SNES Classic - Super Castlevania IV

Well, I promised that my next write-up would be Super Castlevania IV. The only problem is that I haven't beaten it yet. Maybe I bit off more than I could chew with this one.

The story is simply that Count Dracula has been resurrected and is seeking to invade Transylvania with his army of monsters. It's up to Simon Belmont, hailing from a family of long-time monster hunters to stop him. Armed with his trusty whip and a variety of sub-weapons, he leads a one-person assault of Dracula's estate.

I never played the NES Castlevania trilogy, but I hear they have a reputation for being some of the hardest games on the console. Super Castlevania IV is no exception. You have the ability to whip in more than one direction, meaning you can take out enemies while staying out of reach, but I find the platforming really tricky. The timing required for the jumps needs to be precise, and when you keep getting it wrong, it is just infuriating. But the biggest issue I have is the knockback effect whenever you get hit. If you're in an area with a lot of platforms, any hit is essentially an instant death because you get knocked off.

At the time of writing, I'm currently stuck on The Clock Tower. Now, to be fair, it is the penultimate stage. But I'm slowly getting sick of being stuck on the same segments, or clearing them and then getting killed immediately afterwards, meaning I have to do them all over again. Well, it beats working, and I do get some feeling out of it.

Annoying deaths aside, it's still a great game. There's a foreboding atmosphere, and a diverse array of worlds before reaching the castle. If you can make progress without dying, it feels fantastic (especially because you keep your sub-weapons and whip upgrades if that's the case). And the soundtrack is both chilling and triumphant; it threatens you with all the monsters you will face, but will make you want to thrash them into oblivion.

I'd love to be able to beat this game, but that's unlikely to happen in the near-future. I might need to buy some spare controllers.

Update 20/05/18: I have managed to clear the Clock Tower and make progress through the following level to the Room of Close Associates. There are three bosses you have to fight before facing Dracula, and I'm stuck on the third one (The Grim Reaper).  Fortunately, the game is generous enough to provide a password that allows you to skip the bosses you've already beaten at this point.

Update 22/05/18: Finally beat Dracula. It's his most epic death since Peter Cushing killed him with the candlestick holders in the Hammer film.