Super Nintendo #9: Super Castlevania IV

 

Developer: Konami

Publisher: Konami

Release Date: 10-31-1991

I love the random nature of my blog so much that I tend to purposely avoid holidays and events on purpose just to be difficult. I'm just as likely to be writing about a Christmas themed volleyball game in October as I am something spooky. Actually, I might do that if I knew of any Christmas themed volleyball games. This year, however, I thought I would actually give in and cover one of the great spooky games. It's that classic Castlevania game with the funny name. Most games being upgraded for Super Nintendo either kept their NES numbering or added "Super" and started over. Konami had to go and do both. They really wanted the player to know that this game is super and it's also the fourth Castlevania game. I guess they were never much for subtlety. Honestly though I think they should've added a colon and named it Super: Castlevania IV because super is more of a description than a title. What they made was a Castlevania game that is just like the original except improved in every way. It's one of those great early Super Nintendo game that illustrated why the upgrade was so important. It really is stunning how many must-play games Super Nintendo had before its first Christmas. 

It's always interesting to play an old favorite that I haven't picked up in a long time because it's never quite how I remember. It's not too much of a surprise that Super Castlevania IV is difficult. That's pretty much a given for a side-scrolling Castlevania game. But it's not difficult in the way I expected. It's not an ultra-intense game that throws endless waves of enemies at the player. I was actually surprised by the game's leisurely pace. It's not quite as stiff as the NES Castlevania games, but Simon Belmont is still in no particular hurry to meet Dracula. There are moments where the enemies on screen will give you plenty of trouble, but they are deliberately spaced enemies and not endlessly respawing hordes. What makes Super Castlevania difficult, and also what makes it great, is that the game is always giving you a new experience. It's a slowly unfolding adventure where every level has a new surprise.

Super Castlevania IV is a remake of the original game on its surface, but the levels are much more intricate. It starts with the very first level's chain-link wall. Having multiple planes was still novel for a side-scroller, and you have to switch between the front and back to avoid holes. Famously there is a rotating room that has Simon hanging by his whip while waiting for the room to stop spinning. Konami throws out every graphical trick of the early SNES era including a spinning cylindrical room and giant candelabras that have to be jumped across. I can't say that the levels have much consistency, and despite them taking place mostly within Dracula's castle they can look radically different even from screen to screen. The developers were not concerned with making the castle seem like any kind of real place, so weirdness and fun are prioritized over authenticity. Sure, it makes sense that Dracula would have a library, but what does he need with a long hallway full green slime pools? Or a gallery consisting mostly of pictures of crossbows? Is it normal for castle to have interior towers? And parts of the castle seem to be actively working against Dracula. Simon would've never made it of there didn't just happen to be all those floating books going across those large gaps. Those books definitely have a mind of their own and they have aligned themselves with the good guys. Also, I would hate it if my library was full of giant pitfalls. I would be walking along with my nose in a book and that would be the end of me. That gives Super Castlevania two things in common with Gordo 106. They both have odd names and floors full of dangerous pits. Hey that's another thing I love about Super Castlevania IV. It gives me an excuse to reference terrible, obscure Atari Lynx games.

I could talk about the great levels all day, and the experience is improved by Konami finally making a Castlevania game with good controls. It's smoother than earlier games, there is a separate button for bonus weapons, and most importantly Simon's whip can now be swung every which way. I can't even describe how much better Castlevania games are when you can aim your weapon up and down. Simon can also swing his whip around limply like a rhythmic gymnast's ribbon. It's weaker than the normal attack, and is more for show than anything, but it does come in handy occasionally. What was cooler in 1991 than being able to swing your whip in any direction and climb stairs backwards? 

Super Castlevania IV is also a game that will keep a player busy for a while. When the original Castlevania came out far too many games had to be completed in one sitting. I don't think this is something that very many people miss from the good old days. Castlevania is an incredibly hard game, and I don't know if I've ever even made it halfway through without getting frustrated. Luckily, by 1991 many more games had passwords. This also meant that Super Castlevania IV could have more levels without getting too frustrating. I can take a break and come back if it gets too hard. I probably don't need to sell the concept of passwords to people in 2024, but it really is an important feature. The games were getting bigger in addition to being better looking. 

