When Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth was announced I was absolutely enthralled with the concept. One of my most played VC titles on my Wii still is Super Castlevania IV.
God Damn, I love Super Castlevania IV. Especially on the Wii Virtual Console. Each run through the title allowed me to take as long as I wanted. If I had something to do I could press the home button and the whole state would be frozen so I could come back later. Making these games feel somewhat improved.
Working my way up the linear Super Castlevania IV levels became common as recently as last week as I played through slowly. Defeating Dracula one more time just a day before the surprise release of this title. Armed with the chistmas gift of a Wii points card I could not resist picking this title up. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this release. This is still an worthy game for any gamer missing the days of climbing the ladder to defeat the infamous Dracula. It has it’s flaws but don’t call it another Super Castlevania.... it stands all on it’s own.
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Gameplay
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My first impression was utter disbelief as I realized the controls have reverted to the NES standby. Losing all of the innovations that made me love Super Castlevania IV the most out of the 4 original linear titles. The inclusion of 8 way whipping action , moonwalking and a separate button for secondary weapons were gone. My first reaction was worry that this might somehow make me dislike this title. Though they seem to make up for it by offering the ability to play on any controller you prefer. It supports sideways remote, Wiimote/nunchuck, GameCube, and Classic.
By no means should you be expecting another metroidvania affair in this title either. The goals of finding an new power to unlock unexplored parts of the map have been totally traded off for a return to the classic, linear style. Though don’t consider this a “remake” This IS 100% original. The developers have even been nice enough to tweak and upgrade the linear level format.
An extremely welcome addition. Each level is blessed to have not only a slew of secret spots hidden throughout but an diverging path for each level. This makes sure that while you may play an stage multiple times it’s never quite the same way twice. This is a very fresh idea for the series and greatly increases the replay.
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Graphics
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What we have here for graphics is a really nice showing of what we can do these days with sprite animations. Artwork and appearance has seen a drastic upgrade. Even surpassing Symphony of the night in it’s level of character detail.
Tiny details such as a full 360 degree rotation of the head of your enemy flying off before it explodes makes this title potentially one of the most visually pleasing Castlevania games I’ve seen in quite some time. Animations are undeniably fluid which really is the highlight of this title. Levels are well designed and extremely detailed making each Stage more amazing then the last. If you play this game for anything it should be to see all the thought that went into making this title. That alone deserves quite an commendation and receives this classic gamers seal of approval.
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Sound
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The sound might be a bit mixed though. They have included all of the classic Castlevania music that sticks in our heads all day long but have made the bizarre decision to use what seems to be the music synthesizer from an 1990’s arcade game. It does sound great but I almost feel like I’m hearing music generated from Golden Axe. I suppose it’s part of the retro feel their going for. Certainly gives that nostalgic feel but I can see others just calling it lazy.
Another thing I’ve noticed is a few of the sound effect choices are somewhat... mind boggling. I was surprised to witness an eyeball coming from a large stone head in stage1 that made a cartoon “zap” noise as it dropped onto the ground You can also hear an laughable “whoosh” noise as skeletons throw their own bones at you. Not exactly game ruining details but a bit distracting from the atmosphere the game is trying to create. I know I’m nitpicking here but it needs to be said. Otherwise the sounds seem to fit and work.
Who’s looking for a mind-blowing Dolby 6.1 experience from this title anyhow? I know I wasn’t.
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Side Notes
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Another thing to be happy about, at least for the most hardcore Castlevania fan, is that this is very hard... Extremely hard in fact. This title does not #$%@ around when it comes to challenging the player. I found the first 2 levels to be completely tame but the moment you hit Stage 3 you will see an difficulty increase like few fans of the original have ever seen before. The demand to memorize these levels has returned full force. Not to mention they added one more tidbit to make sure this is a game you wont be able to idly skim through over the course of a week...
Guess what...
No passwords, no save, no nothin’! If you wanna beat this, then be prepared to play it beginning to end in one sitting. Wanna turn it off for a while? Well just know that will have to start from stage 1 next time. Yeah...
I was floored upon discovering this tidbit of developer evil in this title. I had become so accustomed to strolling my way through all the Virtual console games. Being able to put them to the side at will. Now this comes along and offers one big, mean challenge for the gamers who still like a hard game. Like Megaman 9 and Contra: Rebirth before it. These retro titles are proving to be almost more challenging then the stuff their based off of.
Liking this trend or not is really up to the individual gamer. I can see they were really working to make a real, fleshed out, worthy game to add to the family of linear Castlevania titles, and if it’s one thing Castlevania game needs it’s a level of difficulty. My worry is that many, like me, are going to be a bit turned off by this ramped difficulty with no method to leave the game and come back later. Though the problem is I’m already hooked and now I have no choice but to begin memorizing this game and try to work up the skills to defeat this title in a single run.
For all the work they put into making sure this title is nice and tough they really should have put the effort into adding an online leader board like Capcom did with Megaman 9. If your going to make it that hard you should at least include the incentive of a big board for you to brag with.
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A Bug?!?
