"Super Castlevania IV" VS "Symphony of the Night"

I love video games, of that there is no secret. Another thing that isn't much of a secret is my love for one franchise in particular: "Castlevania". Since I was a kid with my NES, the "Castlevania" franchise has been a staple in my life, and through the years as the series would evolve (and in some cases, de-evolve), my love for it stayed forever the same.

That being said, I recently got into a debate with someone about what the best game in the whole series is. For a majority of gamers, the clear favorite seems to be "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night", which is a more than worthy choice. For me personally though, and feel free to call me out on this, my all time favorite in the franchise is "Super Castlevania IV".

Yes, you read that right.

Even though both games are part of the same franchise, both are quite different in their own ways. So, I'm going to analyze these two ball-breaking classics for your reading enjoyment. And if you don't know how to read, that's fine too.

"Super Castlevania IV" was released in 1991 as an early title for the then new Super NES. A 16-bit remake of the original NES "Castlevania", this game completely re-worked a lot of the flaws (or charms) of the original games. The awkward jumping mechanics and stair climbing pains in the ass were gone. Instead of only being able to fire your whip in front of you, you could now whip in 8 different directions. In essence, the control was absolutely perfect, which is about the only time in the history of ever you can say that about a fucking "Castlevania" game. Not to mention the fact that the game as a whole is a beautiful sight. It was designed to show off just what the Super NES could do graphically, and it succeeded wonderfully. Every so often I still pop this game in, whether it be the actual Super NES cartridge or the Virtual Console version on my Wii-U. This game is a classic and I always find myself going back to it.

"Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" was released in 1997 for the PS1, and is a direct sequel to the PC Engine "Castlevania: Rondo of Blood" (which was ported over here to the Super NES as "Castlevania: Dracula X"). Instead of playing as one of the Belmont's, you play as Dracula's so Alucard, most notably a playable character from "Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse". Also gone from this installment is the traditional whip-wielding action (until you unlock Richter Belmont that is) which has been replaced by a platforming, RPG-ish "Metroid"-style of gameplay. Now this game was a massive hit when originally released, and helped set the stage for nearly every "Castlevania" game to come after it to adopt the same style, especially ones on portable systems. The hype here is real though, "Symphony of the Night" is an amazing game and truly timeless, but as much as people tend to love it, I've always preferred "Super Castlevania IV" over it for a variety of reasons.

From a personal standpoint, I've never been much of an RPG fan. Don't get me wrong, I've played my share of RPGs and games with RPG elements, but it's rare that I stick with one all throughout that holds my interest. It's also rare for me to want to dedicate that much time and effort and energy into a game as well, whether it was back then or even now. That being said, I did enjoy playing through "Symphony of the Night" and uncovering all the secrets and shitting my pants when the castle was flipped upside down. The boss fights were epic and the voice acting is beautifully awful. That being said, and I'll probably get called out here for being lazy, but navigating through the castle and finding and equipping various items, etc., always seemed kind of troublesome to me. Maybe that's more reflective of the kind of gamer I am as opposed to the game's mechanics, but I digress. "Symphony of the Night" always made me feel like there were ways to cheat a little bit to get around the game and come out on top without requiring too much skill like the "Castlevania" games of the past.

"Super Castlevania IV" on the other hand, has none of that shit. That game is a tried and true whip-wielding action blast that makes you rely on your reflexes and your wits to get through the game. Not to mention the fact that the whole game doesn't take place in the castle (in all honesty, when games in this series take place exclusively in the castle, it puts me off; I miss the graveyards and haunted forests) and really wonderfully illustrates some amazingly gothic environments, which adds to the game's creepiness factor.

To close things up, it's really just personal preference that I prefer "Super Castlevania IV" over "Symphony of the Night". Both games are wonderful and beautiful examples of the franchise at its absolute best. You really can't go wrong with either, and if you've never played either game, or any of the classic "Castlevania" games of years before, you done fucked up and missed out on some of the most just plain awesome, and frequently frustrating, video games to ever see the light of day.

Uncensored "Rings of Power" review for Sega-16

Ever hear of a game called "Rings of Power"? Didn't think so. You haven't really missed much, although it is pretty infamous in the 16-bit gaming community for the topless girl easter egg. Yeah, you read that right. Anyway, you can check out the edited review I wrote for Sega-16 here:

http://www.sega-16.com/review_page.php?id=714&title=Rings of Power

In the meantime, here's the uncut & uncensored take on "Rings of Power", 16-bit boobs and all...



