Tell Your Next of Kin Before You Begin: A Look At Super Castlevania IV 30 Years Later

Tell Your Next of Kin Before You Begin: A Look At Super Castlevania IV 30 Years Later
October 17, 2021

By Ryan Porzl

Just recently, I covered the first Castlevania, one of the greatest games ever created which started one of the greatest franchises of all time. With the success of Castlevania, many re-releases and remakes would come out over the years but along with those, we also saw a retelling of the original story. In 1991, Castlevania would make it's debut to the Super Nintendo via Super Castlevania IV. Though a retelling of the original, the game was more than a remake or a game with updated graphics but rather it featured new levels, new bosses, some new songs, and improved controls. Since it's release, Super Castlevania IV has been a classic that has also been considered one of the all time great games. In this article, we'll look at one of the masterpieces of the Castlevania library that started as a retelling but became a classic in it's own right as the 30th Anniversary is this Halloween (appropriate right?). I should point out because this is a retelling, some of this article will have similarities to my Castlevania article but hopefully there's enough difference to justify this article since I love this game and wanted to do an article on it.

Characters-

Simon Belmont (Shimon Berumondo in Japan)- The protagonist. A legendary vampire hunter and member of the equally legendary Belmont vampire hunting family. Simon follows his families footsteps and ventures into Castlevania to slay Dracula upon his latest resurrection. His weapon of choice is his family's vampire killer whip, a powerful whip capable of slaying monsters and divine characters like Death that are associated with the vampires. Along with the vampire killer, Simon is capable of using subweapons like daggers, cross boomerangs, and holy water, etc.

Count Dracula (Dorakyura in Japan)- The antagonist. Also known as Vlad Tepes (Vurado Tsepeshu in Japan), Dracula is the King of the Night and the archenemy of the Belmont family who have stood against his battles against humanity for over 600 years (at the time the game takes place). Originally a human knight and strategist named Mathias Cronqvist (Matiasu Kuronkubisuto in Japan), Dracula became a vampire after using the crimson stone to absorb the soul of a powerful vampire named Walter Bernhard as his way to be able to curse God forever by defying death after going mad due to the death of his wife. During the events of the first Castlevania, Dracula has battled several of Simon's ancestors and been killed only to be resurrected either via ritual or automatically every 100 years.

Death (Shinigami or Desu in Japan)- Also known as The Grim Reaper, Death is Dracula's second-in-command and who usually battles the Castlevania protagonist towards the end of the game. His weapon of choice are sickles that appear out of nowhere and attack Simon along with his trademark scythe. Despite having divine powers, he's capable of being defeated by the Belmonts and the vampire killer whip.

Plot-

In 1691, it had been 100 years since the recent death of Count Dracula and, as has been the case for some reason, the forces of good weaken just as the strength of Dracula grows. One night, a lightning bolt strikes Dracula's grave and he is resurrected flying back to his castle called Castlevania as a bat which has also returned swarming with monsters. The threat of Count Dracula is back. For centuries, Dracula has waged war with mankind only to be stopped by members of a vampire hunting family named the Belmonts with each generation wielding a powerful whip named vampire killer. With Dracula's recent resurrection, Simon Belmont becomes the latest of his kin to wield vampire killer and venture into Castlevania to defeat Dracula. Simon journeys through the areas surrounding Castlevania including forests and graveyards before heading into the castle where he fights all sorts of monsters as well as classic and new monsters such as a skeleton horsemen, Madusa, gargoyles, a hydra, a mummy, a Frankenstein monster to name some and even defeats Death, himself. After defeating Dracula's minions, Simon walks the hall way as the torches light and then proceeds to climb the steps to Dracula's tomb where he faces him. Initially, Dracula fights by teleporting around the room while shooting fireballs from his cape, a purple projectile that flies around the room and shoots in every direction, and flaming heads but Simon defeats him. Dracula attempts one last attack by teleporting around and launching four lightning bolts at the same time but Simon still beats and kills him. As he's defeated, the morning light breaks a window into the tomb turning Dracula into bats that burn to embers leaving one which dies and Simon gets the final red orb. Upon killing Dracula, Castlevania collapses as Simon looks on from a hill.

Gameplay-

Super Castlevania IV plays like a platforming, side scroller with the player controlling Simon Belmont as they navigate him through eleven levels with each level containing around two to four stages. The player moves Simon from the beginning of the level to the end as they fight monsters and fight their way through the level avoiding pits, getting squashed, and enemy attacks. At the end of every level, Simon fights a boss and upon defeating it, a red orb will drop which, upon collecting, the player wins the level with Simon restored to full health while remaining time and hearts are added to his points. Simon's main weapon is the vampire killer whip which he can get upgrades for as he starts with a regular whip then can get an upgrade to a ball and chain flail and finally, a longer ball and chain flail. However, anytime Simon dies, he needs to get the upgrades all over again. Along with the vampire killer, Simon can also get subweapons to assist him with including throwing knives, holy water, throwing axes, cross boomerangs, and a clock that briefly freezes enemies on screen. However, he can only hold one subweapon at a time and can't switch between subweapons unless he finds another by whipping a candle. If the player dies, they lose the subweapon they had. Through out each level are candles and torches all over the place which the player can whip to either get whip upgrades, bags of money for points, roseries which clean out all enemies on screen, subweapons, drumsticks or porkchops for health and hearts which allow Simon to use subweapons. One small heart gives the player one heart while big ones give the player five. The game also features secrets such as walls or steps that Simon can break with his whip that either feature a drumstick or porkchop or a block with a roman numeral two or three which allows the player to throw two or three subweapons on screen. The player can also occasionally get vases from enemies which grants them invincibility for a brief time.

