And... yes... here he is, swinging on that trusty whip having wrapped it round a convenient protuberance.
Watch out for these gun things which crop up all over the place. If you spot one, kill it quick.
Whip these candles on your travels to reveal all sorts of goodies to help you on your way - extra weapons, energy and, well, all kinds of things that could come handy. (But don't let them distract you from your main purpose, which is killing skeletons and things...)
GOOD, BAD OR UGLY?
If you took all the platforms out of all the Pc platform games and laid them end to end they'd reach all the way to the moon - and back! Top quality platform games are one thing the machine isn't short of (no Napoleonic war games, thank goodness) and Castlevania IV is one of the best.
As the name suggests, this game is but the most recent in a whole series of vampire-hunting Castlevania games that have been a great success across the whole Nintendo range, and it's dead popular. The reasons why are pretty obvious: atmospheric graphics, probably the moodiest music ever, a novel whip thingy that comes in handy, plenty of variety in the gameplay and loads of levels. However, I have a few problems with it. It's slow-paced, to start with - worse, it starts off incredibly dull and slowly gets better the further you get. So if you're not exactly the world's top joypad wizard, and take a bit of time reaching the later levels of a game, you may not like it at all.
Still, if you enjoyed Super Mario World, and you're looking for a further outlet for your platform-leaping skills, this should be on your list. Just remember, the people who'll get most oft of it are the really committed gamers.
Might look petty run-of-the-mill, but those who take the trouble to really delve into it will discover some of the best graphics, sound and gameplay the PC has offer.
Verdict: 90/100