Rings of Power (1991)

Published by Electronic Arts Developed by Naughty Dog

Before Naughty Dog achieved massive industry fame for developing Crash Bandicoot on the original Playstation, and before Electronic Arts became the mega-conglomerate-esque publisher they are known for being today; the two teamed up to bring us the RPG dirge Rings of Power. Yes, you shouldn’t be surprised that you’ve never heard of this game. No, it isn’t a “lost gem” of sorts to discover in the Genesis/Mega Drive’s library, nor is it a complete turd of a game either, but saying that it is one of the more challenging RPG’s in the 16-bit classic console’s library may be a bit of an understatement believe it or not.

Back in the day (specifically the early 90s), Electronic Arts ported a number of their PC games to the Genesis, with Rings of Power being one of those games. Taking place on an isometric viewpoint, you play a young sorcerer named Buc (who, presumably, likes to fuck) who is on a holy mission to find the eleven rings of power and transform them into the divine and powerful tool known as the “Rod of Creation” (insert dirty joke here, giggity) in an effort to destroy the evil one known only as Void. With the game’s story background in mind, does anything mentioned here sound familiar at all? Well it should, even back in 1991 before Peter Jackson brought the world of J.R.R. Tolkien to the big screen, gamers and critics alike cited Rings of Power’s uncanny resemblance in terms of story to the Lord of the Rings universe. Other than that though, the game’s story, or rather lack thereof, is pretty inconsequential to the game itself.

Gameplay-wise, Rings of Power is one tough shit nugget to crack. So much in the game is so open-ended here that you will lose track of what you’re doing and where you’re going VERY quickly. Add to that the ton of side-quests and events to partake in, and you’ve got yourself a surprisingly deep Genesis RPG. In fact, Rings of Power may be one of the deepest Genesis RPG’s in the system’s library that isn’t named Phantasy Star or Shining Force. That being said, the in-game map is practically useless considering the fact that it neglects to show you any marked locations, and there are really no prompts to give you any idea about what you’re supposed to do next or where to go next, which makes it really easy to get yourself lost, and above all, incredibly frustrated and feeling like you’re not going anywhere in the game. There was an actual paper map that was made available to purchase shortly after the game was released, and it is an essential item to have if you have the guts to embark on this journey. In other words, get your ass over to Ebay if you have any hope of getting through this game.

Graphically speaking, saying that Rings of Power hasn’t aged all that well is saying it lightly. Even though this is a relatively early 16-bit RPG that attempts to pack a ton of ambition into a Genesis cartridge, the graphical drawbacks really aren’t that much of a surprise to be honest. Still though, later RPG’s to come in the Genesis’ lifecycle like Landstalker and Light Crusader which utilizes an isometric point of view and similar graphics engine managed to do things much better and smoother than Rings of Power does. The game’s music is a somewhat typical mish-mash of 16-bit drivel, and needless to say isn’t anything to write home about in the least.

It should also be noted that the game moves a bit slowly. Well, on second thought, Rings of Power moves VERY fucking slowly. Sometimes you’ll feel like you’re walking around in fields made of molasses, which really makes the overall experience not just feel like you’re not getting anywhere, but that you’re going nowhere at a snail’s pace. This may very well be the most glaring flaw of the game, and is what truly makes it or breaks it in terms of the gamer enjoying it. In that case, calling this a bit of a “niche” game for patient RPG’ers really is an understatement.

On a side note, Rings of Power also has a bit of infamy to it, and it has nothing to do with painfully slow gameplay or confusing quest layouts. Mentioned a few weeks ago in a “Lists of Fury” article highlighting the top ten Easter eggs in various Genesis games, number one wound up being the fact that there is a topless girl in Rings of Power. Yes sir, there is a topless girl to be found in the game by holding Down plus the A, B, C, and START buttons on the second controller, and then resetting the console. Next thing you know, there’s a topless blonde chick on your screen in all her 16-bit glory, accompanied by a dog barking in the background. Immature and maybe a bit sexist? Yes it is, but it’s also one of the funniest things ever seen in the 16-bit video game era…and also one of the most fucking random things in the history of fucking ever.

All in all, Rings of Power on the Genesis certainly isn’t the worst RPG you’ll play on the system, but I cannot stress enough just how challenging it is. Even to this day, the game is a pain to traverse through, let alone know what the heck you’re doing. That actually is part of its appeal though believe it or not, as it kind of separated the men from the boys in terms of gamers. Remember, Rings of Power came out before strategy guides and internet tips were the norm like they are today. Back then, you had to rely on your wits and even some ingenuity to find any kind of success with Rings of Power, and even today where it’s incredibly easy to get tips on any vintage video game, somehow this game still proves to be a very challenging, albeit cumbersome and even a bit unfair, take on the RPG genre. With all that being said proceed with caution before you take on this quest. And oh yeah, there’s 16-bit BEWBS!!!

4/10