Castlevania 64
Encyclopedia
Castlevania, known in Japan as , is an action-adventure
video game developed by Konami
's Kobe
branch for the Nintendo 64
video game console
. It was released on a 64-megabit cartridge in North America on January 26, 1999, in Japan on March 11, 1999, and in Europe on May 14, 1999. Unofficially, it is commonly dubbed as: "Castlevania 64" since it shares the same title with the first original Castlevania
video game.
Castlevania is the first 3D
game in the Castlevania series
. The player selects one of the games protagonists to control: Carrie Fernandez, a young orphan gifted with magic powers, or Reinhardt Schneider, the whip-wielding heir to the Belmont clan (the series' trademark protagonists). Carrie and Reinhardt set out on a quest to stop Count Dracula's impending return to power after a century of dormancy. The characters travel to and explore Dracula's grand estate in their mission to defeat the count and his horde of undead minions.
reawakens in 1852, after nearly sixty years of enforced slumber, as a result of humankind's descent into vice and wickedness. Two young heroes sense his return: Carrie Fernandez, a girl gifted with magic powers, and Reinhardt Schneider, heir to the ancient Belmont clan of vampire hunters. The two set out to storm the Count's castle in the Transylvania
n province of Wallachia
and vanquish him.
As they penetrate the castle walls, an aristocratic vampire appears to warn Carrie and Reinhardt that "all who oppose the Dark Lord will die." The two then come upon a decrepit villa
, where they meet the elderly vampire hunter Charles Vincent, beautiful yet unwilling vampire Rosa, demonic salesman Renon, and young boy Malus. Beneath the estate's maze garden lies a subterranean path to the castle's center, where Dracula's servants (Actrise and Death) attempt to waylay the heroes by pitting them in battle against their loved ones (the Fernandez warrior and Rosa).
Carrie kills her vampirized kin while Reinhardt beats Rosa in combat. The heroes then climb several of the castle's towers before confronting Actrise and Death atop the Room of Clocks. With their defeat, the heroes climb the Clock Tower to the Castle Keep.
The heroes may also need to battle Renon, the Demon Salesman, in his true form. This depends upon whether or not thirty thousand gold or more is spent with Renon over the course of the game.
If the player took fifteen or fewer days to reach the second chamber on the stairs to the Castle Keep, they will arrive before Charles Vincent (thus triggering the good, canon ending). After fighting de Rais disguised as Dracula, they will encounter Malus - who transforms into an adult - and defeat him atop the Clock Tower. After his defeat, Malus will regain the form of a child. Attempting to dupe the hero, he will pretend to have no recollection of the battle, but Vincent will arrive and douse the boy with holy water. Vincent explains that Malus was not possessed, but was in fact Dracula reincarnate. Malus then transports the hero to an alternate realm to battle his true form, a centipedal dragon named Drago. After Dracula's defeat the player will receive one of the canon endings: In Carrie's ending she places a nosegay
upon her stepmother's grave. In Reinhardt's ending, Rosa, who sacrificed herself for him atop the Room of Clocks, is revived and her humanity restored.
website omitted it - as well as several other Castlevania games - from the series' continuity. In 2006, series producer Koji Igarashi
stated that "These games were taken out of the timeline [...] not because I didn't work on them, but because they were considered by their directors to be side projects in the series". Since the 2002 removal, the events of Castlevania have occupied an ambiguous place in timelines published by Konami of Japan, Konami of America, and various gaming publications. The most recent English language timeline, distributed with preordered versions of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
in North America by Konami of America, includes the 1999 Castlevania but does not describe the game's plot. Some of the events and characters from the prequel/remix Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness which contain a version of Castlevania 64 are referenced in Castlevania Judgment
, in the form of the man-wolf Cornell. According to IGA characters from different eras of Castlevania's timeline were brought together by magic to save the timeline from being destroyed.
Combat is slightly more complex than in older entries. Players have the use of both a ranged attack (the whip for Reinhardt and magic blasts for Carries) and a close-quarters attack (short sword and rings). A basic targeting and lock-on system has also been implemented. Sub-weapons, of which only one can be used at a time, are still limited in use, but instead of hearts they are powered by red gems. These sub-weapons consists of series mainstays such as the knife, cross, and holy water. While levels have a definite beginning and end, backtracking is frequent, and occasionally a boss will be battled in the middle of a level, rather than at the end.
