GAMING DIARIES
I've been gaming since the 1980's when my dad bought our family our very first NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM a.k.a. the original NES.
I was just a little kid back then and I had no real talent for gaming.
Either that or the games were really hard! To spare my ego I'll say it
was probably a combination of the two. Anyway, we had only a few games
and I maybe beat one or two legit and the rest I used my GAME GENIE on to cheat and destroy.
Years passed and I got a hand-me-down SUPER NINTENDO (when the NINTENDO 64 and PLAYSTATION were popular). If the games on the NES were my foundation and the genesis (SEGA?) of my love of gaming, the SNES cemented that love of gaming for life. Games like SUPER METROID, SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV, and SUPER STREET FIGHTER II were directly responsible for making me the life long gamer that I am. The big difference with these games was that I was older (with slightly more talent though not much) and I could beat these games!
While falling in love with the SNES I came to know the greatness of the SEGA GENESIS! Then came the Playstation followed shortly by the PS2 (the first console system I ever bought on the very launch day) and so on and so forth. During my college years was probably the height of my gaming career, discovering and playing many of my all-time favorites and acquiring my greatest gaming achievements.
Now much older, and having acquired a somewhat decent collection of
systems and games, I am trekking back through the stacks and knocking
out some of those harder games from my childhood that kicked my ass. Not
to mention the extensive backlog of games I purchased but never had the
time to get to.
Here are the diaries of my gaming misadventures!
THE CASTLEVANIA FRANCHISE
Among those early NES games from my childhood was a game called CASTLEVANIA II: SIMON'S QUEST. I remember spending mornings at my friend's house, before being carted off to afternoon kindergarten, playing NES and other things. My friend Drew had a big collection of NES games and with him is where I played many great games that have stayed with me over the years. Simon's Quest was one of them and the start of my obsession with the Castlevania franchise.
Over these last 30 years I have been collecting and playing every Castlevania game I could get my hands on. The first handheld Castlevania game I ever played was CASTLEVANIA II: BELMONT'S REVENGE on the original gray brick GAME BOY. I loved it! Then in junior high a friend gave me CASTLEVANIA LEGENDS for my birthday and I loved it too! High school came and went and my video game collection grew and grew. But it wasn't until I was in college that I finally acquired the first Castlevania game to grace the Game Boy: THE CASTLEVANIA ADVENTURE.
I bought The Castlevania Adventure when I was buying a ton of games across many systems. This was the early 2000's when retro gaming was super cheap and after market gaming stores began emerging (for us in Nebraska it was a store chain called GAMERS). My buddies and I were all into retro gaming (then referred to as simply "Old" gaming) and a trip to the store usually meant coming back with stacks of games.
Anyway, I popped The Castlevania Adventure into the SUPER GAME BOY and started playing, expecting a similar experience to my two previous Game Boy Castlevania experiences. I think I may have gotten through the first level (maybe) before shutting it off and moving on to something else. My initial reaction was something along the lines of, "THIS GAME SUCKS," and that was such a shame because... well, it's Castlevania and I want to love Castlevania.
I didn't pick it up again for years. Then I went through a "I'm going to beat every Castlevania game!" phase and finally made a second attempt to play The Castlevania Adventure. I must've been really determined (or desperate) to beat it by any means necessary. For my personal "gamers pride" I wanted to beat every Castlevania without cheating, so that meant no Game Genie, Game Shark, hacks, or mods. But when it came to The Castlevania Adventure I threw all of that out of the freakin' window and just wanted to beat it somehow. I bought a Game Boy Game Genie specifically for The Castlevania Adventure. And yes, I did, in fact, beat the game. But I remember, even with infinite lives and infinite life points, the game was a slog and a chore and I still wanted to pull my hair out. Yes, the game is that brutal.
That must've been fifteen years ago or more and I haven't touched The Castlevania Adventure since. It still stands as the ONE Castlevania game that has tripped me up. I've even beaten the hard as hell original NES Castlevania (multiple times) since. In the last few years, however, I have returned to some of those brutally difficult classic games like the original ADVENTURE ISLAND and GHOSTS N' GOBLINS and others. Through seemingly endless frustration and willful determination I have triumphed over most of these games, even without the need to cheat. My confidence as a gamer has been bolstered. The time is right to put my skills once again to the test.
