Look at this amazing walk animation.
Simon Belmont can't run in Super Castlevania IV (as far as I know). Instead he power walks, with heroic determination... or maybe it's constipation. His mobility is a far cry from the ninja-like athleticism of the post-SotN games... but I don't care. I'm playing this for the first time thanks to the SNES Classic, and I'm amused by how Simon moves.
Like, maybe his thighs are so massive and muscular that he can't move any faster... Too much friction!
What's remarkable, though, is the game doesn't feel slow or stiff to play. Simon has very tight controls, and the pacing is excellent. The enemies are arranged in such a way that you wouldn't want to move any faster, because if you did, you wouldn't have time to react. There's little downtime where you're not fighting or platforming. The game keeps you engaged with stuff to do, and the difficulty is approachable and fair. It's a lot of fun!
Also, the skeletons explode. When you strike them with your wiggly whip, they burst into a shower of bone fragments, which happen to be on fire. I guess it's like hellfire or something. Or maybe highly volatile marrow. I tried to find a gif... The countless skeletons of Dark Souls seem lackluster by comparison now.
The game is gorgeous, btw. Lush painterly backdrops... Tons of detail in the background and foreground. This game must've been mind-blowing back in the day for gamers still adjusting to 16-bit graphics. They really went all-out with attention to detail in the crumbling architecture and the moody countryside, caves, etc.
The game sets the tone nicely with a close-up of a brick wall overrun with spiders and centipedes, then the intro video of Dracula's tombstone struck by lightning, a phantom bat escaping and layers of fog rolling across the screen. 10/10 presentation that really drives home the added power of the SNES.
I want to close by commending the music: This is my new jam!
Don't know when I'll get back to this — still addicted to Bayonetta 2, and maybe I should continue past Pukei-Pukei in Monster Hunter World someday — but I just wanted to shine a light on this wonderful lil' gem that the rest of you have probably already played and adored. Good stuff! Simon 4 Smash.
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