Castlevania Chronicles

Castlevania Chronicles is a platform video game developed by Konami for the PlayStation. It is a port of a game originally released for the Sharp X68000 home computer in 1993 as simply Castlevania. This Castlevania Chronicles port adds a number of features, including an Arranged Mode for new players. Castlevania Chronicles is a remake of the original Castlevania for the Nintendo Entertainment System, where the vampire hunter Simon Belmont must defeat Dracula and save Transylvania.

Development

The PlayStation re-release, Castlevania Chronicles, expanded much more to the X68000 game. This includes a brand new rendered intro and ending, with new character designs by Ayami Kojima for Simon Belmont and Dracula, improved graphical effects, enhanced music and sound effects, and a more balanced and adjustable difficulty level. Players can choose to play this “Arrange Mode” version of the game with all of the new features intact, or play the “Original Mode” version as it was originally presented on the Sharp X68000.

While the “Original Mode” presented on Chronicles is otherwise identical to the X68000 game, there are a few limitations since it is emulated on different hardware. One noticeable difference is the brief loading times that now appear before boss fights and stages. The other drawback is the lack of an internal clock on the PlayStation. The original game utilized the X68000’s internal time and date settings; the time on the clock tower during the boss fight on stage 15 would reflect the X68000’s current time and the color scheme used on the painting in stage 21 would reflect one of the four seasons according to the computer’s current date. On the PlayStation game, each time the system is turned on, the time and date have to be manually adjusted only after a hidden “Extra Option” menu is accessed by inputting an altered version of the Konami Code.

Exclusive to the U.S. and European versions of Chronicles is an interview with Koji “IGA” Igarashi.

Reception

Castlevania Chronicles has been met with positive reviews. IGN rated the PlayStation release 7.8, saying it was “a lot of fun”. GameSpot gave that same release a 6.1, saying it lacked replay value and was graphically outdated.^[12] Game Informer‘s Tim Turi felt that it wasn’t the worst option for people who wanted a classic Castlevania.