We didn't get a Super Nintendo game for this Switch Online update, but there is an interesting addition for the Game Boy. BACKGROUND:
I didn't even know Konami made a Castlevania game for the Game Boy, so learning of its existence was just as much a surprise as getting anything Castlevania on the Switch Online emulators. I'm told this isn't a canon entry into the series, either, so that's interesting. SUMMARY: Intended to be set very early into the series timeline, Castlevania Legends follows the story of Sonia Belmont, who was meant to be a major ancestor for a lot of the known family members from previous games. She takes it upon herself to oppose Dracula, who has gained unimaginable power by way of a deal with the devil of sorts. Thus, she travels across Transylvania all the way to Dracula's castle, whipping every monster in sight. It's a basic Castlevania story, but it does get interesting near the end thanks to the appearance of a major Castlevania character who appears to have quite the connection with Sonia. This factors into the bonus ending you can get by completing a special objective, which reveals the future of the Belmont Clan in this timeline. In terms of gameplay, Castlevania Legends feels like the classic 2D platformer of old, but with a slightly more forgiving jump (unlike the original Castlevania), no wacky whip controls (unlike Super Castlevania IV), and a largely linear level structure (unlike Castlevania II or anything post-Symphony of the Night). There's still potential for cheap deaths due to getting knocked back into pits or completely missing climbing ropes or other seemingly easy jumps, but I didn't find myself being as careful as I was when I played the first Castlevania, which featured level design that demanded that you be cautious at every step. Sonia's whip behaves mostly like Simon's in that you can upgrade it twice with special pickups, but the twist is that the fully upgraded whip also shoots projectiles, which can make most enemies hilariously trivial to deal with. The enemies themselves are mostly familiar, with only a few that I haven't quite seen in the older titles, and while the level design isn't as devious as the original game in terms of enemy placement, there are some annoying exceptions that are made more annoying with the enemy respawn behavior. The levels themselves have a few dead ends that either put you in trap rooms or hold some bonuses like meat that heals your HP, but a select few hold special collectible items (all of which are the original sub-weapons). These collectibles do nothing in-game, but if you manage to get them all by the end of the game, you're treated to the bonus cutscene I was talking about earlier. It's a neat reward, though to be honest, it doesn't take much effort to find most of these collectibles since all you have to do is check everywhere (and a lot of the levels aren't that large). Instead of the classic sub-weapons, Sonia has access to soul weapons. These function similarly in that they take collectible hearts (which you pick up from candles) as ammo, but they're more like spells in their behavior (e.g. Wind freezes enemies, Ice heals, Fire damages all non-bosses onscreen, etc.). Unfortunately, you only get these after you beat the boss of a stage, so for most of the first stage, your hearts are used for absolutely nothing. By the time you get these spells, you have way more hearts than what you know what to do with, and you can blaze through levels with the combination of a fully upgraded whip and smart use of the soul weapons. Sonia also has access to a super mode that she can use once per stage, and it makes her invincible for a brief period. This makes boss fights (which are at best annoying depending on the attack patterns you have to deal with) an absolute joke, and that includes Dracula himself. It's satisfying to mindlessly wail on bosses with zero consequence, but if you're looking for a challenge, this mechanic completely gets rid of it. The game also has you choose between Standard Mode and Light Mode at the start, with the only real difference being that Light Mode fully upgrades your whip out the gate. I played in Standard Mode, which I already found easy once I got the whip upgrades (which doesn't take long if you're destroying every candle you see); I can only imagine Light Mode saves you even more time. VERDICT: Castlevania Legends was a pretty short playthrough for me, and I unfortunately can't say I was that engaged in that brief time. Most of the game was almost mind-numbingly easy thanks to more lenient platforming, a whip that lets you damage enemies from very far away, soul weapons (while an interesting twist on the sub-weapon formula) that can trivialize entire rooms with tricky enemies, and an invincibility mechanic that lets you have your way with every boss you run into. I did think the collectibles were neat (even if they did nothing apart from give you a bonus ending), I liked the big guest appearance near the end of the game, and there was some satisfaction to be had from tearing through the entire game super quickly, but I feel like I'm fully content with my one playthrough and have no interest in giving it another go. As far as Castlevania entries go, you're better off exploring the most iconic entries in the series; the original is still my personal recommendation, though it is a rather unforgiving game. If you just want a relatively low-stress platformer or are curious about a seemingly forgotten corner of the Castlevania timeline, this game won't take up too much of your time. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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