The game's title is extremely misleading. Adventure ReBirth resembles Rondo of Blood more so than Adventure, both in terms of level progression (there are alternate paths to the boss, and key sub-weapons unlock doors) and play control (control is looser, with less precision required). Youll also find breakable walls and mini-bosses. This is an old-school Castlevania title, so there is no Metroidvania exploration here. The action is broken up into six levels with the final one consisting of your final confrontation.
ReBirth is relatively easy compared to other old-school Castlevania games, although things start getting hairy around the latter half of the fourth level. Thankfully, you can set the number of lives and difficulty before starting the game, and you have unlimited continues. Despite all of this, you cannot save your game. This isnt much of a problem considering that Castlevania ReBirth clocks in at barely over an hour long, but you'll definitely have to set aside some time to play through it. The inability to save isnt as punitive as in, say, Bubble Bobble Plus, but it's a throwback game mechanic that hard to appreciate in this day and age. The overall difficulty is probably on par with Super Castlevania IV, though ReBirth obviously isnt as long as the SNES classic.
The game itself is a colorful mishmash of previous Castlevania titles, with only a few references to its namesake. It looks like a Super Nintendo-era game with a brighter color palette. Some frustrating series trademarks remain intact, such as accidentally jumping through staircases, ill-placed enemies in precarious platforming situations, and knock-back. These throwbacks are all painfully omnipresent in the clock tower level (a series tradition!), but fans of the series will begrudgingly accept them and power through. Some of the bosses are a little cheap in their attack patterns, especially Draculas final form. Once you beat the game, youll unlock Classic mode, which makes the jumping stricter and the game harder overall. Otherwise, replayability comes from finding all of the alternate paths, netting a higher score, and dying less. Were you expecting a New Game Plus option? Remember, this aint Symphony of the Night!
I would be remiss in failing to mention the excellent soundtrack. In a series known for its musical scores, this entry trends high, remixing classic tracks in new and enthralling ways to produce memorable music that holds your attention throughout.
Definitely one of the best WiiWare titles yet, Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth is well worth your time and money. Even those who dont particularly like older Castlevania games (like our own TYP) will find this particular game much more approachable than others of its ilk. Konamis got a real good thing going, and lets hope they keep this Rebirth series alive.
Pros:
Lastability: 6.0
You have to be the kind of player who likes a challenge to keep going back. There are no meaningful unlockables (no concept art? Come on!), which provides little motivation to return. IReBirth is also a very short game.
Final: 9.0
The best old-school Castlevania ever? Its very possible.
Inability to save your progress in any wayThere goes the sliver of a chance that I'd download this.
That gave me second thoughts too.Inability to save your progress in any wayThere goes the sliver of a chance that I'd download this.
While there isn't a way to save progress, there is a way to do a level select. It's a secret ;) ....and no it's not the Konami code, you do something else.
That gave me second thoughts too.Inability to save your progress in any wayThere goes the sliver of a chance that I'd download this.
I was about to buy Contra ReBirth when I saw this was about to drop so I held off on buying it. I figured I would have more fun with Castlevania by myself than Contra, but now I don't know which one I should get if I get an of them at all.
So really now, nobody has no excuse not to buy it.I'm still trying to figure out if that's a double negative. Regardless, that isn't the only reason I'm not buying it. I didn't like the NES Castlevania games so this one doesn't appeal to me.
At the title screen, select Game Start and hold right on the d-pad for a few seconds. You'll be able to select and play any levels you have previously reached on the same difficulty.
OK, so does this level select work if you turn off the Wii? (and exit the game obviously first)Once you get to a stage (and save) you'll be able to select that stage at any time from the main menu. However, be sure to save! The game will ask you to save if you either lose all your lives and choose not to continue or if you quit the game from the pause menu. The game does not auto-save after beating a stage (not sure about the whole game--haven't beat it yet) so you must manually save.
OR does it only work during that ONE session while your playing, you get to a later level, you die, and then you want to continue right THEN (not at a later date) from the level where you died? (all without exiting Castlevania Rebirth)
Even though it sucks, maybe because I was raised on Super Castlevania IV which is way better in every way.
It had passwords.
Once you get to a stage (and save) you'll be able to select that stage at any time from the main menu. However, be sure to save! The game will ask you to save if you either lose all your lives and choose not to continue or if you quit the game from the pause menu. The game does not auto-save after beating a stage (not sure about the whole game--haven't beat it yet) so you must manually save.