Within the last few months I have been bonding with my four year old son over the Castlevania franchise. He sits in my lap and watches as I play. We've worked our way through the original NES trilogy, the SNES games, the lone Genesis title, the PsONE releases, Castlevania Legends, and are now working on the Game Boy Advanced titles. And yes, I finally made my third attempt to defeat The Castlevania Adventure. And I won. WITHOUT CHEATING! Finally, after all of these years, I can mark this insufferable game off my list!
Now, let's get into...
THE CASTLEVANIA ADVENTURE (1989)
THE CONTEXT
The original Game Boy made it's debut in April of 1989 in Japan and only six months later in October of 1989 The Castlevania Adventure saw release. I'm not sure if you can call this a launch title for the Game Boy but it certainly isn't far off. This was the third ever Castlevania game to see a wide home release, debuting only one year after Simon's Quest (and fifth Castlevania game ever made if you include VAMPIRE KILLER and HAUNTED CASTLE). Needlessly to say, this is a very early game in the franchise.
The Castlevania Adventure (titled Legend of Dracula in Japan) marks the first ever handheld Castlevania game in history. This is a momentous chapter in the Castlevania franchise as the handheld wing of the franchise numbers over ten games and, arguably, maintained the true Castlevania spirit while the "main" system titles "lost their way" so to speak. Needless to say, the handheld subset of Castlevania games are extremely important to the franchise. And it all started with The Castlevania Adventure.
This game, to put it mildly, is a slog. To put it plainly it's hard, brutal even, and maddeningly frustrating at times. I'd go so far as to say The Castlevania Adventure is a prime candidate for the hardest (also worst?) Castlevania game in the franchise (there are others to challenge it though). But how many of those early first year Game Boy games are without flaws? It goes without saying that any early game releases on new gaming systems were going to be rough as the developers themselves didn't know the full abilities of the system yet. So, given the time of its release and newness of the Game Boy, it's remarkable that this game functions somewhat decently at all. All of this is to say that context, as with anything, goes a long way to understanding.
I used to rail against this game, nothing but hate and vitriol spewing forth when I'd talk about it. My feelings toward this game have tempered since and a discussion with my buddy Ross helped place the game in a more understanding light. And now, after finally defeating it on my own without cheating, I have gained a new outlook on the game. It's still challenging as hell, but maybe it receives a worst reputation than it deserves.
THE STORY
It is 1576, one hundred years after the events of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (or 200 years later in 1676 as Konami originally stated. They later changed the date to 1576 in order to nail down the continuity). The current Belmont and protector of Wallachia is Christopher Belmont, the great great grandson of Trevor Belmont. After 100 years of peace the mystic barriers have weakened and Dracula has risen from the grave. Thinking his old enemies, the Belmonts, long dead, the lord of darkness unleashed his monstrous hordes upon the land. Dracula had only fought two Belmonts prior to this, Sonia and Trevor, both in the previous century. He had yet to realize the Belmont clan still endured and would eternally stand against him. Christopher took up the sacred whip and stepped forth to fulfill his destiny and put an end to the horror of Dracula.
THE PLAYTHROUGH
Like I said early, this was the one Castlevania that had defeated me. And I had had enough. This game was going down, legitimately.
Level 1: The game opens in your standard scary forest, wrought with mudmen, flea men, giant rolling eyeballs, vampire bats, and evil crows. The backgrounds are simple but effective, filled with dead trees, tombstones, and crucifixes. Almost immediately upon playing you can tell that this game is going to be rough. Christopher moves so slowly, like trudging through knee deep muck and mire. His whip, like traditional Castlevanias, gets two upgrades, but the final power-up allows you to shot a fireball from your whip. However, unlike ANY other game in the franchise, when you take damage you lose a whip upgrade. In just two hits you're back at the weak old leather whip. This, coupled with your slow plodding, and you're in for one helluva challenge.
