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Review: Castlevania Judgment (Wii)
By Stephen Munn | December 29, 2008
What is it?
Castlevania Judgment is the first game in the long-running Castlevania franchise for Nintendo Wii. Rather than being an action adventure game like the other games in the series, Judgment is something different. It’s a 3D fighter with weapons, something like a mixture of SoulCalibur and Castlevania. Select from a disappointingly small handful of characters from throughout Castlevania’s centuries of history, tack on a bunch of accessories, and fight the computer, or a local opponent, or even online in a broad range of modes.
Aeropodcast #62: A Video Kobayashi Maru
By Joe Haygood | December 22, 2008
Well, Fourhman and Joe are joined by another Munn this week, and unfortunately for us, it is Stephen, not Olivia. In all seriousness, it is a triumphant return for Stephen, now done with school, and hoping to join us on a regular basis. The title refers to our attempt to use video in the podcast, only to meet with a no-win scenario (KHAN!!!!!). This week we look at the art of unfinished games, and the responsibility for game developers in fixing them. Does a company have a responsibility to fix a game that they deliver to market broken. You would think yes, but as we progress in our discussion, we point out many occasions where game devs have left gamers sitting in the cold waiting for a fix.
We have some great community questions including one that caught us a bit off-guard, but I want to thank Jordan Snyder (two times I have gotten it right) and william745 for providing us with some great questions. Make sure you are heard by contributing to the podcast with quetsions. In the news side of the business, we look at how Sony seems to screw its most loyal market, EA Games moving into the Steam neighborhood, more company layoffs and closures, and how to convert 7 euros into other currencies. Pure gave us a naughty word list you might want to look at (very NSFW), as well as The King launching is own flame broiled, scented cologne, and no it is not a joke.
This week’s podcast music comes from Castlevania: Judgment, a Konami title. The podcast is put together by the Aeropause Mixmaster, Stephen Munn, and his twin turntables of steel.
Download the podcast from here or subscribe to the podcast using one of the services below: Also make sure to review us on iTunes.
First Thirty: Castlevania Judgment (Wii)
By Stephen Munn | December 18, 2008
I may be the only person on this wide, wacky Internet who went into my first play of Castlevania Judgment with a great sense of optimism, and when I begin this first thirty by saying I took some quick punches to the gut, keep in mind it’s for a very stupid reason.
It seems that if you have a Gamecube controller plugged into the first Gamecube controller port on the Wii when you start Castlevania Judgment, the game assumes you’re playing with a Gamecube controller and blocks every other type of input, including the Wii Remote that you’re holding because you just started the game. I know that this isn’t a hardware limitation, because it doesn’t work that way in Super Smash Bros Brawl, but I feel I must point out that I had no idea why I couldn’t play my game until I actually opened the intimidating tome of an instruction manual and saw that the Gamecube controller is one control option on the game. That’s when my mind realized what was going on. I unplugged the Gamecube controller and was able to use my Classic Controller without issue.
From there, it was smooth sailing, until I reached Grant Danasty, but I’ll get back to that in a second.
A stroll through the castle with Simon Belmont and Dracula
By Stephen Munn | December 12, 2008It’s hard to believe it’s been more than 20 years now since the first Castlevania game came out. As I continue to struggle in the final battle of Order of Ecclesia, I think about all the times I’ve faced off against the various supervillains of Castlevania over the years. My collection of games is nearly complete now, and I’ve received word that my review copy of Judgment is on its way at last, so it shouldn’t be too much longer before I’ve got the whole library of North American releases in the Castlevania franchise. Once that happens, will I want to play them all through once again, start to finish? Should I play them in chronological order? There’s an idea.
Let’s have a look at where the franchise has been over the years as I get ready to tear into a game that could provide an excellent retrospective of some of its most important characters.
Castlevania Judgment now available, watch for Aerocoverage
By Stephen Munn | November 21, 2008Castlevania Judgment came out this week, and I encourage you to watch for my upcoming coverage of the game. I’ve been offered a review copy of the game (they’re talking to the right guy!) and I hope to have that in my hands soon so I can start talking about it. In the mean time, we’ve been given this widget item to share, which is a kind of two-sided applet that distributes assets for both Order of Ecclesia and Judgment. The desktop art in here is nice, based on the concept art we’ve already seen for the games, and the screenshots are pretty as well. Have at it!
Oh, and if you watch the trailer in there for Order of Ecclesia, and you see that burrowing enemy that leaps over Shanoa’s head? That’s the boss I’ve been stuck on in that game for over a week now. Ta-ta!
UPDATE: Since I can’t figure out how to make this applet shut up by default, I’ve moved it below the divider. Click through to play with it.
Order of Ecclesia is up to something
By Stephen Munn | October 26, 2008
One of the first things I noticed when I first powered up the increasingly disappointing (sorry, it is) Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia on launch day was that during the opening sequence, the communication light on the DS flickers as if making a connection. What does this mean?
