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By Ian Bonds
January 13th, 2005
Video Games 101
As far back as I can remember, video game-wise, that is, there has always been a fascination with Dracula and his powers. From the days of NES on to now, the exploration of his abilities, his history, and even his lineage have all been topics of game plots. Even more so, however, have been the quests to stop the Dark Prince from allowing his plans to come to fruition, and none have been more prevalent than in the Castlevania games. Beginning with the Belmont clan, these tales of daring do emphasize the need for good to triumph over evil. That and, as Devo would say, “when a problem comes along, you must whip it.” Join us as we take a look at the series’ nineteen year (and nineteen game) history of the Belmont’s, their fellow hunters, Dracula, and of course, the weapon known simply as “The Vampire Killer”.
CASTLEVANIA – 1987 – NES; 2004 – GBA
This is where it all began. In 1691, Dracula unleashed his hordes of undead onto the Transylvanian countryside, and it was the task of Simon Belmont to rid the land of the foul creatures. In other words, players took the role of the guy with the magic whip, and jumped and lashed out at every vile thing that moved. Simple, basic platforming combined with a cool action hero made this game a simple yet effective and addictive game. With a surprising amount of secrets for a game of its kind (folks who continue to play it today still know exactly what bricks in what walls to whip, and where to stand to make the crowns and other valuable items appear) it was a sure-fire hit with gamers who craved their action to be a tad on the darker side.
The game has been remade a few times, first as an arcade game two years later called HAUNTED CASTLE, retaining only a few base elements of the original game, then a few other times (which we’ll delve into further down on the list). Finally, in 2004, the entire game was ported to the Gameboy Advance, exactly as it had appeared on the original NES (as well as a few cell phone ports, though the control lost a little in those translations). It may be a simple adventure (whip, jump, repeat), but despite its age and dated graphics, it’s still as fun today as it was 20 years ago.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA II: SIMON’S QUEST – 1988 – NES
For the sequel to CASTLEVANIA a year later, Konami changed up the format just a bit. The same jumping and whipping action remained, but now there were some RPG elements thrown into the mix. Set in 1698, seven years after the original adventure, Simon Belmont must now quest to find the remains of Dracula, in order to put a stop to an evil curse that has befallen his homeland. To do so, Simon traveled to different towns along the Transylvanian countryside, and talked to its many townsfolk in order to gather clues to the remains whereabouts.
When it came down to the action, however, the same rules applied: whip them ‘til they’re dead. While many welcomed the slight change in tonal direction in the game, this one is not particularly my favorite among the series, though it certainly has its fans. The action was just too broken up by the town visits for my taste, especially for a game that was all about action on every screen, as the previous year’s game was. Still, something must be said for the way Konami introduced the RPG elements into the game. While they weren’t the strongest of features, the conversations with the villagers were helpful, if you knew who to believe and who not to. In the Japanese version it was much more difficult, as the villagers all only told lies.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA ADVENTURE – 1989 – GAMEBOY
For the series’ first handheld outing, players took on the role of Christopher Belmont, Simon’s great great grandfather, in a tale set over a hundred years earlier than the original game, in 1576. What should be an all new adventure, however, quickly turns into just an amalgamation of a few level designs from the first two home versions.
Still, we had a portable version of the game, and it was MOSTLY all good. If there’s one downfall to this title more than anything, it’s the fact that it moves and plays MUCH slower than the home versions. Christopher walks as though his legs were bogged down in swampland no matter where he stepped, and jumps were difficult to execute accurately. If you were able to overcome these shortcomings, however, it was still an enjoyable handheld game, though nothing quite comparable to the NES versions.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA III: DRACULA’S CURSE – 1990 – NES
In what is simply my favorite CASTLEVANIA game yet, the forefather of the Belmont clan, Trevor, sets out to stop Dracula’s evil in a time 100 years before Christopher’s birth. In 1476, the legendary hero wields powers beyond the norm for the protagonists of the series. Here, Trevor can call upon friends he meets along his journey to aid him in his quest to stop Dracula, including Grant DaNasty (a pirate’s ghost), Sypha (a mystic) and even Dracula’s own son, Alucard. Each character had their own special abilities to help Trevor complete his quest.
