Top 20 Reasons Why The N64 Castlevanias Kicked Ass!

By Jorge D. Fuentes

These 'Top 20' are really not listed in any particular order... well, maybe to me they are, but I was mostly insane when I started to do this last night, so some things which should probably be more important aren't... I didn't put too much thought into the order as much as the concept of how cool these things are. Blargh, I am dead.

Be patient, this page takes a long time to load, as it has about a Meg and a Half to Two Megs of pictures. Pass the time by reading this pointless stuff, and hopefully chuckling at it.

Hover your mouse over a picture to see the picture's description. Enjoy!

Reason 20 - Evil Biker Skeletons from Hell

These dudes are evil as hell. I mean, just look at them! They kick ass with their biker ways. Let alone the fact that they're awesome with their little pals on the side car. I know what many of you are thinking. You're thinking "Hey, Motorcycles aren't supposed to exist at that time period!". Well, to those people... let's put it this way: In Castlevania1 you have Frankenstein's Monster, but the actual time period Mary Shelley's novel describes for Frankenstein isn't anywhere near the time period in which he appear. And Frankie appears in CV3, in CV1, in CV4, in Rondo, and in Bloodlines (and even makes an appearance on THESE N64 games), so before we start pointing fingers, let's not forget that these games are NOT big on time-specific events.

Grr... I ride me a bike 'cuz I'm a biker, grr! Argh... my pic is smaller... I look like that dude's little brother, argh!

Reason 19 - A Grim Reaper to be Proud Of!

This guy is a menace in the N64 game. Not only does he take Cornell's little 'sister', Ada, toward the end of the game, to use her as bait to lure Cornell, but he's also been killing off Maidens (as shown in the LoD Intro) with his Scythe in front of Actrise and Gilles DeRais in order to prematurely bring about (temporarily) the Prince of Darkness, Count Dracula! Plus, he's just badass in battle, with swooping attacks with his Scythe, and the nasty teleporting little Fast-Spinning Scythes that he traditionally uses to cut up the Heroes.

I mean, that's just hardcore awesome, heh heh...

Look at my badass face.  I cut you, you cockroach! I'm not just a Reaper.  I'm a Raven Reaper!  Check out the molting action these dark babies have!  Awesome!  My robes are also better than those SotN rags, heh heh.

...oh, did I mention he Summons killer Remora Undead Fish things using Eerie Green Summon Pentagrams? Yeah... I thought you'd like that.

Evil Killer Undead Fish from the River Styx!  NO! Take a look at Reinhardt's size in this pic.  That fish can eat him alive, seriously!

Reason 18 - Respect to all Werecreatures

This game, like Circle of the Moon, does a great job at bringing in the Lycanthropes and other Werecreatures into play. I mean, I'm not counting our hero, Cornell. I'm talking about the regular enemies, here! There are WerePanthers, WereTigers, Minoraurs, Werewolves, and other thingies! Just look at the pictures below:

Normal Fighting Stance for the WerePanther Dashing Stance... it's gonna sack you, man! This guy is just huge!  And he's one of the first baddies that one fights, too! And if he catches you, he'll use you as a rag doll and smack you against the ground!  Ouch! This CV64 Baddie will sweep you and dash punch you, and he jumps and is quick, to boot!  Watch out! This guy just hurts!  He will try to smack into you head first! Another angle to this nasty bull monstrosity.

And let us not forget about our friend Ortega... the ultimate Were... uhh... thing...

I guess this guy is Spanish, with a name like 'Ortega'. This thing is the size of three WereTigers

Reason 17 - Alternate Costumes

Unlike the sprite-based games, changing the polygon textures enables characters to have different costumes in this one. They're pretty damn cool, too. These costume changes are pretty fashionable, and kickass, too.

Cornell's Normal Costume. Cornell's Alternate Costume, with ankle shackle. Reinhardt's Armored Legacy of Darkness Costume. Reinhardt's Alternate Costume, his CV64 Default, with Fur Coat. Carrie's Default Costume, with Green Cloak and Pink Bow Carrie's Alternate Costume, she looks like a cute schoolgirl!

