AKUMAJÔ DRACULA
( Super Castlevania IV)
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(c) KONAMI 1991
Cartridge SHVC-AD
Action / Platform / Adventure
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Released in America as
SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV
( SNS-AD-USA )
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Released in Europe as
SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV
( SNSP-AD-### )
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The evil Dracula has returned again and he is back to his doomed castle.
Once again, Simon Belmont and his leather whip have been chosen to
defeat the beast. The whip's mobility in this episode is a great new feature
and can be moved in any direction and can swing around by
holding the attack button (Handy to pick up bonuses or deal with hard-to-reach
monsters). Simon can hit candles spread around the game to free special
bonuses, some of them will upgrade his whip, from weak leather to strong iron
chains. Others will give him a secondary weapon (Axes, Cross, Daggers,
Holy Water etc...). Those weapons can only be used a limited amount of times
though, and power hearts can be collected to make them last longer. Pieces
of meat can also be found, usually hidden inside walls, and will help
Simon to get back in shape before the final blow.
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Akumajô Drakula first appeared for the Famicom and Msx systems in 1986
and was renamed Castlevania for the rest of the world (Notice that the
Msx version was also caller Vampire Killer in Europe). An arcade game
based on this title was even released by Konami in 1988 and named Haunted
Castle in America. A sequel was released in 1987 as Dracula II: Noroi
no Fuuin and only for the Famicom Disk System. Akumajô Densetsu,
the third episode, followed in 1989 and once again for the Famicom system.
It is also known in the west as Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.
Akumajô Dracula released in 1991 for the Super Famicom can be considered
as the fourth episode, and it was therefore named Super Castlevania IV
in the west. A curious opus was only released for the PC Engine system in 1993.
Akumajô Dracula X: Chi no Rondo is often considered as one of the
last old style Vastlevania game by many players. Akumajô Dracula XX
released for the Super Famicom in 1995 reused a lot of ingredients from the
PC Engine version but also omitted a lot. This Super Famicom version, unlike
the PC Engine, was available in the west as Castlevania Dracula X.
Later, in 1998, Konami released the first, and only, Castlevania title for
the Sega's Saturn : Akumajô Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku (Dracula X).
The same year, the first 3D installment in the series was released for the
Nintendo 64 and titled Akumajô Dracula Mokushiroku (Castlevania in the west)
and will be followed by a sequel Akumajô Dracula Mokushiroku Gaiden: Legend of Cornell
(Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness in the west). Sony's Playstation will also
receive two Castlevania games but they followed the foot-steps of their 2D
predecessors : the beautiful Akumajô Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku
(Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, 1997) and the more classic
Akumajô Nendaiki: Akumajô Dracula (Castlevania Chronicles, 2001).
From that point on, Castlevania fell into the 3D realm and was
mainly available for the Playstation 2 system : Castlevania
(Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, 2003) and Akumajô Dracula: Yami no Juin
(Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, 2005). However, it is nice to notice that
a Nintendo DS version was released the same year as Akumajô Dracula: Sougetsu
no Juujika (Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, 2005). Castlevania
being a 20+ years old franchise, many more titles obviously exists, here are a
few : Boku Dracula-Kun (Famicom, 1990), Dracula Densetsu
(Game Boy, 1991). Dracula Densetsu II (GameBoy, 1991), Akumajô Dracula:
Shikkoku Taru Zensoukyoku (GameBoy, 1997), Akumajô Dracula: Circle of the
Moon (GameBoy Advance, 2001) and the Classic NES Series: Castlevania
( GameBoyAdvance, 2004).
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Teaser text from the American version:
The GRAVEST CASTLEVANIA ADVENTURE BREAKS NEW GROUND... AND BURIES YOU IN IT.
A century of Transylvanian tranquility is about to come to a shocking end.
Once again the mortifying screams of helpless villagers shake the ground
as they huddle against new nightmarish horrors unleashed by the Duke of
darkness, Count Dracula. And this time he has a tombstone with your name
on it, SImin Belmont.
You must descend into Castle of the Undead and its gruesome grounds,
accompanied by the most chilling sound effects to ever tingle your spine.
Inside, a freshly dug 11 level maze features the treacherous Terrace of Terror,
the dangerous Rotating Dungeon, the Sunken Ruins of Lost Spirits, torture
chambers and creature filled caves. Use your whip like a grapping hook and
swing past hundreds of traps and a host of ghost freaks, living corpses and
hidden goblins. All while dodging or destroying the unpredictable spitting
lizards, carnivorous coffins, and more.
Find the concealed weapons needed to defeat everything from eerie
phantoms to haunted furniture. Then prepare to find yourself face-to-thing
with hideous torments like the Tongue Lasher, the Darkest Knight, the
Bone-Afide Horseman and the Granite Crusher. When your nerves get shot,
use your password and take a breather. But forge on, Simon Blemont, because
if you thought Dracule was down for the count, he's only begun to fight!
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
O
V
s
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Simon Belmont is back. As usual with most of the
first Castlevania games, stages are cleverly structured and
some of them are beautifully done, like the double-sided
fence located right after the Castle's main entrance,
and bosses can be eye, and jaw, dropping. Sadly some stages could have
looked better and you can sadly feel that the same handful of sprites were tiled up
to fill up walls and other parts of the scenery. The game
is also very linear which is somehow unexpected and a
major disappointment compared to its predecessors. There is
only one path to go through and this massively decreases
re-playability which was an important feature of other
Castlevania titles, but we have to keep in mind
this episode was released back in 1991.
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