This was one of the first games in the series to introduce slightly different ending depending on whom you used to help you finish the game. Seeing as you could choose to take different characters with you once you rescued them changed up the level designs a bit, as certain characters could reach different areas (for example, Grant could scale walls). Also, this game was the introduction not only to the forefathers of the Belmont clan, but also to Dracula’s kith and kin as well, as Alucard makes several more appearances in later games in the series.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV – 1991 – SNES
For the series’ fourth outing, this time on a brand new console (the Super NES), we actually did NOT see an all new adventure. Rather, SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV is merely a re-telling of the original game, albeit one with improved graphics, redesigned levels, and, all importantly, multi-directional whipping. You’d think it wouldn’t have made much of a difference, as players had been fine with whipping only what was directly in front of them, but the ability to whip straight up, or diagonally, was truly a welcome change. That, and the new ability to latch the whip onto certain hooks, to swing the character of Simon from one plane to another, Indiana Jones-style also opened up a few new gameplay features.
The game did an excellent job in retaining the spirit and fun from the original title, as well as adding the new features seamlessly into the redesigned level structure. Still, we’d seen this one before, although not this nice looking, and fans wanted something wholly new once again. As it stands, however, SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV is still one of the best games of the series, and also one of the greatest titles for the SNES system overall.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA 2: BELMONT’S REVENGE – 1991 – GAMEBOY
In the second handheld CASTLEVANIA adventure, Christopher Belmont once again slowly trudges towards Dracula’s Castle in order to stop the Dark Prince from once again unleashing his evil hordes across the land. Set in 1591, a full 100 years before the original game, Christopher sets out again, but this time to rescue his son Solieyu, whom Dracula has kidnapped (and who should be, we assume, Simon Belmont’s great grandfather).
For all the times that Dracula has been defeated, he certainly seems to return time and time again. Whether he kidnaps the loved one of a member of the Belmont clan, or just tries to resurrect himself, you can’t keep a good vamp down. This time around, the level design is markedly better, but is still bogged down by Christopher’s slogging gait and “got-to-time-it-right” jumping. In looking at screen shots from the two Gameboy titles, you’d be remiss to figure out which was the first and which was the second, unless you were intimately familiar with the level design of the two, as the graphics remained mostly unchanged other than the settings.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA: BLOODLINES – 1994 – GENESIS
The series’ first outing on a non-Nintendo system marked quite a few changes for the series. For starters, it was the first game in the series to approach more modern times, setting itself in turn-of-the-century Europe in 1917. Secondly, it was the first game to feature TWO selectable main characters. Lastly, and most oddly, it was the first game whose (initial) main villain was not Dracula, but the vampiress Countess Bartley, who herself is trying to resurrect the Dark Prince.
The main characters, John Morris and Eric Lecarde, are apparently heirs to the Belmont Family lineage, though obviously do not share the name with their vampire hunting forefathers. While John retains the whip wielding vampire hunting skills of his kin, Eric is listed on the game’s box as a “master lanceman”. Aren’t those usually used in jousting? How would you feel walking around, poking demons and the undead with a giant, unwieldy pointy stick? The levels here were all typically CASTLEVANIA, however, with the same structure of baddies to whip (or stab), power ups to collect, and mild platforming to accomplish whilst ridding the land of the creepy creatures of the damned.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA: DRACULA X – 1995 – SNES
This next title is a bit of a conundrum, and one of great debate with CASTLEVANIA fans. Two years prior in Japan, Konami released a spectacular game for the Turbo Duo (the Turbo Grafix 16 as it was called here in the states) called DRACULA X: RONDO OF BLOOD. Here, Richter Belmont travels to Dracula’s Castle to rescue his girlfriend Annette Renard from the evil one’s clutches in the year 1792. When it was announced that the US would finally get DRACULA X, fans rejoiced…but not for long. What they received on the SNES was a markedly different game. Titles DRACULA XX in Japan and VAMPIRE’S KISS in Europe, the game was more of a retelling of the RONDO OF BLOOD game, with a wholly different level structure, as well as severely downgraded graphics.
