Castlevania Retrospective
Recently I completed my NES Castlevania trilogy by finally acquiring a copy of Simon’s Quest. Simon’s Quest was one of the first NES games I purchased all by myself, so it holds a very special place in my video gaming memories. Although I bought it used from a flea market, that doesn’t change the prior fact. I can’t remember exactly when I purchased the game, but it was long before you could type a game’s name into a search engine and find a myriad of walkthroughs. Simon’s Quest was also the first Castlevania game I had ever played, so without the manual I was completely lost as to what I was supposed to be doing. In an attempt to make the most of my purchase I made up my own game. I didn’t know where any of the whip upgrades were or what the hearts did, but I knew I could kill things, before eventually dying, so I made a game out of counting my kills and seeing which new screen I could reach with each new attempt. Ah, the innocence of ignorance.
Simon’s Quest is my favorite Castlevania game of all time, but the fact is as I’ve experienced more of the series I’ve enjoyed them. Except The Adventure, I was not a fan of that one! I’ve not played them all, but I have played all of the NES games, the SNES games and the Genesis one. Aria of Sorrow and Circle of the Moon on the GBA are really good as well. And that’s where I think the legacy of Simon’s Quest resides. While Castlevania and Castlevania 3 are side-scrolling games with tons of little things to find, the objective is fairly linear. Simon’s Quest let the player choose where to go, what to do and how to do it, all while having a skosh of RPG elements. While leveling up was possible, it really did very little in the game as a whole, although it did help the player a little bit.
I love the first, third and the subsequent Castlevania games that follow the tried and true gameplay of the first game, but the GBA games that I’ve played feel like they’re Simon’s Quest’s offspring. It feels like they give that game a rooted lineage within the series, instead of making it feel like the outcast. As I said I’ve not played them all, and I’m sure I’m missing out by not having played Symphony of the Night. I feel that if Simon’s Quest hadn’t dared to try something different, we most likely wouldn’t have seen some of the best games in the series. Speaking of something different, are the N64 Castlevania games any good?
Castlevania: The Adventure
Castlevania: The Adventure is a game I picked up almost 10 years ago and have played very little since. I saw this sitting in the little case at a Half Price Books store for $1 and figured I couldn’t go wrong. The label is very reminiscent of the NES Konami games, so I figured that alone should tell me all I needed to know about this gem. I felt like I had really scored here. A Castlevania game for a $1? I had to have gotten one over on old Half Price Books. I was ready to set off on a grand adventure, THE adventure as the game’s title assured me, but things weren’t as smooth as I had hoped they would be.
Castlevania: The Adventure isn’t exactly the same as the other Castlevania games of its era, especially considering it’s a portable version. The game consists of four fairly short stages filled with monsters to defeat throughout, each ending with a stage boss battle. The player starts off with three lives, consisting of ten hit points each, but this time around hearts are actually used to restore health. Along the way the player can also collect 1UPs as well as golden crosses that will grant the player temporary immunity to enemy attacks.
What would Castlevania be without a robust weapon system? It would be this game, that’s what. This time around there are no sub-weapons, but your whip can be upgraded by collecting crystals along the way. The whip can be upgraded twice, the final form being a flame whip, but any enemy damage will cause the whip to be downgraded.
Each stage has, what feels like, an erroneous time limit in which to complete the level. Even with this game being as slow as it is, which can sometimes be painfully slow, it doesn’t take anywhere near as much time as you’re given to complete each stage. And that’s where things fall apart for me, the speed of this game. Every Castlevania I’ve played has felt smooth, but this game is so slow. Was this a limit of the hardware? Maybe, but I feel it was done more to stretch the gameplay out since this is such a really short game.
For what Castlevania: The Adventure is it’s not terrible, I mean it’s slow but the graphics are actually really good. Considering the Nintendo Game Boy was released merely months before this game was released shows Konami took their time making it look good, but didn’t seem to worry about it being as smooth as its NES siblings. The game is extremely short and replay value is kind of there, I guess. Again, this game isn’t terrible it’s just different to the point that I feel one time around is enough.
Sam’s Scores: Gameboy Edition!
Today’s Sam’s Scores is yet another special edition. I had enough to do a special Gameboy Sam’s Scores, enjoy!
8) – Turn and Burn
Turn and Burn is much like Top Gun for the NES, to a point. It isn’t bad, but its far from great. I picked it up at a Goodwill just because it was cheap and it was a video game.
7) – Rechargeable Gameboy Battery
Sifting through bric-a-brac sometimes yields interesting results, and this is one such case. The Gameboy logo is worn off, but its pretty clear what this is. I’ve actually had this for a long time, avoiding adding it to a scores article because I don’t even know if it works. Even so, its a pretty cool little piece.
6) – Gameboy/GBC AC Adapter
Another thing that I find myself doing quite a bit in thrift stores is sifting through the cables and power adapters. Sometimes I come out a winner, like this time, but mostly I find myself trying to untangle a rat’s nest of stuff to come up empty handed. This thing works with both GBC and Gameboy, with a switch on the unit to get the right power to which device you need to power. Although the case is broken, it still works and with a little super glue it will be good as used.
5) – Castlevania: The Adventure
I found this one at Half Price Books, during a strange mark it at a single price and sell it period. This game, to be honest, sucks! I like Castlevania, but Konami really screwed up a good thing with this one.
4) – Pokemon Red
Way back when this game originally came out, I bought it. I loved playing this game because of it’s RPG style gameplay. I ended up loaning this game, and sadly the box and manual, to someone and never saw it again. I had always kept my eyes open for a loose copy of it and never found one less than $7, until Half Price Books got one in.
3) – Pokemon Silver
Yet another tag it and sell it score, brought to you by Half Price Books! The Pokemon Red above was exactly a week before I bought this one, so prices went down. Sadly the battery inside this one doesn’t work, but I did swap the battery in the Pokemon Gold I had, which will become a tutorial at some point.
2) – Zelda 1 and 2 for the GBA
I personally don’t think the Gameboy Advance is a vintage system, but these games certainly are. Even though they’re remakes for the system, they’re still vintage gaming classics. I must note that I bought these with another Gameboy Game (Dr. Mario, not pictured) at a Goodwill and had to wait 15 minutes for someone to go unlock the case!
1) – Green Gameboy Color
In a previous Sam’s Scores I showed you a Green GBC that I picked up off Craigslist for $10, so when I saw how cheap this one was I didn’t care whether it worked or not. I figured at the very least it would give me a matching green battery cover for my other one. When I took it home it didn’t want to work, but after shaking it, it sprang to life! The screen was scratched and it only works on batteries, later I decided to buy a new case and swap it out, so its no longer green.
