As Dracula was destroyed a 2nd time many years ago well 100 years to be exact, Simon thought he was finally ridden of the curse of
Dracula however; things weren’t as they seemed at the time while Simon had left the world of Transylvania after his days on the NES (Excluding Castlevania III). Dracula was slowly gaining his power back and within 100 years he would be completely revived, unfortunately for the world of Transylvania this year is the 100th year and now the forces of evil within Dracula are at full power and ready he’s ready to wreak havoc once again. Just like Dracula though another person has arisen from the mysterious shadows and fog covering the castle in
the distance, this person is Simon Belmont and he’s prepared to take down Dracula once and for ALL! It’s time for the vampire killer to start his journey and it’s time for us to start this review.


Graphics: 9 out of 10

Super Castlevania IV takes your face away from the TV screen of the 8-Bit NES Castlevania games, knocks you unconscious and when you awaken once again you find yourself in a bright and very detailed world. This game definitely stacks up among the best looking 2-D games on the Super Nintendo such as Mega Man 7, Contra III, and Legend of Zelda:  A Link to The Past. If you want proof of what I mean with how the graphics give you a nice feel with the environment in the level/area you’re on then take a look at level 4-2 in which when you get into a certain part in the room you have to whip onto and hold onto a pendulum and you must swing back and forth in order to make it onto this one platform while the room is spinning, you can also look at level 4-3 where the background rotates in a circular pattern  however; the unlike the previous part the room itself doesn’t rotate or move at all which really proved the Super Nintendo’s
graphical capabilities. So with everything I have described I’m going to give this game a 9 out of 10 for graphics.


Sound: 10 out of 10

Already the first Castlevania games music left a huge impression on its players and as the games progressed forwards the music
continued to grow greater each time. Then Nintendo released their newest edition to the series called Super Castlevania IV which took the series to a new level of musical capabilities as right when you start up the game and progress through the first few minutes of the game, the melody of area 1-1 with its eerie and chilling theme really puts you in a mood where you know you must take this game seriously with your full attention. Once you reach area 1-2 though the music picks up and gives you a feeling of power in which you can go through the level cautiously but also without the worry of being overwhelmed by the enemies that lay ahead of you. There are many more tracks I can talk about like stage 4-1 but; I shouldn't’t talk only about the music here so let’s move on with the sound effects which have been remastered and they sound amazing. When you use your whip to attack now it actually sounds like if you were to grab a wire or anything like a whip and slash your hand forward and you hear that familiar sound of your item cracking at the wind in the air, not only that but when you take damage your character makes a sound of agony instead of just flying back like in the previous games. Excellent and superb job on the sound department for this game a perfect score of 10 out of 10 is deserved here!


Addictiveness: 8 out of 10

Much like the previous games (excluding Simon’s Quest) this game has a high level of replay-ability and personally in my opinion it has an
even greater level of addictiveness since in this game you can whip in 8 directions which makes attacking enemies and bosses a lot easier and not so cheap anymore especially with flying enemies, not only can you whip in all 8 directions but you can crouch and walk at the same time as well as having more control when you jump from platform to platform or from pillar to pillar which makes this game more enjoyable since you have more control over your character. This game doesn’t have as much addictiveness value as other games on the system like: Super Mario World, Super Mario RPG, and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past however; you probably will pick this game up every once in a while and I would definitely pick it up from time to time rather than picking up the previous games in the series, so I’m giving the addictiveness an 8 out of 10.


Story: 10 out of 10

As I stated in my introduction every 100 years the darkness that has been sealed away eventually awakens once more and prepares his plan to destroy his main enemy Simon Belmont. Although; if Dracula thinks that Simon has lost power after all these years of fighting then he has seriously underestimated Simon’s power, the opposition also stands true as well because if Simon think’s his fight against Dracula will go so smoothly he is foolish and hasn’t thought hardly enough about the battle that lays ahead of him. When you finally face off against the master of despair, be prepared for this as it will be rough so this story earns a perfect 10 out of 10 in my own opinion.


Depth: 7 out of 10

Now while this game may not have as high of an addictiveness value compared to other games on the system the amount of levels/areas in this game certainly live up to other games on the system and even surpasses some as well. But; sometimes with every upside there is a downside as well and one of them is the lack of things to do once you beat the game as all there is left to do is play through the game again or use a password to make the game harder which I really feel they could have added more into this game like once you beat the game you have the opportunity to play as other characters besides Simon Belmont such as Trevor Belmont or Alucard so unfortunately I can only give the depth of this game a 7 out of 10.


Difficulty: 7 out of 10

The Castlevania games are well known for their high level of difficulty especially the NES and N64 Castlevania games. The Nintendo
Entertainment Systems games difficulty was the result of not being able to whip in any direction and not having free control of your jump when you are in mid-air, on the other hand the Nintendo 64’s games were the result on having bad camera angles where you could easily fall into a pit or lava because you couldn't’t see what was below you. But when Castlevania was first released on the Super Nintendo they changed what the NES games lacked and made the difficulty fair for the most part of course the game was still a challenge but you need to
have challenge in a game to thoroughly enjoy it. Being able to whip in all 8 directions and having control up your jump even in mid-air as well as crouching and being able to walk forward made this games difficulty drop drastically from previous installments, now hold on for just 1 second though if you think this game is going to be all flowers and dandelions since it’s difficulty isn’t as high then prepare for a real whip lashing because you will get your butt handed to you at many points in the game specifically at the boss battles as you must be completely focused in order to dodge the multiple obstacles that will fly and try to attack you all over the screen while you try to damage the boss. I think they did a great job with how they leveled out the difficulty in this game so this deserves a 7 out of 10.


So now this bring us to the end of our review, just like Simon who has come to the end of his long journey as he looks across the river
below Dracula’s castle and this seems like the last time we may hear from Simon anymore. I guess *grabs whip* it’s time for someone else to take his place for when the evil that has once again been sealed away, awakens once more. It’s time to prepare for another battle *whips candles* with the king of darkness in this land *picks up hearts, and axe*so I can perish Dracula when he awakens in the newest century! *collects orb*  

sonicthehedgehog57 :

I really liked the review, you go into great detail and the depth you go into and the amount you care about this game is as strong a testament to its quality as your arguments!

Castlevania 4 is indeed an excellent game and it was a great move to choose it to write a review about.  

I thought I heard somewhere that Castlevania 4 is a remake of the original Castlevania, so if that's true this would be the first time Simon faced drac face.  

Either way, thanks for the great review!  

sonicthehedgehog57 : Great review . I just want to say that this review you made was well written . Keep up the good work and have a good day .