ULTIMATE GUIDE Super Castlevania IV
Konami’s Castlevania franchise has a reputation for strong atmosphere, but few games in the series come close to capturing the sheer dark majesty of Super Castlevania IV – confusingly, the eighth main game in the series on its release. Fittingly released in time for Halloween in Japan in 1991 and overseen by Masahiro Ueno (who was credited as Jun Furano), the eighth Castlevania game is a spectacular addition to the series, even if some fans felt it was something of a step back after experiencing Dracula’s Curse on the NES.
It’s a fair assessment to make, in retrospect, as mechanically Ueno’s game would have certainly felt a little lacking to anyone that had experienced the branching stages, multiple). As a result, Super Castlevania IV is perhaps best described as a remix of the NES original, retelling the story of Simon Belmont’s fight against Dracula, but adding new stages, bosses and greatly enhanced audio. Think of Ueno as a storyteller spinning a yarn to a group of entranced listeners around a campfire, embellishing the well-known tale with additional flourishes that no one in the crowd would have heard before.
