A mod for Castlevania
An all new Castlevania adventure is here on the NES! New stages, graphics, items, enemies, music and gameplay for Castlevania fans to enjoy. Select from 5 exciting stages before reaching the final showdown with Lord Ghulash, an evil necromancer terrorizing Transylvania in the wake of Dracula’s defeat. It is up to Simon Belmont to rescue his homeland once again, this time from the perversion of the 7 Holy Relics. Collect all the relics to lift the curse, and use them to your advantage along the way.
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As someone who has put a remarkably large amount of time into Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and embarrassingly was never able to overcome the challenges in that game I am here to tell you that this ROM hack of the original Castlevania is a worthwhile and accessible means to enjoy vintage-vania gameplay.
This hack is no hack and holds enough changes and improvements to Castlevania formula to be worthwhile for veterans of the franchise as well. Most notably in the Relic system. The game holds 7 holy relics and Simon starts with the classic screen-wiping Rosary. Once you defeat a boss they will drop another Relic adding to your possible arsenal but remember you can only bring one Relic into a level and it is locked in until you either win or die trying.
Speaking of levels there is no actual linear progression between stages. From the very beginning you are given a choice between five of the total six levels to do in any order you wish adding a nice layer of replay value. Which Relic do you want first? Which stage provides you the most challenge personally? These are options you must weigh when playing this hack but don't think levels are a simple experience either. Each stage instead of being a point A to point B affair is more akin to a semi non-linear arrangement of rooms. Basically each area will have a key and you must search for it before you can pass through a door to move onto the next. The biggest example for me is the water stage wherein you must go all the way to the end to grab the key then battle your way back in reverse, recontextualizing the hazards along the way. Tricks like this make for a decent challenge for newcomers but longtime fans shouldn't have too much trouble.
Difficulty is always a part of the discourse when it comes to these retro styled Castlevania games. The Belmont family is not a lineage known for their agility but instead of their complete commitment to their actions. This rather rigid and methodical gameplay is still intact without any change which is a scary prospect when the phrase "ROM Hack" is in the mix. Hacks are rather notoriously made for the most hardcore of fans and I can confirm this isn't the case here. Merciful placements of Pork Chops along with Relics make this a rather smooth experience. I personally only used the Rosary for the whole time to give myself a middle level of difficulty along with a panic button if things got hairy but for those who are intimidated may I recommend the Coffee Relic which is a healing item. I really do enjoy the option to make the game as difficult as I want through options available to me.
The only change I find baffling is to make the infamous "Medusa Heads" a more headache enducing affair. Instead of following a predictable pattern their equivalent will move slightly more unpredictably. In defense of the overall experience, instant death pits seem to be places more empathetically meaning most of the time you won't fall to your death from these specific enemies.
Graphically the darker vibe this hack holds is a nice change of scenery. NES Castlevania games typically have alot of rather gaudy colors in service to the game design. Readability is important on small CRT screens after all. Since the limitations of technology of the past have been obliterated the amount of freedom to have a more subdued color scheme isn't a criminal offense. I particularly enjoy the Forest stage with the dark greens and yellows on display. A knock against this game though are the enemy designs. You can tell a ton of work went into the enemy sprites, especially the all new bosses but they can be tonally anachronistic to the rest of the game. The final boss for example being the buff foxy grandpa he is. Bosses also have very limited animations but actually complaining about that would be splitting hairs.
Narratively the game is rather standard in there really isn't much. Holy Relics are stolen by an evil Necromancer who seeks to resurrect Dracula himself so Simon goes on his quest to retrieve them before that can happen. NES action platformers usually don't have much story so who cares? It does enough to contextualize your actions giving you enough purpose to see the adventure to its conclusion.
One thing about ROM Hacks that always seem to be is that everything is available to be changed except the music which makes sense. Hacking music in ROMs is remarkably challenging and could go very wrong very quickly. Mainly because how music is programmed is different between games meaning there isn't really a template to work off of. I bring this up because not only does this hack use music from different games in the series but houses two original compositions. A remarkable feat that deserves a mention and recognition especially since the new songs both are very great and also fit in with the rest of the music. They don't feel out of place at all.