The game also features a day/night time cycle. In a few choice areas the time of day will effect events in the story; characters may not appear or be unwilling to talk at a certain time of day, while hidden areas may only be accessible for a short period of time. Sun cards can be used to advance the time to 6 a.m. sunup, while moon cards advance it to 6 p.m. sunset.
The North American and PAL versions of the cartridge do not have a built in save feature; all saved games are stored on a memory pack. The game is saved at set intervals in the form of Save Gems, which must be touched to activate and can be used indefinitely.
While in development at Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe (KCEK), Castlevania was originally known as Dracula 3D early in development. United States news media referred to the game by this title as well as Dracula 64. When the English name was revealed to be simply Castlevania, fans and media alike nicknamed it Castlevania 64 to differentiate it from previous games bearing the same title.
In September 1997, the game was approximately 10% finished and was 20% complete in February 1998. In October 1998 the game was featured at the Tokyo Game Show
; several levels were playable and the game was a hit with the crowd. Later that month, it was revealed that KCEK decided to drop two of the planned four characters from the game "in favor of focusing the programming team's development efforts and moving completion of the game forward." In January 1999 a Japanese release date was set for March 4, 1999 and Castlevania won the "Game of the Month" award at IGN.com. On the 18th, it was announced that the U.S. release date for the game would be January 26, 1999. On that date, the game shipped as planned and was available the day after at a MSRP
of $49.95.
The character artwork was designed by Yasuomi Umetsu
.
The Villa's exterior is based on one of the façades of the French château d'Azay-le-Rideau. Dracula's castle was based on Mont Saint-Michel
.
Several elements of the game were designed to allude to past Castlevania titles: Carrie's alternate costume is an homage to Maria Renard's dress in Devil's Castle Dracula X Rondo of Blood
, Reinhardt's alternate costume is an homage to Simon Belmont's outfit in the first Castlevania
, and the Behemoth boss in the Castle Center can be crippled, a reference to the crawling Behemoth first featured in Rondo of Blood.
, that greets the player on the title screen. The soundtrack was released in Japan on March 26, 1999. It was also released in Europe under the name Castlevania: The Original Game Soundtrack
.
Castlevania also features sporadic voice acting, mainly for the prologue's narrator and several of the game's main characters. Bianca Allen provided the voice for Carrie and Andrew Hanikson for Reinhardt. The PAL
version of the game features voice acting for Gilles de Rais in the Castle Wall and Castle Keep levels; the North American version did not include the voice work for the latter level.
.
At the release, most critics considered the game to be a good transition to the series, despite lots of gameplay changes. GameSpot
praised the graphics, audio and gameplay, saying "The developers have done a fantastic job of capturing the atmosphere and spirit of the series, while providing a well-balanced, challenging gameplay experience that's filled with pretty visuals, awesome (though limited) music, plenty of secrets, and some incredible bosses (just wait until you see Death... whew!).", while IGN
highlighted the sound better than the graphics, saying "Outstanding sound effects with lots of bass. Good music, even if it's a bit simple at times." and Game Pro
said "Is Castlevania fun? It depends on what kind of game you're looking for and how much energy you want to spend playing it. Fans of the old Castlevania will marvel at this version's familiar sites and environments and will appreciate the dedicated tack of the gameplay. Novices will be chilled to the bone at the thought of replaying a huge level after an untimely fall (fortunately, there are numerous save points). Castlevania's a 3D platform spectacle that definitely warrants a good look from N64 owners everywhere—you won't find better hauntings than this one."
The camera and the controls however were heavily criticized. Game Revolution
stated that the camera almost ruined the game, saying "(..)the camera is barely tolerable. Acting like a 7 year-old on Pixie Stix, the camera will occasionally just go nuts, running around the character. Getting a good view of the action is almost impossible, so players find themselves just with a bad camera angle. This, of course, often leads to death." and regarding the controls, "(...)the control itself is a little frisky(...)Most of the control problems are found in the speed of the character. Moving close to an edge in order to jump to a lower platform is tedious - you end up mastering the lemming dive before you are able to do it with some degree of success." IGN stated "Control feels too float at first and the camera can be painful".
