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Description

Simon Belmont returns in the first Castlevania title to grace the SNES. The console may be different, but the setup is very familiar: The place is Transylvania. The villain is Count Dracula.

Belmont has the classic Castlevania assortment of weapons (the famous whip, daggers, axes, fire bombs, boomerangs) at his disposal, and he gains strength and points by collecting various-sized hearts, coin purses, and pork chops.

Like most Castlevania games, Super Castlevania IV is a 2D side-scrolling action game. However, it is 2D with more depth than ever before. Parallax scrolling and rotating chambers are some of the "Mode 7" effects made possible by the SNES hardware.

Alternate Titles

  • "惡魔城" -- Chinese Title (traditional)
  • "悪魔城ドラキュラ" -- Japanese Spelling
  • "Castlevania 4" -- Common Informal Name
  • "Akumajo Dracula" -- Japanese title

Part of the Following Groups


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User Reviews

The "Belmont" Tolls For Thee... So Hai Bronze Star Contributing Member (290) 3.6 Stars3.6 Stars3.6 Stars3.6 Stars3.6 Stars
Easily one of the most enjoyable platformers for the SNES. Bregalad (666) 4.8 Stars4.8 Stars4.8 Stars4.8 Stars4.8 Stars
One of the best games for the SNES and of the entire Castlevania series Xantheous (1240) 4.4 Stars4.4 Stars4.4 Stars4.4 Stars4.4 Stars
The best old-school Castlevania game in the series. The Silverlord (4) 4.6 Stars4.6 Stars4.6 Stars4.6 Stars4.6 Stars
The greatest 2-D platform game ever made. Period. Simon Wingate (27) 4.8 Stars4.8 Stars4.8 Stars4.8 Stars4.8 Stars
An atmospheric masterpiece Brad Shead (6) 5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars
Hey Drac. How's It Goin? Lake Hylia (3) 5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars

The Press Says

Thunderbolt Games Oct 26, 2004 10 out of 10 100
Computer and Video Games (CVG) Dec, 1991 93 out of 100 93
Kingdom of Desire Feb 26, 2007 9 out of 10 90
Nintendo Land 2003 89 out of 100 89
Game Informer Magazine Apr, 2004 8.75 out of 10 88
Video Games Jan, 1992 83 out of 100 83
Power Play Feb, 1992 80 out of 100 80
Retrogaming.it Jan 22, 2008 7 out of 10 70
Digital Press - Classic Video Games May 01, 2005 7 out of 10 70
HonestGamers Jan 16, 2004 5 out of 10 50

Forums

Topic # Posts Last Post
Odd resolution 1 Supernintendo Chalmers (10819)
Jul 12, 2007

Trivia

There are differences between the US and Japanese releases of Super Castlevania IV. In Japan, the game is simply known as Akumajo Dracula. The cross on the tombstone at the beginning of the game was removed, for fear that people would be offended by lightning destroying the icon. Also, the name "Dracura" is visible in the Japanese version, but is merely a smudge in the American one.

There was also another censorship issue...the statues in level 6 were originally topless, but a toga was added for American release (why they changed this and not the nude Medusa is unclear). The font used in menus and the status bar is entirely different.

There there is the gore. The opening logo drips blood. All of that green slime in level 8 was original red, and even bits of gore were cleaned off the spikes in the English release. Cryptically enough, the tears of the crying eyeball thing are still red.


This entry was contributed by Corn Popper (66198) and PCGamer77 Bronze Star Contributing Member (3025)
 

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