Super Castlevania IV

aka: Akumajƍ Dracula, Castlevania 4, æƒĄé­”ćŸŽ
Moby ID: 6619
SNES Specs
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Description official descriptions

Super Castlevania IV is, story-wise, a remake of the first game in the series. Set in the year 1691, the game casts the player in the role of Simon Belmont, a vampire hunter armed with a powerful whip, on a quest to defeat the evil Count Dracula in his castle. Despite the identical plot, the six castle stages have different layouts and themes; also, five initial stages that depict Simon's advancement towards the castle through various environments have been added.

The gameplay consists of traversing timed, linear platform stages, defeating enemies with the whip or sub-weapons that require collecting hearts and can be found by destroying parts of the scenery. Simon's stand-out ability in this installment are eight-directional attacks with his whip, which allow him, among others, to damage enemies standing below and above him. Holding out the whip will block enemy attacks. Simon can also latch his whip on special grappling points to swing over pits and obstacles. Game progression is saved by passwords given to the player after a stage has been completed.

Visually, the game uses hardware "Mode 7" effects such as parallax scrolling, rotating rooms, and pseudo-3D objects in some locations.

Spellings

  • æ‚Șé­”ćŸŽăƒ‰ăƒ©ă‚­ăƒ„ăƒ© - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (SNES version)

15 People (14 developers, 1 thanks)

Main Programmer
Player Programmer
Enemy Programmer
Main Designer
VRam Designer
Object Designer
Sound Designer
Super Voice
  • Akkun
Total Director
Producer
Special Thanks
  • Konami Kurokotai
Presented by
  • Konami
Cover Artwork by

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 88% (based on 44 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 143 ratings with 7 reviews)

The "Belmont" Tolls For Thee...

The Good
If you've ever wondered what thrashing an un-dead Count with a long, flexible chain feels like, then maybe this game is for you. In the grand tradition of Bram Stoker's horror classic, Simon Belmont takes it upon himself to rid his world of these unspeakable evils - an un-dead army full of ghouls, zombies, living skeletons, knights and all other kinds of graveyard trash.

So, as an action-adventure game, you move through (mostly) two-dimensional levels that challenge you to jump precisely, avoid attacks, and kill at will with the aforementioned whip/chain. You’re a 16-bit Van Helsing, and the body-count at the end of this game is phenomenal, but, unlike your Contra or your other action games, you feel less sympathy for these Lovecraftian abominations as they either explode in a burst of femurs and ribs, or simply implode, as if returning to the purgatory they were delivered from.

Throughout the game, Simon swings and whips his way among many locales - it's a tour of the unspeakable realms of evil. Broken and crumbling facades, wrought-iron bent and rusted, slime-dripping caverns and even a treasure-trove littered with golden monies and treasures, (a demented take on Scrooge McDuck's vault?!). The count really has quite a fun park for you to get through here, and the constantly changing areas are logged on a pre-level Mode 7 style map - unfortunately, this is a pre-determined course that you and Simon must traverse. And the count draws ever closer!

As this is quite an early release for this system, you can see that this is a more traditional platform-style game, understandably in the tradition of the NES Castlevania titles. Everything has been updated from these 8-bit entries, and overall the Super alluded to in the title is a promise that is kept. Animations are simple but effective, sprites are well-drawn and coloured, and the enemies are varied and truly aggressive, (who would of thought a simple bat would pose such a threat?!)

Does the game play match the vision? In a short answer, it does. Simon does controls stiffly, but it seems right somehow. He walks, never runs, and has a moderate jump that seems quite plausible. His whipping motion has a far enough reach, but takes that little moment of time to fully unleash - again this has a realistic touch. But, you will get frustrated somewhere along the way, for Castlevania has that unique phenomenon that video games posses - that in which when you fall from the screen view, you die inexplicably. Add to this the violent lunging Simon undergoes when struck by a foe (even of a light-weight bat!), and you'll find yourself dropping off whichever tiny platform you were perilously clinging to.

Castlevania must have set a precedent for the role of end-of-level enemies in games. The boss fights in this game, although not always challenging, are still epic in their vision. It's like a who's who of evil mythology - a veritable Necronomicon of the gaming world. Of course, I cannot name them all here, but I will say that the Count himself is rivalled in his horrendousness by many of his cronies. And an appearance by the scythe-wielding, black-robed Death is but one of the despicable characters Simon must challenge - whip in hand.

The Bad
One thing bothered me though. I find the colour-scheme used for several of the levels thoroughly un-scary. A terrible mix of mini-golf turf green and a heightened dog-crap brown in some of the earlier levels undermines the brilliant score and artistic sprite qualities. Thankfully, these levels disappear fairly quickly, and we begin to explore the darker, moodier and repugnant regions in coming levels. Simon, on his lonely and loathsome quest, is thrown into cracking dark grey stairwells, Atlantis-like columns blasted with underground cascades, and neglected Victorian mansions, complete with chandeliers and long echoing halls. It's creepy.

