March 11, 1999
Web posted at: 9:30 AM  EST

In this story: Evil is as evil does If a problem comes along you must whip it Sounds evil to me The air up there RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Adam Levine

(CNN) -- In the late 1980s, Konami started a proud tradition of "Castlevania" console games that were as popular as they were entertaining.

Guess what, this time it's the mid 19th century, and the one and only Count Dracula has once again emerged as a player on the death and destruction scene. This time Drac's packin' an army composed of the children of the night. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, and should you be in possession of an Nintendo 64, is to play "Castlevania."

Right off the bat (no pun intended) you have to appreciate Konami's decision to refrain from naming the game Castlevania 64. The sooner that trend ends the better!

Anyway it's up to you to save the good folks of Transylvania from eminent doom and damnation. Don't fret though, you have a small arsenal at your disposal as you confront the forces of evil.

You can either play as Reinhardt Schneider, descendant of the great vampire-killing clan of Schneiders, or as Carrie Fernandez, a psychic magician. Depending on who you select you will get to go to a different levels (there are 13 in all) and will get the chance to see a different ending when you have completed the game.

Reinhardt's weapon of choice is the whip. Carrie is pretty handy with an evil-seeking magic blast. Carrie is a lot easier to get the hang of as her attacks seek out and destroy multiple bad guys. Reinhardt's whip takes some getting used to, especially the way it targets objects, but is also pretty cool. Along the way you add to your limited arsenal by picking up holy water, axes, knifes and crosses.

The visuals in the game are imaginative and dark, which is frankly a refreshing change from some of the happy shinny schemes in many games out for the N64. Konami also did a solid job on giving the levels different looks. On the other hand this game could have benefited from another trend in N64 games, the use of hi-resolution mode. The always annoying N64 blur is in effect, although you get used to it -- that is as long as you didn't just finish playing another hi-res game.

The sound in "Castlevania" is superb. From whinny skeletons to Goth compositions, the game succeeds in establishing a sense of atmosphere with well-placed samples throughout the game.

This game is an Addams Family reunion of sorts. A host of evil creatures await you, including: werewolves, lizards, various vampires, skeletons, bats, spiders, hydras, knights, angry dogs, ghosts, death, Frankentein, and my personal favorite -- the stained-glass knight.

You can save your game at various points throughout levels at white gem points. This comes in handy as death lurks around ever corner.

The control is fairly intuitive and doesn't take long to get used to. Your character is always centered with a free-floating camera that jumps around a bit. Speaking of jumping, it's a good way to get around. You actually move faster when leaping. Of course sometimes the bag guys are faster than you are.

One of the interesting features in the game is the element of time. Certain objectives can only be accomplished at night, but for the most part this feature doesn't play a big role. Of course at night the evil seems more comfortable attacking in mass.

Overall this game is both fun and a respectable descendant of the original "Castlevania." If you're looking for a solid console game to add to your collection, this is a good place to start.

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