Wii's first Castlevania

[steaner]

I don't think most gamers would consider it an outlandish statement to say that Castlevania in 3D has never really worked quite like fans have wanted it to. For a series that's been around for over 20 years, and one that started with such humble origins as its 8-bit beginnings - spawned from Konami's desire to make a monster movie videogame, without grabbing an actual license to do it - it's odd to think that an entire franchise could have such a complete divide between its side-scroller glory, and a curse of its own in the third dimension, but it's true. Most of them aren't "bad" really, but they're far from the bar set by games like Symphony of the Night, Castlevania III, and Aria/Dawn of Sorrow.

So when we first got word that the latest Castlevania - and the first on Wii, mind you - would be not only 3D in design, but also a fighter, testing new grounds for the series entirely, you can understand why we entered with a bit of skepticism. After our playthrough, or fears seems to be coming true, as the game played pretty clunky, there was little to no depth in the battle mechanic, and characters all felt about as generic and similar as possible. For a huge Castlevania nut such as myself, it was a serious letdown.

What a difference a few months can make.


[Only Registered users can see links . Click Here To Register...] Judgment wen from a "fan service only" game, to a surprisingly polished and fun fighter.



After going the distance with [Only Registered users can see links . Click Here To Register...] on Wii, I want more, and I'm surprised to say it. Castlevania could be a stronger series on Wii than just a spin-off fighter - either in a full-on 3D adventure, or in the preferred 2D style, which could make for an amazing Symphony-like take on the platform - but the final offering Iga and his team has put together is one that still offers a huge amount of fan service to Castlevania lovers, and a deep, fun fighter for those that maybe haven't paid that much attention to the series over the years.

What it really comes down to in Judgment (just like in any fighter out there) is the question of whether or not you'll really want to spend time getting to know the fighters, learning their specific styles, and mastering their techniques. This was the number one aspect Judgment was originally missing, and in the end it's the game's strongest asset. Every character feels different, every attack matters, and in the end you're left with a fighter that's all about knowing your character and when to strike, and about as far from the originally expected "waggle-fest" that looked to be the only sense of play from the first versions of Judgment.

Controls are still a little odd in the end, as I eventually switched from motion over to the GameCube controller (something I haven't done since Smash), but even then the game has a few oddities that keep it from being entirely sound in its design. Battle is pretty simple all around, with motion combining with the A and B buttons to do different types of attacks, Z on the nunchuk used for guards and a special "unblockable" attack that takes a lot of time to prep, and a dodge system on the nunchuk motion sensor as well. With GameCube (or the Classic Controller) the game is a bit easier to play over long lengths of time due to the removal of constant Wii-mote shaking, but controls aren't completely customizable, so you'll need to use some odd "press this button while holding that one" choices by the team, rather than having all buttons available for mapping anywhere. After about an hour of play though, it'll come as second nature, so it's only really an annoyance, and not a deal-breaker by any means.