And, for whatever reason, the game has a mysterious element that has given it a long life. The silence of Belmont (he never utters a word, nor is one ever subtitled), the unexplained route we're taken on, and the lack of human beings (other than Simon himself) add to the isolation greatly. This point however, is a matter of taste.

The Bottom Line
I think Castlevania's success is due to it's cohesion in the development stages - something that seems to be lacking in modern games. When the credits role, you can't help but notice that some names repeat, and this got me thinking. When a talented and dedicated team of developers and programmers stick to a vision, and set sensible limits to their goals, they can't help but succeed in making something meaningful. Modern games have taken an almost Hollywood-style role in their production, with massive departmental and divisional staff working on fragments of the finished product. To my mind, this waters-down the core elements of the production.

The question I have is this: would such a small team of today, working on a severely limited platform as the SNES be able to create such a future-proof title as Castlevania? I'm not so sure.

SNES · by So Hai (261) · 2008

The best old-school Castlevania game in the series.

The Good
For years now, fans of the Castlevania series have stood and argued their corner for what they feel is the greatest triumph of the series. For me, and for many others, it is surely Castlevania IV.

The game is a masterclass of music, environment and atmosphere. This game in the series inspires an almost macabre emotion within the gamer, a sense of spine-tingling dark excitement—emotion we use to bolster and enthuse our hero, Simon Belmont, that his diminutive strength overcome the many dark denizens and perils of the night.

Almost from the go you’ll encounter garishly drawn backgrounds, use of dark colours such as purples and greys—dismal tones indeed—the game establishing its setting through an impressive gloomy palette. Graphics appear at times insipid and tasteless, flawed, yet therein lies perfection in capturing setting, locality and feel. In Castlevania IV the experience of the game is everything. Landscapes are anxious, small crumbling towers decay in the backdrop, fell fogs roll in and out, the moon remains vacant in the night sky.

Musical compositions go a long way to assisting the immersive quality of the game. You’ll quickly come to realise this: the sinister introduction sequence is particularly effective through the use of a disquieting piece of music. You will literally feel your spine shudder. Even this is followed up with an eerie title display and music vaguely reminiscent of a Hammer Horror. Orchestral value is significant, with use of strings, cello, flute, and many more—the instruments frequently (and very comfortably) lying atop bass. Compositions are generally short, but take nothing away from them: each is a masterpiece; the collection a remarkable feat of instrument sound engineering and programming.

Castlevania IV doesn’t disappoint with the gameplay. It’s the only 2D game in the series to let Simon cast his whip around at any angle, let if freely dangle as a means of protection, or use it to swing off objects. There’s nothing more satisfying than whipping and dispatching an enemy with a downward forty-five degree angle assault, or making two or three successive whip swings and jumps to a rewarding platter of fowl (yum). There are eleven levels in the game, so it’s by no means small, and the levels vary significantly in feel and design.

The Bad
Admittedly, the game isn’t too difficult, and being able to flick the whip out at angles makes it easy to kill some enemies above you, for example, without becoming embroiled in direct hand-to-hand. The main character, Simon Belmont, is a little slow and sluggish, occasionally unresponsive. That said, when you get into the game, and become more adept at controlling the character and his whip, the fun will begin.

The Bottom Line
The game doesn’t have the depth of Symphony of the Night, the wealth of collectables, the size of the castle, etc. It more than makes up for this however with atmospheric action. Rondo of Blood is often argued a better game, although I think this depends on whether you like its anime style or not. Castlevania IV is infinitely darker, more mature, for the Hammer Horror in you.

SNES · by The Silverlord (3) · 2003

One of the best games for the SNES and of the entire Castlevania series

The Good
In this fourth installment of Konami's Castlevania series, the first for the Super NES (With the first three being for the NES which I haven't played) you play the role of Simon Belmont who comes from a family of vampire slayers who have passed down the knowledge from generation to generation and swore to keep the evil powers of Dracula from taking hold through the centuries. Every 100 years Dracula mysteriously regains his power and must be vanquished. This game is actually a remake of the first Castlevania released on the NES but at the same time is very different from the original.

