Super Castlevania IV Review (Super Nintendo, 1991)

Super Castlevania IV is often cited as being the best of the original style games in the series. This SNES launch window game made big waves and though I never got a chance to play in it’s prime. I started my journey to play through all of the Castlevania games start to finish a few years ago but held off on this one. It just didn’t look all that appealing to me to be honest. I’m fresh off of hitting the credits scene and I’m kicking myself for not getting here sooner. Super Castlevania IV is simply amazing.

Now, this isn’t really a sequel. Super Castlevania IV is more of a re-telling of Simon Bellmont’s original quest into Dracula’s castle. The English version tries to sell it as a sequel but for all intents and purposes it isn’t. Let’s move on.

This game at first appears to be a pretty traditional classic style Castlevania game. It’s a side scrolling action title with platformer elements. You make your way from the start of each stage to the end where a boss character awaits. Simon’s main weapon is his whip but you can find sub-items (which are all projectiles with different trajectories) that can be thrown to damage enemies as well. You can walk and jump, and falling off a cliff or into spikes results in an instant death.

Where Super Castlevania excels is in what it does differently than the others. For the first time in the series your character sling his whip in eight directions. This adds significant depth to combat. Aerial enemies are now less of a headache to deal with, and hitting foes while jumping is easier as well. The developers took things a step further, taking advantage of the hardware allowing for graphical rotations, by letting you fling the whip in all directions while you hold down the attack button. The attack is weaker, and generally speaking is best used for deflecting projectiles. It’s still a very cool and interesting new mechanic.

Konami also gives Simon the ability to latch on to specific elements of the environment to swing and release from his whip. You can grapple and hold on, but by holding left and right on the directional pad. This shows up more later in the game and in the first stages it’s just there are a means to teach players the new mechanic. Later on it’s used in some pretty tricky ways where timing and distance is important. I like this new element and it feels like something that should have hugely impacted the series going forward, but I know it’s mostly forgotten about later on.

Something must be said for the level design here. Konami kicked it up a notch from the last iteration and came up with some truly interesting gameplay scenarios. The first half of the game is Simon’s journey through the courtyard of the castle. I, as well as many others apparently, assumed that this was the entirety of the game. Once you make it to the castle you are hit with the more traditional Castlevania enemies and music. It’s a great moment in the game.

Additionally they went all out in taking advantage of the new hardware. The game makes heavy use of the Super Nintendo’s graphical capabilities almost to the point of exaggeration. The rotational effects on Simon’s whip and the vampire slayer himself (while swinging in particular) are pretty intense and look great. The environmental effects however are impressive even today. In one area of the game the entire walls rotate which makes it feel like the entire room is spinning. There’s another section where it does just that while you hold on with your whip. I was really impressed in the castle area with the swaying chandelier, but the huge boss rendered in mode 7 really takes the cake!

Super Castlevania IV is an incredible game. With that said it isn’t without its issues. For starters it’s artificially difficult. Every time you’re hit by an enemy or their projectile you’re knocked back just like in the older games, but this one likes to put pits in boss fights. As if it wasn’t annoying enough already now you have to beat some boss encounters without taking a hit, such as the mummy, or you’ll fall off the edge. It’s an archaic element of the game that could have been done away with and Super Castlevania IV would be all the better for it.

Of all the launch window titles for the Super Nintendo this is the prettiest one in my opinion. At first I was put off by the style of it because it’s a bit more gritty than any other game in the series. Simon has realistic proportions, wears neutral colored clothing, and falls short of the anime style the later installments make use of. Additionally the enemies follow this evolution of style as well and are far from being cartoon characatures. I really like it and I wish Konami had followed through and evolved these new designs further. The backgrounds feature amazing animation given the hardware and are chock full of detail. The use of mode 7 and rotational effects definitely steal the show.

This soundtrack is often mentioned as one of the best in any video game. I wasn’t expecting to like it nearly as much as I did. It starts out moody and ambiant, but the tempo is kicked up as you progress and eventually you have sweeping symphonies that fit the action perfectly. The original compositions are good but the remixes of the classic themes are where this soundtrack excels. It gave me goosebumps when the song Bloody Tears starts playing in the courtyard. The music deserves all the kudos that it gets.