The latest flagship game in the Castlevania series is not a traditional Castlevania platformer at all. It is, in fact, a traditional single combat game that focuses on the characters that have developed within the Castlevania universe and mythos. Why is this? They're not even all around at the same TIME! How can we have a random assortment of good guys battling in various locations throughout the Castlevania universe with no regard for when they existed in the timeline? This is a travesty!
Please! Take a deep breath, and relax!
Takeshi Obata imagined the most recent Castlevania game as a chance to stand up and wield the legendary Belmont whip, as well as possibly using other weapons notable within the Castlevania universe. This is a noble ideal! That idea was tried out, and universally found to exhaust gamers that had to slash undead zombie after ghoul after vampire, while platforming about castles in "the traditional" style. A proposed solution to this inevitable shoulder fatigue was to impose time limits, somehow, which lead to the concept of "rounds." Rounds developed into bouts, and bouts brought about the idea that a combat tournament featuring the most famous characters and artifacts in the Castlevania universe could be a grand idea. None of these steps is preposterous, but somehow the concept in general has been viewed with a certain amount of skepticism from the Castlevania faithful.
I, personally, set aside my expectations of a Castlevania game, and took Judgment for what it was intended to be: an atmospheric piece designed to convey the mood, style, and (if you're good) ferocity of the Castlevania universe. This included a bit of hands-on battling, and when I had the Wiimote/nunchuck on my hands, what did I discover?
First up, the characters are very faithfully rendered. Each has a main weapon that is predetermined, and a selection of secondary weapons that add flavor as well as ability to the character's arsenal. Each character also has a super-powerup attack designed to strike while the iron is hot and you've got momentum built up - but neither I nor my partner-in-reviewing-crime managed to actually pull one of these off, indicating that they may, indeed, represent something for the experienced Castlevania battler. Even without these mega-abilities, we managed to lay a tremendous amount of waste to each other and our surroundings. Here's how that goes down...
Whipping the controller about, just like I was wielding a whip, made my Belmont family member lash about them with their whip. I could also block, hurl projectiles, leap about, unleash special attacks, moves, and abilities, and advance or retreat using a combination of buttons nested on the wiimote and nunchuck. While we fenced back and forth, looking for chances to dish out "the hurt," the environments around us supplied some action of their own. In our case, it was a pair of undead that attacked the nearest combatant, irritating them while they tried to take care of their TRUE foe. Should you kill them, they supply you with powerups, and advantages - but most of the time taking them out means dealing with the extra NPCs AND our properly designated player-based opponent.
The combat itself was simple enough to pick up, with both testers attacking well within moments. The environments were complex, providing depth and variety without overwhelming the character choices themselves. The secondary fighting methods could be effective without being distracting, which is (in essence) what a good thrown weapon should do in a close combat fighter. All in all, I felt like we had a decent battle with neither of us knowing what the heck we were doing, which is a darned good start. Experienced users, like our Konami guide, Pearl, should be able to beat either of us to tar, and that's another darned good sign.
I found Castlevania: Judgment to be a fun fighter, all in all. Being on the Wii added something, and being set in a universe I was familiar with also added something. I think, perhaps, that I'd not advise the Castlevania FAITHFUL to grab this one on its own, special Castlevania merit, but rather to get it if they ALSO like fighters. The IP is a lot of fun, and adds dimensions to the game that many other fighters simply won't possess.
I'm a volleyball playing nomad who's been blowing up aliens, scoring touchdowns/goals, dogfighting, slaying dragons, mowing down hordes of enemy tanks, headshotting, and saving damsels in distress since my dad brought home the very first Atari system. My game-tastes are very diverse, as I enjoy street racers, sports games (especially "hyper" sports games like, say, NFL Street), shooters, RPGs, a good MMO here and there, and pretty much anything else that doesn't involve a Pokemon!
