castlevania-judgment
Latest
Castlevania Judgment screens beg to be judged
Konami has released a triple-shot boomerang's worth of screenshots from its unorthodox take on Castlevania for the Wii, which promises to take the long running vampire hunt in a decidedly punchy direction. As great as it is to see the Belmont clan stretch their arms (and wings, and whips), with previous 3D Castlevania's driving a stake deep into the heart of "meh," it's impossible to feel anything beyond cautious optimism for Konami's latest experiment. So what say you? Do these shots whip you into a frenzy for Castlevania Judgment, or simply douse your few remaining hearts in holy water? %Gallery-27218%
Castlevania Poor Fashion Judgment
Click for larger image New direct-feed screens and character artwork of Castlevania Judgment show off the new character designs by Death Note artist Takeshi Obata. What a horrible night to be cursed with these new clothes! Dracula X's Maria Renard, who typically wears fancy (if short) dresses, is now clad in some hot pink, multibuckled anime witch costume. Dracula has abandoned his customary finery for a lovely evening dress. Alucard now wears ... well, we don't know how to describe his pants situation.The only character so far to benefit from the redesign is Simon Belmont. While he retains the general look of his embarrassing Castlevania Chronicles redesign, the new design removes the fur lining from his boots and the fur half-jacket thing. When has Simon not had embarrassing character art, though?%Gallery-27187%[Via press release]
Bonus content planned for Judgment, Ecclesia connectivity
With Konami currently developing two Castlevania titles, one for the Wii and the other for the Nintendo DS, it seemed obvious that the studio would add some sort of connectivity feature to the two games, especially considering that Shanoa, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia's protagonist, will be a playable fighter in Castlevania Judgment. Though Konami hasn't provided any specifics, the company has announced that connecting the two games, presumably through WiFi and not with a string, unlocks "bonus gameplay content." We don't know yet if that extra stuff will be limited to just the Wii, but we're hoping for some added DS perks! What could that "bonus gameplay content" be? New items/costumes/areas? The original Castlevania games for the NES? A minigame for raising your own pocket Castlevania monsters?!%Gallery-22992%
Wii Fanboy Poll: Castlevania coulda, woulda, shoulda?
The official announcement of Castlevania Judgment has given us all kinds of mixed emotions. Change can be a good thing, but whatever happened to, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it?" We've pointed out before that only a minority of fighting games are actually good, as much as we love the genre. Then there's this whole 3D business that might cause some worry. On the other hand, though, we have promises of Wi-Fi battles, DS-Wii connectivity, and the neat idea of laying the smackdown with some of our favorite 'Vania characters. What do you wish we were getting with Castlevania Wii? Something familiar, something new, or maybe just something new that's not a fighter? Cast your vote after the break.
Castlevania Judgment to feature Wii-DS connectivity
Konami has finally lifted the coffin lid on Castlevania Judgment, the Wii-bound installment of the long-running vampire vanquishing venture. If you missed the Nintendo Power reveal, know that Judgment allows players to "slash, stab and whip their way across a variety of stages and environmental elements," and play as several characters from the franchise's illustrious history. Also, it's a 3D fighting game, "certain to thrill old and new fans of the franchise." Of course, not every connection with real Castlevania games will be severed -- in fact, you can hook up the upcoming DS game, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, to "unlock bonus gameplay content." Castlevania Judgment will also support head-to-head (Belmont-to-Belmont?) play via Nintendo's online service, perfect for those times when you just want to lash out at internet strangers. Whips! They did it again.
Konami confirms our worst fears: Castlevania Judgment for Wii
Okay, maybe we're all doom and gloom about Konami's decision to take the Castlevania franchise into the fighting game genre, but we were fine with things just the way they were. We could play a billion Dawn of Sorrows and be content for the remainder of our days. Times change, though, and so do games.Castlevania Judgment is a reality. But, beneath its graphics and long list of Castlevania alum that comprise the game's roster of playable characters, there are some things that just might surprise you. For one, the game is totally Wi-Fi compatible. You can take the game online for some head-to-head action. Also, the title will work with the upcoming DS title, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, to unlock "bonus gameplay content." And those motion-sensitive controls? Yeah, they were spot-on. You'll be attacking with gesture-based controls, utilizing both the Wiimote and nunchuk.Castlevania Judgment will release this fall for the Wii.[Via press release] Any way you slice it, Konami bringing Castlevania to the Wii is big news. If you thirst for more, check out Born for Wii, in which Castlevania was the latest title to be featured. Konami also has some other Wii titles in the works, such as Lost in Blue: Shipwrecked! and Rock Revolution.
Born for Wii: Castlevania
For more than 20 years, gamers have been taking whip in hand to navigate Dracula's dark castle and defeat the villain and his minions again and again. Castlevania has evolved considerably over the past two decades, with recent games in the series largely adopting the incredibly popular Metroidvania style of gameplay that first showed up in 1997's Symphony of the Night. The older games typically offer a more classic platforming experience, although RPG elements such as a leveling system worked their way into the series even as early as Castlevania II: Simon's Quest in 1987.Castlevania has also braved the world of (gasp!) three dimensions with mixed results over the years, but in general Konami has managed to retain the feel of the classic 2D Castlevania adventures on an expanded scale. Rumors of a Wii game titled Castlevania Judgment have been floating around the intertubes for quite awhile, but when the news finally broke -- a Wii Castlevania really was coming! -- it wasn't quite in the form people expected. The terms "3D fighting game" and "Castlevania" don't really go hand-in-hand. Even if the fighter is a success, Wii gamers deserve a true Castlevania experience, and that's why the series is this week's entry into the library of games that are Born for Wii.%Gallery-26510%
Castlevania comes to Wii as a 3D fighter
Castlevania's coming to Wii after all, but not in the form you expected ... or may have hoped for. Nintendo Power's latest issue (August 2008, their 20th anniversary edition – congrats!) has the scoop on Castlevania Judgment, a 3D fighting game featuring characters (and game mechanics) from the classic vampire-thwapping franchise.In its first look at the game, the Nintendo Power gang reveals that Castlevania Judgment will feature gameplay that uses the nunchuck for character movement and the Wii remote for swing-based attacks. Sub-weapons such as crosses and holy water, a staple of the series, will appear and – just as in the action-adventure games – cost hearts to use. The character roster as revealed so far includes Simon Belmont, Alucard, Dracula, Maria Renard, and Shanoa. Traps, random monsters, and destructible environments will also play into combat.The August issue of Nintendo Power is arriving in subscriber's mailboxes now. Thanks to GoNintendo for the heads-up, and to Nintendo Power for confirming the story. Otherwise, we'd have chalked this one up to a really bad weird dream caused by too much cold medicine. Achoo!
Rumor: Castlevania headed Wii-ward
Where's that latest EGM?! We need to see this one with our own eyes: rumors of new Castlevania for DS and Wii, and since the first has already been confirmed (though we're not sure about this definition of new), we'll go ahead and guess that the second, the Wii title, is likely true, particularly since another trademark has already been discovered.The idea of a game on the system isn't particularly new, but the resurfacing of the rumor certainly has us dancing in the aisles. Could Castlevania Judgment be meant for us? We're crossing our fingers. Retail game, WiiWare, it doesn't matter -- just give us some vampire-killing, whip-cracking action.
