I’ve been a fan of Castlevania since I first played Symphony of the Night on the PS1 – since then I’ve been a collector of Castlevania games and amassed a collection of more than ten ‘vania titles. Therefore, when I saw a copy of Castlevania: Judgment on the Wii, I couldn’t resist. Not unlike Final Fantasy: Dissidia which I have been playing recently, Castlevania: Judgment plucks various characters from the Castlevania series and pits them against each other for a fighting game to please the fans.
The story is fairly simple and negligible, basically a man called Aeon (with powers to influence time) creates a rift to bring all of the characters together, and tells them that if they pass his ‘trials’ they shall get what they desire – the trials consisting of battling it out with the rest of the game’s cast. There are characters from a wide mix of the series, such as fan-favourites Simon Belmont, Trevor Belmont, Alucard, Maria Renard, Death and Dracula, and some more obscure characters such as Cornell from the second Nintendo 64 Castlevania title, Carmilla from Circle of the Moon, and “Golem”, a monster sharing a name with some of the series’ previous enemies. Maria appears as her child form from Rondo of Blood, but strangely Eric Lecarde appears in child form also, as opposed to his adult form in Castlevania: Bloodlines.
Sadly some of my personal favourite characters have been left out of the mix – such as Soma Cruz from Aria of Sorrow, Leon Belmont from Lament of Innocence (the first Belmont in the timeline) – and Richter Belmont from Rondo of Blood/Symphony of the Night, but I assume this was chosen in order to mix up the cast a little; the Vampire Killer is already used by both Simon and Trevor so Leon/Richter’s move sets would no doubt have been too similar. Shame about Soma, though – he had a lot of potential.
The gameplay itself is reminiscent of Soul Calibur, albeit slightly more simple, and its also possible to run around the arena more freely. Characters have access to several basic combos, harder-hitting Charge attacks, and ultimate attacks called Super Finishers which require a full Skill Gauge to execute. It’s also possible to jump in order to evade and pull of aerial attacks. Characters can also guard, and perform a guard-breaking attack by attacking whilst in a defensive stance.
Some of the game’s finer details include the ability to interact with certain objects in the arena (such as throwing a barrel at an enemy), and the use of various sub-weapons that require hearts to use – which can be found in destructible candles and boxes around the arena, alongside items that heal you and others that grant you the ability to fire sub-weapons at a faster rate. There is also potential to master the game to a degree, with some more advanced techniques such as jump cancelling, so there’s some room for growth if you really get into it.
The game can be played with the Wii’s motion controls, using the Wiimote and Nunchuk’s motion sensors to attack and dodge by waving them respectively. Holding the B button on the Wiimote will allow you to perform Charge attacks by waving the remote, and Z and C on the Nunchuk are used for guarding and jumping. Pressing the D-Pad on the remote (when your Skill Gauge is full) will activate the character’s super attack, which will dash at the enemy, and – if it connects – will perform a cinematic move that will usually take about half of the enemy’s health bar. The game does a fairly good job at using the motion controls, but thankfully it also offers full support for both the GameCube and Virtual Console controllers, with various control layouts – so if you are like me and prefer to play in a more tradition way, the option is there. One small problem I did encounter, however, was in some it could be a little hard to see what you are doing when the enemy blocked the camera occasionally, but it wasn’t game breaking as such.
Characters have some of their traditional moves implemented into the game; Alucard’s “Summon Spirit”, mist (for evasion) and Sword Familiar are all used for various moves, whereas Maria uses the various powers of her animal friends to grant her several magical attacks. Some of the lesser known characters have been given more original move sets, however, such as Carmilla who takes a form with close range attacks and a grappling hook to pull opponents to her.
The game’s graphics aren’t bad for a Wii title, all of the characters with a new design made specifically for Judgment. Alucard looks a little younger than in Symphony of the Night, whereas Simon has been given a complete re-design loosely based on his appearance from the Castlevania Chronicles art, with shoulder length crimson hair, tattoos and some interesting armour. Some of the female characters, specifically Carmilla, have been given very ‘anime’ style appearances, with overly-large breasts to match. Dracula looks very much the same as ever, while Death has lost his robe and adopted a much more skeletal look. The characters have been voiced well, although the children (Maria and Eric) have typical anime-style voices which can be a little annoying after a while.
