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DEVELOPER
Konami
PUBLISHER
Konami
AVAILABLE
Now
MEDIUM
Cartridge
PLAYERS
One
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always had my doubts about a 3D Castlevania. After Konami introduced the N64 version of this much beloved franchise, and released some early screenshots, my only reaction to the game was to cringe. However, after seeing the later build in Atlanta last year, and hearing some very positive feedback from people in IRC, I decided to buy it anyway. Besides, since when does someone need a reason to buy a Castlevania game? They’ve always been great.
Of course, Castlevania on the N64 features a quest to rid the land of the Prince of Darkness, Count Dracula. There are two quests on this cartridge, one for Reinhardt Schneider (direct descendent of the Belmont Clan) and Carrie Fernandez (who is apparently a descendent of Syphia Belnades, from Castlevania III). Each adventurer uses different  weapons and is more suited than the other to deal with certain circumstances. Reinhardt is a true Belmont, expertly wielding a whip and sword, while Carrie’s abilities are magical. However, the object is the same no matter who you play, destroy Count Dracula. Unfortunately, the paths are the same as well.
The Castlevania series has always had a recognizable style about it. You always know when you’re looking at a game from this franchise, the dark, gothic settings and the rich character design. Castlevania on the N64 represents the first attempt at adding the third dimension to this style. While Konami has done an admirable job, especially with the various enemies, the heavily filtered, low-resolution textures on everything really serve to overpower any effect the graphics would have had. Admittedly the game looks much better once you get inside some of the buildings and the castle, but it still can’t shake that “N64 look.” Normally I’d expect it, but ever since the Legend of Zelda the graphical standards on the N64 are just that much higher.
 On top of the somewhat disappointing graphics is the slowdown and camera problems encountered while playing. The slowdown really doesn’t affect the gameplay at all, but it’s really noticeable. You can literally see your character running much slower in more demanding areas of the game than others. The camera problems become evident mostly during battle, if you get backed into a corner and use the “lock-on” button you’ll find yourself looking through your character directly at the ground more often than not.
Speaking of the control, Konami opted for a Zelda setup. Reinhardt and Carrie both have a lock-on targeting button, two primary weapon attacks, a crouch button, a secondary weapon attack, and an action button. The action button is the only thing I really don’t like. Having to pick up something in the middle of a battle is very annoying; not to mention it can prove fatal. We’ve never had to use a button to pick up items in any Castlevania title before this, why start now? My only other gripe with the control is the fact that the lock-on can mess up the camera and you can’t move while it’s depressed unless you jump. Konami could have taken another lesson from Zelda here, too.
 The best part about Castlevania on N64 has to be the music. Understandably it’s no where near the quality found on the recent Saturn and PlayStation versions of the game, but it’s high quality and it’s Castlevania through and through. It reminds me a lot of the classic tunes in Castlevania IV on the SNES. I normally don’t go for cartridge music anymore, but the composition is so nice this time that I can’t help but like it. There’s also a conservative collection of voice acting, and the sound effects are crisp and clear, and very effective.
In the end, I really want to like Castlevania, but I can’t. Konami made a truly complete quest by throwing in a very long section leading up to the Castle, but ultimately it becomes boring. Once you actually get into some of the architecture, the bad camera angles and less than perfect collision detection makes the game an exercise in frustration most of the time. Castlevania could have been good with a little more play testing; in fact, I could even overlook the graphics at that point. Definitely rent this first, I would only recommend it for someone who simply must own everything with the word Castlevania on it.
-- Greg Sewart
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