Well, early leaked screens of the game showed an option in the main menu of the game that appeared to generate some kind of link with a Nintendo Wii. Konami dismissed that suggestion and pulled the screenshot, which of course makes the whole thing look completely legit. Of course, at that point they were trying to hide that they were planning anything for Wii at all. If you look closely at the image here, which is the leaked screen, you’ll see the word “Wii” right above “GAME START”, partially obscured by the gold border around the menu item. Incidentally, this is actually what the menu looks like in the game. It’s a cool menu.
I would assume this is the DS looking for the Wii game, Castlevania Judgment. When it finds that game, I would bet it unlocks Shanoa, Ecclesia’s main character, as a playable fighter in the game. I mean, she’s already been confirmed for the game, so this makes sense that the DS game is the way in, right?
My committment to collecting the series means I have to get Judgment, but that may mean waiting for it to hit the bargain bin or Goozex. I liked Portrait of Ruin, but after giving up on Curse of Darkness and disliking Ecclesia so far, it really doesn’t look like the franchise is in an upturn. On the bright side, Nintendo Power’s confirmation that Trevor Belmont, Grant Danasty, and Sypha Belnades, all from Castlevania III, will be in Judgment got me pretty jazzed.
Oh, image from N-Europe.
More footage of Castlevania Judgment drops for TGS 2008
By Stephen Munn | October 11, 2008Castlevania Judgment is a polarizing product to say the least. Even I, supreme patron of the franchise, do not currenly have a preorder in for the game, though I’m certain I will eventually own it… as that always happens. Preorders for this one may just come down to how sweet the preorder bonus is.
At any rate, here are a number of new videos from the game. We can have a close look at how the game has progressed over the months. It was reportedly something of a joke among attendees at the previous conferences, E3 and Leipzig, but what do you think. How does it look now? Head below for some gameplay footage, including the newly revealed characters Minotaur (maybe not playable), Death, and Eric Lecarde (from Bloodlines and Portrait of Ruin). Previously mentioned characters who appear are Aeon (who the hell?), Simon Belmont, Shanoa (from Order of Ecclesia), Maria Renard (from Chi no Rondo and Symphony of the Night).
Castlevania: Judgment slides to 2009, approving noise here
By Stephen Munn | August 20, 2008
With all the criticism Castlevania Judgment has taken on its somewhat cobbled-together appearance at E3, we shouldn’t be surprised to hear the game’s been moved to 2009. Rather, we should be pleased. Coincidentally, I placed a reserve on this game today, so no matter when it ships, I’ll be there on launch day. You know what? This means I’m that much more likely to have purchase dollars for Bioshock when it ships on PS3. Or maybe I’ll pick up Dragon Quest IV at launch instead. There are all sorts of decisions to be made.
Interestingly, there is also mention of a character named Aeon in the game. As someone who is pretty familiar with the franchise, I’m going to come right out and point out that I have no idea who Aeon is. Could this be a character from an as-yet-unannounced Castlevania title? Hmm!
Source: IGN Wii
Twelve reasons for the core to be excited about Wii in 2008
By Stephen Munn | August 12, 2008
Nintendo took a lot of flak about their casual-centric E3 presentation this year, and it’s pretty understandable. Those of us who focus on the software and hardware surrounding Nintendo’s platforms tend to be core gamers ourselves, and the lack of the three things that were most important to me, Retro Studios, a storage solution, and something truly new and surprising, hit me as hard as anyone.
Anyway, since Nintendo’s obviously not going to do this for us, we need to find our own excitement on Wii this year, and here’s how we’re going to do it: with a list of twelve games core gamers who own Wiis can be excited about this year. That’s right, everything on this list is expected between now and the end of the year, and it’s all for the core. Let’s roll.
Mega Man 9, as proof of concept, would bring more retro revivals
By Stephen Munn | July 26, 2008
The 8-bit styled Mega Man 9 could be a sign of things to come. That is, of course, dependent upon sales. The hardest of the core have been hassling Castlevania master Koji Igarashi for years to build a new 2D Castlevania on home consoles. His response has consistently been that as fun as something like that would be, he doubts it would sell. Just as Sega recently did, he has now gone on record as saying that strong sales of Mega Man 9 would make it much easier for him to make something great that for a service like WiiWare.
I’m watching that very closely to see how it does. Myself, I’m a big retro gaming fan, so if it is successful that definitely opens up doors for what I can do.
I’d like to point out that if anything could knock me down more than Mega Man 9, it would be another spritey-licious Castlevania, downloadable or otherwise, for any of the systems in my home. Honestly, I’m always there on launch day for anything Castlevania on any platform I own, and this is no different.
Incidentally, read the interview at Game|Life. It talks in-depth about the thought process that brought about Castlevania Judgment for Wii.
Source: Game|Life via The Wiire.
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