Super Castlevania IV is a solid entry in the traditional whip-slingin' series. A few elements drag it down, but ultimately it delivers on the classic Castlevania experience. The major improvement is the inclusion of the 8-way whip attack. You're never short of options to deal with enemy positions, and you're gonna need them as this game absolutely loves to put enemies above, below, and all around you. Unfortunately, your whip can't save you from a number of vertical levels where the moment the ground goes off-screen everything turns into a death pit. Add in those enemy positions I mentioned and suddenly moments of the game feel incredibly cheap. Dodging flying axes while hanging from an auto-scrolling ring is not exactly the pinnacle of a good time. With checkpoints happening every 2 to 3 screen transitions, you're very likely going to end up in a cycle of replaying very long and tedious segments just to get back to the point where you got your last game over from phasing through a staircase you didn't know was beneath you.
On the other end of the difficulty spectrum are the bosses. While the levels can get very frustrating and require patience and precision, nearly every boss can just be tanked and wailed on until they explode. Sometimes bosses take up to 3 hits just for one pip of their health bar to drop, but if you're facing them with full health yourself it doesn't really matter as long as you stay on the offensive. In some ways it's a decent trade-off for the difficulty of the levels and platforming, but I personally wish that was reversed.
The music is also an uneven package. The title screen and opening level do an amazing job setting the tone for an eerie and exciting adventure, and the final moments of the game bring back the best Castlevania tracks in the series. The entire middle portion, however, is a sort of strange miasma of tonal drones and random noodling. Most tracks have no discernable melody. It's like a Dracula-themed jazz lounge show and is sadly unremarkable.
While it doesn't hit the best highs of the series, Super Castlvania IV is still fun and exciting and does feel like a proper adventure (the level map transitions are really terrific at chronicling your journey). Some of the level design is a straight bummer, and bosses offer very little challenge, but infinite continues and passwords keep you giving it "one more try." And when Simon's theme kicks in as you get down to the last moments of Dracula's health bar... damn does it feel good to be a Belmont.
On the other end of the difficulty spectrum are the bosses. While the levels can get very frustrating and require patience and precision, nearly every boss can just be tanked and wailed on until they explode. Sometimes bosses take up to 3 hits just for one pip of their health bar to drop, but if you're facing them with full health yourself it doesn't really matter as long as you stay on the offensive. In some ways it's a decent trade-off for the difficulty of the levels and platforming, but I personally wish that was reversed.
The music is also an uneven package. The title screen and opening level do an amazing job setting the tone for an eerie and exciting adventure, and the final moments of the game bring back the best Castlevania tracks in the series. The entire middle portion, however, is a sort of strange miasma of tonal drones and random noodling. Most tracks have no discernable melody. It's like a Dracula-themed jazz lounge show and is sadly unremarkable.
While it doesn't hit the best highs of the series, Super Castlvania IV is still fun and exciting and does feel like a proper adventure (the level map transitions are really terrific at chronicling your journey). Some of the level design is a straight bummer, and bosses offer very little challenge, but infinite continues and passwords keep you giving it "one more try." And when Simon's theme kicks in as you get down to the last moments of Dracula's health bar... damn does it feel good to be a Belmont.