Review: Dragon Ball Z – Ultimate Tenkaichi (PS3)

NES, 1987; VC release 30 April 2007; 500 Points.

What is it?

Castlevania is a gothic-themed sidescroller by Konami. March into and through an old castle, killing undead monsters and nocturnal animals with your enchanted whip. Face challenging bosses and eventually the powerful Count Dracula himself. Stay out of the water.

How does it play?

By today’s standards, it’s like trying to drive a car with an anti-theft device attached to the wheel. Most of the conventions that have been developed in the 20 years since this game’s release are not present here, including precise jumping, whip versatility, and the ability to touch water. As a result, the game is really, really challenging, often to the point of being really cheap. Enemy spawning can get out of hand simply because you backtracked a step to pick up a fallen item. Everything vanishes three seconds after it hits the ground. Picking up a subweapon permanently deletes the one you had equipped, even if it was the boomerang, and now you’ve got to face Death using a dagger. Slow-moving but relentless enemies will overwhelm you in seconds and juggle you until you die. Your whip will periodically pass through threats without hitting them, costing you a life in a bizarre chain reaction of damage you shouldn’t receive in the moment of invincibility you were supposed to have after taking a hit.

How does it look and sound?

The visuals in the Castlevania series have always been top-notch and this one’s no different. The detail on everything is very impressive, particularly for the hardware. In an era where you could look at many video game sprites and wonder what they’re supposed to be, the only one like that here is the Medusa Head… and that’s still a problem in today’s games. This game also set the pace for the franchise musically, with a soundtrack that really pushes the NES hardware and produces some of the most interesting and complex music the platform had to offer.

How is the replay value?

Not too great. This is a game that you play through once, and subsequent plays are identical. You could aim for a higher score by hitting more candles and killing more enemies, but there’s no reward for that aside from self-satisfaction. There are no branching paths to explore, no RPG elements to toy with, no NPCs to speak to, no encyclopedia to fill with monsters. All that came later in the series as it evolved from action to adventure to light RPG.

Is it worth it?

That’s a tough call. If you’re a Castlevania fan, yes, absolutely. Five dollars is a great deal. The game’s on XBLA, it’s on GBA, it’s even on Windows in the Konami Collector’s Series: Castlevania and Contra emulator and ROM pack, which has all the NES Contra and Castlevania games, but then you’re stuck with whatever controller you use on your Windows machine and, if you’re like me, playing it on the TV is kind of a pain to configure. This is the best bet if you’ve got a Wii and five dollars to spend.

If you’re not a fan, this game is the perfect example of a tough, unforgiving, inaccessible game. It doesn’t like you, and it will never change for you, so you’d best move on to something that will treat you better.

See also:

Castlevania alert: the original classic incoming.
Castlevania, at the official site.