Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth Will Slay Japan in Just a Week

The latest game in the ReBirth series will be Castlevania: The Adventure, the very first installment in the Castlevania franchise on the Game Boy. The facelift it received has brought it closer to the Super Nintendo's standards and, if the gods do well by us, the game will bring many other distinguishing features from the original title. The 20-year-old title was a bit of a nerve wrecker and needed a dedicated and skilled fan to finish its four levels.

Castlevania: The Adventure had a modest visual design, even for its time, and suffered some serious gameplay problems. Unlike previous installments in the Castlevania series, sub-weapons were no longer included, the player only had three lives to complete the four stages and the stairs were also removed. In return, they could find hearts to replenish their health and their weapons could be upgraded. The whip could turn into a chain whip and then a flame whip, but any damage taken would restore the weapon to its original form.

At the end of each level, there is a "primary evil" that must be defeated, using one's weapons, as well as the crystals, hearts, and crosses of gold that the player has come across up to this point. As a score feature, they will receive an extra life once they reach a score of 10,000 points, and an additional one every time they rank up another 20,000 points. Along with the fact that every stage must be completed before the timer runs out, the title proved to be very difficult, arduous and unrewarding. The only thing that made it stand out was the quality soundtrack with memorable tunes.

This time around, the game's protagonist is Christopher Belmont, the great-grandfather of Simon Belmont, the hero from the previous Castlevania editions. The action takes place in the year 1576, as Christopher, guided by the hand of the gamer, will set out to destroy Dracula. And, if they managed to do so in the original game, that should prove to be but a small task in the ReBirth version that will receive several modifications. Castlevania: The Adventure will become available in Japan on October 27 and will be distributed on the WiiWare for 1,000 Wii points.