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Another thing that also needs to be said is that upon downloading this from Wii shop channel You should be sure to download and start your first game on the internal system memory. As the game simply will not make it’s save file while saved on the SD card and therefor refuses to start. That seems like a pretty substantial mistake by the development team to me. This and the lack of passwords or a save system almost makes me think that the developers might have pushed this out the door a bit before it was ready. Possibly due to the sudden loss of Cave Story from the WiiWare lineup recently. Though I cannot be sure and that is total speculation, it strikes me as an odd mistake to make. Though after the game makes it’s save file you can freely move it to the SD card for storage.
I figure someone Might like to know this in case they had the initial shock I had of not being able to start the game after download.
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Rundown:
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|THE GOOD|
- Unique Level Design allows for a new kind of replay in Linear Castlevania titles.
- Sprite artwork and animations are fluid and beautiful to behold.
- Difficulty lives up to ANY Castlevania title before it.
- Overall is still a high quality title that lives up to it’s predecessors and is a must play for the old school gamer.
|THE BAD|
- Sound is a bit goofy.
- Controls might be a bit too old school for some... (why do I have to do up + attack to use my Secondary weapons?! There’s other buttons on the controller you know!!)
- NO SAVE OR PASSWORDS!?!? WTF!!
- Put on the store with some bugs... WTF x 2!!!!!
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Final Score:
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It might have a few flaws here and there but it really is something that as a fan of these kind of games really like to see. I could sit there and freak out forever about all the little I wish were in it... though in the end I just can’t fault it. It does everything the series was known for and it does it undeniably in a really fresh way. If you loved Castlevania before it turned into Metroid with vampires. you <b>will</b> like this game. Pick it up if it sounds like your kind of game. It is certainly not for everyone but if you are willing to accept it’s faults then prepare to be devoting some time to this cruel mistress.
|FINAL SCORE|
7.5/10
"Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth released for Nintendo's WiiWare service on December 28, 2009 in the U.S., at 1,000 Wii Points (which is $10). The game was developed by M2 and published by Konami, and received an ESRB rating of "TEEN" with "Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence" listed as content for parents and gamers to be aware of.
A brief description for the game on its Nintendo Channel page reads, "The classic Castlevania game is reborn for the Wii with all-new upgrades."
How many U.S. Wii owners have reported playing Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, and how many hours have they reported playing it? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!", writes CoffeeWithGames.
i completely forgot about this game releasing.. I want to buy it but i wont play it on my wii.. Hopefully it releases for 3DS.. ill get it for sure on there
I bought it on my Wii and transferred it over to my Wii U. It's a good Castlevania game, pretty short though, and a little too old school (no diagonal whipping). If you're choosing between this and Super Castlevania then get Super Castlevania. Cheaper and much better.
Its is a crime that this game is only available for the Wii. So many people grew up playing 2D Castlevania games they should be available for all platforms.
It's probably because nearly all 2D Castlevania games were exclusive to Nintendo consoles. Doesn't make it right though. This should be available everywhere!
Yeah I know. But Castlevania is a 3rd party franchise that have made atleast one appearance on every platform. So now its kinda a tease now when they decide to go ahead and make a game exclusive to one platform.
I think it's fine. The "Rebirth" series are a love letter to Nintendo. Gradius Rebirth, Castlevania Rebirth, and Contra Rebirth were all released for the Wii because none of those franchises would exist without the NES. This was a one time thing. And they're all very short games. It's not like you're missing out on a full game.
Nice informative writing. I don't own a Wii but I appreciate the simplicity and quick recap.
(Editor’s note: From Castlevania to Turtles in Time, everyone’s got at least one videogame tune stuck in their heads. Enter Liner Notes: a Pixelitis feature in which our writers discuss their favorite videogame music.)
"If you were a kid of the 80s and early 90s, then you were no doubt exposed to the musical phenomenon known as the “orchestral hit.”
For the uninitiated, the orchestral hit (or stab depending on your lingo) is a sound created by layering several orchestral instruments that play a sole staccato note or chord. In other words, it’s a quick note followed by a quick rest or pause. Its use by hip-hop artist Afrika Bambaataa in 1982 set off a whirlwind in the music business where every pop album had to use it.
And so did Konami.
The orchestral hit (particularly the “Fairlight Orch5” sample of it), to quote Joshua Kopstein, is “the musical equivalent of the Wilhelm Scream,” and boy did Konami have quite the field day with it."
- Patrick Kulikowski
The Castlevania series has been one of Konami's flagship series for over 20 years, so does this game meet the high standards that the series has set for excellent gameplay? Let's find out!
Being a huge fane of super castlevania should have been the first clue that you might not like this game. It was stated many times it was a rework of the original gameboy game.
Yes I wish it had 8 way whipping but I grew up on the originals so it doesnt bother me. It looks great with updated gfx and holds true to the classic nature of the original series roots.
I thoroughly enjoy this game as it brings back so many memories while offering up new challenges. I like the rebirth series so far. Now I am looking forward to the 'rumored' metal gear rebirth.
A decent review but you let yourself get to hyped based off the super version you like so much.