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
video game developed by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
's Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
branch for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. It was released on a 64-megabit cartridge in North America on January 26, 1999, in Japan on March 11, 1999, and in Europe on May 14, 1999. Unofficially, it is commonly dubbed as: "Castlevania 64" since it shares the same title with the first original Castlevania
Castlevania (video game)
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a console video game developed and published by Konami for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan in September 1986. A year later, in May 1987 it was ported to cartridge format and released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System followed by a...
video game.
Castlevania is the first 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
game in the Castlevania series
Castlevania
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
. The player selects one of the games protagonists to control: Carrie Fernandez, a young orphan gifted with magic powers, or Reinhardt Schneider, the whip-wielding heir to the Belmont clan (the series' trademark protagonists). Carrie and Reinhardt set out on a quest to stop Count Dracula's impending return to power after a century of dormancy. The characters travel to and explore Dracula's grand estate in their mission to defeat the count and his horde of undead minions.
Plot
DraculaDracula (Castlevania)
, whose real name is Mathias Cronqvist , is a fictional character from the multi-platform Castlevania video game series...
reawakens in 1852, after nearly sixty years of enforced slumber, as a result of humankind's descent into vice and wickedness. Two young heroes sense his return: Carrie Fernandez, a girl gifted with magic powers, and Reinhardt Schneider, heir to the ancient Belmont clan of vampire hunters. The two set out to storm the Count's castle in the Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
n province of Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
and vanquish him.
As they penetrate the castle walls, an aristocratic vampire appears to warn Carrie and Reinhardt that "all who oppose the Dark Lord will die." The two then come upon a decrepit villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
, where they meet the elderly vampire hunter Charles Vincent, beautiful yet unwilling vampire Rosa, demonic salesman Renon, and young boy Malus. Beneath the estate's maze garden lies a subterranean path to the castle's center, where Dracula's servants (Actrise and Death) attempt to waylay the heroes by pitting them in battle against their loved ones (the Fernandez warrior and Rosa).
Carrie kills her vampirized kin while Reinhardt beats Rosa in combat. The heroes then climb several of the castle's towers before confronting Actrise and Death atop the Room of Clocks. With their defeat, the heroes climb the Clock Tower to the Castle Keep.
The heroes may also need to battle Renon, the Demon Salesman, in his true form. This depends upon whether or not thirty thousand gold or more is spent with Renon over the course of the game.
Endings
If the hero took sixteen or more "in game" days to reach the second chamber on the stairs to the Castle Keep, Vincent will have arrived before them, been defeated by the aristocratic vampire assumed to be Dracula (in reality Gilles de Rais), and turned into a vampire (thus triggering the bad, non-canon ending). The hero will then have to battle Vincent. Without Vincent's intercession, the hero will not discover that Malus was indeed Dracula reincarnate - not simply possessed by him - and receive one of the non-canon endings in which the hero rescues the boy. In Reinhart's ending he and Malus ride of into the sunset. In Carrie's ending, while the two are brought back to the village on a horse-drawn carriage, Malus tricks Carrie into a binding contract to marry him when they grow up.If the player took fifteen or fewer days to reach the second chamber on the stairs to the Castle Keep, they will arrive before Charles Vincent (thus triggering the good, canon ending). After fighting de Rais disguised as Dracula, they will encounter Malus - who transforms into an adult - and defeat him atop the Clock Tower. After his defeat, Malus will regain the form of a child. Attempting to dupe the hero, he will pretend to have no recollection of the battle, but Vincent will arrive and douse the boy with holy water. Vincent explains that Malus was not possessed, but was in fact Dracula reincarnate. Malus then transports the hero to an alternate realm to battle his true form, a centipedal dragon named Drago. After Dracula's defeat the player will receive one of the canon endings: In Carrie's ending she places a nosegay
Nosegay
A nosegay, tussie-mussie, or posy/posey/posie is a small flower bouquet, typically given as a gift. They have existed in some form since at least medieval times, when they were carried or worn around the head or bodice....
upon her stepmother's grave. In Reinhardt's ending, Rosa, who sacrificed herself for him atop the Room of Clocks, is revived and her humanity restored.