Early Game Boy games had a problem with "image blurring" where the graphics would blur together as the player moved along screen (just go back and play SUPER MARIO LAND for a good example of this). Luckily there is no such problem with this game. The game's graphics, images, and lines are clear and distinct throughout the entire game. Perhaps this is the reason why the game designers implemented such a slow pace, in favor of a more clean looking game. That makes you feel better about this game's slow mechanics, right?
Early Game Boy games had a problem with "image blurring" where the graphics would blur together as the player moved along screen (just go back and play SUPER MARIO LAND for a good example of this). Luckily there is no such problem with this game. The game's graphics, images, and lines are clear and distinct throughout the entire game. Perhaps this is the reason why the game designers implemented such a slow pace, in favor of a more clean looking game. That makes you feel better about this game's slow mechanics, right?
The first level isn't too bad. Everything is pretty straight forward. Whip the candles and the enemies. But don't let the enemies stay alive for long, for if you give them the chance they'll knock you around. Because they're faster than you. And don't try to jump over them either. Christopher has another fatal flaw: he can't jump worth a damn. Again, this isn't so bad until you come to the final stage of the level where you're forced to make a dozen jumps in a row to advance. This is the first of much frustration to come. At least here if you miss your jump (which you will) you only fall to the ground below. Later in the game you won't have such luxury as a pit fall awaits many a failed jump. Consider this section your tutorial on figuring out the jump spacing and timing because there's no room for error. You can only just make each jump, even inching as far out as possible, Christopher barely makes it.
What makes the jumping even worse is the vampire bats that fly around you, knocking you down, and taking your power-up. This reveals another failing of Christopher's, mainly how limited the whip's hit frames are in the face of a mobile opponent. This was always balanced in previous Castlevania games (and all subsequent games for that matter) by the sub-weapons: the axe, holy water, ect.). There are no sub-weapons in this game and no way to even the playing field. Basically, you get hit until you memorize the bat's flying patterns.
Making it past the platforming and the bats takes you to the boss: the armored monster Gobanz with his spear tip chain. He's not too hard thankfully, even with the wimpy leather whip as you're given platforms to jump over and around him when he gets too close (strangely they game him multi-directional whipping and not you). He's a cinch if you have the fully upgrade whip, although he does reflect the fireballs. Also you have to get dangerously close to his range to hit him. Anyway, this is the level most players will get through before chucking this game out the window.
Level 2: From the forest of monsters to the cave of horrors. The level opens with three bats descending upon you and unless you know precisely what to do you'll get hit (sometimes multiple times). From there you will encounter your first Punaguchi (what the eff is a Punaguchi, you ask?). These giant phallic heads are quite possibly the most annoying enemies in the entire game. They spit evil balls that ricochet off the walls and are sure to hit you. Past that there's a Grim Reaper looking fellow called Zeldo who's practically as tough as the last boss.
Make it passed all that and you're met with a new feature to the Castlevania franchise: Ropes! Instead of stairs (like almost every classic style Castlevania game) you are given ropes to climb or descend. You drop down into room after room traversing platforms and avoiding pitfalls and testing your terrible jumping ability. Then you arrive at a long subterranean bridge where giant eyeballs roll at you (Raiders of the Lost Ark style) from both sides. When you hit them they explode and take out part of the bridge in the process. One exploding eyeball takes out a section of bridge that you can traverse with a perfect jump, but two eyeballs exploding back to back creates a chasm impossible to leap. Your choices are either destroy the giant eyeballs with perfect spacing or attempt to jump them (but your jumps have to be perfectly executed to work).
After that you're presented with more ropes and descents, this time however you're given a choice. One rope leads you down the correct path towards the boss. Another rope sends you back to a previous area and, given how early games like this tend to repeat level layouts often, you can backtrack pretty far and not even realize it. An early attempt of mine led to me backtracking clear across that evil bridge again. Anyway, after discovering the right path I finally arrived at the boss.
You find yourself in a room with four holes in the wall of the background ranging all over the screen. From these holes in the wall emerge an enemy called "Under Moles." One hit from your whip kills them but they are incredibly mobile and jump around the screen. As noted earlier, Christopher isn't very mobile at all nor does he have a wide hit frame. Like everything else with this game, your timing and aim has to be dead on. Not gonna lie, this is a seriously annoying boss. But after several attempts I figured out the spacing and timing and eventually emerged victorious.
