Super Castlevania IV
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| Super Castlevania IV | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Designer(s) | Masahiro Ueno (director) |
| Series | Castlevania |
| Platform(s) | Super NES, Virtual Console |
| Release date | SNES: October 31, 1991 December, 1991 August 27, 1992
Virtual Console: |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone 10+ (Wii Virtual Console) |
| Media | 8-megabit cartridge (Super NES) |
Super Castlevania IV, known as Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ Akumajō Dorakyura?, lit. "Demon Castle Dracula") in Japan, is a platform game developed and published by Konami and the first Castlevania game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was also released on the Wii's Virtual Console on December 25, 2006. It is an enhanced remake of the original Castlevania; a retelling of Simon Belmont's foray into Castlevania. However, the game has all new levels (several featuring areas outside of the castle), 16-bit graphics featuring SNES graphics Mode 7, and the soundtrack consists mostly of brand new pieces including a handful of remixes of previous Castlevania songs.
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[edit] Gameplay
The control scheme has been expanded upon from its predecessors, this includes the ability for Simon to whip in eight directions, as well as keeping the whip held out if the player holds the attack button. Holding the whip out lets Simon swing or spin it around, allowing the player to easily block enemy projectiles, or hit enemies rapidly (albeit for less damage than a normal strike). In addition, Simon can latch his whip onto grappling points, letting him swing over various obstacles.
Like most Castlevania games, Simon can use the sub-weapons and whip power-ups. Sub-weapons are powered by the hearts found in candles and from slain enemies. Since the control pad is used to aim the whip, another button is used to attack with sub weapons, rather than pressing Up and the attack button. The more powerful sub-weapons require more hearts to use. Whip power-ups increase the strength and length of the whip, as expected, and are usually found in candles.
Simon's jumps can now be controlled in the air, to a limited extent. This opens up the possibility to dodge and maneuver away from danger. Simon can also climb stairs in mid-jump, as well as crouch while moving forward.
[edit] Plot
Despite that it is a totally different game, Super Castlevania IV's plot is the same as the first Castlevania, taking place in the same setting and time period.
When the game was localized in North America as Super Castlevania IV, the story within the manual was changed slightly to make it another story.[1] This is not canon in any recent version of the timeline.[citation needed]
[edit] Graphics
Super Castlevania IV displays effects such as multi-scrolling backgrounds, animated objects in the distance, and very complex and diverse colors and shapes in its levels. The game takes on an even darker, more eccentric mood and atmosphere than the prior Castlevania games in the series.
The second stage features multiple storm clouds that zip by, and later on, a river path with rocky structures in the background and foreground that spill little waterfalls.
Ectoplasms, one of the enemies seen in the Castle's Entrance Hall, show transparency and color-shifting effects.
Pixelation was frequently used--particularly when some bosses were struck.
Additionally, Super Castlevania IV was the first Castlevania game to use Super NES' Mode 7 feature. This could be seen in Stage 4, a level which seemed to twist and turn in both 2D and 3D throughout. Also, in the very first area, a bridge rotates towards the player. Koranot, a huge, golem-type boss, exhibits Mode 7 as a rotating and resizing background in another battle. The map areas zoomed in and out between levels, too. In another level, swinging chandeliers had to be crossed.
[edit] Level design
Following the model set by the previous games, Super Castlevania IV employs the usage of many the series' recurring elements, such as moving platforms, pits with spikes, and stairs that one can traverse by pressing the Up or Down direction on the D-Pad.
Unique to Super Castlevania IV's level design is its connection with Simon's whip, the Vampire Killer. Occasionally, objects similar to door knockers will appear in the player's view, and the player must use Simon's whip to grab onto them and swing across pits to gain access to the next part of the stage. Simon is also able to adjust the length of the whip while swinging if the player uses the D-pad accordingly.
The game took advantage of the SNES's then state-of-the-art technology to create levels which would have been impossible to render in the 8-bit NES version of the game, using a variety of optical illusions to foster a sense of fear and disorientation; one level invovles the player running across stationary blocks in the center of a giant, rotating, cylindrical room, while another involves the player being made to jump from platforms suspended from a pseudo-3D chandelier while the screen slowly flashes red and black.
[edit] Enemy design
Like previous entries in the series, the game culls its enemies and their design from classic American and Eastern European horror movies and folklore. Many of the more powerful monsters are reproductions of the Universal Monsters, with Boris Karloff's depictions of Frankenstein's Monster and The Mummy serving as the bosses in two of the game's later levels. Other monsters culled from classical depiction are The Grim Reaper and a Golem.
[edit] Music
[edit] Remixes
Super Castlevania IV's soundtrack includes remixes of songs from past games. These include "Vampire Killer" (from Castlevania), and "Bloody Tears" (from Simon's Quest), two themes that would eventually reappear in many more games. "Beginning", the song played on Stage 1 from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, is also present.
[edit] Recurring songs
"Theme of Simon Belmont", now considered to be the character's trademark theme song, was played on the last stage in Castlevania Chronicles/Akumajō Dracula X68000, the last half of the final stage in Castlevania: Bloodlines, and as a secret music track in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. The "Theme of Simon Belmont" victory fanfare, which was used in Super Castlevania IV whenever a crystal was obtained after defeating a boss, was also featured in Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness. If you rescued one of the 6 children in Henry Mode, this fanfare would play as a victory theme.
The "Game Over" theme was also reused in Circle of the Moon, as were "Rotating Room" and "Spinning Tale" in a remix combining the two songs called "Clockwork Mansion".
Parts of "Dracula Battle BGM" are subtly worked into "Leon's Theme" in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence.
[edit] Regional variations
The American and PAL localizations of the game contain some differences from the original Japanese version, which, like most games in the series, is called Akumajō Dracula.
The font used in the Japanese game is different from that used in the Western releases. The Western versions use a bright green font; the Japanese version uses a completely different font that is also significantly darker.
Some of the sound effects, such as the snap of the whip have been altered sounding less like a chain whip and with more of a whooshing sound.
In the Japanese version of the game, there was a cross on top of the tombstone in the introduction. This was removed for the American and PAL localizations to avoid religious controversies. The misspelled name "Dracura" (a case of Engrish) is also clearly written (in Roman letters) on the tombstone in the Japanese version; this was replaced with an unreadable smudge in the Western versions.
As with many games on the Super NES, there were censorship issues as well. The statues in Stage 6, which were originally topless, were redrawn wearing tunicas. Blood dripping from the ceilings as well as pools of blood in Stage 8 were re-colored from red to green, effectively turning it into slime or acid.
The opening logo in the Japanese version of the game resembles the original Akumajō Dracula title screen, from the Famicom Disk System. Blood also drips below the title's lettering.
[edit] Reception
Super Castlevania IV was rated the 66th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Powers Top 200 Games list.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Super Castlevania IV manual, May 2008, <http://castlevania.classicgaming.gamespy.com/Games/scv4manual.txt>
- ^ “NP Top 200”, Nintendo Power 200: 58-66, February 2006.
[edit] External links
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