Position in chronology
Castlevania was present within the series' chronology from its original release in 1999 until 2002, when a timeline published on the official Japanese Castlevania: Harmony of DissonanceCastlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, known in Japan as , is an action-adventure game developed and published by Konami for the Game Boy Advance. Belonging to Konami's Castlevania video game series, it is the second installment of the series on the Game Boy Advance...
website omitted it - as well as several other Castlevania games - from the series' continuity. In 2006, series producer Koji Igarashi
Koji Igarashi
, also known simply by the nickname IGA, is a Konami employee and one of the producers of the Castlevania video game series. He is best known as the assistant director of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, his first major involvement in the Castlevania series , also known simply by the nickname...
stated that "These games were taken out of the timeline [...] not because I didn't work on them, but because they were considered by their directors to be side projects in the series". Since the 2002 removal, the events of Castlevania have occupied an ambiguous place in timelines published by Konami of Japan, Konami of America, and various gaming publications. The most recent English language timeline, distributed with preordered versions of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, known in Japan as , is an action video game developed and published by Konami. The game was released on November 16, 2006 in Japan, and in the US on December 5, 2006 for the Nintendo DS handheld game console...
in North America by Konami of America, includes the 1999 Castlevania but does not describe the game's plot. Some of the events and characters from the prequel/remix Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness which contain a version of Castlevania 64 are referenced in Castlevania Judgment
Castlevania Judgment
Initial reaction to the announcement that the game would be a fighting game was received by some with shock and skepticism. IGN's initial viewing of the pre-E3 build of the game made their reviewers conclude the game had promise...
, in the form of the man-wolf Cornell. According to IGA characters from different eras of Castlevania's timeline were brought together by magic to save the timeline from being destroyed.
Gameplay
Being the first installment to be in 3D, the game offers a few changes the formula established by previous entries in the Castlevania series. Although battling enemies is still a large part of the game, there is also an emphasis on exploration and platforming, along with some light puzzle-solving. Non-player characters are interacted with at certain points in the game, a first for the series. Also, currency, while still in the form of moneybags, can be used to purchase items. Other innovations include the use of an inventory to hold items, such as health-restoring meat and sun-or-moon cards.Combat is slightly more complex than in older entries. Players have the use of both a ranged attack (the whip for Reinhardt and magic blasts for Carries) and a close-quarters attack (short sword and rings). A basic targeting and lock-on system has also been implemented. Sub-weapons, of which only one can be used at a time, are still limited in use, but instead of hearts they are powered by red gems. These sub-weapons consists of series mainstays such as the knife, cross, and holy water. While levels have a definite beginning and end, backtracking is frequent, and occasionally a boss will be battled in the middle of a level, rather than at the end.
The game also features a day/night time cycle. In a few choice areas the time of day will effect events in the story; characters may not appear or be unwilling to talk at a certain time of day, while hidden areas may only be accessible for a short period of time. Sun cards can be used to advance the time to 6 a.m. sunup, while moon cards advance it to 6 p.m. sunset.
The North American and PAL versions of the cartridge do not have a built in save feature; all saved games are stored on a memory pack. The game is saved at set intervals in the form of Save Gems, which must be touched to activate and can be used indefinitely.
Difficulty settings
Castlevania has different settings to adjust the challenge posed by the game. In "Easy mode", the player will only be able to play until the end of the Castle Center level, at which time the game will ask them to try "Normal mode" to advance to the subsequent stages. Upon fulfilling certain conditions a 'hard mode' will be unlocked. In this mode enemies take more hits to defeat and subweapons require more jewel points to use (e.g. 2 jewel points for the knife instead of 1).Development
In September 1997, the game was approximately 10% finished and was 20% complete in February 1998. In October 1998 the game was featured at the Tokyo Game Show
Tokyo Game Show
The , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and the Nikkei Business Publications, Inc...
; several levels were playable and the game was a hit with the crowd. Later that month, it was revealed that KCEK decided to drop two of the planned four characters from the game "in favor of focusing the programming team's development efforts and moving completion of the game forward." In January 1999 a Japanese release date was set for March 4, 1999 and Castlevania won the "Game of the Month" award at IGN.com. On the 18th, it was announced that the U.S. release date for the game would be January 26, 1999. On that date, the game shipped as planned and was available the day after at a MSRP
Suggested retail price
The manufacturer's suggested retail price , list price or recommended retail price of a product is the price which the manufacturer recommends that the retailer sell the product. The intention was to help to standardise prices among locations...
of $49.95.
The character artwork was designed by Yasuomi Umetsu
Yasuomi Umetsu
Yasuomi Umetsu, also credited by his alternate name Yasuomi Umezu, is known for his directorial debut for the anime cult classic A Kite.-Filmography:*Megazone 23 Part II character designer/animation director...
