Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night, a much-hyped and much-mocked iPhone app prior to its release, is one of those “match-three” variants dressed up in adventure/RPG packaging.
Probably its strongest feature is its complete adherence to the foundation of the original Castlevania: Symphony of the Night platform game released for the original Playstation back in 1997. The plot still centers on Alucard trying to end the evil doings of his father, Count Dracula. The sizable castle is the same, and the graphics and sound are mostly intact, and obviously the enemies trying to stop your hero will be familiar to fans of the original.
Also in its favor, at least for gamers valuing depth, this isn’t a simple launch-and-play title (there’s plenty of free puzzle apps for that and at $4.99 buyers of Castlevania Puzzle presumably expect something with more staying power). You’ll need to pay attention to the detailed tutorials and instructions, and those finding this game to their taste will discover challenges lasting well beyond a weekend or week of constant play.
The puzzle “combat” involves far more than just matching blocks – which fall two at a time – in threes (either horizontally, vertically or as an “L”). Your opponent assembles blocks on a separate playfield on the right half of the screen, and matching three or more is the equal of a hit in combat. Setting up a chain reaction of more than one matched set inflicts increasingly severe damage.
Damage also means sending vanquished blocks to the opponent’s playfield – a particularly successful chain may trigger an avalanche that’s all but impossible to recover from. But if a playfield fills up it doesn’t necessarily mean defeat – instead multiple rows of blocks are vanquished with a heavy penalty to the fighter’s hit points. Also, it’s worth noting an hourglass measures “turns” frequently, with each flip when the sand runs out inflicting damage on both players.
D&D-like player attributes, spells and equipment affect your prowess in various ways. Another key elements of the game is some of the falling blocks are “inactive,” requiring an adjacent set of matching blocks to turn normal. As the game explains, this is vital in setting up large chains of matches, which are required to defeat higher-level opponents.
Figuring all this out takes a bit, but the early opponents are easy to defeat (maybe too much so) once the basic concepts are understood. The difficulty curve has been reasonable during my first hours of play, although some advancing farther than me have complained about abrupt spikes up in challenge.
One option that may help is the arcade mode, where the player can choose their fighter, an opponent, a room and level of difficulty for a one-time match. It allows testing the effectiveness of different techniques and spells, while getting a better feel for the opponents encountered along the way. It’d be nice if there was a rematch option, especially after a defeat, instead of having to make selections each time.
Now for the bad news: It’s the unintentional challenges that are likely to keep those unfamiliar to the Castlevania universe away.
The frustration begins with the main menu screen due to a slow and awkward user interface. Normally touching a menu item in an iPhone app selects it; here a bat leisurely flaps up or down to it, at which point a second tap is necessary to select it (again rather leisurely). Know the awkwardness of trying to use a Mac after a lifetime on PCs – or vice versa? I consistently felt similar irritation playing this due to such interface issues.
More much problematic is the touch-screen interface during combat. In theory you tap the screen to rotate your two blocks, swipe left or right to position them, and swipe down to drop them into place rapidly. The options menu allows players to adjust touch sensitivity, but I couldn’t find a setting that didn’t have me exclaiming “I didn’t make that %&/$ move” several times each match. The game allows players to touch anywhere on the screen to make their move; at least the option for a set of virtual controls would be a vast enhancement.
Even if that occurs, however, the combat aspect of Castlevania Puzzle is monotonous despite all the extra elements. Compared with a genre leader like Puzzle Quest, it’s the equivalent of beat-em-up verses RPG combat, with the latter obviously being far more diverse. Also, the player ends up doing a lot of backtracking through Castlevania, and it gets seriously tiring having to fight many of the same matches over and over. There’s safe rooms, designated by coffin icons, that the player can teleport between (along with healing his hit points and allowing visits to the shop to obtain stuff), but there’s no overcoming the exasperating inevitability of retracting familiar ground.
Much as I can appreciate this game’s strengths, I’m probably going to walk away once opponents are skillful enough to take advantage of my numerous errant moves. A return might be possible if the interface is updated, but only if something better doesn’t come along – and with the number of these types of games out there, the chances of that are unlikely.
By Mark Sabbatini
Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night by Konami Digital Entertainment
$4.99
Platform Reviewed: iPhone/iPod (Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later)
Category: Puzzle
Language: English
Rated 9+ (Frequent/Intense Cartoon or Fantasy Violence; Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes; Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes)
22.7 MB
