Castlevania: Rebirth (Review) Nintendo Wii

Castlevania: Rebirth by Konami brings classic Castlevania gaming to the Nintendo WII console. As a member of the Belmont family, you must survive Dracula’s evil castle and destroy him. The adventure, while short when compared to previous titles in the series (i.e. Symphony of the Night), it still offers enough challenge to keep any veteran of the series entertained.

The game only offers about 40 minutes of actual gameplay (when in the hands of an experienced player), but what is there can be very challenging. There is an option to choose between Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulty, and  you can select the number of lives you can start out with. Having unlimited continues can also make the adventure seem pretty short.

Most areas branch off into different sections keeping things interesting and fresh. The first level, for example, gives you the option to open the gate to the Castle or travel through an underground cavern full of bats, rats, and other dark horrors.

Each level is designed in the traditional Castlevania fare (there are 6 levels in total). Platforms float and move across floors, chandlers crash when walked beneath, wooden panels will collapse when stood on for too long, and water is still an instant death if you fall into it. Other areas are full of large spears that come through holes in the floor and walls. Despite being traps, these spears can sometimes be used as platforms to reach areas just slightly out of jumping distance. This sounds easier than it really is. Certain spears move faster than others, requiring different timing in your jumps. One jump could send you into another spear just slightly above you, so always be mindful of these patterns.

Forget everything you’ve learned about whip dangling and multi-direction attacking; we’re back to the basics by whipping forward, using your throwing weapon, and jumping and attacking like in the NES versions. This isn’t necessarily bad. It makes the player re-think the way a room or situation should be approached, especially if a skeleton is standing at the top of a staircase tossing bones your way.

Castlevania gamers will be happy to know that you will no longer be knocked off staircases when attacked (a frustrating aspect in earlier Castlevania games). You also have more control over your jumps (which wasn’t present in earlier incarnations) and you have to fall much farther to be stunned. These are subtle changes, but they make a world of difference to a Castlevania player.

Each area has at least two boss fights (the first one being the mid-boss). Once defeating the final boss for that area, a power up drops from the ceiling replenishing your health (like in all Castlevania games). Being a short game, there is no ability to save once you have completed an area. The good news is that checkpoints are scattered throughout the castle in case you die. The bad news is that you’re forced to start the level over if you have to continue, but this is a small price to pay considering how small the adventure really is.

The graphics are your traditional 2D Castlevania fare. All your favorite creatures like Bone Pillars, Fishmen, Flea Men (among many others) make their return. The sound effects, on the other hand, are a mixed bag. For example; large eyeballs will shoot from pillars, but the sound effect used for this closely resembles a laser gun firing from a sci-fi video game. It’s an odd sound to have for a Castlevania game and it feels out of place. Most of the sound effects don’t suffer from this problem though.

Castlevania: Rebirth by Konami is a worthy addition to the Castlevania franchise despite some of its shortcomings, especially for 1000 Wii Points. Whether you’re a fan of the series or not, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Score 9 out of 10
Mike ‘STGuy1040’ Pittaro

Platform: Nintendo Wii (WiiWare)
Publisher / Developer: Konami
Developer’s– website