While the Turbo Duo had CD storage on its side, the SNES just couldn’t handle the graphics and sound of the original’s system, and so this remake, rather than a port, was made. The plot remained the same, but overall, it was a weaker (and much less renowned) version of a superior game. One day, it is the hope that the original will see a true port to these shores. As it stands, we just have DRACULA X. While it’s not a horrible game overall, it is still not the best as what it could have been.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA: SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT – 1997 – PSONE
From that tale, we literally pick up where RONDO OF BLOOD ends (with the very first stage of SOTN being the final stage from that game), and continue four years later, after Dracula’s defeat at the hands of Richter. Now, Dracula’s son Alucard enters his father’s castle in search of answers. What we began to see signs of as far as level design from RONDO are brought fully here in SOTN, as fans coin the term “Metroid-vania” to describe the game’s branching, connected stages, rather than a level-by-level battle design.
Regarded as the pinnacle of the series, not only for its level structure, but for its play control and amazing musical score, this is the game that brought fans back to the series, and spawned a whole new generation of Vampire Hunters. Not only could you play as the bad-ass son to Dracula, but you could finally wield all his other-worldly powers as well, as a full array of magic spells and creatures (called “familiars”) were at your command. With more secrets and hidden areas than ever before, this was the largest CASTLEVANIA game released yet. If you have the means and the resources (and, of course, if you don’t already) I highly recommend you go out and purchase this game at once. Sadly, as it’s sought after by collectors and fans, a used copy of the game will run you about $25, but its worth every penny, as well as the hunt through several used game shops to find it.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA LEGENDS – 1998 – GAMEBOY
For the third and final adventure on the original Gameboy system, the developers decided to go all the way back to the beginning of the Belmont family line with the…matriarch? Yes, the lineage of Vampire killers was apparently headed (as the legend up this point tells, anyway) by a female hunter named Sophia Belmont. The first female protagonist of the series’ story takes place in 1450, and for a long time seems to e the beginning of the Belmont families continued crossing with all things vampiric.
Sophia enters Dracula’s castle to put an end to the Dark Lord’s reign, and gets some assistance (as well as some interference) by Alucard. While it was certainly the best handheld CASTLEVANIA game up to that point, Sophia apparently passed on her slowness of movement to her great great great grandson Christopher, as she is only slightly speedier than her kin. Still, it’s the first time we’ve seen a female heroine in the series, as well as an animated narrative to drive the story, on the handheld version of this series at least. Another great game for collectors and fans of the series to seek out.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA 64 – 1999 – N64
The series’ first foray into the realm of 3D gets a bit of bum rap. Sure, the game doesn’t look as great as it could, and some of the platforming is near IMPOSSIBLE to execute, making completion of the game a bit troublesome, but as it stands, the game is actually quite good. In 1852, players led either vampire hunter Reinhardt Schneider or young Carrie Fernandez through the largest, most cinematic CASTLEVANIA to date.
While it’s not perfect, the 3D effects were certainly remarkable for it’s time. Sadly, they got a bit dodgy at points, which threw off hit detection in a lot of places. That, coupled with a very poor jumping and platforming engine held this game back from being the top contender it could have been. It’s still worth playing, if only to see the cinematic feel the developers gave to the castle, but overall, it’s one of the weakest of the series.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA: LEGACY OF DARKNESS – 1999 – N64
Though it’s not nearly as weak as THIS title. Set a full eight years prior to the first N64 adventure, you play as a werewolf (?) named Cornell, who must rescue his sister and other innocent children before Dracula can use them to regain his power and overtake the land once again.
While this game retained much of the graphical outlook of the previous game, it also sadly retained much of its shortcomings as well. The platforming still wasn’t up to par, and playing as the werewolf just wasn’t as cool as one would expect. Still, you could unlock and play as Reinhardt and Carrie from the previous title…but you’d still have to battle through the game’s annoying graphics and lazy hit detection. This one is better missed than played.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA CHRONICLES – 2001 – PSONE
Another re-imaging, this title once again is a retelling of the original CASTLEVANIA adventure, with you once again donning the whip of Simon Belmont. This time around, it’s a port of the 1993 Japanese Sharp computer version, with more detailed character models and a few new touches in level designs, but once again still retaining the heart and experience that is CASTLEVANIA.