Level 3: This... may be my favorite level in the game. Let's call this level "Dungeon of moving Spikes." Like my title suggests, there are a ton of spikes in this level. And not just any spikes, moving spikes. And of course, the spikes had to be one hit kills on Christopher. The first stage of level 3 features the entire ceiling descending upon you, every inch of it lined with spikes. The ceiling moves up and down over and over again as you traverse the level. There are notches in the ceiling where you can hide and survive as the spikes reach the floor. Christopher's plodding along must be well timed or you're a corpse. Luckily there isn't a single enemy during this stage.
The next stage features spikes lined across the floor and rising up to kill you. It's a rope climb to save your life! But not just a straight rope climb, when one rope ends you have to jump to a different rope and continue the ascent. There is also a judicious amount of jumping and platforming to get to other ropes. Not to mention killing/avoiding a new enemy: the She Worms (basically giant roly poly bugs) that roll up into a ball when you hit them and come barrelling towards you. If you have the fully powered up whip they die in one hit, but if not, be prepared to jump them. This stage is basically a vertical scroll up, the screen steadily moving, forcing you up.
At the top the spikes on the floor stop and the wall on the right begins pushing you left, spikes (of course) coming out of the wall. So now, instead of a vertical scroll, we have a horizontal scroll. There are more ropes and platforming ahead of you as well as She Worms and Mudmen. Speed is essential (and not Christopher's strong suit) so you gotta book it. This is easily the most challenging section of the level.
After this, and one more full screen rope climb, is the final area and the boss: the Death Bat. This is perhaps the easiest boss in the game, despite the fact that the boss is WAY more mobile than you. It flies around all over the screen but gives you plenty of opportunity to hit it.
As a whole, I really dug this level. I don't remember ever playing a level such as this in any other Castlevania game. This level felt new and oddly refreshing. The challenge was still present but the most balanced and fair of the game so far. I actually found myself having fun for once in this game.
Level 4: Dracula's Stronghold. The fourth (and final?) level of the game begins in a hallway filled with knight armors on display in the background. These armors randomly step forth from the background into the foreground and come at you with spears (classic Castlevania Spear-Men). I wonder if there is an unfortunate playthrough where ALL of these Evil Armors in the background came to life? Beyond that there's a sickle throwing Zeldo (this game's version of Death?) and a Gobanz (yes, that level one boss, now a regular enemy). From there you ascend a rope to a hallway filled with Punaguchi and their ricocheting fireballs. That hallway may be one of the worst stretches in the game to get through unscathed.
Through the Punaguchi hall of death another room with two more Punaguchi await you. Make it here and you're at the first check point of the level. Next comes a spike room with sliding and rising platforms. Then another spike room with alternating rising and falling platforms. And another just like the last. Then finally a straight forward corridor with a couple Zeldos waiting to throw sickles your way. This marks the second check point. Get past two more rooms, a Punaguchi and a Zeldo, and you come to yet another new feature to the Castlevania franchise: ascending sliding spikes. Spikes rise up the walls on your left and right. One spike shoots out at you horizontally, extending from the wall like a long pike. Then another and another and so on. The only way up the room is to leap over the spikes, land on the shaft, and jump the next one as it comes. From spike to spike you ascend up the room to the next.
Another such room follows, but, instead of ascending, you walk along the spikes and strategically plan your drop as the spike is pulled out from under you. Then you enter a long hall filled with three Gobanz (yes, three of the first level bosses). If you've got the skinny leather whip you're in for a world of hurt. It's not impossible but it is frustrating as hell as the Gobanz walk toward you and force you back. If you're pushed back far enough before killing the Gobanz, the Gobanz will respawn (seriously frustrating!). Then there is a brief reprieve and the third check point. A full life power up and a whip upgrade await you, because the next stage is the lord of darkness himself...
