When you stop and think about it, it's perhaps a little unusual that Konami's Castlevania - a series primarily concerned with bloodsucking vampires, crumbling gothic fortresses and ghoulish things that go bump in the night - isn't actually that scary at all. There's nothing to compare to the likes of Resident Evil, Silent Hill or Dead Space, no moments where you jump out of your skin or your find yourself fearful of what lies around the next corner. What Castlevania does have in spades is atmosphere; its finest instalments are fondly recalled because in each one the experience as a whole seems to pull together to create a striking impact on the player. There's no finer example of this quality than Super Castlevania 4.
Released during the Super Nintendo's formative years and following on from three well-received outings on the 8-bit NES, Super Castlevania 4 - or "Devil's Castle Dracula" as it is known in its native Japan - is effectively a retelling of the 1986 original. You once again assume the role of vampire hunter extraordinaire Simon Belmont, a hero who dresses like Conan the Barbarian and utilises an enchanted whip which is deadly to blood suckers, as well as countless other denizens of the night. While the premise may have remained the same, the development team at Konami - led by Masahiro Ueno, the man who helped port Metal Gear from the MSX2 to the NES in three months - was liberated from the restrictions of Nintendo's ageing 8-bit hardware and consequently allowed to run riot on an entirely new console.
One of Konami's earliest ventures on the SNES, Castlevania 4 not only provides a riveting gaming experience, but also a compelling showcase of the console's power. Few lucky enough to experience it at the time of release will be able to forget the impact of the technically stunning fourth stage, which features so many Mode 7 visual effects that it could practically be a Nintendo-sanctioned tech demo. The rotating room sequence was jaw-dropping at the time, as was the smoothly-scaling boss which is found at the climax of the stage. Perhaps most impressive of all is the spinning tunnel section which appears to rotate convincingly around the player (Konami would later use a similar visual trick to add perspective to the vertically-scrolling sections in its SNES shooter Axelay). While some of these effects are mere window dressing, Ueno's team was better than most when it came to harnessing the unique power of the SNES to create situations which simply couldn't be replicated on rival hardware.
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