The arenas very much remind me of Soul Calibur, with a medieval tone – church-like areas with stained glass windows, castle courtyards, and dank stony passageways, but it does have elements which give it a more Castlevania feel – such as a giant zombie shark that leaps out of the water in the background of one arena, or spike traps and pendulum blades inside the castle that can hurt you if you accidentally make contact with them. Many of the stages include various hazards, such as poisonous water and molten lava that must be avoided, and it is possible to be beaten instantly if you are knocked off of the arena on some stages with a Ring-Out. Some classic ‘vania areas also return, such as Dracula’s throne room, the Clock Tower, and Crystal Caverns. The game also has a great soundtrack which compliments it well, using various Castlevania tracks such as the Vampire Killer theme, and recognisable tracks from other games including Symphony of the Night.
There are several modes to the game; Story mode is fairly simple, consisting of one-round matches that progress in a set way, with a small introduction paragraph to each character, and some short dialogue between the characters before a couple of the fights. There are also some special Monster Battles where you must fight a small group of traditional Castlevania style enemies such as zombies and armours, followed by a larger enemy such as the heavy-hitting Minotaur (copied from Curse of Darkness). These battles add an interesting mix to the progression and give the game a more ‘Castlevania’ feel. To begin with, only Simon and Alucard are available in Story mode, so you must beat their stories to unlock more characters stories to play. The game also offers a standard Arcade mode, which allows you to set the amount of rounds and face off against random opponents in a traditional fighter style. The third main mode is Castle, which offers a grid-like map which you must clear, by meeting the requirements of each panel to move around the castle’s rooms. Challenges include fighting regular opponents, collecting hearts around the arena whilst being attacked by enemies, fighting Monster Battles, or defeating opponents in specific ways (such as finishing them with a Super Finisher move). Dotted around the castle grid are save points which act as checkpoints to your progress – unlike the Arcade style modes, failure means Game Over so it’s worth saving when you get the opportunity. Castle mode isn’t perfect, but it gives the game more play value which is never a bad thing.
The game also offers traditional Survival and Training modes, and a Tutorial to play when you first start the game. It also supports Versus mode, both 1 and 2 player – with the inclusion of online play if you have an internet connection. Also, Gallery mode allows you to access various bits of character art, voice clips and music files which can be unlocked in the main game.
It is also possible to unlock various Accessories to equip to the characters – one item can be assigned to each body part of every character – to each arm, the torso, the face and the head – including items such as glasses and hats. This is purely aesthetic, and you cannot change characters’ main clothing, but it adds a degree of customisation.
Lastly, the game offers a ‘Connect to DS’ function, which allows you to connect to the DS with a copy of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia in order to unlock two characters in Judgment, and a mode or two in Ecclesia. However, both games offer alternate methods to unlock the same content without using this feature, so you won’t miss out if you don’t own them both.
All in all, Castlevania: Judgment is a fairly laid-back game to play if you fancy something casual. The game’s engine probably doesn’t stand up to fighters such as Street Fighter or Soul Calibur, but is one of the better fighters on the Wii at the moment. The game’s plot is fairly simple and has no real relevance to Castlevania’s overall plotline, but it offers a range of characters from the series and plenty of references to the series’ castle elements, enemies and music. The motion controls work well, but Konami have made an excellent move in allowing alternate controller choices – meaning the game doesn’t in any way force you to use awkward motion controls that feel tacked-on for the sake of being ‘innovative’. If you are a Castlevania fan, the game would be a welcome addition to the collection, and the cast of characters should keep you entertained for a while, but you might want to try a rental before buying if you’re not a big fan of the series, since all the references would be lost on you – it’s clearly a game made to target the fans.
