Old School Review: Castlevania

[Saint_Michael 3]

I thought I would come back with an old school review since its been almost a year since I did one with Mega Man 3 and so I want to talk about another legendary classic and would list in the top ten most difficult NES games of all time, Castlevania. However, before I get into my review of the game thought I would refresh everyone's memories of my Old School review. What I do is review classic games from the old school era and this consists of games from Nintendo Entertainment System and Old School Arcade games from the 1980s and 1990s. I provide some basic information about the game such as who made it, what year it came out etc. Then I give my thoughts about this game from the past and my thoughts about this game now.

 

Thats about it really, sure I could talk about current generation gaming but let be realistic, 1970s- mid 1990s was the golden era of gaming because most of those game you had to play in one shot, no saving, no check points and lots and I means lots of cheat codes. Still for a person who has been gaming since the Nintendo era I have enjoyed plenty of games, broke many controllers and of course beat a game or two. As a gamer from that I thought I would cherish this golden age with my thoughts and feelings about what I enjoy most video games.

 

Though I do not have the classic NES system and a 12 inch TV screen, I enjoy playing these games through an emulator of which I recommend Nestopia as it works on XP, Vista and Windows 7. So let's get down to business folks and let's go back to memory lane.

 

Castlevania

 

Some Screen Shots

 

 

 

Game Maker: Konami

 

Year: 1987

 

Price: $40-$50 a game

 

Levels: 6

 

Sound: 10

 

Graphics: 8

 

Mini-Games: None

 

Difficulty: Back then: 10 Now: 10

 

Replay Value: 10

 

Game play:

 

Plot:

 

You are Simon Belmont, member of the Belmont clan whose sole mission in life is to destroy vampires or more particular the man himself Dracula. In this side scrolling game your put to the test as you fight through bats, ghosts, sea monsters, skeletons, Frankenstein, knights, hell dogs and then Dracula himself. If you succeed Dracula goes back to sleep, and bids his time to come back again. oh yeah, you have 300 seconds on each stage to do this in.

 

 

First Impressions:

 

What can I say about this game, that I cannot say today, this was indeed a difficult game because you racing against the clock and it was all about remembering paths and figuring out the best way to beat the bosses without dying. The closest I got in this game was stage two, I think. and by the time I would get to the bat boss I was on my last life and with only a few health points left. Heck i don't think my brother fared well in this game and since you had to start from the beginning it definitely got frustrating after a while. Still, it was a fun game with great music and unbeknownst to me would continue strive for 20+ years.

 

 

23 Years Later:

 

This game is still difficult and even if with the cheats running if you didn't time your jumps correctly or press the up or down buttons on those stairs, instant death. Of course, the replay value is still there due to the fact that you want to be able to beat this game without taking a lot of damage. Truly this game puts your skills to the test and I bet most gamers today would have a hard time playing this game since you have to race against the clock and of course try to survive.

 

 

Overall Ranking:

 

Easy 10 because this is still one of the most difficult games in gaming history.

 

 

Now for that Catchy slogan--

 

"Games don't get old, just people!"

 

 

 

--Now for some copyright info--

Images and of course games are copyrighted to its perspective owners blah blah blah. Roms are illegal and so do not get caught blah blah blah or else blah blah blah. Reviews and opinions are my own so don't argue with me unless you can prove otherwise why this game sucks and 100% of the time you are wrong because one your either a new school gamer and don't know a good game when you see it or two, well there is no two so HA!!. All slogans, trademarks and names excluded the games I review are copyrighted to me blah blah and blah. 2007-2010 SM Old School Legend.