Castlevania is not a game I ever got to play on the original NES. My parents had one that I got to play games like Super Mario Bros., Zelda II, and even the dreaded TMNT game, but Castlevania was one that I hadn't played or even seen all that much ago. You see, dear readers, I was once a big chicken when it came to horror movies and media. Goosebumps used to unnerve me to no end. Yeah, that's right. Goosebumps. Get your jokes out now.
But as I've grown older, particularly thanks to roms and - potentially - finding an actual NES cartridge at some point in the future (so don't sue me, Nintendo), I've found and have developed a fine appreciation for Konami's first stab a horror game (at least in North America). Castlevania is very much a masterpiece of the genre, not just in gameplay but in tone and atmosphere. While Dracula is indeed the main villain, pursued by badass whip specialist Simon Belmont, Castlevania is home to many creatures from both mythology and gothic horror.
You have Medusa heads, hunchbacks, Frankenstein's monster, skeletons, even the creature from the Black Lagoon! The series itself, pays homage to both the Universal classics as well as the far more grizzly Hammer films in the horror genre. Visually, even for 8-bit and in 1986, this game is a masterpiece. If that were all it had going for it, that would be something indeed, but there's more! Namely, one of the best soundtracks in all of gaming. The iconic theme, "Vampire Killer" makes it's debut here and a testament to its greatness is the fact that it makes an appearance in every Castlevania game from this point on, becoming synonymous with the series as will "Bloody Tears" when it appears in Simon's Quest some time later.
...and no, we will not be going into Simon's Quest, at least not this October.
Also, neither of those themes appearing in any concrete manner in the Netflix Castlevania series, but I'm hoping Season 2 will change that in a big way.
Regardless, the original Castlevania does well visually and musically, but what about in gameplay? That's the real meat on the pork chop in this case, isn't it? Well, it isn't exactly what I would call fluid. Simon Belmont is a little clunky for an experienced vampire hunter. He moves rather slow and ponderously, his whip has a delay on it when it fires up, you can't control your direction of descent when you jump, and Simon even falls backwards melodramatically every time you get hit. These are all things that are both limitations of the technology of the NES...and intentional in order to make the game harder.
"Nintendo Hard" is used as a trope nowadays, even though Nintendo now has a reputation for having easier "kiddie" games. But back in the day? You step up to Super Mario Bros. looking for an easy time and you'd have it...for a few worlds. Then the mushrooms hit the fan and you're regretting your stupid, stupid choice of words. The same is true with Castlevania, but ramped up to eleven. Not only is everything trying to kill you, but your own impatience, frustrations, and just sheer back luck with where you're standing at any given point can kill you, too.
Now I've seen both EgoRaptor's and the AVGN's videos on both Castlevania and Super Castlevania IV and...I'm gonna have to agree with the AVGN more than EgoRaptor. You need that control. While being a squishy human in an oppressive and nigh-hopeless situation is good for atmosphere...it's not really good for playability. Luckily, there's another trope that applies here - "Anti-Frustration Features". You see, Konami realized that they'd made a game that completely rocks your balls if you're completely careless or just plain unlucky, so they added in the continue feature to bring you back to the start of the block you died in.
Yes, the game is set up in stages, three of them with six blocks in each. As Simon, you make your way into Dracula's castle to fight him, taking out all of his minions that you can on the way in. Inside, Simon will find a variety of extra gear hiding away to help him in his quest, such as secondary weapons like holy water and the boomerang cross (and hearts to use as ammo for them), upgrades for his whip that allow it to strike further and eventually burst into flame, and even the aforementioned pork chops.
Yeah, no. Dracula apparently decided to hide a bunch of pork chops that, as the AVGN pointed out, look suspiciously like a roast chicken in his walls at strategic points. I guess even the Prince of Darkness has a sense of fair play, albeit a really, really weird one.
Which brings us to Dracula himself, and the theme of Horror Month 2018. While Dracula Untold painted Vlad Tepes as a tragic hero who only embraced the darkness in order to save his country and his people...Castlevania's Dracula is definitely not that. If he was, he has long since made his choice and foregone all others in the name of evil. That's not an exaggeration either, the very beginning of the game mentions how the powers of good mysteriously wane every one hundred years as Dracula rises. The dude is pure, dang nasty evil!
In the end, for Castlevania, it's a great game. It's a masterpiece of mood and atmosphere and while the gameplay can be a pain in the ass, it's never unfair...except probably the fights against Dracula and Death before him.
Yes, Dracula is so evil and so badass that Death takes orders from him. This gets retconned in later games that Dracula controls him because of some magic crystal, but I always just liked the idea of Dracula being just so utterly evil and powerful that he was able to warp reality.
But, as I said, good mood, good atmosphere, and a fair (if frustrating) amount of challenge. If you're a horror fan or a gamer, this is a definite must. If you can find a legitimate cartridge or a rom (again, Nintendo, please don't sue), then do it!
Castlevania was made for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Konami and Nintendo.
For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, be sure to follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin.
No comments:
Post a Comment