?
jbeswick
October 17, 2011
I have been known to lose a few hours on TF2 :-D
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FM_ALEX
September 24, 2011
Oh yeah man, great review.
Madpenguin
September 24, 2011
Thanks.
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devora
September 14, 2011
I'm so out of the game loop that I didn't know that Game Boy had this series of games. I approve. Great review, man!
Madpenguin
September 14, 2011
Thanks. They have quite a few in the Classic NES line. I was surprised when they started doing them.
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Madpenguin
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About this video game
Castlevania, known as Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ, Akumajō Dorakyura?, lit. Devil's Castle Dracula)[1] in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System (FDS), followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30. Although the MSX 2 port (localized in Europe and Brazil as Vampire Killer) was released first outside of Japan, the series did not receive wide attention outside of Japan until the FDS version was ported to cartridge format for the Nintendo Entertainment System and localized for North American and European releases of Castlevania in 1987.[citation needed] The series soon became one of Konami's flagship series.[citation needed]
The Castlevania titles have been released on various platforms, from early systems like the Nintendo Entertainment System to modern consoles. It has also been released for Pocket PCs and mobile phones.[2][3]
ESRB:
Everyone,
EVERYONE
Number of Players:
1 Player
Publisher:
Nintendo
Developer:
Konami
Console:
Game Boy Advance
Genre:
2D Platformer
Release Date:
October 25, 2004
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