fallout: castlevania on the gamecube

I imagined myself in the same predicament as Renton, frantically fishing through the contents of the worst toilet in Scotland while simultaneously holding back the gag reflex to recover one last hit. But there it remains, a rumour with as much substance to it as an Incubus record. I've made it pretty obvious in the past that Castlevania is what the Gamecube needs, to complete the circle of outstanding traditional Nintendo titles that have made their way there. But before I had time to soil myself, the rumour was quickly snuffed out in a matter of hours by Computer and Video Games, and then again by Spong, which surprised me in a whole different way because those guys are the ones usually starting up this type of shit.

So if I follow IGN's chop logic, some asscaptain posing as a representative of Kuju Entertainment posts to a European bulletin board saying that they were looking for some software testers. Kuju had recently been signed by Nintendo to develop an original action game for them. How this became "Castlevania" may have been the original poster's extremely suspect "Castlevania for cube!!!" signoff, but I think the massive typos and completely unprofessional "announcement" on the board should have tipped them off before this thing got out of hand.

I quickly came to terms with the fact that this is what passes for a news article in these dark times, and thus struggled to find some positive amongst this rumormongering. I started thinking about what I would like to see in a new Castlevania game. I mean just because Kuju has flatly denied that they're working on an original Castlevania game, doesn't mean that one will never get made, right? Nintendo would be foolish not to coerce Konami into making a Gamecube-exclusive title. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was a remake, but still a gesture of good faith when viewed alongside other developers dropping support for the Cube like a bad habit.

It should be pretty clear by now that the fans don't want another 3D Castlevania, given the polar responses to the GBA and N64/PS2 titles. Comparisons to Devil May Cry were amok when Lament of Innocence was released, saying that it wasn't even a Castlevania game anymore - just an action game with a shitty camera and a powerful license on the box. I'd liken this to the release of Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine: how is it that the original inspiration for the Tomb Raider series manages to result in a lesser game?

One of the misconceptions every game developer and hardware manufacturer has is that as soon as you get a more powerful processor, it becomes all about pushing polygons. I don't want to see more of this design contrivance - I've had enough top-down, drunken cameraman, third person action games. Why must 2D platforming adventures be limited to the Gameboy? Viewtiful Joe was 2D action, and it worked great, even though it was not entirely in the same genre. It is due time for a return to Castlevania's roots, and I honestly believe there is room for a 2D adventure to rival Symphony of the Night. It was a well designed game, and even though the Playstation was hailed as being a graphical powerhouse, Konami still managed to put out one of the greatest 2D platform adventures in videogame history.

The Gamecube definitely has a solid two years left in it. Metroid Prime 2, Zelda: the Four Swords Adventures, The Wind Waker 2, Paper Mario 2 and even the fabled Mario 128 will be making an appearance at E3 2004. If Nintendo and Konami could just give us an original Castlevania, the system would lead favourably into Nintendo's next generation console along with the lineup for 2004/2005, instead of relying on intermittent first-party hits and the dwindling number of multi-platform releases. Perhaps it's a bit overzealous of me to rest the success of the Gamecube on the shoulders a game that hasn't even been announced, but being a fan of the series I hold it in very high regard, and believe that this kind of support would also add to its install base. It would be extremely disappointing to watch the Gamecube slip quietly into the night as the home console third-party developers didn't seem to care about.