Super Castlevania IV - Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 92.3.138.11 (talk) at 15:33, 26 August 2008. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 15:33, 26 August 2008 by 92.3.138.11 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Super Castlevania IV" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

1991 video game

Super Castlevania IV
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Designer(s)	Masahiro Ueno (director)
Series	Castlevania
Platform(s)	Super NES, Virtual Console
Release	SNES: October 31, 1991 December, 1991 January 29, 1993 Virtual Console: December 2, 2006 December 25, 2006 December 29, 2006
Genre(s)	Platform game
Mode(s)	Single player

Super Castlevania IV, known as Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ, Akumajō Dorakyura, lit. "Demon Castle Dracula") in Japan, is a platform game developed and published by Konami and the first Castlevania game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was also released on the Wii's Virtual Console on December 25, 2006. It is a retelling of Simon Belmont's foray into Castlevania, first told in the original Castlevania. The game has all new levels (several featuring areas outside of the castle), 16-bit graphics featuring SNES graphics Mode 7, and the soundtrack consists mostly of brand new pieces including a handful of remixes of previous Castlevania songs.

Gameplay

The control scheme has been expanded upon from its predecessors, this includes the ability for Simon to whip in eight directions, as well as keeping the whip held out if the player holds the attack button. Holding the whip out lets Simon swing or spin it around, allowing the player to easily block enemy projectiles, or hit enemies rapidly (albeit for less damage than a normal strike). In addition, Simon can latch his whip onto grappling points, letting him swing over various obstacles.

Like most Castlevania games, Simon can use the sub-weapons and whip power-ups. Sub-weapons are powered by the hearts found in candles and from slain enemies. Since the control pad is used to aim the whip, another button is used to attack with sub weapons, rather than pressing Up and the attack button. The more powerful sub-weapons require more hearts to use. Whip power-ups increase the strength and length of the whip, as expected, and are usually found in candles.

Simon's jumps can now be controlled in the air, to a limited extent. This opens up the possibility to dodge and maneuver away from danger. Simon can also climb stairs in mid-jump, as well as crouch while moving forward.

Following the model set by the previous games, Super Castlevania IV employs the usage of many the series' recurring elements, such as moving platforms, pits with spikes, and stairs that one can traverse by pressing the Up or Down direction on the D-Pad.

Unique to Super Castlevania IV's level design is its connection with Simon's whip, the Vampire Killer. Occasionally, objects similar to door knockers will appear in the player's view, and the player must use Simon's whip to grab onto them and swing across pits to gain access to the next part of the stage. Simon is also able to adjust the length of the whip while swinging if the player uses the D-pad accordingly.

The game took advantage of the SNES's then state-of-the-art technology to create levels which would have been impossible to render in the 8-bit NES version of the game, using a variety of optical illusions to foster a sense of fear and disorientation; one level involves the player running across stationary blocks in the center of a giant, rotating, cylindrical room, while another involves the player being made to jump from platforms suspended from a pseudo-3D chandelier while the screen slowly flashes red and black.

Like previous entries in the series, the game culls its enemies and their design from classic American and Eastern European horror movies and folklore. Many of the more powerful monsters are reproductions of the Universal Monsters, with Boris Karloff's depictions of Frankenstein's Monster and The Mummy serving as the bosses in two of the game's later levels. Other monsters culled from classical depiction are The Grim Reaper and a Golem.

Plot

Despite that it is a totally different game, Super Castlevania IV's plot is the same as the first Castlevania, taking place in the same setting and time period.

When the game was localized in North America as Super Castlevania IV, the story within the manual was changed slightly to make it another story. This is not canon in any recent version of the timeline.

Audio

Super Castlevania IV's soundtrack includes remixes of songs from past games. These include "Vampire Killer" (from Castlevania), and "Bloody Tears" (from Simon's Quest), two themes that would eventually reappear in many more games. "Beginning", the song played on Stage 1 from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, is also present.

"Theme of Simon Belmont", now considered to be the character's trademark theme song, was played on the last stage in Castlevania Chronicles/Akumajō Dracula X68000, the last half of the final stage in Castlevania: Bloodlines, and as a secret music track in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. The "Theme of Simon Belmont" victory fanfare, which was used in Super Castlevania IV whenever a crystal was obtained after defeating a boss, was also featured in Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness. If you rescued one of the 6 children in Henry Mode, this fanfare would play as a victory theme.

Development

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2008)

Version differences

The American and PAL localizations of the game contain some differences from the original Japanese version, which, like most games in the series, is called Akumajō Dracula.

The font used in the Japanese game is different from that used in the Western releases. The Western versions use a bright green font; the Japanese version uses a completely different font that is also significantly darker.

Some of the sound effects, such as the snap of the whip have been altered sounding less like a chain whip and with more of a whooshing sound.

In the Japanese version of the game, there was a cross on top of the tombstone in the introduction. This was removed for the American and PAL localizations to avoid religious controversies. The misspelled name "Dracura" (a case of Engrish) is also clearly written (in Roman letters) on the tombstone in the Japanese version; this was replaced with an unreadable smudge in the Western versions.

As with many games on the Super NES, there were censorship issues as well. The statues in Stage 6, which were originally topless, were redrawn wearing tunicas. Blood dripping from the ceilings as well as pools of blood in Stage 8 were re-colored from red to green, effectively turning it into slime or acid.

The opening logo in the Japanese version of the game resembles the original Akumajō Dracula title screen, from the Famicom Disk System. Blood also drips below the title's lettering.