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Super Castlevania IV  Hot
Virtual Console Reviews Super Nintendo
Written by Dave   
Sunday, 18 March 2007
Editor's rating
4.6
out of 5
 
   
Published By: Konami
Players: 1
Genre: Action • Adventure •
Wii Points: 800
In the peaceful country of Transylavania, there is a legend of an evil castle and its master, the Prince of Darkness, Dracula. Once every hundred years, the powers of good mysteriously weaken, and evil attempts to resurrect Dracula. It's up to the Belmont clan to take up the eternal fight against the vampire. Players take on the role of Simon Belmont, armed with the legendary whip, Vampire Killer, to defeat Dracula and his evil minion. Simon has many additional weapons at his disposal, including axes, holy water, crosses, knives and even a magical stopwatch that can stop the flow of time. Simon must travel through 11 stages, beginning in the countryside, to reach Dracula's Castle, all the while overcoming perilous traps and hideous monsters. Only the power of the Belmonts can quell the looming darkness!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

Overall rating (weighted)
4.6
Presentation
4.0
Graphics
5.0
Sound
5.0
Gameplay
4.0
Emulation
5.0
Once every hundred years, the powers of good mysteriously weaken, and evil attempts to resurrect Dracula. The Belmont family has defended civilization against Dracula and his minions for generations, and it is up to Simon Belmont, armed with the legendary whip -- Vampire Killer, to destroy the hordes of evil inside Dracula's Castle.

Originally released in Winter 1991, Super Castlevania IV is a 16-bit remake of Konami's original NES hit, Castlevania. Using the Super Nintendo's advanced technology, Konami has successfully expanded on all aspects of the original by adding additional stages, enemies, and game play techniques.

Super Castlevania IV was one of the first Super Nintendo (SNES) games to show off the features of the system. The graphics had a complete overhaul: character sprites were much larger and more detailed than it's NES predecessor, and the game made use of the SNES's expanded color palette. The game also made use of some new core features that became standard for the 16-bit era: “parallax scrolling”, and “Mode 7”. Parallax scrolling added a sense of depth and realism to the backgrounds as Simon Belmont progressed through the stages, and “Mode 7” allowed developers to add rotation and zoom effects, as seen in many stages throughout the game.

While graphics had a huge role in Super Castlevania IV, what really set this game apart from other games was it's soundtrack. Every musical piece in this game is memorable, and adds to the tense atmosphere. Old school gamers will instantly recognize such familiar tunes as “Vampire Killer” and “Bloody Tears”. Using the SNES's advanced music synthesizer, the developers were able to use realistic musical effects such as drum beats and organs.

The game play in Super Castlevania IV has remained largely true to it's predecessors. The biggest change is how Simon uses his whip. In previous Castlevanias, the whip had limited mobility. In Super Castlevania IV, the whip is multi-directional, allowing the player to strike enemies in any direction, and the whip can also be used as a shield against enemies and projectiles. Another neat feature that was added is the ability for Simon to swing across chasms using his whip, ala Indiana Jones.

Super Castlevania IV is a true 16-bit classic that every gamer, young or old should experience. This game offers amazing visuals, a fantastic soundtrack, and rock-solid game play. Konami successfully created a game worthy of the name “Castlevania”, and this title belongs in your Virtual Console library.
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