Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth Review

Old-school homage it may be, but Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth takes its place as one of the best games in the vampire-hunting series

Back in 1989, Konami released its first Castlevania title for the Game Boy, Castlevania: The Adventure. Despite its fabulous soundtrack, the game is often perceived as one of the low points of the vampire-hunting franchise due to sluggish controls, blurring graphics, and a ridiculously high difficulty level. Whether as a way to finally placate the fan-base or simply to squeeze another entry into the stacked story chronology of the series, Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth is now available for download from WiiWare. How does it stand up to its many revered forebears? From the point of view of a Castlevania and old-school junkie, it is one of the best games in the series.

The story is simple: Dracula has risen from the dead after 100 years (having been offed by Trevor Belmont in Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse) and original Adventure hero Christopher Belmont is the whip-wielding man destined to stop him once more. The game is lovingly old-school, with high-end SNES-quality graphics and music. Also, in classic fashion, your whip attack lacks any multi-directional or swinging capabilities. Sub-weapons (axe, dagger, boomerang cross, holy water and stopwatch) make a return and consume hearts with use. There is no saving or password feature, meaning the game has to be completed in one shot. But the game is enhanced rather than hindered by these old-school conventions, tailoring level design and boss fights to squeeze every last drop from your gaming skills.

Though at first glance a remake of Adventure, Rebirth is more of a ‘re-imagining.’ It retains only a few elements of the Game Boy original, including upgrading your whip with the ability to shoot fireballs for a limited time. (Thankfully Konami learned their lesson and dropped the annoying loss of whip upgrades due to enemy hits, though this option can be enabled when Classic mode is unlocked). Also in a nod to the original, certain enemies such as the sickle-throwing Mini-Reapers, the knife-tossing Lizardmen, and the rolling eyeballs make a return. This is otherwise a completely new game, with its own sprawling levels, enemies, and bosses. While the game only features five full stages, each one is quite lengthy. Adding volumes to the coolness and re-playability factors, each level features tons of secrets. Special bonus items are hidden all over the place in breakable walls and the sub-weapon key makes a return from Castlevania: Dracula X. The key can be used to open locked doors that lead to precious upgrades, or with patience and a keen eye, to unlock alternate routes for completely different areas and even mid-level bosses.