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Egoraptor's Sequelitis analyses Super Castlevania IV
The art of game design is a subtle, delicate craft that requires expertise, dedication and ingenuity to truly master. It's a skill that also goes largely uncelebrated, considering that the best game design is often unnoticeable when properly implemented.Sequelitis, a new YouTube series from Awesome Series creator/animator Egoraptor, takes a hilarious look at the philosophy behind game design by comparing an original title to one of its sequels. The latest episode (above) takes a look at the differences between Castlevania and Super Castlevania IV, and how changing the whip and jumping mechanics fundamentally altered the game's structural underpinnings. It's a fascinating and remarkably entertaining way to learn about game design, so be sure and check out the first two episodes when you're done here.
Top 5: Castlevania Games
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Top_5_Castlevania_Games'; This week marks the release of the highly anticipated Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Poised to be more than the usual Metroidvania-romp, Ecclesia's glyph system coupled with great diversity in environments and level layout (we're apparently not stuck inside the castle anymore) has all of us whip-enthusiasts drooling with anticipation. To be honest, Konami could slap the word "Castlevania" on a box of assorted animal feces and we'd still pre-order. Here's the part where I'm supposed take a cheap shot at Castlevania Judgment, but admit it: no matter how many times we all spit on the brawler, we never seem to stop checking out movies or screenshots. Castlevania has us whipped; pardon the hideous pun. Assuming I haven't lost all credibility after the Mega Man list, here's another stab at ranking the best of a legendary franchise. Unlike most other Top 5's, this list is not necessarily Nintendo-specific. Take a gander, and try to pretend that you don't know what number one is. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Revolutionary: Whip it good
What is it about Castlevania that gamers have found so appealing for more than twenty years? Is it the story? The atmosphere? The visceral sense of fulfillment from whipping all manner of damned creatures back to the infernal depths? Is it the one-on-one arena battles in Boy George makeup, steam-punk corsets and leather-daddy fetishware? Yeah, it's probably not that last thing. We had in mind a traditional sidescroller for Castlevania on the Wii, with waggle-enhanced whip cracking, so that's why this week, I've set out to capture that fun that we've so desperately desired.
The VC Advantage: Staircase of the Moon
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Super Castlevania IV afforded players more control than any previous Castlevania. You could whip in eight directions, and even let the whip dangle from your hand. You could swing from strategically-placed grappling points. For the first time, subweapons were given their own button. Until the PC Engine Dracula X came along, Super Castlevania IV had the freest movement of any Castlevania game yet. This no doubt left an impression on frustrated players happy to be able to whip up for once, and contributes greatly to the continued enjoyment of Castlevania IV by many over the NES games.But the move that is most responsible for Super Castlevania IV's specialness, in our eyes, was not related to whipping. In fact, it was probably unintentional. By holding back while ascending or descending a staircase, you could make Simon face the direction opposite his movement, while the forward stair-climbing animation continued. In essence, Simon would moonwalk up the stairs. It's not technically a code, but it is somewhat of a secret that is accessed by pushing buttons in the game, so we feel it's close enough to a code for the VCA.
Wii Warm Up: How many channels?
How many channels do you have on your Wii menu, including downloaded VC games, and how many of those channels do you actually use? We're guilty of downloading games and letting them sit there for a while before we replay them (talking to you, Super Castlevania IV), and there are others that we rarely use at all. It's probably also fair to say that the latest channel news has been pretty unexpected. We got a channel out of nowhere, and now we're slated to get another channel, the mysterious Popularity Channel. The Wii's only been out six months, and those menu screens are filling up. How many channels do you think will be added by the end of the Wii's first full year?
