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Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (Wii)

Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth review

Game: Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
Platform: Wii
Genre: Action (Platformer)
Developer: Konami
AKA: Dracula Densetsu ReBirth (JP)

Staff review by Jason Venter

January 14, 2010

Castlevania ReBirth is a good game that definitively answers the age old question: why do all of the recent Castlevania games resemble Super Metroid? Play through this WiiWare release and you'll know soon enough.

Originally released on the Game Boy in 1989 as Castlevania Adventure, Konami's latest downloadable title is a treat for the long-time Castlevania fan. Here you'll find Death with his sickles and blades whirling madly around him, possessing a visage rendered more menacing than ever before by redrawn artwork. Here you'll find the Colossus with a hulking frame that fills the entire screen and shakes the whole chamber around him, here the familiar vampire bat that you've been battling since the original Castlevania.

Strip aside the fresh coat of paint and this is Castlevania as old school gamers remember it. There's no level-up system, no ever-present map with chambers that criss-cross one another and reveal new secrets once we acquire a sufficiently spiffy pair of boots. There's much to be said for the enjoyment that so-called "Metroid-vania" titles offer, but they're from a newer era. There was a time when Castlevania games were more about straight-forward progression, a harrowing boss encounter at the end of each area, a limited set of sub-weapons--ax, stopwatch, dagger, cross and holy water--and the constant realization that a power surge could wipe out your efforts in the blink of an eye.

Now you have the chance to return to that bygone age, if only briefly. As Christopher Belmont, you'll begin your adventure just outside of Dracula's fearsome castle. You'll creep through its grim courtyard, battle zombies that rise from the ground, leap out of the way as enormous eyeballs drop from portals that open in the sky above you. Defeat the first boss and an artifact will materialize from thin air, then fall at your feet. You'll return to the map for a quick glimpse at the progress you've made through the castle. Then you'll find yourself working through the catacombs, the chapel, the arena, the clock tower and finally making your way up the familiar stairs that lead to a climatic encounter with the Lord of Darkness.

There are times when the adventure is quite difficult, but seldom for the wrong reasons. Your clock tower ascension is made memorable by the flying Medusa heads and spikes that quickly decimate your life meter, just the way you remember such moments. Elsewhere, massive spears extend from the floor (leap up them to reach the high ground). You'll pass repeatedly through the same dangerous hallway if you don't grab the keys and open the right doors, wind up skewered if you don't step out of the way of crushing spike traps. Lose your last life and you can resume play from the start of the stage where you perished, but another chance won't do you much good if you haven't taken the time to form a dependable approach to each hazard that you'll need to face all over again. If you turn off your Wii and plan to come back later, you get to start fresh upon your return... from the very first stage.

For the newcomer who was raised on the forgiving likes of Symphony of the Night and the string of handheld releases that followed, the abrupt change of pace can be soul-crushing. Even for those who are returning after time spent away from hardcore games, it can seem like a bit much. 8-bit heroes have grown soft in this age of auto-saves and invincibility codes. Platforming and whipping skills are rusty, covered in figurative dust and cobwebs. Until now, those skills had often seemed unnecessary in digital Transylvania.

If you find yourself facing that dilemma, the "Options" menu will be your friend. You can head there and listen to some fantastic Castlevania tunes (there's a reason people used to praise this stuff so regularly), or you can adjust your stock of lives all the way up to 9. There's an "Easy" mode, as well, if you find that your adventure is ending too soon for your liking. Equipped with such boosts, you can surely make your way much further into Dracula's foreboding castle.

Then you do precisely that, and after you've been playing for only an hour and a half you suddenly find yourself standing at the foot of the steep, weather-worn staircase leading to your nemesis' chamber. That's when it hits you: Castlevania games play so much like Super Metroid these days because that's the best way to squeeze more time out of them. Even epic romps through dark castles like those we saw in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and Super Castlevania IV couldn't provide the scope of Symphony of the Night and its meaty successors.

Perhaps someday we'll see a full-blown, action-packed revival in spite of that. Stranger things have happened. Konami could release a brand new adventure in the Castlevania world and it might include the spectacular pits that we remember from the good old days, the showdowns with Death where you have only a sliver of your life meter remaining and he's about to hit you with his sickle but you toss an ax and watch your spectral foe burst into flames. We may yet enjoy more of those adventures, just the way that we remember them from our youth. Until such a day arrives, though, we must be content to make our return trips to Transylvania along the same general paths that we followed in our youth. If sometimes they're a little prettier and available as a convenient download, well, we'll just have to tolerate those changes. Dracula will still be waiting in his tower for the chance to kick our butts. Some things never change...

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