Clik here to view.
Anatomy of Castlevania III: The Gang’s All Here
Now that we’ve collected the whole Pokémon assortment of companion characters in Dracula’s Curse, we can take a moment to look at them — compare strengths, weaknesses, flaws, that sort of thing. Some...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anatomy of Castlevania III: Block 6-01 to 6-02 ~ Castle Route
Beyond the upgraded Skeleton Knight on the upper spur of the catacombs route, Trevor and pal enter Castlevania proper: The lowest foundations of the castle, a cavernous space over a subterranean lake....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anatomy of Castlevania III: Block 6-01 to 6-05 ~ Ruins Route
If you elected to take the lower route after recruiting (or not) Alucard, you’ll skip entirely over Block 5-07 and the castle foundations, instead traveling a roundabout course that takes you through a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anatomy of Castlevania III: Block 7-01 to 7-07
Here we are at last, at the end of Alucard’s route — and, by tragic happenstance, the worst stage in the game. Block 7 on the “main” route has the unfortunate distinction of being a genuinely poor...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anatomy of Castlevania III: Block 8-01 to 8-03
Regardless of which route you selected to take through the core of Castlevania III, all roads eventually converge at the beginning of Block 8: Castlevania itself. And the scenery should look very...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anatomy of Castlevania III: Block 9-01 to 9-04
After having worked your way up through the castle entrance and the adjacent dungeon, you reach the second of three blocks of Castlevania only to find yourself… outside? With a forest in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anatomy of a Game: Castlevania Trilogy Afterthoughts
The NES Castlevania remains a high point in my entirely too lengthy history of gaming, and I know many others feel that way. With luck, this series has provided some small amount of clarity on the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Anatomy of Zelda II – VI. Pixie Dust
With the Hammer in hand, the road to the third palace is anything but straightforward. On the other hand, neither is it overwhelming. The Hammer effectively makes you lord and master of the western...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Anatomy of Metroid: II. Shafted
Once you make your way beyond Metroid‘s very clever, very brilliantly designed introductory moments, the game wastes no time in becoming promptly, well, weird. Beyond the low-hanging wall that blocks...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Run ‘N Jump Chronicles 1: Frogs
Point of order 1: While recording Retronauts yesterday, I was reminded that once upon a time this site used to be dedicated entirely to 2D games. No one read it when I did that, but it was still a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
2D: The dream team of sprite work
A few years back, I posted a piece on the fantastic sprite work in Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. That post is pretty much useless now because all the server relocations broke the image...
View Article