New to the PSOne version, however, was the new Arrange Mode, which allowed you to play the CHRONICLES version of the game, but with even more enhanced graphical tweaks and a wholly remixed score, as well as a few cinematic sequences thrown in to enhance the furthering of the plot. Still, when it all boiled down to it, it was just Simon’s adventure once again, and it still had the thing most important to the fans…Vampire whipping action.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA: CIRCLE OF THE MOON – 2001 – GBA
As a launch title for the Gameboy Advance, CIRCLE OF THE MOON regains the 2D-platforming fun that was lost with the N64 games. As the man next to inherit the power of the Vampire Killer whip, you play as Nathan Graves, who in 1830 must prevent a cult of Dracula’s followers from sacrificing his master and resurrecting the dark one once again.
Returning to the “Metroid-vania” level design, the game begins the trend of the handheld GBA games being the best of the series. Adding a new card collection theme, as you defeat creatures, you can utilize their powers through a series of cards to defeat bigger and stronger foes. While it was a move forward for the series as a whole, it’s my least favorite of the GBA games, as Nathan doesn’t quite have the pep or power of his other fellow vampire hunters.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA: HARMONY OF DISSONANCE – 2002 – GBA
For the next GBA game, the series begins it’s slow decent into metrosexual heroes, thanks to continued character designs from series illustrator Ayami Kojima, making all the protagonists from this point on very androgynous. Here, its 1748, a full fifty year’s since Dracula’s last defeat at the hands of Simon Belmont, and his grandson, Juste, must enter the ruins of Dracula’s castle to search for his missing friends Maxim and Lydie.
Featuring a new “spell fusion” attack system that allowed the combination of spells and subweapons (such as those all-to-familiar axes, daggers or holy water) to create new attacks, the game became a bit TOO easy, as this new system made the spells a bit unbalanced and more powerful than most foes needed to be defeated. Still, the story was a compelling one, and the game offered once again multiple endings, as well as other unlockable characters (including an 8-bit rendering of Simon Belmont in a boss battle rush mode), but it’s arguably one of the easiest in the series.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA: ARIA OF SORROW – 2003 – GBA
Widely considered not only one of the best CASTLEVANIA games, but also one of the best handheld games of all time, ARIA OF SORROW actually jumps into the future, thirty-six years after Dracula’s final defeat. In 2035, Japanese college student Soma Cruz passes out during a lunar eclipse and awakens in the remains of Dracula’s castle. Newly endowed with the ability to absorb the souls of monsters, he attempts to make his escape, only to find that he is to be the host of the reincarnation of the Dark Lord.
The soul powers were a much more fair and balanced form of attacks for this game, and as such, had folks playing until they collected every single one…a sort of “Pokemon of the undead”. Seeing as they were all randomly generated and some were quite rare, only springing up once every 200th time you faced that particular creature, many players traded souls with friends via the GBA link cable. With a new set of RPG elements including different weapons, armor and more, Soma’s journey was one of the most captivating GBA games of all time, and the definite highlight of the series yet. On January 11th 2006, Konami re-released HARMONY OF DISSONANCE and ARIA OF SORROW in a GBA two pack, so fans who missed them the first time out could enjoy them, seeing as the originals are quite rare and sought after.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA: LAMENT OF INNOCENCE – 2003 – PS2
For the first CASTLEVANIA on PS2, Konami went back on the history of the Belmont clan a bit, setting the game in 1094 with the true forefather of the family, Leon Belmont. After giving up his knighthood to rescue his kidnapped fiancée, he enters the woods where he’s bestowed with the mystical whip which will later become the fabled Vampire Killer, and begins his family’s lineage of destroying the undead.
While it was a large improvement over the first attempts at 3D, many fans were annoyed that the game’s levels were housed within a hub system at the main castle, rather than the large, branching one’s seen in SOTN and the GBA titles. Still, it was a fantastic game by many standards, and despite some camera issues, held some surprises with its decisions to utilize the right analog stick for potion and orb usage rather than changing the view of your surroundings. The orbs acted the same way the souls did in ARIA, changing attacks and opening up new areas in the castle, as well as Leon’s increasing whip skills.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA: DAWN OF SORROW – 2005 – NINTENDO DS
The leader of the handheld pack, DAWN OF SORROW picks up exactly one year after the events of ARIA OF SORROW. As Soma has defeated the attempts of the cult of Dracula to use his body as a host for the resurrection of the Dark Prince, he tries to live the life of a normal college student, his latent powers seemingly disappeared. But, as we all know, nothing is as it seems in CASTLEVANIA, and now he must fend off the attacks of a new cult, who wish to kill Soma, in order to allow a new host for Dracula’s resurrection to be found.
