Castlevania for N64 is a lot like moldy cheese

destructoid.com:

I’ve been playing through Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, because despite not really liking Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, people have told me that it’s the more tolerable of the 3D Castlevania titles. I’m still waiting to get to the part that makes people say that because, so far, it’s smolderingly boring. Just a bunch of long corridors with dudes in them.

I’d argue that Castlevania has never really found its footing in 3D. Fans of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow might be raising their eyebrows right now, but I found that game as flavorful as dry bread made of drywall shavings.

As reviled as the N64 Castlevania titles sometimes are, at least they weren’t boring. I’m not here to make the claim that they were good games, but buried beneath all of that kusoge is a heart of… well, not gold. Ice cream, maybe? It tries, at least. And it’s better to try and fail than it is to try and bore me to unconsciousness.

While often referred to as Castlevania 64, the first title in the N64’s duology is, in fact, just called Castlevania. In Japan, its title translates roughly to Castlevania: Apocalypse, which is just wonderfully generic. Released in 1999, it came out in the shadow of the seminal Symphony of the Night. It was before Koji Igarashi had a stranglehold on the series, so a lot was still up in the air. Naming, for example, hadn’t yet settled into its “Music of Sad” categorization yet.

The story doesn’t really deviate from the typical setup. You play as either the current Vampire Killer whip holder, Reinhardt Schneider, or heir to the Belnades magic, Carrie Fernandez. Dracula has awoken again, and they need to put him back to sleep. I can’t say I ever played a Castlevania title for its story, so big shrug here.

The Japanese