Probably not the best Castlevania, but not the worst either...
I had read just about all articles about Castlevania for N64 you could read. And just had to get it for myself to see it with my own eyes.
Sure. The first impression was a disappointment. It wasn't what I expected it to be. But the game showed promise.
Even though chainsaw armed villains don't belong in the Castlevania-universe, I still loved the game.
Ok, controls were awful, but still, look back on the time when we still had only NES to enjoy Castlevania on - did it have perfect control? No.
Not all games are meant to be a cake walk.
Castlevania for N64 had many negative aspects:
1. Gameplay (characters were hard to control)
2. Graphics (yes, it was a beautiful game, but N64 could push for more)
3. Some of the enemies were nerve-wrecking and incredibly annoying
4. Sometimes you didn't know where to go since it was unclear at times.
But the good things were:
1. Variety of stages
2. Option to choose another character besides the usual vampire slaying hero (of the Belmont clan)
3. Very black & white old-fashion vapire movie kinda feel and atmosphere.
4. Sounds were just right. Music not that bad either (but when did a Castlevania game have bad music? lol)
So...
I gave it a good 3-4 months until I put it on the shelf to gather dust.
So, in my perspective, 3-4 months is quite close to the same amount you sacrifice your time to get through a Final Fantasy....
You gotta look this version from the good side:
It was an experimental copy of Castlevania - without this one we probably wouldn't have got Lament Of Innocence nor Curse of Darkness later on....