The addition of the DS touch screen adds a whole new element to the game, as you must trace a pattern on it with the stylus to “seal the souls” of defeated boss creatures. The same soul system from ARIA is here too, but with the system’s improved graphical capabilities and sound, this quickly replaces ARIA as the best handheld game of all time (and my Game of the Year for DS from 2005). If you haven’t already, this is the game that will make you buy a DS…and never put it down again.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
CASTLEVANIA: CURSE OF DARKNESS – 2005 – XBOX, PS2
The most recent CASTLEVANIA game is also the first to appear on the Xbox. Set three years after the events in CASTLEVANIA III: DRACULA’S CURSE, we join the tale of Hector, a devil forgemaster. Hector has left the employ of his master Dracula, and since his defeat at the hands of Trevor Belmont, Hector’s fellow forgemaster Issac sees his abandonment as betrayal to his Dark Lord, and blames Dracula’s defeat on him. To return Hector to the side of evil, Issac kidnaps his lady fare and has her killed, so Hector returns to Dracula’s castle to make Issac pay. Simple enough, yes?
As a devil forgemaster, many new elements come into play. Firstly, the ability to conjure “innocent devils”, familiars that will fight alongside Hector, and will level up and change form as he progresses through the castle. Also, Hector has a weapon forging ability as well, which allows for more powerful weapons to be made from things he finds from the bodies of defeated enemies.
While all of these elements shape the game nicely, it’s return to the branching level design that fans will enjoy the most from this most recent title. As you level up and continue fighting, more of the castle becomes available to you, just as the games before. There’s also a controllable camera, making running down the corridor in the direction you just came from not seem like such a blind maneuver. Sadly, the one downfall to this title is that there is a decisive LACK of action. For all the weapon and devil forging, there are actual sections of the castle where there are NO ENEMIES WHATSOEVER. For a CASTLEVANIA game, a series bred on conflicts in every inch of it’s landscapes, this is unforgivable.
While many of its elements are an improvement over the last 3D effort, many more of them simply bring it down further. All in all, it’s a good game, but not as good as the previous console effort.
One Gamer’s Opinion:
With all these titles in the series, it may be hard to keep track of how Dracula has been resurrected, and who brought him down, and when. I present for you now the games in their order of chronology, as well as the heroes from each:
1094 – CASTLEVANIA: LAMENT OF INNOCENCE – LEON BELMONT
1450 – CASTLEVANIA: LEGENDS – SOPHIA BELMONT
1476 – CASTLEVANIA: DRACULA’S CURSE – TREVOR BELMONT
1479 – CASTLEVANIA: CURSE OF DARKNESS – HECTOR
1576 – CASTLEVANIA ADVENTURE – CHRISTOPHER BELMONT
1591 – CASTLEVANIA 2: BELMONT’S REVENGE – CHRISTOPHER BELMONT
1691 – CASTLEVANIA/SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV/CHRONICLES – SIMON BELMONT
1698 – CASTLEVANIA II: SIMON’S QUEST – SIMON BELMONT
1748 – CASTLEVANIA: HARMONY OF DISSONANCE – JUSTE BELMONT
1792 – CASTELVANIA: DRACULA X – RICHTER BELMONT
1796 – CASTLEVANIA: SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT – ALUCARD
1830 – CASTLEVANIA: CIRCLE OF THE MOON – NATHAN GRAVES
1844 – CASTLEVANIA: LEGACY OF DARKNESS – CORNELL
1852 – CASTLEVANIA 64 – REINHARDT SCHNEIDER/CARRIE FERNANDEZ
1917 – CASTLEVANIA: BLOODLINES – JOHN MORRIS/ERIC LECARDE
2035 – CASTLEVANIA: ARIA OF SORROW – SOMA CRUZ
2036 – CASTLEVANIA: DAWN OF SORROW – SOMA CRUZ
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