The player has four lives though they can get extra lives if they score enough points and unlimited continues. The player can lose lives if they fall into pits, get squashed, run out of health or time runs out. If they lose all their lives, it's game over where the player has the option to continuing at the beginning of the level they were on or going to the title screen. The game also features a password system allowing the player to start at any level they want. The player also has 100 to 700 seconds (depending on which level it is) to complete it. As mentioned, if the player runs out of time, they lose a life. As is the case with games like these, Simon is capable of moving left or right, duck, climb stairs, and jump while being able to attack standing, jumping or ducking. Along with that, Super Castlevania IV vastly improves the controls as Simon can swing off gold rings with the vampire killer, crotch walk, and the player can use the subweapons with the "R" button as opposed to the up d-pad and attack button like most Castlevania games. The most notable addition is Simon is capable of whipping in all eight directions including left, right, up, down, and diagonally. Another features sees Simon being able to keep his whip limp and swing it around to attack enemies and projectiles with it if the player holds down on the attack button and moves the directional pad around.

Behind the Scenes-
Super Castlevania IV was directed Masahiro Ueno who also served as one of the programmers. Ueno previously served as a franchise director for Contra and an assistant programmer for Metal Gear while later offering technical advice for Contra III: The Alien Wars. Kazumi Kitaue served as producer. Kitaue would later serve as a producer for Contra III: The Alien Wars and an executive producer for games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Metal Gear Solid, and Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix. The second programmer was Mitsuru Yaida who also, worked as a main programmer for Contra III: The Alien Wars. The music was co-composed by Masanori Adachi and Taro Kudo. Adachi would later go on to compose for Contra III: The Alien Wars and Rocket Knight Adventures while working in the sound department for Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Meanwhile, Kudo would go on to compose for Castlevania Chronicles Akumajo Dracula for the X68000 and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon while later working as a designer for Super Mario RPG and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.

Work on Super Castlevania IV reportedly began as early as 1989. Ueno was a fan of the first Castlevania game and wanted to make an action game similar to it. Though considered a remake by some, Ueno only considers Super Castlevania IV a remake to some extent which makes sense given the differences that the two games had. Many of the new features that appeared in the game, such as having more control over Simon when he walks on stairs, were designed to make the game less frustrating as the previous ones may have been. Originally when the development began, the character was in modern clothing and likely not Simon since they hadn't yet decided when the game took place. Yaida was the programmer behind Simon Belmont and programmed the possibility of whipping in all directions which was planned for the first Castlevania but not used since Konami couldn't pull it off on the NES. 

The team was small which resulted in everyone being involved with the design while some ideas came through experimenting on the part of the creative artists. Originally, the idea of branching stages which previously appeared in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, was considered for the game but ultimately wasn't used. The early bosses of the game were designed to be easier than the later ones so the player can discover weak points and effective subweapons without retrying. Originally, the development team drew maps while working on the game but as the game was being worked on, the maps were changed. Along with working on the Japanese version, Ueno also worked on the English version which dealt with censorship as the red blood in stage 8 was changed to green. The box art was done by Tom Dubois who worked on many of Konami's box art outside of Japan during the 1980s and early 1990s including games like The Adventures of Bayou Billy, Super C, Contra III: The Alien Wars, Rocket Knight Adventures, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles In Time as well as other Castlevania games including Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, and Castlevania Bloodlines.

Release-

Super Castlevania IV was released as Akumajo Dorkyura or Akumajo Dracula (Demon's Castle Dracula) in Japan on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on October 31, 1991 (appropriate right?), in North America on December 4, 1991, and in Europe on November 23, 1992. It received critical acclaim as GameRankings scored it 82.06%, Dragon scored it 3/5 stars, GameSpot scored it 7.8/10, IGN scored it 8/10, Nintendo Life scored it 9/10, Nintendo Power scored it 16.1/20, Super Play scored it 91%, and Entertainment Weekly scored it an A+. It also sold 500,000 copies worldwide. The game mostly was praised for game play, graphics, and music. Many publications in the decades since it's release have considered it one of the greatest video games ever created. Official Nintendo Magazine ranked it #70 on their list of the 100 Best Nintendo Games Ever Made. In 2006, Nintendo Power ranked it #66 on their list of the Greatest Games Made on a Nintendo System while later ranking it #27 on their final issue in 2012. Also in 2012, Official Nintendo Magazine ranked it #70 on their 100 Best Nintendo Games Ever list. 

Aftermath-

Since the release of Super Castlevania IV, the franchise continued on to this day while the game has been ported several times over the decades. In the early 90s, the video game company Factor 5 created a demo of the game that could be used for the Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive and presented it to Konami but they decided against it despite being impressed and wanted to keep all their Genesis releases to be in-house though they decided not to release a Sega port themselves either. In 2006, it was ported to the Wii Virtual Console. In 2013, it was then ported to the Wii U Virtual Console. Then in 2016, it was ported to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. In 2017, the game was then ported on the Super NES Classic Edition. The most recent port was in 2019 as part of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection which was released on the Playstation 4, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, and X-Box One computers and consoles.