Super Castlevania IV
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| above = Super Castlevania IV
| image = {{#invoke:InfoboxImage|InfoboxImage|image={{#invoke:WikidataIB |getValue|rank=best|P18 |name=image |qid= |suppressfields= |fetchwikidata=ALL |onlysourced=no |noicon=yes|Super Castlevania IV North American SNES box art.png}}|size=|sizedefault=frameless|upright=1|alt=Super Castlevania IV|border=|suppressplaceholder=yes}}
| caption = {{#if:Super Castlevania IV North American SNES box art.png|North American box art by Tom duBois<ref name="DuboisArt"/>|North American box art by Tom duBois<ref name="DuboisArt"/>}}
| label2 = Developer(s) | data2 = Konami
| label3 = Publisher(s) | data3 = Konami
| label4 = Director(s) | data4 = Masahiro Ueno
| label5 = Producer(s) | data5 = Kazumi Kitaue
| label6 = Designer(s) | data6 = Kazumichi Ichihara
| label7 = Programmer(s)
| data7 = Masahiro Ueno
Mitsuru Yaida
| label8 = Artist(s)
| data8 = Kazumichi Ichihara
Satoshi Kushibuchi
| label9 = Writer(s) | data9 = Template:If first display both
| label10 = Composer(s)
| data10 = Masanori Adachi
Taro Kudo
| label11 = Series | data11 = Castlevania
| label12 = Engine | data12 = Template:If first display both
| label13 = Platform(s) | data13 = SNES
| label14 = Release | data14 = Template:Video game release
| label15 = Genre(s) | data15 = Action, platform
| label16 = Mode(s) | data16 = Single-player
| label17 = Arcade system | data17 = Template:If first display both
| data30 =
| below = Template:EditOnWikidata
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Super Castlevania IVTemplate:Efn is a 1991 action-platform game developed and published by Konami for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It has been re-released multiple times, including for the Super NES Classic Edition.
Super Castlevania IV features expanded play control, 16-bit graphics featuring Super NES's Mode 7, and a soundtrack featuring new pieces and arrangements based on previous Castlevania music. Following the same setting as Castlevania on the NES, the game takes place in 1691 Transylvania, where the vampire hunter Simon Belmont must defeat the vampire Dracula.<ref name="VirtualConsole">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The game received critical acclaim and is considered one of the greatest video games of all time.
GameplayEdit
Super Castlevania IV is a side-scrolling platform game where the player takes control of Simon through eleven levels.<ref name="Introduction">Template:Cite book</ref> Players begin the game with five lives, and it ends in a game over once they have lost them all. The player will lose a life if all of Simon's health gauge is depleted, fall into a hole or if they do not finish the level within the time limit.<ref name="Introduction"/> The health gauge can be restored through food items that can be dropped from candles and breakable blocks, or with the Magic Crystal, which is received after defeating the boss at the end of each level.<ref name="Introduction"/><ref name="Items"/> A password can be entered to continue the game.<ref name="Controls">Template:Cite book</ref>
With Simon's whip, players can attack enemies in eight directions with the use of the control pad.<ref name="Controls"/><ref name="Whip">Template:Cite book</ref> By holding down the attack button, the whip will go limp and can be waved around with the control pad, which can be used to block projectiles.<ref name="Whip"/> The length and power of the whip can be increased up to two levels by collecting an item called the Morning Star.<ref name="Items"/> The whip is used for fighting and for latching onto rings to swing over areas that are too wide or dangerous for the player to jump across.<ref name="Whip"/> In addition to jumping, the player can control Simon to move while crouching.<ref name="egreview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Like its predecessors, players can use secondary weapons that consume Simon's hearts, which are dropped from candles and enemies.<ref name="Items">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="SecondaryWeapons">Template:Cite book</ref> The secondary weapons include an axe which can be thrown in an arc, a watch which stops all enemy motion and a dagger that can be thrown across the screen.<ref name="SecondaryWeapons"/> Collecting the items known as the Double and Triple Shots allows the player to throw secondary weapons up to three times in a row.<ref name="Items"/>
Development and releaseEdit
Super Castlevania IV was directed by Masahiro Ueno (credited in the game as Jun Furano since Konami did not allow the use of real names at the time), who was also the main programmer.<ref name="UenoInterview">Template:Citation</ref> His first 16-bit game, Ueno's team possibly started development on it during 1989. Ueno liked the original Castlevania for the Nintendo Entertainment System the most and wanted to make a pure action game that was similar to it.<ref name="UenoInterview"/> Ueno only considers Super Castlevania IV a remake of the original Castlevania to some extent.<ref name="UenoInterview"/> Early design documents depict the player-character in modern attire, since the setting was not decided at the time.<ref name="HistoryOfCV">Template:Cite book</ref> Many features in Super Castlevania IV were introduced to make it a less frustrating game for players, such as giving them more control over Simon when he walked up stairs.<ref name="UenoInterview"/>
