Super Castlevania IV

Super Castlevania IV (known as Akumajō Dracula in Japan) is the first of two Castlevania games released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System console. The game stars Simon Belmont and is set in an alternate continuity.

Storyline
In the middle ages, Transylvania enjoyed a century of peace thanks to the legendary Belmont Clan, a family of vampire hunters who vanquished Count Dracula one hundred years earlier with a magical whip. The people of a Transylvanian village were enjoying their fortune with an Easter celebration in honor of Christ's resurrection, but every one hundred years, the power of Christ weakened, and the hearts of men turned black as they yearned for chaos and destruction. During this time, they sought to revive Count Dracula so he may spread chaos and ruination throughout the world. While the Easter celebration carried on with a grand carnival, evil men gathered in a monastery at the edge of the village and conducted a black mass to resurrect Count Dracula.

The men succeeded in bringing their master back. A bolt of lightning enveloped the monastery where they held the rite, signaling the resurrection of Count Dracula. When the Count returned, his Castle, which had fallen one hundred years prior, reappeared in Transylvania, and his legions of loyal minions reformed.

Simon Belmont, a descendant of the Belmont Clan, knew that it was his duty to bring peace and stability back to Transylvania by destroying Dracula. The Count was said to grow in strength with each resurrection, but Simon pressed on. He took the very same whip his ancestors used to kill Dracula one hundred years before and entered the Castle alone. Simon proved himself a mighty vampire hunter by withstanding the monsters and traps of Dracula's Castle, and in the end, destroying Count Dracula himself.

Character Gallery
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Gameplay
Keeping in line with the previous console title, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, the eleven stages are divided into locales both outside and inside Dracula's Castle. The controls are more flexible in comparison to previous titles; Super Castlevania IV introduces the ability to attack in eight different directions instead of just a single forward attack. Whip brandishing - holding in the attack button in order to fling the whip around to ward off enemy projectiles - made its debut. Simon can change direction in mid-air as well as walk forward while crouching. Platforming is further enhanced with Simon being able to latch his whip onto bat-shaped hooks, enabling him to swing over pits and other traps.

Simon Belmont's arsenal is the same as it was in Castlevania - he is equipped with the Vampire Killer that, with enough hearts, can be upgraded twice into longer and more powerful chain maces. The sub-weapons from Castlevania return: holy water, cross boomerang, knife, stop watch, and axe. Only one sub-weapon can be carried at a time, and each cost a certain amount of hearts. Items such as hearts, money bags, 1-ups, double-and-triple shots, and pot roasts also return.

As a retelling of the original Castlevania, Super Castlevania IV introduces new enemies, stages, and bosses. Unlike Castlevania, which starts Simon right outside the walls of Dracula's Castle, Simon must travel through the countryside and other haunted buildings before reaching the castle itself. New enemies are included, such as possessed portraits and disembodied horse heads, as well as others taken from previous Castlevania titles, such as the Imps from Castlevania III. While some familiar bosses like Frankenstein's Monster and The Mummy return, the roster introduces new boss enemies such as dual ghostly dancing fencers, an undead knight, and the Hydra, as well as later series staples, Slogra and Gaibon.

Graphics
Super Castlevania IV is notable for its graphics, displaying effects such as multi-scrolling backgrounds, animated objects in the distance, and very complex and diverse colors and shapes in its levels. The game takes on a darker, more eccentric mood than prior games in the series. Stage 2, for example, features multiple storm clouds that zip by, and later an animated river path in the background and foreground that spills little waterfalls. Additionally, Super Castlevania IV was the first Castlevania game to use Super NES' Mode 7 feature. Its effects can be seen in Stage 4, a level which seemed to twist and turn in both 2D and 3D throughout. Enemies and objects have many animations, such as the treasure boxes in the Treasury Level.

Level design
Following the model set by the previous games, Super Castlevania IV employs the usage of many the series' recurring elements, such as moving platforms, pits with spikes, and stairs that one can traverse only by pressing the Up or Down direction on the D-Pad.

Unique to Super Castlevania IV ' s level design is its connection with Simon's whip, the Vampire Killer. Occasionally, objects, similar to door knockers, will appear in the player's view, and the player must use Simon's whip to grab onto them, and swing across pits and such to gain access to the next part of the stage. Simon is also able to adjust the length of the whip while on the "door knockers" if the player uses the D-pad accordingly.

True to Castlevania, Super Castlevania IV puts the player in very tense moments, such as escaping the deadly blades of a huge, circular saw in one of the final levels, or crossing a bridge with randomly disappearing parts, along with timing jumps between large, swinging chandeliers, where one wrong move sends the player to the deadly void below.

