Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth out in Europe next week
By now, European Wii owners probably feel like they’ve been waiting for Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth since the actual 16-bit generation. We’re happy to report that, according to the Nintendo Channel, the WiiWare reimagining of the Game Boy’s Castlevania: The Adventure will be released in Europe next Friday, February 26.
As always, it’s a rare treat to know ahead of time when a WiiWare game’s coming out — especially when it’s a game someone out there may actually be interested in buying. Everyone, buy the Rebirth games so we can get a Parodius or Mystical Ninja Rebirth!
[Via GoNintendo]
Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth out in Europe next week originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Castlevania: Rondo of Blood on Virtual Console ’soon’
After years of waiting, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood has been officially confirmed for a Virtual Console release in North America. A Hudson representative told Siliconera that the game was indeed bound for release on the Wii Shop, over a year after it was released as a download in Japan.
Hudson (and/or Konami) must have spent all that time implementing the English translation used in the PSP release, right? Nope! The Hudson rep said that “it will not be released in English, however.” You’ll just have to do your very best to understand how to whip a Medusa head in Japanese.
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood on Virtual Console ’soon’ originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Climax: We want to make another Silent Hill
We always suspected we had nothing in common with Silent Hill: Shattered Memories developer Climax. We crave Coke, they prefer Pepsi. We swoon for Daniel Craig, they say George Lazenby is the best. We say tomato, they say … well, that one works better when you say it out loud. Finally, though, we’ve found something we agree on: We both want them to make another Silent Hill game.
Speaking with the UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine, lead designer Sam Barlow said, “For us we felt we’ve put our stamp on the series with Shattered Memories so we’d love the opportunity to do another one. So everybody go and buy it!”
He’s absolutely right, you should do that this moment. … Hey! That’s more common ground already.
[Via Nintendo Everything]
Climax: We want to make another Silent Hill originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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ESRB rates Castlevania: Rondo of Blood for Wii
Previously, unless you were a resident of Japan who owned a PC Engine CD in the early ’90s (or, more likely, a PSP owner anywhere in the world within the past two years ago), there wasn’t an easy way for you to get your hands on “Akumajō Dracula X Chi no Rondo” (Rondo of Blood’s Japanese title). But now, it seems that Wii owners outside of Japan will get the chance to check out the game.
ESRB rates Castlevania: Rondo of Blood for Wii originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth Review
Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth is the third and perhaps most impressive entry so far in Konami’s arcade-style WiiWare titles (the first two being Gradius Rebirth and Contra Rebirth). The title, available for download exclusively on WiiWare for 1,000 Wii Points ($10), retells the first adventure of vampire hunter Christopher Belmont in what is essentially an entirely new game.
Unlike the recent Castlevania titles for the Nintendo DS, Castlevania Rebirth ditches the Metroidvania style of gameplay where you unlock portions of Dracula’s castle and level up in a non-linear, RPG/Metroid-like format, and instead harkens back to the straightforward NES days where you progressed from one level to the next in a linear fashion armed with only your whip, your subweapons and nerves of steel.
The gameplay itself is simplistic but fun, giving an appropriate nod back to the series’ roots in arcade-based gaming. You can whip only left or right and have your typical subweapons – the cross, axe, dagger, stopwatch and holy water – with which to venture through the six levels of Dracula’s castle. The subweapons behave just as they did in the early Castlevania games, but Christopher’s whip retains a unique feature from the original version of The Castlevania Adventure – the ability to shoot fire. Though unlike the 1989 game, this ability only lasts for a short while. But thankfully, each enemy hit Christopher suffers from no longer annoyingly downgrades his whip.
Each level features a plethora of custom-drawn enemies – it was a relief to see some new character designs after so much recycling in the Metroidvania titles – as well as a final boss and even some sub-bosses to challenge your arcade gaming skills along with occasionally difficult platforming sections. Defeat the boss and you’ll be rewarded not with an upgrade to your stats or a new skill, but with a sense of accomplishment and yet another challenge via the next level.