Due to the team being small, everyone was involved with the design and some ideas came from the creative artists and others by the programmers' experiments. The team drew maps on paper and a lot was changed as the game was worked on.<ref name="UenoInterview"/> Branching stages, previously seen in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, were once considered but not included in Super Castlevania IV.<ref name="HistoryOfCV"/> Mitsuru Yaida (credited as Yaipon) programmed Simon and also implemented the game's whip system, which was to introduce some new gameplay that was not possible on the NES.<ref name="UenoInterview"/> This idea was once planned for the original Castlevania game.<ref name="HistoryOfCV"/> As the enemy and boss programmer, Ueno conceived some rough ideas and additional programmers would implement more detailed boss patterns. Earlier bosses were designed to be easier so that players could discover weak points and effective weapons without retrying.<ref name="UenoInterview"/> Ueno worked on both the Japanese and English versions of the game, with the latter featuring some instances of censorship.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was asked to alter the color palette in the English version in order to remove some depictions of blood in stage eight.<ref name="UenoInterview"/>
The packaging artwork for the North American version was created by Tom duBois, who designed the packaging for many other Konami titles outside Japan.<ref name="DuboisArt">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The game was released in Japan on October 31, 1991 for the Super Famicom.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was released in North America in late December 1991.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Factor 5 created a short demo of the game running on the Mega Drive and presented it to Konami. Konami was impressed but ultimately chose to keep all Mega Drive development in-house, and did not pursue porting the game to the system.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The game has been re-released on several platforms over the years. It was re-released on the Virtual Console in 2006 for the Wii,<ref name="VirtualConsole" /> in 2013 for the Wii U,<ref name=":0" /> and in 2016 for the New Nintendo 3DS.<ref name=":0" /><ref>"Super Castlevania IV 3DS eShop listing" (http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/super-castlevania-iv-3ds Template:Webarchive). Nintendo. Accessed 9 September 2016.</ref> In September 2017, it was included on Nintendo's Super NES Classic Edition, a miniature replica of the Super NES featuring many built-in games.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The game is included in Castlevania Anniversary Collection, a compilation of past Castlevania installments released on May 17, 2019 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
AudioEdit
The music for Super Castlevania IV was composed by Masanori Adachi and Taro Kudo (credited as Masanori Oodachi and Taro respectively). Ueno wanted to make the environment of Super Castlevania IV more interactive and was proud of how the game's sound effects and music contributed to the atmosphere.<ref name="UenoInterview" /> It was released on Akumajō Dracula Best 2 in a compilation with Castlevania: The Adventure and Castlevania II: Belmont's RevengeTemplate:'s music. On June 21, 2017, the game's music was released on vinyl by Mondo.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReceptionEdit
The game sold 800,000 cartridges worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Upon Super Castlevania IV's North American release, the game was acclaimed by critics. Nintendo Power gave the game four overall scores of 4.0, 4.0, 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5. Among several items, the magazine cited the game's graphics, music, and action sequences as positives.<ref name=NPrev>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 1994 the game was reviewed by Sandy Petersen in Dragon #209's "Eye of the Monitor" column.<ref name=Dragon209>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 1992, Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Vampire noir: dark, earthy colors; ominous, almost subliminal sound effects — and when your hero swings from chandeliers or dispatches monsters with his iron flail, a spine-tingling sense of impending doom."<ref name=EWrev>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Super Castlevania IV has been praised in retrospective reviews as well. In a 1997 Castlevania retrospective, GamePro said it "is still one of the all-time best games".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It was named by Nintendo Power in a 2006 issue as the 66th best game made on a Nintendo system. It was ranked 27 in the last issue.<ref>Template:Cite magazine.</ref> Official Nintendo Magazine placed the game at 70 on their list of the 100 best Nintendo games ever.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Game InformerTemplate:'s review opined that it "perfect[ed] the classic formula" due to its whip and less stiff gameplay. It also praised its use of Mode 7.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In a review for the release on the Wii U's eShop, Nintendo Life wrote "Unlike many of the other 16-bit platformers of the era, the game has a mature and distinguished feel to it", and concluded it was the best of the original Castlevania installments.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2018, Complex listed the game 13th on their "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time", writing: "Next to Symphony of the Night, this is the best Castlevania game of all time. The control is perfect, the progression is perfect, and even the ramping up of the difficulty is flawless, as it gets difficult in all the right spots. Also, it has the best soundtrack ever."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1996, GamesMaster ranked the game 55th in its "Top 100 Games of All Time".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Several publications have lauded it as one of the greatest video games of all time.<ref>The 23 Best Vintage Video Games You Can Play In Your Browser Template:Webarchive, BuzzFeed, 2014</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Top 100 Games of All Time, Electronic Gaming Monthly, 2001</ref><ref>Game Informer's Top 200 Games of All Time Template:Webarchive, Game Informer, 2009</ref>
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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