I'm starting to ramble a bit so I should probably wrap this review up. It can sometimes be hard to talk about such a familiar game and make it eloquent without just rattling off goofy compliments. Super Castlevania is going to rank high, but not as high as I initially expected. The top of my list is starting to get crowded with my favorite games. This means Super Castlevania IV is getting pushed all the way down to lucky #13. It's my second-best Super Nintendo game so far just behind Soul Blazer. It does break up the RPG monopoly at the top, but I still need more variety on the list. Maybe I'll expand into even more SNES genres. Did they ever make a good racing game for the system? Super Castlevania IV is definitely a great game for the Halloween season. It has the perfect atmosphere right down to the music, and most importantly is just fun to play. Castlevania would have a bit of an odd life in the 16-bit era with some interesting games but not any blockbusters until Symphony of the Night completely revamped the series. Symphony of the Night is the game that puts the "vania" in Metroidvania, and I think this is the type of gameplay associated with the series now. So, it's fun to go back and play a truly old school, level-by-level side scroller. It's easy to see why the Super Nintendo caught on so quickly. 

Super Nintendo Quality Percentage: 7/9 or 77.78%

Super Nintendo #8: The 7th Saga

Developer: Produce

Publisher: Enix

Release Date: 4-23-93

(Does anyone else think this cover makes it look like the hero is turning into a giant praying mantis?)

The 7th Saga is a game with quite the reputation, or at least as much of a reputation as a thirty-year-old game that nobody's ever heard of can have. It's a little-known RPG that is remembered mainly for being very hard. It's often thought of as the most difficult RPG on Super Nintendo, an epic grind that takes an hour or more of fighting the weakest enemies just to make it to the next town. Of course, the game's relative obscurity means that this reputation is overblown. More people have heard about this game than have played it. It's a game I have owned for years and only played a little bit out of fear. I didn't want to get twenty or thirty hours in only to realize that it was going to be too difficult to finish. I finally worked up the courage to actually attempt a playthrough, and I hate to sound boastful, but it really wasn't that hard. Now I've probably spent more time in my life playing RPGs than any other form of entertainment, but I don't think I'm that good at them. There are countless games I have started that got frustrating and I put on hold. If I could actually finish all the RPGs I've started, my backlog would shrink by 100 games or more. I am much better at enjoying them that I am at finishing them. So, take it from a true mediocre enthusiast when I say that The 7th Saga isn't as difficult as people say it is. Don't be afraid to give it a try. I've you're an obsessive RPG fan like I am, you will probably find something to like.

(This game (contains too many) rocks!)

I can see why people talk about the difficulty so much, because it really stands out in an otherwise traditional turned-based RPG. Of course, I love traditional RPGs so I'm not going to complain about that specifically. If you have played any than you know the drill. You visit towns, travel between them while fighting just an absurd number of monsters, save up to get better equipment, explore dungeons, and fight some screen-filling bosses. I'd say this is one of the most straightforward of all Super Nintendo RPGs. There aren't many side quests and it's hard to do anything out of order. Mostly this is a good thing. I think I played through it so quickly because I always knew what I was going to get. Honestly, for such a notorious game I was surprised how quickly I got into it. The developers certainly got that part right.

The most unique aspect of The 7th Saga, at least by 1993 standards, is its odd cast of characters. At the beginning of the game, you pick one of seven characters with mostly traditional RPG roles. All the non-chosen characters are sent out on the same quest, so you will encounter them along your journey. 
This doesn't always go well. There is room for another party member and sometimes they will want to join you. Other times they will fight you for your runes. I think other times they just say hello, but that's not very interesting. I think it's the character battles that is the most infamous aspect of the game. If they want to fight you in some random town than losing is no big deal. That's why they created the reset button. However, there is at least one moment where a fight is necessary, and you can't level your way out of it. Your rival levels up with you making the potential battle intimidating to say the least. I got very lucky in my playthrough and was joined by my rival. I sampled some of these battles though and they can be tough. I imagine this is where many players give up. 

(This game does have some random hidden items that make the search command not completely useless for a change)

Still, none of this bothered me too much. My main complaint is how the game looks. I just wrote about how impressed I was by Dragon Warrior managing to look distinct even in 1986. Well, The 7th Saga is the complete opposite side of the scale. I can't imagine an RPG looking more generic than this. It looks like it was made in an early version of RPG Maker. It's a game full of ugly, practically identical towns of grey cobblestones and dusty trails. All the terrain looks the same expect for the obligatory snowy area which is white instead of brown. It's a game where you can't tell if you are in the ruins of an ancient civilization or a typical item shop. There might be some different colors, but the difference between caves, mountain passes, and castles are practically nil. It's disappointing for a Super Nintendo game from 1993 for sure. It doesn't ruin the experience, but I expect better this far into a console's run.