Released in 1991, Super Castlevania IV is a visually stunning and musically historical 2D platform action game even to this day. It showcased the many graphical capabilities of the new Super NES with parallax scrolling, Mode-7 effects such as rotating and spinning rooms that were so convincing it gave some players motion sickness, and some level bosses that were as large as the screen! The graphics are extremely detailed and remains some of the best seen on the Super NES. The music in the game remains one of the best Castlevania soundtracks to this day and does very well in setting the eerie horror driven atmosphere of the game. Sound effects are well done from the sounds of bricks cracking, bones bursting or wolves howling, they're very well done and highly utilize the stereo functionality of the Super NES. Speaking of atmosphere, this game has plenty of it for your enjoyment. The combination of the creepy background graphics and colour palette and mesmerizingly haunting soundtrack and sound effects suck you in and edge you on until you finally vanquish the irrepressible Dracula.

Gameplay-wise it is very fluid and Simon can now whip in 8 directions (The first and only game in the series to date that features this). You also can collect sub-weapons throughout the game such as the axe, boomerang, fire bomb, knife or stop watch which freezes time. You collect hearts throughout the game which are stored in candles which you must whip in order to release them. Each time you use a sub-weapon, it depletes some of your hearts (Separate from your health meter). Difficulty is moderate with the game being enjoyable with the first few levels being relatively easy with progressing difficulty. Some higher levels can get a bit tedious but the atmosphere of the game makes you want to keep going to see more of it in the levels to come.

As far as replayability goes, you are able to play the game on a harder difficulty once you beat it and while you may not want to play it again right away, you can record your password and come back to it in a few weeks to enjoy all over again. This game has no battery-backed memory, so it uses the mentioned password continue system to allow you to continue your game later where you left off.

The Bad
There are times when the game has noticeable slow-down especially when there are many enemies on the screen or when you whip a couple of skeletons and all of their bones go flying around the screen. It can be annoying at times but rarely would cause you to lose a life.

Other than that, I can't think of much else I disliked about this game.

The Bottom Line
This is an example of a Castlevania game at it's finest. A 2D action side-scrolling platformer where your quest to kill Dracula, while not an overly original plot, makes for a delicious gameplay experience which is highly addictive. Definitely a classic. If you have a Super NES it is well worth checking out. Many hours of haunting enjoyment await you.

SNES · by Xantheous (1495) · 2005

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Also released May 2019, part of Anniversary Collection, including a Windows version. Andrew Fisher (697) Jun 23, 2023
Odd resolution Mobygamesisreanimated (11069) Jul 12, 2007

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The SNES version of Super Castlevania IV appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Boss names

There are some interesting and quirky boss names in this game. The level 4 mid-boss "Puwexil", the skull with the lashing tongue, when spelled backwards is "Lix Ew Up". The level 4 end boss, a huge rock monster named "Koronot", when spelled backwards is "Ton O Rok". The level 6 end boss, the dancing spectres "Fred Askare & Paula Abgoul" is an obvious and very quirky play on names for Fred Astaire & Paula Abdul.

Version differences

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.

Then 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.

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #20 (Best 100 Games of All Time)
  • Retro Gamer Magazine
    • (Issue 37) - voted #19 in the "Top 25 Platformers of All Time" poll

Information also contributed by PCGamer77 and Xantheous

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Related Sites +

  • Mr. P's Castlevania Realm
    A comprehensive hosted fan "shrine" site dedicated to everything and anything related to Castlevania including Super Castlevania IV. Tips, cheats, walkthroughs, enemy lists, backstories, collectors collections, the Castlevania timeline and more.
  • OC ReMix Game Profile
    Fan remixes of music from Super Castlevania IV.
  • Super Castlevania IV is Hard
    Alex explains why he thinks Super Castlevania IV is too hard
  • The Castlevania Dungeon
    A hosted fan "shrine" site devoted to all the games of the Castlevania series, including the SNES game Super Castlevania IV. Content includes game info/descriptions, plot summaries, various kinds of media (images, MP3s, etc.) and links to other Castlevania-related sites.
  • The Castlevania Treasury
    A fan "shrine" site dedicated to all the games in the Castlevania series including Super Castlevania IV. Includes music from the games, backstories, walkthroughs, trivia details and much more.
  • Video review of the Castlevania series (WARNING: Language)
    The Angry Video Game Nerd, James Rolfe, reviews games in the Castlevania series. In part 3, he reviews Super Castlevania IV and Castlevania: Dracula X, both on SNES as well as Castlevania on Nintendo 64. He mentions Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness but does not review it.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 6619
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by PCGamer77.

Wii added by Corn Popper. New Nintendo 3DS, Wii U added by Michael Cassidy.

Additional contributors: Xantheous, Satoshi Kunsai, Alaka, CaptainCanuck, ИггО Đ”Ń€ŃƒĐłĐ”, LepricahnsGold, Thomas Thompson, FatherJack, A.J. Maciejewski.

Game added June 7, 2002. Last modified March 27, 2024.