The levels themselves are surprisingly well constructed with a fair balance of enemies, platforms and even destructable environments (you can crumble statues with a crack of the whip or even drop chandeliers on top of unsuspecting enemies) that provide a constantly fun and challenging journey. Konami has even given subtle nods to the original title with oversized, rolling eyeballs of doom (a common enemy in the 1989 game) and dangling ropes that mock old-school veterans such as myself who remember Game Boy title’s abundant use of rope climbing in place of stairs.
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood Rated for Australian Virtual Console
Now this is something we’ve been waiting for with much enthusiasm. The infamous 1993 PC-Engine game, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, is making its way to the Australian Virtual Console according to a recent entry in the Classification Database for the OFLC (Office of Film and Literature Classification). It has been given a classification of “M” for mature.
Rondo of Blood debuted in Japan two years after the Super NES title Super Castlevania IV, and it made full use of the PC-Engine’s CD-ROM format by including anime cutscenes and CD-quality sound. However, the original version was never released in America until 2007 when Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles arrived on the PSP. A watered down port arrived on the SNES in 1995 under the title of “Castlevania: Dracula X,” but it lacked many of the stellar features of the original title (even though it contained rather high-quality music like its counterpart).
The original version has been available on the Japanese Virtual Console since April of 2008, but this marks the first time that Konami has emulated the game for English-speaking audiences.
It wouldn’t make much sense for Konami to release this long-awaited game in Australia alone, so we expect the game to arrive in the States some time next year, likely after Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth hits WiiWare. We’ll keep you updated as more information arrives.
NintendoWare Weekly: Castlevania ReBirth, Pilotwings, Oregon Trail
Nintendo’s been on quite the roll recently, providing plenty of content in its weekly offerings — and today is no different. There are ten new titles to check out, including high-profile downloads such as Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, Oregon Trail and — finally! — Pilotwings on the Virtual Console. Head past the break to check out the full list.
Continue reading NintendoWare Weekly: Castlevania ReBirth, Pilotwings, Oregon Trail
NintendoWare Weekly: Castlevania ReBirth, Pilotwings, Oregon Trail originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Luigi’s Mansion + Castlevania = Mansionvania: Vacuum of Sorrow
We’ll have to file this one under the “Games That We Wish Existed” category, as the screen you see above is little more than a pixelart mash-up of Luigi’s Mansion and the Castlevania series. Masterfully created by Shane Gill for his PixelJoint page (and spotted by the folks at Tiny Cartridge), the piece is the living embodiment of what we wish the DSiWare service played host to more often.
Alas, we don’t believe we’ll be seeing “Mansionvania: Vacuum of Sorrow” landing on Nintendo’s digital distribution service anytime soon — but we can at least point to it next time someone asks what we’d like to see available for download. “That! Go make that! That 2D pixel game with the vacuum-wielding Luigi! And enough with the calendars already!”
[Via Tiny Cartridge]
Luigi’s Mansion + Castlevania = Mansionvania: Vacuum of Sorrow originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Review: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
I’m a big fan of Silent Hill. I’ve played every game in the series and a few years ago you might even have caught me defending the Silent Hill movie. When I first heard that Climax was re-imagining the first game in the Silent Hill series, and putting it on the Wii, I was a bit nervous. When the company revealed the logo and announced that the rust laden, nightmarish Otherworld was being brushed aside for an ice world, I was downright scared. After gathering some more info and trying the game at E3, all fears were assuaged. This was to be the great hope of the Silent Hill series.
Having spent two evenings with the game and completing the story for the first time, I’m conflicted. Was it good? Yes. I’m just not sure it’s Silent Hill.
Continue reading Review: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Review: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Silent Hill: Shattered Memories trailer rocks out
Konami has released a new trailer for Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and … it kind of rocks. Literally. Rather than flooding the senses with creepy atmosphere, rusted metal and sexually confusing nurses, the trailer opts instead for a montage of the game’s characters and some rock music, specifically “When You’re Gone,” a new theme composed by the series’ longtime (and recently departed) maestro, Akira Yamaoka.
Sharp-eyed viewers will also notice that Cybil, the friendly police officer from the original Silent Hill, appears in two different variations in the trailer. The version of Cybil encountered will be different for each player, depending on the player’s actions prior to meeting her in the game. Also featured in the video: Monsters. Lots of ‘em.
Shattered Memories releases December 8.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories trailer rocks out originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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