Super Castlevania IV Review

The single change that matters is control. Simon can now whip in eight directions, dangle the whip to sweep it defensively and swing across gaps on it, which retires the argument that the series was hard because it was stiff. What remains is a properly designed action platformer where every stage introduces a mechanical idea and closes it, from the falling chandelier room to the rotating corridor that spins the whole screen while you walk through it.

That rotation and the layered scrolling backgrounds were the Super Nintendo showing off, and they still look purposeful rather than gratuitous. The soundtrack is among the best on the machine, with Simon's Theme and the Clock Tower doing heavy atmospheric work. It is also noticeably easier than the earlier entries because of the new whip, and some later stages recycle enemy patterns rather than inventing new ones. The bosses are pattern puzzles rather than fights. As a rebuild of a formula it is close to definitive.