Castlevania

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The game is set mid of 18th century where rumors say that a vampire uprising is occuring deep within the twisted heart of Wallachia, Transylvania. You choose to play between two brave hunters Reinhardt Schneider (a member of the Belmont clan who carries a whip and a short sword for close attacks) or Carrie Fernandez (a young girl with magical powers and a grudge) who travel to Transylvania to investigate. Both characters have their own separate (though similar) story lines, complete with entirely different endings and a couple of stages that are exclusive to each other's quests. Each character carries only two weapons: a main weapon that can be powered up twice and a sub-weapon. Special weapons such as knife, axe, holy water (!) and a cross can also be found along the way. Of course you may collect healing objects as well. As already said, both characters end up taking different paths and dealing with different story lines, but in the end they have to face the same wretched demons. Castlevania 64 offers a total of 12 huge stages and it has an in-game map for them. The only complaint in Castlevania 64 is the camera that gets out of whack, especially during fast paced battles. Apart from its camera problems, Castlevania 64 definitely excels. The developers have done a fantastic job in capturing the atmosphere of the series, while providing a challenging gameplay experience in a 3D environment with great visuals, excellent music and plenty of secrets.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The graphics are beautiful and varied, with correct use of textures and very little fogging to depict the mysterious horror-like atmosphere of the Castlevania series. I was really impressed by the lighting effects too. Soundwise, the game has plenty of atmospheric horror-style background tunes along with several sampled sound effects during gameplay and a few voice acting (mainly for the prologue narration), following the success of the Castlevania series.