I also think it's funny how deceptive the marketing was. Most of the literature I've seen about this game from the time was along the lines of "it has seven characters to choose from, that means you could play forever with endless combinations." But this isn't Saga Frontier. You can pick a character, but they all experience basically the same quest and there is only one generic ending. It's not a game heavy on plot to begin with. You might encounter some of your companions in different places, but after around the halfway point even this becomes infrequent. I think the second half of the game is basically identical no matter who you pick. It's not like they have much unique dialogue or personalities either. The dialogue is just as generic as the graphics. So, it may be a fun game to play through once, but I don't see much purpose in playing the game seven times. It might've seemed novel in 1993, but it was mostly a marketing gimmick. 

(Get used to the combat screen. You're going to be here a lot)

I hope more than anything that this review takes a bit of the infamy from the game and actually encourages people to play it. I really did have a good time with The 7th Saga, and it's a game I put off playing for a long time. It's not an epic slog that you have to play through seven times. It's a medium-to-difficult game that only requires one good playthrough to experience. It's mostly RPG comfort food that is fun to play even if it's not quite in the upper echelon of SNES RPGs. I love a game with incremental growth. I love the excitement of gaining a level or two and seeing if I am now ready to venture to that next town. The 7th Saga has many of these moments, and it was fun more often than it was frustrating. Sure, the stat gains are minimal in the American version, but levels don't really take that long to gain, and the added difficulty keeps combat from becoming rote. Every time they threw a new wrinkle into the game, like suddenly making the party unable to cast spells, it actually made the game more fun. It may feature cozy gameplay, but they never let you get too comfortable. 

The 7th Saga is coming in at #26 on the overall list which is impressive to say the least. I've played enough games now that I have 87 in the good column. That means that games in the upper third are starting to become actually high quality and not just good for what I have played so far. It's my third best SNES game, but I may be just a bit biased. The top 5 are all RPGs and the bottom three are everything else. I need to play some other types of SNES games. Maybe it's time to start getting to the true classics. Or perhaps it's time to play some dusty old trash that nobody cares about. Anyone know any interesting SNES Games I could try? 

Super Nintendo quality percentage: 5/8 or 62.5%

NES #47: Dragon Warrior

 

Developer: Chunsoft

Publisher: Nintendo

Release Date: August 1989

All these years later and I'm still shocked that all the 8-bit Dragon Quest games made it to America. RPGs were popular on computers, but it took a while for them to gain momentum on consoles. There is a technological reason for this of course, but I think that many RPGs from the 8-bit era hold up. There were many great developers in the 80s and 90s who could get the most out of whatever platform they were working with. It's also no secret that Japan loved them even with less advanced graphics and only two buttons. Having pop-up menus instead of memorizing dozens of keystrokes was apparently not that much of a deterrent. Still, most of Japan's RPGs stayed in Japan with only a few oddballs making it over that didn't exactly set the world on fire. Oh, you're going to send over Deadly Towers but keep the Heracles games for yourself? That's certainly a choice. The best RPG for the NES pre-Dragon Warrior is probably Zelda 2, which is more of a hybrid and is often considered the black sheep of the series despite it being a masterpiece. Seriously, Zelda 2 is great. So, this is where I'm going to give Nintendo some credit. They saw something in the Dragon Quest series and practically forced it to be a hit in America. They polished up an already three-year-old game and when it didn't sell as well as they had hoped gave it away with Nintendo Power subscriptions. It was the third best-selling game for Nintendo in 1989 which likely made it the most well-known RPG in the states until the Final Fantasy games hit Super Nintendo. However, is Dragon Warrior actually a good game? Or does its already old-fashioned gameplay by 1989 standards hold it back even further in 2024? Is it a game that is more important than it is good? Do you even have to ask? Dragon Warrior is a classic.