A sight to behold as always, Dracula appears in his shroud-like cape slinging fireballs in four different directions at once. After hurling fiery death your way he vanishes and reappears in another spot in the room. After whittling his life bar down to nothing, and the faintest glimmer of this nightmare being over starts to show, Dracula morphs into his final form. Transforming into a giant vampire bat (and acquiring a whole new life bar), he strafes overhead unleashing smaller bats into the air to seek you out. If you manage to take this monster down then you've defeated one of the hardest Castlevania games in existence.
VICTORY!!
After all of the hard work, and having bested Dracula once again, we are privy to a single moving image. The triumphant Christopher Belmont stands atop a cliffside watching the demon castle of Dracula crumble along with its master in the dawning light. The next night, after the vampire hunter has gone, the rubble stirs and shifts. A vampire bat emerges from the ruins and flies off into the night.
To be continued...
THE REVIEW
That's it. Four levels. Stiff as hell controls. And brutal punishment for anyone who dares tread inside these murderous castle walls. I started plodding my way through and painstakingly I made it to level four. This was after two or three sittings where I saved where I left off (on my Retron5). Something just wasn't functioning right though so I abandoned my progress and started all over on my Super Game Boy and old tube TV. That was when something clicked between the game and me. In one sitting I made it to level three. I took a break and left the game on pause overnight. The next day I made it back to where I was at level four. And that's when the hurt came. In case you couldn't tell from my earlier description, level four is LONG. And brutal. It took a lot of practice, trial and error, and whatever luck the video gaming gods saw fit to bestow.
After putting in the time on that first honest and concerted attempt, the second playthrough really changed my outlook. The initial learning curve is rough. (I know how dumb this next statement is gonna sound) But once you get these levels and enemies figured out, and have gotten used to Christopher's limitations, this game starts to feel a little fun. But maybe that's the root of the problem here. You have to really dedicate the time and memorization of the enemies and levels to start to enjoy this game. The balance of this game is skewed towards the difficulty rather than a fun gaming experience.
I appreciated the new level dynamics such as the ropes and the various spike rooms (who enjoys spike rooms?!). And the soundtrack! I am a Castlevania music fanatic and the soundtrack here is solid (maybe the best aspect of the game). Beyond that this game leaves a lot to be desired, even when compared to the other harder Castlevania games. For the longest time this game had loomed over me as the one Castlevania I couldn't beat. Perhaps the positive feelings I have for the game now are due to the euphoria I'm feeling at having finally defeated a long time enemy. Perhaps, but it's still among the rougher entries in the series.
FINAL NOTE
Should you play this game? Not unless you are a completest like myself. Or unless you're interested in the history of gaming or the history of the Castlevania franchise. It is interesting to see the humble beginnings of handheld gaming, especially after seeing where the Castlevania handhelds would end up (the awesomeness that is Order of Ecclesia). As for actually playing the game, unless you're a die hard or Christopher Belmont fan, this is probably an exercise in frustration you don't really need (although defeating such a game will make you stronger). If you do play it, and manage to defeat it, consider yourself one helluva gamer.
Overall Ranking: 5 out 10
This game is playable, just barely. As for it's significance to the canon, Christopher's story isn't that essential to the greater legacy of Castlevania. As for it's historical significance to the series, however, it is very important and marks the beginning of the handheld Castlevania legacy. It is also worthy of note that in 2009 The Castlevania Adventure received a remake/reimagining for digital download on the Nintendo Wii titled CASTLEVANIA: THE ADVENTURE REBIRTH. This "remake" of the game is quite a bit different than the original and really shouldn't be considered a remake but rather a new game all its own (kind of like how Super Castlevania IV was a "remake" of the original NES Castlevania but its own game as well). And of course, how could we forget the incredible sequel that came from this, one of the best Castlevania games in the franchise: Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge...
...but that is a tale for another time
For more Castlevania and video game appreciation please check out these other posts below!
Gaming Diaries
After that you're presented with more ropes and descents, this time however you're given a choice. One rope leads you down the correct path towards the boss. Another rope sends you back to a previous area and, given how early games like this tend to repeat level layouts often, you can backtrack pretty far and not even realize it. An early attempt of mine led to me backtracking clear across that evil bridge again. Anyway, after discovering the right path I finally arrived at the boss.
