177. Castlevania Chronicles (Konami, Playstation (PS3), 2001)

Castlevania Chronicles is a port / update of the 1993 X68000 Japanese PC port of Castlevania. This was the last version of Castlevania that I've yet to play, after really digging the NES original, I tried the MSX and arcade versions (both of which had pretty bad gamefeel), and Super Castlevania IV, which is more of a re-imagining / expansion of the original. As it turns out, this X68000 version is kind of a hybrid: it's a remake that sticks pretty close to the original, but finds time to do its own thing as well.

In addition to bigger sprites and better graphics available on newer hardware, this 1993 version of Castlevania changes a lot about the smaller mechanics of the game. There is a new green herb item that heals you, which is a huge change. Similarly mundane-sounding but very important for gameplay: your jump is redirectible midair, which means you don't have to commit to a jump like in previous Castlevania games. This is actually the best-feeling classic Castlevania other than Rondo of Blood (and maybe Bloodlines). You can even whip downward or diagonally downward, which is cool the few times that it is useful.

The whip has a crack that sounds like a snare drum, which makes it extra fun to whip along to the music. At one point I broke away a wall expecting to find treasure, but instead I found a constant stream of fleamen pouring out of the wall That definitely did not happen in the original Castlevania. After the first level, the X68000 version really lets loose and adds a ton of content not available in the original Castlevania. Interesting setpieces and cool original bosses abound, from riding a raft up a flooding chamber as it breaks apart to fighting a werewolf on top of a clock tower who hurls the huge numbers from the clock at you. While all of that is well and good, the level designs are often frustratingly packed with enemies and the game just feels a little too old for itself (since it is a remake of a 7-years-older game).

In addition to a straight up port of the 1993 original, this 2001 Playstation reissue also includes an arrange mode, which features a more late-90s CD quality soundtrack, a recolored sprite of main character Simon Belmont, and crucially, selectable difficulty levels. As fun as the original game is, it is also brutally difficult, while the easy arrange mode makes it much more manageable (though still fairly challenging). At the end of the day it's cool to play a game I know but with different graphics, instruments, and gameplay subtleties. It's like a cover that sticks pretty close to the original, but I'm a big fan of the original, so I'm here for the subtle differences.

4/5, a fun re-imagining of the original Castlevania