Yeah… I definitely fall in the camp of thinking the 8-direction whip makes the game too easy. Don’t get me wrong, it is fun, and I definitely enjoy it as its own thing in a vacuum. Mostly I think that it takes away from the meticulous level design Classicvania strives for. Like, I feel like the non-boss enemies are designed with the NES controls in mind, so being able to blow through them at any angle erodes the design intent.
Super Castlevania IV in general feels like it’s trying to be a spectacle piece first and foremost. There are a ton of tricks taking advantage of the SNES’s hardware tricks, like sprite rotation and futzing with Mode 7. I’ve heard that sequences like walking across the chandeliers or that one room where the background spins in a cylinder were mind-blowing at the time. I’ve also heard takes saying that there really isn’t much to them, and these impressive visual tricks are just obfuscating extremely plain platforming sequences. I think both takes are fair, and where you come down on the game overall is largely a question of how much you’re taken by the spectacle. Me, I think they’re fine enough demonstrations of what you could do with the tech and worthwhile in that respect. Like, that bit where you’re hanging on a loop and the entire room rotates around you is still rad as all get-out, even if you’re not actually doing much during it.
It is weird to me that Dracula only has one form for this game. This is definitely meant to be offset by the boss rush immediately proceeding Drac, and that’s cool for what it is. It’s weird seeing Slogra and Gaibon as separate fights, when I’m so used to later games pairing them up. But it is kind of a bummer that Drac only ever poofs around and hurls fireballs! Even the original game had Cookie Monster, even if that only ever hopped towards the player menacingly. And it’s frustrating, because the game does that super rad thing where Simon’s theme gets reprised during the final hurrah as Drac’s pushed up against the ropes. But the game’s done nothing to actually warrant that sequence! Gah!
Super Castlevania IV is not a bad game or anything, and like I said, it’s still quite a fun time. It just tried to go in a different direction, and that didn’t really resonate with me. Still worth running through though, game’s a good enough time while it lasts.
Super Castlevania IV in general feels like it’s trying to be a spectacle piece first and foremost. There are a ton of tricks taking advantage of the SNES’s hardware tricks, like sprite rotation and futzing with Mode 7. I’ve heard that sequences like walking across the chandeliers or that one room where the background spins in a cylinder were mind-blowing at the time. I’ve also heard takes saying that there really isn’t much to them, and these impressive visual tricks are just obfuscating extremely plain platforming sequences. I think both takes are fair, and where you come down on the game overall is largely a question of how much you’re taken by the spectacle. Me, I think they’re fine enough demonstrations of what you could do with the tech and worthwhile in that respect. Like, that bit where you’re hanging on a loop and the entire room rotates around you is still rad as all get-out, even if you’re not actually doing much during it.
It is weird to me that Dracula only has one form for this game. This is definitely meant to be offset by the boss rush immediately proceeding Drac, and that’s cool for what it is. It’s weird seeing Slogra and Gaibon as separate fights, when I’m so used to later games pairing them up. But it is kind of a bummer that Drac only ever poofs around and hurls fireballs! Even the original game had Cookie Monster, even if that only ever hopped towards the player menacingly. And it’s frustrating, because the game does that super rad thing where Simon’s theme gets reprised during the final hurrah as Drac’s pushed up against the ropes. But the game’s done nothing to actually warrant that sequence! Gah!
Super Castlevania IV is not a bad game or anything, and like I said, it’s still quite a fun time. It just tried to go in a different direction, and that didn’t really resonate with me. Still worth running through though, game’s a good enough time while it lasts.