You find yourself in a room with four holes in the wall of the background ranging all over the screen. From these holes in the wall emerge an enemy called "Under Moles." One hit from your whip kills them but they are incredibly mobile and jump around the screen. As noted earlier, Christopher isn't very mobile at all nor does he have a wide hit frame. Like everything else with this game, your timing and aim has to be dead on. Not gonna lie, this is a seriously annoying boss. But after several attempts I figured out the spacing and timing and eventually emerged victorious.
Level 3: This... may be my favorite level in the game. Let's call this level "Dungeon of moving Spikes." Like my title suggests, there are a ton of spikes in this level. And not just any spikes, moving spikes. And of course, the spikes had to be one hit kills on Christopher. The first stage of level 3 features the entire ceiling descending upon you, every inch of it lined with spikes. The ceiling moves up and down over and over again as you traverse the level. There are notches in the ceiling where you can hide and survive as the spikes reach the floor. Christopher's plodding along must be well timed or you're a corpse. Luckily there isn't a single enemy during this stage.
The next stage features spikes lined across the floor and rising up to kill you. It's a rope climb to save your life! But not just a straight rope climb, when one rope ends you have to jump to a different rope and continue the ascent. There is also a judicious amount of jumping and platforming to get to other ropes. Not to mention killing/avoiding a new enemy: the She Worms (basically giant roly poly bugs) that roll up into a ball when you hit them and come barrelling towards you. If you have the fully powered up whip they die in one hit, but if not, be prepared to jump them. This stage is basically a vertical scroll up, the screen steadily moving, forcing you up.
At the top the spikes on the floor stop and the wall on the right begins pushing you left, spikes (of course) coming out of the wall. So now, instead of a vertical scroll, we have a horizontal scroll. There are more ropes and platforming ahead of you as well as She Worms and Mudmen. Speed is essential (and not Christopher's strong suit) so you gotta book it. This is easily the most challenging section of the level.
After this, and one more full screen rope climb, is the final area and the boss: the Death Bat. This is perhaps the easiest boss in the game, despite the fact that the boss is WAY more mobile than you. It flies around all over the screen but gives you plenty of opportunity to hit it.
As a whole, I really dug this level. I don't remember ever playing a level such as this in any other Castlevania game. This level felt new and oddly refreshing. The challenge was still present but the most balanced and fair of the game so far. I actually found myself having fun for once in this game.
Level 4: Dracula's Stronghold. The fourth (and final?) level of the game begins in a hallway filled with knight armors on display in the background. These armors randomly step forth from the background into the foreground and come at you with spears (classic Castlevania Spear-Men). I wonder if there is an unfortunate playthrough where ALL of these Evil Armors in the background came to life? Beyond that there's a sickle throwing Zeldo (this game's version of Death?) and a Gobanz (yes, that level one boss, now a regular enemy). From there you ascend a rope to a hallway filled with Punaguchi and their ricocheting fireballs. That hallway may be one of the worst stretches in the game to get through unscathed.
Through the Punaguchi hall of death another room with two more Punaguchi await you. Make it here and you're at the first check point of the level. Next comes a spike room with sliding and rising platforms. Then another spike room with alternating rising and falling platforms. And another just like the last. Then finally a straight forward corridor with a couple Zeldos waiting to throw sickles your way. This marks the second check point. Get past two more rooms, a Punaguchi and a Zeldo, and you come to yet another new feature to the Castlevania franchise: ascending sliding spikes. Spikes rise up the walls on your left and right. One spike shoots out at you horizontally, extending from the wall like a long pike. Then another and another and so on. The only way up the room is to leap over the spikes, land on the shaft, and jump the next one as it comes. From spike to spike you ascend up the room to the next.
Another such room follows, but, instead of ascending, you walk along the spikes and strategically plan your drop as the spike is pulled out from under you. Then you enter a long hall filled with three Gobanz (yes, three of the first level bosses). If you've got the skinny leather whip you're in for a world of hurt. It's not impossible but it is frustrating as hell as the Gobanz walk toward you and force you back. If you're pushed back far enough before killing the Gobanz, the Gobanz will respawn (seriously frustrating!). Then there is a brief reprieve and the third check point. A full life power up and a whip upgrade await you, because the next stage is the lord of darkness himself...
