Castlevania Reviews - Super Castlevania IV

Super Castlevania IV:

Well ya know his name is Simon, and he likes to hunt vampires. And he ends up doing it alot! Probably taking place after Haunted Castle, Vampire Killer and Castlevania, but simultaneously with Akumajo Dracula X68000, and before Simon's Quest, and before the invention of the mini-skirt, Super Castlevania IV was released in 1991 in the very early days of the Super Nintendo. It was the first 16 bit home version of a Castlevania game, and the graphics still look quite good today. It introduced whip-swinging, brandishing and multi-directional whipping, and it's alot of fun even after you've played it many times. Not too hard but not exactly easy, SCV4 is just the right level of challenging and it's a classic. Let's take a look at the over-all gameplay.

The levels in SCV4 are split up into seperate sections, and some stages have two bosses, sometimes the boss will be in the middle of the level and sometimes only one boss appears at the very end. None of the bosses besides Dracula are very hard, you can usually pick up the patterns right away. Medusa in particular is pitiful, and after a very hard level, Frankenstein doesn't put up much of a fight, either. The enemies themselves are the regularly seen old skeletons, ravens, bats, mermen and bone pillars, etc. Many areas have to be swung over with the cool whip swinging feature, you'll know when because a ringed hook with a gargoyle on it will be right above the area. Pressing down makes your whip longer when you swing, as sometimes you need to extend and swing to the fullest length. One section of level 4 has you hanging from a hook while the room flips upside down twice. Peachy. Well, here's the boss list.

Stg 1. Rowdain: A skeletal mount and rider ( see pic below ). Cross boomerang works best.

Stg 2. The Mother In Law: This evil creature, with snakes for hair and a stone inducing stare, can- oh, WAIT, that's Medusa. A triple shot cross boomerang ends the fight in about 2 seconds.

Stg 3. Orphic Vipers: The one isn't so tough when the other dies. Stay low and whip upper diagonally.

Stg 4. Boss A: Puweyxil: A big skull head that licks you. Pleasant. Axes or cross boomerangs work well here. Boss B: Koranot: A big rock chucking golem. Try to jump on the raising platforms and whip away, it's more effective than the axe you will probably have.

Stg 5. No boss.

Stg 6. The Dancing Spectors: I don't know what Konami was thinking, but their names are Paula Abghoul and Fred Askare. For that they deserve the painful death you give them by whipping their ass with the vampire killer. Just avoid the sabers they throw.

Stg 7. Sir Grakul: Not as tough as he looks. Axes and quick, suicidal whipping.

Stg 8. Frankenstein: He's a real wuss in this one. Just whip him.

Stg 9. Zapf Bat: He's a bat made out of gold. Just like in your worst nightmares, right? He's not too tough though.

Level A Akmodan II: A big huge wuss. Holy water, which you can grab right b4 fighting him, messes him up real good.

Level B Slogra: He's tough the first few times, get his pattern and then he's easy...just avoid him as he drops basically, and know how many hits you can land.

Death: Might be hard the first few times you fight him, but getting under him and whipping up does the job, just avoid all that he throws out at ya.

Gaibon: Not hard at all. Just jump, hit, avoid.

And finally, Dracula: Use the cross, and see if you can't work out a pattern. He'll be hard the first few times, but you'll get him. Whipping the spinning fireball he shoots out will get you a small pot roast.

"I always keep a pot roast in my spinning fireballs. Who doesn't?"

Super Castlevania IV can still be found brand new in some stores, for around twenty bucks. If ya don't have it and you are a CV fan...what the hell r ya waiting for? It's been out since 1991! Go get it!

Whee, kiddies, ride the friendly Rowdain! Admit it, the Rowdain is a complete tool.