Music
For more informations about the music of this game, go to Super Castlevania IV Original Soundtrack's page.

Despite being one of the first games for the Super NES, the game managed to produce some of the best sounds ever heard on the system, and, like the graphics, is still an amazing achievement. The bold drum and string synths of the Super NES' soundcard are especially apparent in the new compositions.

The particular score is famous for creating one of the darkest and most foreboding atmospheres in the series, along with accordingly sprinkling the upbeat, catchy tunes Castlevania is renowned for.

The music of the Baroque era, at its zenith in the 18th century, and the Rococo era shortly after, is found throughout the soundtrack. There is the use of techniques called Four Voice Leading (type of chord movement), pedal melody, where one note repeats under a distinctive motive or "riff" (Bloody Tears), secondary dominants (also a part of chord movement), and non-harmonic tones like suspensions and passing tones.

But the soundtrack has not been praised so much for its apparent tributes to other styles, so much as its incredibly complex nature for such an early game on the respective system. For example, the stage Sunken City begins its theme with a wavering and fading effect with an organ, and then evolves into a near-improvisational jazz-influenced melody (additionally, it is one of the game's most touted compositions).

Remixes
Super Castlevania IV ' s soundtrack includes remixes of songs from past games. These include "Vampire Killer" (from Castlevania, this version is in F minor), and "Bloody Tears" (from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest), two themes that would eventually reappear in many more games. "Beginning", the song played on Stage 1 from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, is also present.

Songs that eventually appeared in other games
"Theme of Simon Belmont", now considered to be the character's trademark theme song, was played on the last stage in Castlevania Chronicles/Akumajō Dracula X68000 and the last half of the final stage in Castlevania: Bloodlines. The "Theme of Simon Belmont" victory fanfare, which was used in Super Castlevania IV whenever a crystal was obtained after defeating a boss, was also featured in Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness. If you rescued one of the 6 children in Henry Mode, this fanfare would play as a victory theme. Interestingly enough, after Castlevania: Circle of the Moon's soundtrack was dumped into GSF files, an unused track that resembled this fanfare was discovered.

The "Game Over" theme was also reused in "Castlevania: Circle of the Moon", and so was "Rotating Room" and "Spinning Tale", in a remix combining the two songs called "Clockwork Mansion".

It has been debated that "Dracula Battle BGM" is played somewhere in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence.

Regional variations
Naturally, the game is called Akumajō Dracula in Japan. The logo is different, and resembles the original Akumajō Dracula title screen, from the Famicom Disk System. Blood also drips below the title's lettering.

For some reason, the font in the game is different. The English version's is bright green, yet the Japanese version has a completely different font, and is also significantly darker.

In the Japanese version, there was a cross on top of the tombstone from the introduction. It was removed to avoid religious controversies. Also, you can vaguely see "Dracura" (a case of Engrish) written on the tombstone.

As with many games on the Super NES, there were censorship issues. The statues in Stage 6 were originally topless, and the blood in Stage 8 was changed from red to green.

The in-game prologue text for Super Castlevania IV in the North American version was also different from the Japanese prologue screen text, with an extra line claiming that it was "Once again Simon Belmont is called upon to destroy Dracula", in order to force the game into being a sequel to Simon's Quest, when it wasn't originally one. Note: That while the text still remains in the US version of the game, the game is no longer considered a sequel in the U.S.

Trivia

 * In the stage 5-2 of this game, in front to the entrace of the Dracula's castle, there are several statues that resemble to Sypha Belnades, a character from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.
 * Some of the enemies' graphics from Super Castlevania IV would eventually be recoloured and ported into Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the most famous examples being Slogra and Gaibon.
 * The Dancing Spectres of stage 6 are named Paula Abghoul and Fred Askare, a parody on Paula Abdul and Fred Astaire.

Related Products

 * Akumajo Dracula Best Vol. 2 - Contains the Super Castlevania IV Original Soundtrack
 * All About Akumajo Dracula - Japanese guidebook featuring artwork for all of the enemies
 * Famitsu Akumajo Dracula - Another Japanese guidebook
 * Nintendo Power Super Castlevania IV Guide - Magazine guide containing original artwork of the game
 * Castlevania I - This game is officially considered a non-canon remake of this game
 * Castlevania: Simon's Quest - This game was originally considered a sequel to this game in North America
 * Dracula X - This Super Nintendo game is sometimes called "Castlevania V" and considered a sequel to this game
 * Castlevania Best Music Collections BOX - Contains music from this game on Disk
 * Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - A 3D game inspired by this game