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Top 5: Castlevania Games


This week marks the release of the highly anticipated Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Poised to be more than the usual Metroidvania-romp, Ecclesia's glyph system coupled with great diversity in environments and level layout (we're apparently not stuck inside the castle anymore) has all of us whip-enthusiasts drooling with anticipation. To be honest, Konami could slap the word "Castlevania" on a box of assorted animal feces and we'd still pre-order. Here's the part where I'm supposed take a cheap shot at Castlevania Judgment, but admit it: no matter how many times we all spit on the brawler, we never seem to stop checking out movies or screenshots. Castlevania has us whipped; pardon the hideous pun.

Assuming I haven't lost all credibility after the Mega Man list, here's another stab at ranking the best of a legendary franchise. Unlike most other Top 5's, this list is not necessarily Nintendo-specific. Take a gander, and try to pretend that you don't know what number one is.


The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.

GC 2008: Castlevania Judgment reserved for 2009, mysterious character appears



The latest Castlevania Judgment screens, fresh from the Leipzig showfloor, feature a new character not previously seen in the title. "Aeon" is probably one of the fighters produced by manga artist Takeshi Obata, who was drafted in by Konami to provide character designs. Alternatively, he could be from the DS's Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. "Aeon" is not a name we're familiar with from previous instalments of the franchise, and neither Google or the Castlevania Wiki could shed any light on our confusion. Shanoa, the heroine of Order of Ecclesia, is already accessible in Judgment, so we wouldn't rule it out.

Whoever
Aeon is, you can see more of him here, here and here. In other news, Koji Igarashi confirmed to IGN that the title will now ship to the U.S. in 2009. Grab your stake, hit up our gallery for new shots, and then trek past the break for a new trailer.

Gallery: Castlevania Judgment

Continue reading GC 2008: Castlevania Judgment reserved for 2009, mysterious character appears

Igarashi: WiiWare Castlevania 'might be the right approach'

Another E3 interview with Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi has surfaced, this time from Nintendo World Report. After justifying Castlevania Judgment yet again, Igarashi gave a tenuous, noncommittal, but still interesting statement regarding future Castlevania games: "With regards to WiiWare, I'm evaluating that right now, and to be honest, I think a 2D Castlevania game on WiiWare might be the right approach."

He has previously said that he was interested in how things turned out for Mega Man 9, and he has said that WiiWare was an interesting service, but this is the most direct Igarashi has been yet about a WiiWare entry in the franchise. He also confirmed the nature of the Order of Ecclesia connection bonus: as we expected, Shanoa is unlocked in Judgment by connecting with a DS running Order of Ecclesia.

Gallery: Castlevania Judgment



Talking about Castlevania is a bit of a cottage industry for Wii Fanboy. Not only do we want the 2D games on Wii, we've made it happen -- though not the amazing Dracula X, which Japan has on VC. We've expressed our bemusement about Judgment and tried to gauge yours. In fact, we pretty much bring up Castlevania whenever possible.

Igarashi talks Castlevania Judgment, doesn't explain why the game exists


Click for larger image

Back at E3, Spencer over at Siliconera got the chance to chat with Koji Igarashi, the man behind Castlevania (from Symphony of the Night on, he's been like, the main dude). Instead of asking questions like "Are you on drugs to have come up with Judgment?" or "Am I being Punk'd, is this game seriously real?" Spencer took the time to be a professional and ask some serious questions about the game.

For one, Igarashi is not happy with the media labeling Castlevania Judgment a "fighting game." Instead, he thinks of it more as a 3D action game. Labeling aside, there are some cool things you can do in the game. Apparently, different characters can interact with environmental objects in their own unique way. For example, Simon can use his whip to fling candelabras.

While we played the same game at E3, we sadly didn't have Igarashi to chat with. Head on over and read the rest of the write-up for some other fun facts about the upcoming fighter.

Gallery: Castlevania Judgment

Igarashi on Castlevania Judgment and budget concerns


Poor Koji Igarashi seems to be getting the same question a lot: Why is Castlevania Judgment a 3D fighting game? He had his stock answer about short-session Wiimote whipping at the ready when Wired's Chris Kohler asked him.

He also had other, shockingly new things to say in relation to Judgment, which sadly reveal the kinds of budgets Konami offers Castlevania games these days. In response to a question about the environment for third-party games on the Wii, Igarashi said the following, which lays bare the approach taken by Konami:

"I think there are two roads you can take: Create a game for the core fans with as low a development cost as possible; the other is to just find a different market for these consoles outside the core gamer."

There is hope for more real Castlevania games on a smaller budget, and that hope is called Mega Man 9. "I'm watching that very closely to see how it does," IGA told Wired. "Myself, I'm a big retro gaming fan, so if it is successful that definitely opens up doors for what I can do." It's no wonder that Igarashi would be interested in a console game that reuses 8-bit sprites.

Gallery: Castlevania Judgment

Interview with the (director of games about a) Vampire


As part of a ton of Castlevania Judgment coverage, IGN interviewed the man in charge of the franchise, Koji "IGA" Igarashi. You can probably guess the content of the first question.

IGA explained what possessed him to make a 3D fighter with some fairly smart reasoning: people want to swing the Wiimote to whip, and he decided it would be best to implement those kinds of mechanics in a shorter-session game. "... I realized, with the 3D action style, I would be able to incorporate intervals so that players can rest and this would allow players to enjoy the swinging action of the Wii Remote." IGA also mentioned that part of the Elebits/Dewy team is working on Judgment, which should at least ensure lovely visuals.

IGN's hands-on with the game gave us a bit of morning light to vanquish the horrible night of our skepticism, describing Judgment as more of a Power Stone free-roaming vs. action game than a traditional Tekken or Virtua Fighter-like game.

Gallery: Castlevania Judgment

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