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It’s one of those well established and profitable franchises from Konami, that almost every decent gamer should have at least heard, but most likely played in any type of incarnation...
One might say that the undeadly nature of Dracula makes it fit for sequel after sequel, and with exception of Castlevania II: Simon Quest, it was very well received by gamers worldwide.
The original was first published for the NES and it presented a two-way side-scroller platform debut, decent and recognizable graphics and... Well I’m getting ahead to soon right?
Ok... I must confess that the first version I played was the MSX port (named Vampire Killer!) and it was a simple multi-screen (no scrolling) platform game. But it pretty much resembles the NES version as I found out afterwards, and I loved (it in my young age).
How about the Amiga version which was the one that people want me to review right?
Ok it’s based on the NES version very closely, with all level design, weapon and secrets all layed out in the same manner. The way it’s presented tries to mirror the NES version altogether (opening, map presentation between levels...) but with total redesigned graphics.
The original version was a 256x224 screen resolution with 16-color palette. The Amiga graphics were redesigned to fit on a 320x200 screen resolution with 32 color from a 4096 color palette, and still portray the same amount of playfield. While the redesign is not up to the same quality as the X68000/PSX port (done by Konami), it’s still very good for most part. The only thing I can mention is that I do have some questions regarding some enemy graphical change – which I would prefer a more faithful reproduction. But I guess in the graphic department we could say that’s a pretty decent port, exploring some of the advantages offered by the Amiga hardware.
Of course scroll wise and animation could offer more fluidity, but I’m nitpicking here.
Music wise, I can assure you that all of the Castlevania buff’s out there will instantly recognize the tunes and feel that they were decently translated to the superior audio offered by the Amiga. Sound is not earth shattering, but it’s still better than the original version. So thumbs up here.
Now comes the part that made Castlevania a hit – gameplay. Oh dear, where do I begin?
Controls – right, for starter they are not very responsive, and lack the fluidity of the original. Also the using the up for jump and up+fire for firing second weapon/item is not very good and you end up doing things not intended.
Enemy attack waves resemble the original, but unfortunately they seem to be somewhat changed in their speed or quantity. And you seem to have some sort of problem in delivering the attacks, which simply renders your hero defenseless most of the times (almost as sitting duck).
Yes difficulty is completely off the charts. The original was no walk in the park, but this one is a perfect nightmare. I reached the second level and that was lucky play never repeated again!…
In a nutshell, a decent game which could be improved in many areas, but apart from the GFX and Sound, I would say they made it even harder, less responsive… so less fun!…
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Professionally translated and improved, although having the x68000 version as comparison, I have to say it could be better. But they feel pretty solid regarding the original – They just don’t set any record regarding Amiga Image capabilities, specially in the animation and scrolling department.
Still... Better than the original!
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You’ll enjoy the music and sound throughout the game, and feel at home regarding the Castlevania enjoyment.
Better than the original - but just!
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Oh dear…
Merciless, Non-forgiving with almost no control escape most hazards. You feel like moving in slow motion, and that is partially the problem with the difficulty level…
This isn’t hard – it’s a nightmare on the difficulty level. Maybe with some kind of cheat or trainer…
It’s not fun as the original – it’s frustrating and that’s it!
Stick with the original!
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Nice on the technical level, but just not fun on the playability one.
For the masochists or die-hard players (or die-hard castlevania fans – even those I doubt). |
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Get Amiga Forever with pre-installed Workbench, games, applications, and much more.
It also contains the original Amiga ROM-files, 100% legally!
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