| Classic Game Series: Castlevania (Part 1)
- by Damien McFerran |
|
|
Few videogame series can boast a pedigree as impressive as Konami’s Castlevania. Since the inception of the franchise in the mid '80s, there has been a Castlevania game on every major platform. Although they haven’t always been bestsellers, Castlevania manages to harbour a rabid fanbase that awaits each new installment with baited breath. To chart the success of this legendary series, we must take a trip backwards and inspect the bloodline of one of Konami’s most respected products.
Castlevania/Vampire Killer/Akumajou Dracula: Demon Castle Dracula (NES/MSX/VARIOUS)
It’s fair to say that the early success of many of Konami’s key franchises can be contributed to the choice of hardware. Konami was a staunch supporter of Nintendo’s all-conquering Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom in Japan). The popularity of Castlevania owes a lot to how powerful the NES brand was. The success of the NES installments meant the series gained a solid fanbase, and the majority of fans today would probably chart their love affair with all things Castlevania back to the original 8-bit offering.
Introducing the character of Simon Belmont and his quest to free his native Transylvania from the icy grip of Count Dracula and his undead hordes, the game borrows heavily from original folklore and of course Bram Stoker’s legendary novel. Considering that the series was still finding its feet with this game, it’s amazing how fully formed and ‘complete’ it feels. Many of the hallmarks of the franchise are present here, and it’s an indication of the quality of the gameplay that when the title was updated for Nintendo’s SNES console a few years later, much of the basic gameplay was unchanged. The game features a life bar which is gradually depleted by enemy attacks. Regardless of this, the game is still amazingly tough in places. Some of the boss battles (the final one in particular) are real pad-throwing moments. The unlimited number of continues makes things a little less frustrating.
The developers were obviously limited by the humble hardware, and many of the levels are bereft of colour and at times look very two-tone. The music is standard NES fare, but the classic tunes that would find their way into many of the sequels are here in their stripped-down, basic form.
Castlevania was also released on the MSX home computer in the form of ‘Vampire Killer’. At first glance the game looks very much like an exact port, but there are several differences. The game has an almost RPG-style structure, with keys to search for and items to purchase. Other machines that were granted direct conversions include the Commodore C64, Amiga and more recently Nintendo’s Gameboy Advance.
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest/Dracula II: The Accursed Seal (NES)
After the success of the original Castlevania, Konami made the brave decision to fashion the sequel as an action/RPG hybrid. The whip-cracking gameplay was still there, with Simon being granted the same repertoire of moves found in the first title. However the game now featured a free-roaming environment, non-player characters to interact with, special items and even an innovative ‘real time’ day and night cycle.
The focus of the quest was the acquisition of Dracula’s body parts. In the previous game, Dracula had placed a curse on Simon Belmont with his dying breath. To lift it, and also free Transylvania from the grip of Dracula’s revived army of the undead, Simon must collect all of Dark Lord’s body parts and incinerate them.
The day and night cycle was an impressive feature for the time. In the day, townsfolk wandered about their business and could be interacted with, but when night fell they locked themselves in the safety of their homes. Enemies also became stronger at night, so the player had to factor this in when moving from one town to another. With the onset of darkness, Simon mutters, “What a horrible night to have a curse” which surely must rank as one of the best videogame quotes of all time. However, the developers were probably a little ahead of their time. The limited memory of NES cartridges meant that most of the locations in the game looked the same. There were only a couple of different NPC sprites too, given the player an even stronger sense of déjà vu. After the intense challenge of the original game, Simon’s Quest comes across as a bit of a pushover. In spite of these shortcomings it remains an enjoyable title even today, and the free-roaming nature of the game would later influence the excellent Symphony of the Night.
Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse/Akumajou Densetsu: Legend of Demon Castle (NES)
After the RPG leanings of the previous NES title, Konami reverted back to the all-out action found in the first game. However the game still featured many firsts for the series. A branching level structure gave the player a certain degree of choice when progressing through the game (and obviously added plenty of replay value). Also, the player was given the option of playing as different characters once they had been beaten and released from Dracula’s possession. Alucard, Dracula’s half-human, half-vampire son, was one of the more popular choices. Konami handled the introduction of other playable characters with skill – rather than just drop a few more sprites into the game, they imbued each character with a rich backstory. Alucard would famously resurface as the main character in Symphony of the Night, such was the depth of his tale. These additional characters also had very different capabilities when compared to the main character and each one gave the player more gameplay options.
The title character is Trevor Belmont, heralded at the time as the ‘first’ of the famous clan to pick up the whip – the game was set in 1476AD, over 200 years before the first Castlevania title. Konami would later disprove this themselves, as Sonia Belmont (1450AD - Castlevania Legends/Dark Night Prelude) and then Leon Belmont (1094AD - Castlevania: Lament of Innocence) would push the bloodline of the famous vampire-hunting family even further backwards in time. Trevor looks and plays very much like his successor Simon, and anyone familiar with the first two NES titles will be at home with the controls here.
Graphically and sonically this was the most accomplished Castlevania title yet, the weak sound chip of the NES was pushed to the limit (the music even featured sampled drum beats – amazing for the time). The limited colour palette of the console hindered the graphics in places, but the basic design was excellent, featuring massive enemies, varied environments and the bare minimum of sprite flicker.
Considered by many as the greatest ‘old school’ Castlevania title, Dracula’s Curse was a thoroughly successful finale to the NES trilogy.
|
|
|
discuss Classic Game Series: Castlevania (Part 1) feature on the NTSC-uk forums
|
|
|
|
Castlevania
Castlevania II
Castlevania III
|
|
|
|
