CastleVania

I've been known in the past to rave about this game. Of course, my reasoning in the past is an advocation of 3D games. I'm a fan of them. I think a lot can be done for a series of games with the development of that all important third dimension. Exploration becomes a bigger factor, and at times it's just fun to look around and try to find everything...

Of course, that only applies to games where the emphasis is exploration, like in Mario 64. In Castlevania (64) the emphasis, aside from a couple of levels, never is exploration. It's try to survive what is thrown at you while you play through a level... And to be honest, neither CV 64 or it's prequel/sequel/remake/should have been originally released version, Legacy
of Darkness, never should have been made into 3D games.

The Good:
Interesting level choices. Some of the ideas, like the different Towers of Sorcery and Science were nifty to play through... once. Similarly, the includion of classics like the Clock Tower were nice.

The music is beautiful, I think. Never seems repetative, even the 20th time you have to play a level (stupid effing Nitro level). This is due to the more ambient quality of the music, so while no song in particluar will stand out, neither will they stand out in a bad way. They are nice for the mood.

Graphics are okay here as well, although the heads of most of the characters are too pointy. Similarly, cloth and other things are a bit artifical. But hey, the color choices and decoration really add to the levels.

The Bad:
Well, let's look at play control. For starters, Rienhardt jumps like a freak. And, you get to see him jump a lot in this game. Stupid skip jumps will be seen a lot as you jump your way through the multiple obnoxious levels with fall-and-it's-over pits (stupid Tower of Duels).

And to make matters worse, someone, in the debugging of this game, apparently hated the Duel Tower as much as I did, as they didn't bother to get the controls working right when you have to jump from some of the cliff ledges and jump/hang onto other platforms. Reinny is such a tard in that level.

There are some other bugs, like the Nitro level have a couple of walls that cause errors if you jump onto/into them, as I did when I was "exploring."

The Fugly:
Oh, and hey, let's not ignore the worst part of this game. THE STUPID EFFING CAMERA! You know, it's not like they couldn't have given you some control over the camera. It's been done before this game... and especially before Legacy... The camera is sluggish, has stupid control modes, and never shows you what you really need to see. It could be permanently up Reinny's ass and you'd see more of the game than you get now.

But... for all of that, I inexplicably like the game. Carrie is a blast to play through, in my opinion. Some of the levels are pretty cool, even with camera problems. And the game isn't too difficult, so you should be able to have fun with it once or twice.

Score: 6.2 out of 10

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Anyway, a quick rundown of the game:

Level 1 - The Woods: Easy enough level. Gets you used to the controls. Sub Boss/Boss is a Giant Skeleton. If you've played the game for 15 minutes... and to get through the level will take at least that long, he shoudln't be a problem.

Level 2 - The Outer Walls: Two towers for you to explore. The more difficult one is actually more fun. A bit of suspense and adrenaline at certain points. Still not too hard though. Dual Sub Bosses of 4-headed Wall Dragons. Cake.

Level 3 - The Villa: B!tch a$$ long to explore, but there are some fun secrets... I know you can beat up the Monster in LoD, get some chicken, so definetly stop off here and make sure you are filled up. Just watch out for the dogs. Multiple sub bosses here. The Cerebuses are annoying. Use close combat. The vampire is cake with the right weapons or close combat. The Boss, another vampire, will take some time, but once again, nothing to worry about.

Level 4 Reinny - The Catacombs: Annoying, boring, stupid. This level had monsters I really hated, big ol spider things, and I got out of there as fast as I could.

Level 4 Carrie - The Sewers: More fun than a barrel of Lizard Men, although from the looks of it only one Lizard Man could fit in it, unless the Lizard Man was small or the barrel was really big... Anyway, the challenge is about on par with The Outer Walls. Expect to die suddenly a few times from the poisonous water and the ugly traps, but by this point, you should be used to dying a lot.

Level 5 - The Castle Center: Fugly level. During it, you will eventually have to collect Mandragora (or something spelled like that) and Nitro, and you can't be hit or jump while carrying the Nitro. Expect to die a lot here.

And I do mean alot. I spent more time on this one level with either character than I did during the rest of the game. There is a boss, a big ol Bull that disintegrates into the fresh scent of pine (or something) as you fight it. B!tch a$$ hard, like the rest of the level.

Level 6 Reinny - The Duel Tower: Gods, it just gets worse. This level will have you dying some many times from the poorly designed jumps and platforms. Make sure to save very often, and watch out for a split path. One way will take you to certain death. This level is all bosses, by the way.

Level 6 Carrie - The Tower of Science: Fun level design. Make sure to sniper all the guns that will shoot at you as you go, otherwise you'll die at the jumps later on. Twisted looking level.

Level 7 Reinny - The Tower of Execution: From what I've heard this level is actually suppposed to be destroyed by the time Reinny gets to it, so that when you play it with Cornell, in LoD (the prequel) it's actually better constructed, more flowing... I wouldn;t know cause, though I did play through LoD, I wasn't really paying attention to level layout as I tried
desperately to save my ass.

Level 7 Carrie - The Tower of Sorcery: You're really going to hate the jumps now. This level is nothing but. Evil, vile, twisted level. Be excited if you make it through.

Level 8 - The Clock Tower: Not to hard, but you're gonna die a lot. But then, you always die a lot in this game. Mostly just dragon head fire spitters here. Not much else to worry about, except for the jumps.

Level 8.8 - Tower Top: Not really a full level, but it has a save point, some spiky items, and a boss battle. Just depends on who you are playing as asto who you have to fight. Death isn't too bad if you got plenty of crosses. The witch though, she's kinda pissy. Make sure to learn what color of her shield is weakest, and break it open, then strike at her. Just takes a while.

Dracula: Depending on how long it took for you to play the game, and how many items you bought from a demon (trust me), you'll get a couple outcomes. Everyone has to fight Drac's first form, which isn't too hard. Hit his fireballs that he shoots at you to load up on beef, chicken, gems, and a better whip or fireball. Then, just aim for Drac's head and learn to avoid his patterns. But wait, there's more. You may or may not fight his next two forms, depending on time and demon items. If you don't, it's time to play over cause you aren't getting the best ending. But, if you do get to his next two forms, be ready for a couple really nasty battles. His 2nd form acts kind alike his first in pattern of attacks, but it's varied by the fact that he warps around the top of the tower. He's hard as hell to hit, so you better have plenty of food to keep you going. His final demonic form is nasty if you get too close, so just use long range attacks...

... and pray.

---Darkmoon