For the last 25 years Dragon Warrior has been my comfort game. It always cheers me up when I am feeling down. That's because I love RPGs more than anything, and Dragon Warrior is such a textbook RPG that it's infinitely appealing. It's everything I love about the genre condensed into a wonderful retro package. There are basically two things to do in Dragon Warrior: build up your character and explore. The world is fairly small but wide open, and there's not that much in terms of directions. The main way you can tell if you wander into the wrong area is by stumbling upon a monster that is too strong. The quest is laid out at the very beginning of the game and it's about as basic as it gets. There's a princess to be saved and a Dragon Lord to defeat. This is accomplished by solving cryptic clues, collecting some MacGuffins, and of course leveling up. The leveling will probably turn off some gamers, but I love it. For one thing the combat is exciting. There's not much mindless grinding in Dragon Warrior unless of course you want it to take 100 hours. But when I'm fighting monsters that are close to my level I'm constantly having to watch over my character. Death means losing half your gold, so it's best to try to stay as healthy as possible with healing spells and herbs. It's good to stay close to towns, but of course many of the earlier towns are surrounded by weak monsters that quickly become pointless. Equipment gets very expensive very fast, so I'm always trying to find ways to travel as lightly as possible. Buying healing items and wings for fast traveling would makes things easier in the short term, but I'm trying to save up thousands of dollars. This decision making is definitely part of the fun, and it certainly helps illustrate that Dragon Warrior is much more than mindless level grinding.

Of course, it also helps that Dragon Warrior takes place in a fun, vibrant world. For many of us Westerners approaching middle age, Dragon Warrior was our introduction to the art of Akira Toriyama. His lively, instantly recognizable style graced many projects over the years, most famously the Dragon Ball series, but he was one of the most important faces of the Dragon Quest series from the beginning up until his untimely death earlier this year. The cartoony monsters certainly set the game apart from the more grounded visuals of western RPGs. In most games, slimes would just be formless blobs. In Dragon Warrior, however, they are smiling, Hershey Kiss shaped mascots. They're one of the first things you see in the game, and it's no wonder they become so iconic. Actually, many of the cutest and simplest monsters are near the beginning. That's an approach Pokémon would perfect a decade later. The fun visuals contrast nicely with the medieval dialogue. Apparently, Nintendo was trying to make the game more serious, but the knight-speak only makes it funnier. It's a great mix that the series has always kept to a degree. The games are great at never getting too serious or too silly. 

Even the game's more primitive aspects are endearing. I should be annoyed that I have to open up my menu and select a command if I want to talk to someone or climb stairs, but I still find this charming. Maybe it's because there aren't that many people or stairs around so it's not that frequent. I just see it as a fun nod to an earlier time. I'm not as nostalgic as I used to be, but I do get nostalgic for RPG menu screens. The slow pace might turn some people off, but I think it works in context. The relaxed pace and pleasant world help balance out all the stressful battles. I think the only real "this game is old" complaint I have is that locked doors re-lock themselves after you leave an area. Those keys are expensive and can only be carried three-at-a-time, so it can be hard to keep up with which ones I have previously opened. It was still very exciting when I finally found the key store for the first time though. 

No, the minor things don't hurt Dragon Warrior much. I think the only think that could hurt the game's ranking is everything that came out later. Dragon Quest is one of the longest running RPG series, and even with all the spinoff games there is a stunning consistency. The main series doesn't have many black sheep or missteps, so many of the mechanics introduced in Dragon Warrior would be refined and perfected in the years to come. I don't think Dragon Warrior is going to end up being the lowest ranked game in the series, but I do know what's coming and I know just how great some of the games are. 

I played and ranked Dragon Warrior right now as a little reward to myself. I've been stressed lately, and I knew revisiting Dragon Warrior would help. It really is a game near and dear to my heart, and because of this I might overrate it just a bit. You know how I just said it's not even one of the best games in the series? Well now it's my #3 game overall. That's right, I like Dragon Warrior better than The Legend of Zelda. They are both similar games with similar early-NES problems, but for me a game is just better when I can gain levels and buy equipment. I never felt like any time was wasted even if I was somewhat aimless. The Legend of Zelda has a lot of aimless wandering that just doesn't feel as purposeful. Also, Dragon Warrior has better combat. So, the Nintendo dominance at the top of my list continues, and if I decide to play more Dragon Quest games in the near future expect to see a lot more of those too. I foresee good things on the horizon. 

NES Quality Percentage: 23/47 or 48.93%

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