With vast improvements and spectacular gameplay, this is the magnum opus of the series.
Every century, Dracula rises from his grave and spreads terror to the local population. However, a family of vampire killers, known as the Belmonts, possess a mystical whip called the Vampire Killer. Every century a Belmont goes through Dracula's castle to stop the unholy beast with the whip, ensuring the safety of the local population. Now Dracula has resurrected from his grave once more and it is up to Simon Belmont to possess the Vampire Killer to take him down once more. The story is not really emphasized on, but considering how the game plays, it is for the better.
The presentation of the game is rather amazing. Immediately you are presented with a dark and foreboding opening detailing Dracula's legend and resurrection. Throw in some amazing music to start off the menu and you are ready to go. Another thing that this game contains is a password feature in order to take breaks in between your progress of the 11 stages. Basically it is a grid, where you fill it in with different symbols of the items in the game. It looks nice and all, but I would have preferred if it was just a bit simpler, like a number system. But this problem is so small that it doesn't even count as a fault.
The graphics in the game push the boundaries of the Super Nintendo with an amazing look. The haunting feel of the series are so varied and amazing that you will be just staring at the background in shock on how detailed it is. Looking, you can sometimes see bats coming out of caves, the clouds going over the moon, and mist rising from the ground as you are trying to dodge spirits of the dead. Everything that you have seen from the NES trilogy has been blown into proportions never seen. The models, the various new areas, familiar portions of the castle, and background all look spectacular and blew all of my expectations. Konami also added sections that rely on the Mode 7 graphics to give a very nice looking 3D room, exemplified through the rotating room. The graphics are one of the strongest points in this game.
Just when you think that the graphics are brilliant, the sound is also another groundbreaking point of this amazing game. Again, Konami's sound engineers knew what they were doing and delivered some of the most memorable music in the series with well composed and smooth flowing pieces. Starting with Stage 1's opening to music to Stage A and B's remixes of original Castlevania, these pieces are some of the strongest points of the game. I just am dumbfounded at the wonderful work done and how well it flows with the action of the game. This is clearly one of the best soundtracks on the Super Nintendo.
The controls of the game feel familiar with the earlier titles of the series but feel very refined. You press B to jump, R to throw your sub-weapon, and Y to whip. Konami improved the whip controls significantly, allowing an 8-way movement and twirling around. You can also use your whip to grapple and swing across areas, which comes into heavy use during the last levels. The jumping has also been refined, allowing you to make movements while in midair, just in case you make a bad jump and are landing near an enemy. Speaking of which, the falling back motion is much less drastic as you fall back for a small distance, rather than the huge ways you did back in the NES days. This makes the experience much less frustrating and a whole lot more fun for beginners.
The gameplay is much improved over the original games on the NES. Instead of the RPG like gameplay like in Simon's Quest or the multiple path scenarios like in Darcula's Curse, you return back to a linear Stage-by-Stage approach like in the original Castlevania. Many people may consider it an over-simplification. I consider it a back to basics refinement. As you make it to the end of the stage, you reach a boss, which are based off of many famous figures that are associated with the horror culture and mythology. Some figures include Boris Karloff's interpretation of Frankenstein's monster, The Mummy, a Golem, and many other figures, even including Death (Antonius Block, eat your heart out).
Fighting through the enemies is very fun and they are very varied figures that each pose different threats. There are different forms of skeletons that lob their bones at you or use swords, zombies, pesky bats, and axe wielding knights in heavy armor. You can use many different sub weapons to take down these vile beast including axes, throwing knives, boomerang like crosses, and fire inducing Holy Water. These sub weapons are especially useful when you need to take down a boss or a large mass of enemies. Your currency in the game is marked by hearts, which are used to throw your subweapons. These can be found by breaking different objects in the house such as candles. Finding the proper combination of whipping and using your sub weapons is essential in getting through the different locations.
One thing that people always fear about when playing a Castlevania game is the difficulty, which often turns people down from playing the games. This is pretty much the easiest one out of the bunch, with most of the deaths you encounter coming out of your own mistakes rather than unfair circumstances. Medusa heads are used seldom, death traps are far less, and enemies are in smaller loads than they were in the NES games. To make up for the health you lose, Konami graciously made sure that there is enough chicken to eat to restore health (found in broken walls and other objects). This in some ways is great and when the games gets challenging, it still stays fair and makes you want to play again to fix your mistakes and getting past the boss. This is probably the easiest Castlevania game to get into so far.
The game's length really depends on your experience in the prior Castlevania games. If you managed to get through the first or third game, then this game will be less of a challenge. Newcomers may have a more challenging time with the game, having to get use to the one hit death traps and many enemies found to kill. It's not really hard and the challenge only increases in the last areas. For veterans, expect to play for around 3 hours and for newcomers, add in a few hours. Of course the game has very high replayability due to the hard mode and the sheer fun of the gameplay.
There are some times when you finish a game and remark that it is one of the greatest games that you have played, and this is one of them. The mount of fun and improvements presented is astounding and just an absolute joy to play. This is a spectacular game that everybody has to play. This is one of the reasons you should own a Super Nintendo and a phenomenal game that is a landmark in the series and in action side-scrollers in general. Thank you Konami for this tremendous game. Your work was impeccable.