Ok, before I get started on Castlevania Judgment let me get this out of the way first. I am a big fan of the Castlevania series. This is one of the few games which I have 10+ different games from one particular game series, and I even have multiple versions of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. So I step into Castlevania Judgment as a fanboy of the Castlevania brand. I had heard early on that a Wii game was a possibility, but wasn't expecting an adventure. Lead game designer Koji Igarashi had stated that he didn't think using a motion controlled Wii Remote as a whip would work in a long adventure. 3D Castlevania adventures such as Castlevania: Curse of Darkness and Castlevania: Lament of Innocence haven't been widely received in the series, so seeing how this Wii version would handle the 3D was something I was curious to check out. When it was revealed this was a fighting game and also featured revamped character designs, that surprised many, me included.
Features:
Castlevania Judgment has a decent variety of gameplay modes and plenty of stuff to unlock along the way. Gameplay modes include:
Story Mode:
In Story Mode you'll go through 10 stages, which will progressively unlock more characters. Dialogue is presented before each round, so there is somewhat of a storyline.
Arcade Mode:
Select your character and take on the CPU in this mode.
Castle:
Meet various conditions for stages to progress through a map of the castle. You can save after each round, so that helps if you don't have time for a marathon of gaming. You know who awaits you in the end.
Versus:
A standard fighting game versus mode. Play against a friend or the CPU.
Survival:
See how long you can last against an endless wave of enemies.
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection:
Go online and play against friends, or rivals you've met along the way in an online match. You can play ranked games for leaderboard placement, or just unleash your angst in an open unranked online game. Finding a match did take some time for me.
There's also a feature that allows you to link up with the Nintendo DS game, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. This allows you to unlock Shanoa and Aeon as playable characters in Castlevania Judgment as well as having a level limit raised in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. There's also unlocked accessories in Castlevania Judgment. See the DS screen and Wii screen below.
Presentation:
The opening cinematic presents some beautiful CG animation from Castlevania characters and locales. It's one of those CG openings that gets your imagination asking "when will we get to play a game like this in real time?" It looks gorgeous, so definitely check that out. As for the game graphics, the models and environments hold up pretty well, especially considering this is on the Wii. It's hard to shut out other current generation fighting games like Soul Calibur IV when seeing this, but on the Wii it is among the better looking games.
You'll find some of your Castlevania favorites here, including Alucard, Death, Simon and Trevor Belmont, and Dracula. You'll also be introduced to Aeon. I'm still not too sure how I feel about the character designs in this Castlevania. They look like cyber-goth versions of Simon, Alucard and Dracula.
In the character selection screen, there is a bit of an annoying delay when switching between characters. There is about a 3 second delay each time you switch, which feels like lag. I almost would have preferred a character illustration in place of the 3D models that have to load up.
If there is one thing any Castlevania game cannot be without is its share of items to discover. Glasses, and even bat wings can be unlocked for customizing characters. If you choose to put a crown, skulls and wings on Simon Belmont, so be it. There's also zombies and minotaurs on several stages. You'll also find destructable crates and objects with goodies. Meat included.
Gameplay:
This is where Castlevania Judgment suffers the most. While a variety of control schemes are offered (GameCube controller, Wii Remote with Nunchuk, and Classic Controller), all the various button/timing combinations and 3D positioning of your character hamper the gameplay. There is a good Tutorial and Training Mode to get you prepped for fighting, but that can't save you from the difficult positioning and timed attack executions. It's hard to direct where you want to attack when you are shaking the Wii Remote to attack. You'll often find your character is facing the wrong way because of the Wii Remote shaking. It ultimately defeats one of the main reasons for coming out with this kind of game on the Wii. You'll find using the GameCube or Classic Controller more fun (and responsive).
Many times you'll rely on the often easily executed Super Finisher, which can take down 1/2 of your opponent's energy. The colorful and distinct animations are fun to watch, which show your character breaking out their unique devastating move. It may sound cheap, but that is often what I relied on after taking an opponent's life gauge 1/2 down.
Executing charged weapon (holding A button) or physical attacks (holding B button) will be difficult if you don't have enough distance between your enemies. With fast moving opponents, it makes it almost useless. It was bold of Konami to step into this direction with Castlevania, but there should have been better application of the Wii Remote than the obvious whip moves and sword slashes.
Overall:
Castlevania Judgment feels like it is aimed to introduce the series to any gamers that may have otherwise not been exposed to the Castlevania games. I'm not sure if that was the intent, but it is so obviously distant from the Castlevania games to date. It may serve to get some of you interested in a Castlevania game. As it stands on its own as a fighting game or as a game for seasoned fans of the successful 2D Castlevania games, it's hard to recommend. If you had to choose between Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
or Castlevania Judgment
, I would say go with Ecclesia.
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