.
The Villa's exterior is based on one of the façades of the French château d'Azay-le-Rideau. Dracula's castle was based on Mont Saint-Michel
Mont Saint-Michel
Mont Saint-Michel is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy, France. It is located approximately one kilometre off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches...
.
Several elements of the game were designed to allude to past Castlevania titles: Carrie's alternate costume is an homage to Maria Renard's dress in Devil's Castle Dracula X Rondo of Blood
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, known in Japan as is a platform video game developed by Konami for the PC Engine. The tenth installment of the Castlevania video game series and a 2D side-scroller, it acts as a middleground between the earlier, typically linear Castlevania games and the later...
, Reinhardt's alternate costume is an homage to Simon Belmont's outfit in the first Castlevania
Castlevania (video game)
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a console video game developed and published by Konami for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan in September 1986. A year later, in May 1987 it was ported to cartridge format and released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System followed by a...
, and the Behemoth boss in the Castle Center can be crippled, a reference to the crawling Behemoth first featured in Rondo of Blood.
Audio
The music for Castlevania was composed by Masahiro Kimura, Motoaki Furukawa, and Mariko Egawa. Tomokuni Katayama performed the violin solo, a rendition of "Bloodlines" from Castlevania: Rondo of BloodCastlevania: Rondo of Blood
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, known in Japan as is a platform video game developed by Konami for the PC Engine. The tenth installment of the Castlevania video game series and a 2D side-scroller, it acts as a middleground between the earlier, typically linear Castlevania games and the later...
, that greets the player on the title screen. The soundtrack was released in Japan on March 26, 1999. It was also released in Europe under the name Castlevania: The Original Game Soundtrack
Castlevania: The Original Game Soundtrack
contains the music from Konami's 1999 video game Castlevania. It was released in Japan on March 26, 1999 at a retail price of 2,234 yen . The soundtrack was also released in Europe....
.
Castlevania also features sporadic voice acting, mainly for the prologue's narrator and several of the game's main characters. Bianca Allen provided the voice for Carrie and Andrew Hanikson for Reinhardt. The PAL
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
version of the game features voice acting for Gilles de Rais in the Castle Wall and Castle Keep levels; the North American version did not include the voice work for the latter level.
Critical reception
Castlevania received generally positive reviews. It has an average of 78 out of 100 on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
At the release, most critics considered the game to be a good transition to the series, despite lots of gameplay changes. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
praised the graphics, audio and gameplay, saying "The developers have done a fantastic job of capturing the atmosphere and spirit of the series, while providing a well-balanced, challenging gameplay experience that's filled with pretty visuals, awesome (though limited) music, plenty of secrets, and some incredible bosses (just wait until you see Death... whew!).", while IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
highlighted the sound better than the graphics, saying "Outstanding sound effects with lots of bass. Good music, even if it's a bit simple at times." and Game Pro
Game Pro
This is the page related to the Italian video game magazine. For the unrelated American video game magazine see GamePro.Game Pro is the Italian edition of Edge video game magazine, specializing in multi-format video games.- History :...
said "Is Castlevania fun? It depends on what kind of game you're looking for and how much energy you want to spend playing it. Fans of the old Castlevania will marvel at this version's familiar sites and environments and will appreciate the dedicated tack of the gameplay. Novices will be chilled to the bone at the thought of replaying a huge level after an untimely fall (fortunately, there are numerous save points). Castlevania's a 3D platform spectacle that definitely warrants a good look from N64 owners everywhere—you won't find better hauntings than this one."
The camera and the controls however were heavily criticized. Game Revolution
Game Revolution
Game Revolution or GR is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots, and videos...
stated that the camera almost ruined the game, saying "(..)the camera is barely tolerable. Acting like a 7 year-old on Pixie Stix, the camera will occasionally just go nuts, running around the character. Getting a good view of the action is almost impossible, so players find themselves just with a bad camera angle. This, of course, often leads to death." and regarding the controls, "(...)the control itself is a little frisky(...)Most of the control problems are found in the speed of the character. Moving close to an edge in order to jump to a lower platform is tedious - you end up mastering the lemming dive before you are able to do it with some degree of success." IGN stated "Control feels too float at first and the camera can be painful".