Review #596: 64 Memories - Castlevania

 Some of the better Castlevania quotes since Symphony of the Night.

Part 1: The Flashback
 While I remembered spending quite a few afternoons playing this game, I was led to believe that the game was terrible due to pop culture osmosis. I'm happy to report that the game isn't that bad. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

 Castlevania was yet another game I got either for my Birthday or 'Childrens' day', and I remember it being the first game to ever freeze on me. As soon as the Skeletons on the first stage woke up the game froze on a black screen. And again after I reset the game. I was getting worried, but it worked the third time around, and the game went on quite fine ever since.

 I could never finish the game as Reinhardt when I was younger, something I fixed now, I started with Reinhardt first and got the first ending. Carrie was the easier character, and her exclusive stages certainly were easier! But, coming back with a more mature perception I was able to find a few shortcomings with her... Reinhardt does, indeed, have a few things going for him. That said, newcomers are probably better off playing with Carrie first.

 I don't know just why I liked the game so much. Probably because I've always been a sucker for all things horror, but this was the first Castlevania game I ever played. Curiously, as an adult with better defined tastes, I was able to appreciate other areas of the game, particularly the very distinct and colorful personalities that populate the Castle.

Part 2: The Review
 Not quite a Metroidvania, yet not quite a Classicvania either, you play through a very linear selection of levels. There are two playable characters, each one play through a total of 10 stages, 7 shared and 3 unique to each character. Objectives vary, sometimes it's a simple 'Get to the end' objective, other times you'll have to explore and solve puzzles to open your way through. Your mileage may vary, some of the puzzle-oriented stages are alright, like the Villa/Garden section, but the Castle Keep is probably one of the worst parts of the game, in which you're challenged to make your way from one room to another while avoiding getting hit or jumping, lest you explode and die.

 The biggest problem with the game is its camera, it's so bad that there's three different modes(Which you toggle by pressing C-Up): Normal, which tries to stick behind your back, Action, which tries to show you the best angles for jumps(It's a lie) and Battle, which tries to center around enemies(It sometimes fails to, however). While jumping to my doom wasn't always the fault of the camera, it might've gotten me falling to my death just a couple of times. It will make you get hit by enemies, however.

 Other gameplay mechanics are a bit clunky by todays standards. Each character has a main attack(Whip for Reinhardt, Magic for Carrie), a weak-but-fast close range attack(Sword for Reinhardt, Rings for Carrie) as well as any subweapons you can find, y'know, the classic red-heart consuming Daggers, Axes, Holy Water and the Cross. Hitting enemies can be hit or miss, Carrie has an easier time since you can just charge up your shot and let it home in on your enemy, Reinhardt, meanwhile, gets rooted to the ground when he uses his whip. Nearby enemies get soft-locked by an targeting reticule to help you side-step around. It doesn't work very well. As a whole, it's very serviceable, but you'll have to deal with its stiffness. It wouldn't be Castlevania without stiff gameplay.

 While combat is passable, the platforming is the worst part about the game. If it's not the framerate that will cause you to miss-time your jumps, it'll be the endlessly respawning enemies, or the enemies that spawn at the moment you jump, preventing you from defending yourself in any way. And some jumps require precise timing, jump a step to early and you won't make it, sending you all the way back to your last save point.

 There're a few other mechanics that haven't aged very well. There's a needless amount of time-related doors, doors that open only at night or during the day. Time passes incredibly slowly in the game, so hopefully you haven't misused your Morning/Night cards. Don't use too many of them either, as they'll toggle an optional boss at the end of the game and prevent you from getting the best ending. Powering-up your main weapon works like it did on Classicvanias, find two power-up items and you're good to go. Problem? Loading, or reloading if you died, your game sends you back to your level 1 weapon. This means that if you died to a boss, now you're back to your weakest-level weapon. Had to turn off the game? Sucks to be you. And the only way to get it back to its strongest is to grind for enemy drops and hope for the best.

 So far I've completely lambasted the game, and I bet it sounds like a terrible purchase, don't it? But if you are into retrogames you should know by now that these games have aged, which is why you have to appreciate them on another level. Castlevania 64 delivers elsewhere. The stages are just gorgeous, exploring the castle is a real treat. Plus, as soon as you hit the village you'll come across these various, distinct characters that are very memorable. Renon, the devil business man, Vincent, the Vampire Hunter that is way in over his head, Rosa, the wretched vampire and Malus, the lost kid. They don't have too much development, but what little scenes they get manage to leave lasting impressions on the player. While playing the game can be clunky, exploring the Castle can be very fun.

 Castlevania 64 is a game with very high highs, but very low lows. When it's at its best you'll be enjoying your exploration, as you climb through broken debris, land tight jumps, clamber through narrow edges and slay cool looking monsters. But at it's worst you'll be retrying the same annoying jumps over and over again, you'll be going in circles through the same few environments trying to solve puzzles and you'll be dealing with a poor combat system. I honestly think that there's some fun to be found here, if you come at it with the right mindset.
 5.5 out of 10