Super Castlevania IV is a 1991 platform game created and released by Konami for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It has been released again multiple times, including in the Super NES Classic Edition.

The game includes improved controls, 16-bit graphics that use a special feature called Mode 7, and a soundtrack with new music and arrangements of older Castlevania songs. Like the earlier Castlevania game on the NES, this game is set in 1691 in Transylvania, where the vampire hunter Simon Belmont must fight the vampire Dracula. The game received high praise from critics and is often regarded as one of the best video games ever made.

Gameplay

Super Castlevania IV is a platform game where the player controls Simon through eleven levels. Players start with five lives, and the game ends with a game over if all lives are lost. A life is lost if Simon's health bar is used up, if he falls into a hole, or if he fails to finish a level within the time limit. Simon's health can be restored by collecting food items that drop from candles or breakable blocks, or by obtaining the Magic Crystal after defeating the boss at the end of each level. A password can be entered to continue playing.

Simon's whip allows players to attack enemies in eight directions using the control pad. Holding the attack button makes the whip loose, letting it be moved with the control pad to block enemy attacks or hit enemies (but this causes less damage). The whip's strength and length can be improved up to two levels by collecting an item called the Morning Star. The whip is used for fighting and for grabbing rings to swing over wide or dangerous areas. In addition to jumping, Simon can move while crouching.

Like earlier versions of the game, players can use secondary weapons that cost Simon's hearts, which are collected from candles and enemies. These weapons include an axe that is thrown in an arc, a watch that stops all enemy movement, and a dagger that is thrown across the screen. Collecting items called Double and Triple Shots lets players throw secondary weapons up to three times in a row.

Development and release

Masahiro Ueno directed Super Castlevania IV. He was credited as Jun Furano in the game because Konami did not allow real names at the time. He was also the main programmer. This was Ueno’s first 16-bit game. His team may have started working on the game in 1989. Ueno liked the original Castlevania game for the Nintendo Entertainment System the most. He wanted to create a pure action game similar to it. Ueno considers Super Castlevania IV a remake of the original Castlevania to some degree. Early design plans showed the player-character wearing modern clothes because the game’s setting had not been decided yet. Features in Super Castlevania IV were added to make the game easier for players, such as giving them more control over Simon when he climbed stairs.

Because the team was small, everyone helped with the design. Some ideas came from artists, and others came from programmers’ experiments. The team drew maps on paper, and many changes were made as the game was developed. Branching stages, which were in Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, were considered but not included in Super Castlevania IV. Mitsuru Yaida (credited as Yaipon) programmed Simon and created the game’s whip system. This system allowed new gameplay features not possible on the NES. This idea had been planned for the original Castlevania game. As the enemy and boss programmer, Ueno had basic ideas for enemies and bosses. Other programmers added more detailed patterns for these characters. Earlier bosses were designed to be easier so players could find weaknesses and weapons without restarting. Ueno worked on both the Japanese and English versions of the game. The English version had some changes to remove blood scenes in stage eight.

The packaging artwork for the North American version was created by Tom duBois, who also designed packaging for other Konami games outside Japan.

The game was released in Japan on October 31, 1991, for the Super Famicom. It was released in North America in late December 1991. Factor 5 made a short demo of the game for the Mega Drive and showed it to Konami. Konami was impressed but decided to keep Mega Drive development in-house and did not release the game on that system.

The game has been re-released on several platforms over the years. It was released on the Virtual Console in 2006 for the Wii, in 2013 for the Wii U, and in 2016 for the New Nintendo 3DS. In September 2017, it was included in Nintendo’s Super NES Classic Edition, a small version of the Super NES with many built-in games. The game is also part of Castlevania Anniversary Collection, a compilation of past Castlevania games released on May 17, 2019, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One.

Audio

The music for Super Castlevania IV was created by Masanori Adachi and Taro Kudo, who were credited under the names Masanori Oodachi and Taro. Ueno aimed to make the game's environment more interactive and was pleased with how the music and sound effects helped create the game's atmosphere. The music was included in a collection called Akumajō Dracula Best 2, which also featured music from Castlevania: The Adventure and Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge. On June 21, 2017, the game's music was released on vinyl by Mondo.

Reception

The game sold 800,000 cartridges worldwide.

When Super Castlevania IV was released, it received praise from critics. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin generally praised the game, with three reviewers highlighting the graphics quality and three others focusing on the control and gameplay, especially the ability to use the whip in different angles. Nintendo Power gave the game scores of 4.0, 4.0, 4.5, and 4.5 out of 5. The magazine noted that the game’s graphics, music, and action sequences were strengths. In 1994, Sandy Petersen reviewed the game in Dragon #209’s “Eye of the Monitor” column. In 1992, Entertainment Weekly described the game with dark, earthy colors and mysterious sounds. When the hero swings from chandeliers or fights monsters with an iron flail, it creates a feeling of fear and suspense.

In later years, the game was praised in retrospective reviews. In 1997, GamePro called it “one of the all-time best games.” Nintendo Power named it the 66th best game made on a Nintendo system in 2006 and ranked it 27th in a later issue. Official Nintendo Magazine placed the game at 70 on its list of the 100 best Nintendo games ever. Game Informer said the game “perfected the classic formula” because of its whip and smoother gameplay. It also praised the use of Mode 7. In a review for the game’s release on the Wii U’s eShop, Nintendo Life wrote that the game has a mature and distinguished feel and called it the best of the original Castlevania games. In 2018, Complex listed the game 13th on its “The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time” list, stating it is nearly as good as Symphony of the Night and praising its perfect controls, progression, and difficulty. In 1996, GamesMaster ranked the game 55th in its “Top 100 Games of All Time” list. Many publications have praised it as one of the greatest video games of all time.