Reason 16 - The Sad Tale of a Woman Named Rosa

This woman is one of the best plot characters in any Castlevania game. Unlike Maria, Liddy, Mina, or any of the other side characters in any Castlevania game, this woman's tale is actually moving. Rosa, once a normal Human woman, ran away from her parents' home in the village. She became lost and ended up being consumed by the Castle's Dark Magic, to the point in which she actually became a creature of the night. She could not escape the castle, and her body became that of a Vampire's. Apparently, because her spirit was weak and consumed with some sort of hatred at the time in which she ran away, she became a Vampire when she found herself trapped within Dracula's Castle, to be one of his minions.

Because she was never really bitten, the curse affected her body. With the heart of a human, but the lustful desires to feast upon human Blood, Rosa is torn, and continuously fights the Hunger. She becomes weaker and weaker, she is too weak to do anything but perenially watering the roses in the Castle's Annex, known otherwise as "The Villa".

Reinhardt meets this charismatic soul four times during gameplay. The first time she is watering white roses with Blood (it'd be messed up if this is how Venus Weeds are born), the second time, she's in a chamber with Sunlight... and Reinharts stops her from committing Suicide by running into the Light and burning. The next time is in the Castle's Center, where the Grim Reaper intervenes and makes the curse upon her body great enough to give her Strength. She fights you with flying Rose darts (like the VenusWeed), with Fireballs, and with a Sword. You must defeat her to continue on to the Castle's Towers. Near the end of the game, Rosa saves Reinhardt's life at the cost of her own, where she shields Reinhardt's body from the Grim Reaper's Flying Scythes.

Rosa's beautiful face makes it hard to believe she's a Vampire. Her corrupted soul begs to be freed from the Castle's curse.

If you ever get the best ending with Reinhardt, you will see the Rosa again. Then, she will look like this:

Rosa's beautiful human form.  She is finally free from the curse.

Reason 15 - A Dark, Eerie, Foreboding Castle

Castlevania looks pretty cool this way. Sure, it's got no Castle Keep in the picture, but it still looks pretty cool. However, what I mean is that this castle is actually gritty. It's not a fancy place with eye candy and pretty things all over (though It does possess those). It is a hauntingly dark place, just like Castlevania should be.

Kickass Castle in 3D.

Reason 14 - A DIFFERENT Dracula on Cornell's Quest

They went out of their way to create a separate Dracula just for battling Cornell. Great stuff. It's a completely different boss, with a completely different pattern.

This Giant Demon Form of Dracula has only one weak spot. This is the weak spot, in its belly.

Reason 13 - Three Forms of Dracula!

Just like in Castlevania III, we've got three forms of Dracula ready to thoroughly wipe the floor with Reinhardt or Carrie. Granted, the third form may never make an appearance if you don't do the right thing, but most people manage to make it to the Castle Keep on time. If you don't dawdle, his Third Form, Final Dracula, will await you in a different dimensional plane.

Dracula's first form is the standard Vampire Fiend.  It is, in fact, only an illusionary creation that Dracula has concocted... just like in all the other games. Dracula's Reborn form, in the body of a child. Dracula's Final form, which appears in a different Plane of Existence

Reason 12 - The Best Salesman of Any CV Game

Renon has got to be the most awesome salesman that the Castlevania world has ever encountered. The Vampire KillerMSX Salesmen, the Simon's Quest Salesmen, the Chronicles Salesman, the Master Librarian, and the HoD Shopkeeper ALL PALE in comparison to this demonic salesman. Polite, helpful, but positively deadly given the right (wrong) situation, Renon kicks ass all over the place.

'May I be of Assistance?' 'I look forward to serving you again.'

Behind those reflective spectacles, he's got Red Eyes. Kickass.

Reason 11 - Four playable characters, each with a separate, yet USEFUL quest.

KCEK has managed to put together a game with four radically different characters, with four different storylines who go to the Dark Castle for their own purposes. All their quests matter. None of that "let's put that character in, but give him no plot in their quest, whatsoever"
*cough*SotNRichter*cough*
*cough*HoDMaxim*cough*
*cough*AoSJulius*cough*
Hmm... these are all IGA games. Forgive me if I lack a shocked look in my face.

Cornell, A.K.A 'Blue Crescent Moon', the Man-Beast Reinhardt Schneider, a Belmont Descendant Carrie Fernandez, a young girl who is descendant of Sypha Belnades/Fernandez from CVIII Henry Oldrey, after being saved by Cornell, becomes a Holy Warrior blessed by the Eastern Orthodox Church.

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