Hello citizens of Vizzed! This is MitsuriZX, bringing you another quality review! It's time for us to plunge into the world of 2D games... in 3D! Castlevania 64 is our game of choice! Again, Luisa and Lucas will be here helping-me!
Luisa : - Hi everyone! Lucas : - What's up?
Castlevania 64 is a masterpiece, no matter how you look at it. I mean, it's Castlevania for god sake! Apparently, at first sight, it seems like an amazing game with good graphics, but it goes much deeper than that... Castlevania 64 is, in reality, the first 3D Castlevania game ever. The passage from 2D to 3D wasn't perfect, but we have to give them credit for managing to make Castlevania even harder than before!
The story of the game begins when Dracula is ressurrected, and you must choose between two characters to play with. Reinhardt is a vampire hunter who wields the Vampire Killer, not sure if he's a belmont or not, but since he can use the Vampire Killer... Carrie is a young girl with magical powers, her homing shots are completely OP, and she is slightly faster than Reinhardt. For the first time ever in a Castlevania game, the female character is better than the male one. Not that Castlevania has too many female characters, but still...
Luisa : - When you're playing as Carrie, hold the B button to charge a homing shot! Charged shots deal more damage, and may hit multiple times! Lucas : When you're playing as Reinhardt, make sure to pick power-ups as they turn the Vampire Killer into a "true" Vampire Killer!
There are quite a few stages in this game, and they are all colossal in size. The exploration bit is still present in this game, but no leveling up, sorry. You can still farm for money if you wish so. The platforming in this game is extreme. Castlevania has always been known for having extremely difficult jumps, enemies that annoy you to no end, and a scarce amount of life supplies. At least you can carry healing items with you such as the roast beef or the medical kit, now that's what i call an improvement!
Luisa : - The sun and moon cards fast-forwards time to either sunrise or sunset, some doors can only be opened at day or night! Lucas : - Be careful not to use too many cards, or else you will get a bad ending! Hey, i'm serious!
The controls are as basic as ever. A jump button, an attack button and a secondary attack button. Your secondary weapon does not get stronger when you collect power-ups, kinda lame if you ask-me. New to the series however, is the 3D camera and lock-on system. The camera is super-annoyning at times, but since the game is so great, we can forgive it. The lock-on system allows you to lock-on to enemies, so that you never miss your target.
Sub-weapons are still available in the game, they took out the clock, but you still have the knife, the axe, the cross and the completely over-powered holy water. Even more over-powered than the clock from the NES Castlevania? Maybe not. but still very over-powered.
Luisa : - You can only have one kind of sub-weapon with you, and some sub-weapons are ultra hard to find, so be careful! Lucas : - There's also a limit to how many healing items/cards you can have. If only i could have infinite roast chickens...
There is not always a boss at the end of each stage, which is intriguing to say the least. Each character has an exclusive story, and even the stages are different depending on which character you're using. Each character has two endings. How do you actually know you're on your way to the good ending? Here's the answer : Time. Castlevania 64 uses a time system, turning the game more RPG-like. Some places are only reachable at night, and some events only happen at a certain time.
Luisa : - The third stage, Villa, requires you to wait some time for Rosa to appear in the rose garden! Lucas : - You can also get extra items by waiting at the fountain until midnight! So many secrets!
Overall, Castlevania 64 is a very good game. A little confusing, a puzzle here, a puzzle there, but nothing that the regular player can't solve. I absolutely hate the 5th stage, but every game has at least one challenging part.
Thanks for reading all this! Here, let-me show you some secrets!
Luisa : - On the 1st stage, Forest of Silence, you can find a special gem that will unlock the hard difficulty! It's on a small, lone platform that seems out-of-reach. However, you can actually get there by just walking, don't be afraid to fall, just walk in a straight line! Lucas : - You can get awesome new costumes for the characters by exploring the 7th stage, which is different for each character. There should a be a special gem hidden in each one...you'll just have to find out!
Remember that these bonuses only become available if you finish the game with them. And you can't backtrack to previous stages, so make sure you have everything you need before you move on. Until next time! |