A sight to behold as always, Dracula appears in his shroud-like cape slinging fireballs in four different directions at once. After hurling fiery death your way he vanishes and reappears in another spot in the room. After whittling his life bar down to nothing, and the faintest glimmer of this nightmare being over starts to show, Dracula morphs into his final form. Transforming into a giant vampire bat (and acquiring a whole new life bar), he strafes overhead unleashing smaller bats into the air to seek you out. If you manage to take this monster down then you've defeated one of the hardest Castlevania games in existence.
VICTORY!!
After all of the hard work, and having bested Dracula once again, we are privy to a single moving image. The triumphant Christopher Belmont stands atop a cliffside watching the demon castle of Dracula crumble along with its master in the dawning light. The next night, after the vampire hunter has gone, the rubble stirs and shifts. A vampire bat emerges from the ruins and flies off into the night.
To be continued...
THE REVIEW
That's it. Four levels. Stiff as hell controls. And brutal punishment for anyone who dares tread inside these murderous castle walls. I started plodding my way through and painstakingly I made it to level four. This was after two or three sittings where I saved where I left off (on my Retron5). Something just wasn't functioning right though so I abandoned my progress and started all over on my Super Game Boy and old tube TV. That was when something clicked between the game and me. In one sitting I made it to level three. I took a break and left the game on pause overnight. The next day I made it back to where I was at level four. And that's when the hurt came. In case you couldn't tell from my earlier description, level four is LONG. And brutal. It took a lot of practice, trial and error, and whatever luck the video gaming gods saw fit to bestow.
After putting in the time on that first honest and concerted attempt, the second playthrough really changed my outlook. The initial learning curve is rough. (I know how dumb this next statement is gonna sound) But once you get these levels and enemies figured out, and have gotten used to Christopher's limitations, this game starts to feel a little fun. But maybe that's the root of the problem here. You have to really dedicate the time and memorization of the enemies and levels to start to enjoy this game. The balance of this game is skewed towards the difficulty rather than a fun gaming experience.
I appreciated the new level dynamics such as the ropes and the various spike rooms (who enjoys spike rooms?!). And the soundtrack! I am a Castlevania music fanatic and the soundtrack here is solid (maybe the best aspect of the game). Beyond that this game leaves a lot to be desired, even when compared to the other harder Castlevania games. For the longest time this game had loomed over me as the one Castlevania I couldn't beat. Perhaps the positive feelings I have for the game now are due to the euphoria I'm feeling at having finally defeated a long time enemy. Perhaps, but it's still among the rougher entries in the series.
FINAL NOTE
Should you play this game? Not unless you are a completest like myself. Or unless you're interested in the history of gaming or the history of the Castlevania franchise. It is interesting to see the humble beginnings of handheld gaming, especially after seeing where the Castlevania handhelds would end up (the awesomeness that is Order of Ecclesia). As for actually playing the game, unless you're a die hard or Christopher Belmont fan, this is probably an exercise in frustration you don't really need (although defeating such a game will make you stronger). If you do play it, and manage to defeat it, consider yourself one helluva gamer.
Overall Ranking: 5 out 10
This game is playable, just barely. As for it's significance to the canon, Christopher's story isn't that essential to the greater legacy of Castlevania. As for it's historical significance to the series, however, it is very important and marks the beginning of the handheld Castlevania legacy. It is also worthy of note that in 2009 The Castlevania Adventure received a remake/reimagining for digital download on the Nintendo Wii titled CASTLEVANIA: THE ADVENTURE REBIRTH. This "remake" of the game is quite a bit different than the original and really shouldn't be considered a remake but rather a new game all its own (kind of like how Super Castlevania IV was a "remake" of the original NES Castlevania but its own game as well). And of course, how could we forget the incredible sequel that came from this, one of the best Castlevania games in the franchise: Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge...
...but that is a tale for another time
For more Castlevania and video game appreciation please check out these other posts below!
Gaming Diaries
More Gaming Centric Posts
