Castlevania: The Adventure was the first Game Boy game for the Castlevania series. I reviewed this a while ago, but I didn’t do a very good job with that post. It was in an odd format, and I wanted to update it and do a better job of reviewing the game.
I’ll be playing this on my Xbox. It is part of the 2019 Castlevania collection that Konami released. It is just easier for me to play it this way, and I don’t think it will have that much of an impact on how I view the game. I’m pretty sure that I have the Game Boy game somewhere, but I don’t feel like trying to find it.
This is a shorter game, and it lacks some of the features you’d find in the other Castlevania games. It isn’t bad, though. I remember not liking it too much when I first played it, but I’ve changed my mind a bit since then. Let’s get into the game and see what it has to offer.
TLDR: Great graphics and decent gameplay make this a fun Game Boy game to mess around with.
Narrative for Castlevania: The Adventure
The story is pretty thin. Castlevania: The Adventure isn’t all that different from the three NES games. The manual sort of has the story, but there really isn’t too much to it.
You play as Christopher Belmont, and you go on a quest to defeat Dracula (Link). The game and manual don’t give you a date, but this game does take place before the first two NES games. A date is given in retrospect, but doesn’t exist in the material from the 1980s.
Overall, the story is perfectly fine for a Game Boy game. Most of these games didn’t have or need long and elaborate stories. Some of them, particularly the RPGs, did have more to them. With Castlevania: The Adventure, the story isn’t too different from the first NES game in the series, and that is what some people expected from these early Game Boy games.
Gameplay
Castlevania: The Adventure has pretty good gameplay. There are a few things that are lacking in this game that were standard in the Castlevania games. Even at this early stage in the series, there were some things that you’d expect to see. It is a short game, but still pretty good for an early Game Boy game.
There is a stiffness to the controls in these early Castlevania games that can be a little annoying. Once you get used to it, then the games get pretty fun. The controls are responsive, but jumping and platforming can be a little difficult to adjust to.
This is a fairly standard action platforming game. It isn’t overly difficult, but it does present a challenge for newer players. This game is close to how the first game in the series plays, but with simpler stage design.
Unlike other Castlevania games, there are no sub-weapons. You do get an invincibility power up, and you can upgrade your whip. Because there are no sub-weapons, hearts are used to heal you. That is a nice change, but it does stand out in the Castlevania series a bit.
There are only four stages, but each is pretty long. You have a ridiculously long time limit on each stage. I spent an absurd amount of time trying to figure out why it was there.
Overall, I like what is here. The controls take some time to get used to, and there are some things that are missing from it. The lack of sub-weapons is a little annoying, and the controls are a little stiff. After giving this game some time, I really liked it.
Visuals
Castlevania: The Adventure has very good graphics. For an early Game Boy game, it looks very good. Konami did an excellent job with how this game looks on the handheld.
This is a black-and-white Game Boy game. It isn’t all that great when you see it on a bigger screen, but it still looks good when you compare it to other games from 1989. The character sprites look good, and the levels look great!
The stage design doesn’t look all that great, but it does get better as the game goes on. The background graphics look very good, even if they are minimal in spots. This game really kept the creepy atmosphere that you’d expect from the Castlevania series.
Character sprites are pretty good. The enemies can be creepy, and it does feel a little cheap at times until you get used to the controls. Sometimes, it looks like you’re lined up right, but you have to crouch to hit the enemy. You also have a large hitbox, which takes some time to get used to.
Overall, this is a very good looking Game Boy game. It isn’t on par with the NES Castlevania games, but it looks much better than many of the Game Boy games from 1989. I really like how creepy this game looks and how Konami was able to keep that with the limited hardware of the Game Boy.
7.5/10. Castlevania: The Adventure is fine for what it is. The graphics are pretty good for a black-and-white Game Boy game, the gameplay is pretty good, and I like the story. It has problems, but it delivers on what you’d want from a handheld Castlevania game in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Pros
- Decent controls
- Good graphics
- Fun story
Cons
- No sub-weapons
- Limited gameplay
- A bit short
Conclusion
The biggest complaint I have is that this game made me want to play one of the other games in the series. It can be a little hard to separate these early Game Boy games from their NES counterparts. While there is nothing wrong with Castlevania: The Adventure, I like the NES, SNES, and Genesis games more.
I was really impressed by the graphics in this game. While it is a black-and-white game, the graphics look much better than some of the NES games. Konami always managed to get the most out of the Nintendo hardware. Even their TMNT games on the Game Boy looked excellent.
I don’t remember if I had this game growing up. The Game Boy was the first console I saved up my money for, and I got a bunch of games from one of my parents’ friends. This might’ve been in there, but I don’t remember. I have a bunch of Game Boy games now, and this is among them.
These early Game Boy games are a lot of fun. Some of them were barely a step above a Tiger Electronics game, but others really gave you something special. Konami gave us something good with this game. It is better than I remember it being. Castlevania: The Adventure is one of those games that was perfect for a long car ride.
If you liked this post, check out some of my other posts on Castlevania games. Such as Castlevania Chronicles or Castlevania: Bloodlines.