Super Castlevania IV Review
Super Castlevania IV is a remake of the original Castlevania, meaning it begins with a familiar premise. One - you’re a Belmont (in this case Simon). Two - you’ve got a whip. Three - Dracula must die. That’s all you need to know, and that’s all you are given.
The base mechanics of the game remain largely the same as the previous three mainline entries in the series. You’ve got some platforms to jump on, and you’ve got some monsters to whip at. That core gameplay loop was fine in the previous games, and continues to be fine here on the Super Nintendo. Castlevania IV also gives your whip some additional functions. There’s some grapple points that allow you to swing around Pitfall style. The whip also has some improved combat functions. You can now whip diagonally (handy for attacking flying or jumping enemies), and you can also waggle it about like a wet noodle, sort of like Sheik's chain in Super Smash Brothers. It doesn’t deal much damage like this, but it can be good for attacking enemies below you, or for soaking ranged attacks.
Despite the welcome new additions, the gameplay remains altogether average. Difficulty remains fairly high, but mastering the mechanics never really unlocks the joy of say, really getting in tune with Samus in a 2D Metroid game for example. One strange thing about the difficulty was the bosses. While the regular levels were of the same difficulty as previous games, I found the bosses much easier in Castlevania IV - so much so that I think I beat each one on my first try until reaching the final boss gauntlet at the end of the game. Sure, I’ve played 2.5 Castlevania games by this point, but I really don’t feel like I’m that much better at the game - most of the bosses I was able to just spam attacks, and as long as I could avoid a bare minimum of hits coming my way, victory was had. Bosses in the previous games always gave me a fair bit of trouble, so it was a little disappointing steamrolling almost all of them this time around.
Graphically, this is obviously the best looking Castlevania so far - jumping from the NES to the SNES will do that. Good character/enemy sprites, nice environments, just generally cool to look at all around. The game only utilizes Mode 7 a couple of times, and thank goodness for that. Mode 7 absolutely demolishes the games generally good performance. The second instance isn’t too bad - you remain stationary on a grapple point while the stage rotates around you. But in the first usage, in some kind of rotating tunnel, you have to platform and whip your way to the end, and it’s a little harrowing with the level of slowdown you’re forced to suffer through. Still a neat effect though.
I do enjoy the direction they took with the music on this one, however. Utilizing the superior SNES sound chip, the composer is able to deliver a quiter, moodier sonic experience, as opposed to the “all bangers all the time” strategy of the earlier games, which only sometimes delivered. You won’t be tapping your feet to any of these songs, but they fit the tone of the game better than the previous iterations, in my opinion.
All in all, I feel just the same about Super Castlevania as I have about the first and third games in the series. It’s fine. It provides a decent challenge which is enjoyable to overcome, but the moment-to-moment gameplay loop just never feels all that good to me. Sure, the game is clearly a step above it’s ancestors in terms of audio, visuals, and gameplay options, but the core gameplay just doesn’t do anything for me.