In conclusion if you are a fan of Vintage-vania games or action platformers in general I cannot recommend this enough. There is a major caveat in that if the base game feel of the Castlevania series doesn't vibe with you this will not make you a believer. It softens the blow yes but doesn't change the fundamentals but as a package this is a rather brief but memorable experience worth playing.
This hack is no hack and holds enough changes and improvements to Castlevania formula to be worthwhile for veterans of the franchise as well. Most notably in the Relic system. The game holds 7 holy relics and Simon starts with the classic screen-wiping Rosary. Once you defeat a boss they will drop another Relic adding to your possible arsenal but remember you can only bring one Relic into a level and it is locked in until you either win or die trying.
Speaking of levels there is no actual linear progression between stages. From the very beginning you are given a choice between five of the total six levels to do in any order you wish adding a nice layer of replay value. Which Relic do you want first? Which stage provides you the most challenge personally? These are options you must weigh when playing this hack but don't think levels are a simple experience either. Each stage instead of being a point A to point B affair is more akin to a semi non-linear arrangement of rooms. Basically each area will have a key and you must search for it before you can pass through a door to move onto the next. The biggest example for me is the water stage wherein you must go all the way to the end to grab the key then battle your way back in reverse, recontextualizing the hazards along the way. Tricks like this make for a decent challenge for newcomers but longtime fans shouldn't have too much trouble.
Difficulty is always a part of the discourse when it comes to these retro styled Castlevania games. The Belmont family is not a lineage known for their agility but instead of their complete commitment to their actions. This rather rigid and methodical gameplay is still intact without any change which is a scary prospect when the phrase "ROM Hack" is in the mix. Hacks are rather notoriously made for the most hardcore of fans and I can confirm this isn't the case here. Merciful placements of Pork Chops along with Relics make this a rather smooth experience. I personally only used the Rosary for the whole time to give myself a middle level of difficulty along with a panic button if things got hairy but for those who are intimidated may I recommend the Coffee Relic which is a healing item. I really do enjoy the option to make the game as difficult as I want through options available to me.
The only change I find baffling is to make the infamous "Medusa Heads" a more headache enducing affair. Instead of following a predictable pattern their equivalent will move slightly more unpredictably. In defense of the overall experience, instant death pits seem to be places more empathetically meaning most of the time you won't fall to your death from these specific enemies.
Graphically the darker vibe this hack holds is a nice change of scenery. NES Castlevania games typically have alot of rather gaudy colors in service to the game design. Readability is important on small CRT screens after all. Since the limitations of technology of the past have been obliterated the amount of freedom to have a more subdued color scheme isn't a criminal offense. I particularly enjoy the Forest stage with the dark greens and yellows on display. A knock against this game though are the enemy designs. You can tell a ton of work went into the enemy sprites, especially the all new bosses but they can be tonally anachronistic to the rest of the game. The final boss for example being the buff foxy grandpa he is. Bosses also have very limited animations but actually complaining about that would be splitting hairs.
Narratively the game is rather standard in there really isn't much. Holy Relics are stolen by an evil Necromancer who seeks to resurrect Dracula himself so Simon goes on his quest to retrieve them before that can happen. NES action platformers usually don't have much story so who cares? It does enough to contextualize your actions giving you enough purpose to see the adventure to its conclusion.
One thing about ROM Hacks that always seem to be is that everything is available to be changed except the music which makes sense. Hacking music in ROMs is remarkably challenging and could go very wrong very quickly. Mainly because how music is programmed is different between games meaning there isn't really a template to work off of. I bring this up because not only does this hack use music from different games in the series but houses two original compositions. A remarkable feat that deserves a mention and recognition especially since the new songs both are very great and also fit in with the rest of the music. They don't feel out of place at all.
In conclusion if you are a fan of Vintage-vania games or action platformers in general I cannot recommend this enough. There is a major caveat in that if the base game feel of the Castlevania series doesn't vibe with you this will not make you a believer. It softens the blow yes but doesn't change the fundamentals but as a package this is a rather brief but memorable experience worth playing.