It's
great when companies listen to people. Most companies would never even consider releasing
a 10+ year old video game that was never even released in the states in the US. Konami is
gamers company and this proves it. While a lot more could've been done with this game,
it's still nice to play something most of us never would've touched. Castlevania Chronicles features a Castlevania originally released on the Japanese X68000 computer. This disc offers the game in two ways: Original and Arranged. The original mode is what it sounds like, the way it would've been played in Japan numerous years ago. The arranged mode upgrades the graphics and re-mixes the soundtrack. Either way, the game remains the same.
A near carbon copy of the first Castlevania on the NES, players take control of yet another vampire killer and the same basic gameplay rules apply. Players will whip candles for power-ups, enemies for points, and walls for secret items. Each stage features a boss at the end, most of them repeated from previous games.
The arrange mode is a pleasant surprise, but in some cases it's actually worse then the original. The music is horribly remixed at times making some of the classic tracks unrecognizable. Then again, some of them sound 1000's of times better. The graphics really haven't been upgrade that much either. There are a few more background animations, new look for our hero, and some numerous small features that will go unnoticed by all but the most nit-picky gamers. There is also a time-attack mode that can be unlocked by beating this mode.
DVD-style
features are also present on the disc including an interview with one of Castlevania's
originators. More are features are unlockable, but these are too few in number compared to
what other games on today's market feature. There is a question that does come up:
Why this game? Why not the highly revered Turbo Duo Dracula X (which is
mentioned in the interview as one of his favorite Castlevania's)? Why not a few
extra games like the NES series of games? It's highly doubtful that these games take up
the entire memory of the disc.
Fans of the series will undoubtedly be happy that their getting a game they would most likely never play. The bargain price of $20 makes this one a steal and because of this, most can look over the lack of extras. While it will never compete with the other entry of this series on this system (Symphony of the Night), it's still a great game. It may seem too familiar for fans of the first game on the NES, but the slight differences and DVD-like extras make this one worth the price of admission.
