This product is like new. At NexWave Games, like new means:
Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
Castlevania for Nintendo 64
Castlevania for Nintendo 64 is a three-dimensional action adventure in which you pursue Dracula through forests, a mansion and the towers of his castle. You choose Reinhardt Schneider, who fights with a whip, or Carrie Fernandez, who uses magical projectiles. Their journeys overlap, but also include individual routes, bosses and story events. Your choice therefore changes both how you tackle enemies and parts of the journey. You always play as one hero; this is a single-player adventure.
Between battles you jump across gaps, climb along ledges and search rooms for passages and items. The camera and your position determine how well you can judge a jump or an approaching opponent. Special weapons consume red jewels, while food and other supplies restore your health or condition. Since falls and traps can end an attempt, it pays to examine an unfamiliar room carefully before running ahead.
A clock alternates day and night, affecting certain encounters and events. White jewels let you save your progress. For this you need a separate Controller Pak with at least nine free pages; the game does not save your adventure on the cartridge. The werewolf Cornell and the additional campaigns from Legacy of Darkness are not part of this original Castlevania release.
Region and language
Our Nintendo 64 games are PAL editions, unless stated otherwise. This product contains a loose cartridge for the European market. A box is only included if explicitly stated in the product details. We note any different region in the product details. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
With Castlevania for Nintendo 64, you receive a loose cartridge. A box and manual are not included unless we explicitly state otherwise in the product details. This is the standard way we supply this copy.
The history of Castlevania
With Castlevania on Nintendo 64, Konami created the series’ first fully three-dimensional instalment. Released in 1999, it moved familiar elements such as the whip, skeletons and the journey to Dracula into spaces where danger could approach from several directions. Reinhardt and Carrie received different weapons and individual sections of the story. The change therefore went beyond the visuals: distances, jumps and the way players approached an opponent also had to be reworked.
In an interview around the release, Konami marketing director Jon Sloan explained that the whip had been particularly difficult technically. It needed to move flexibly without slowing the action. Target selection and the camera also required attention because enemies no longer approached exclusively from the left or right. Sloan additionally described a stronger role for the story. His explanation provides context for this instalment’s combination of platforming sections, combat and cinematic scenes.
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness followed later on the same platform. It built on the three-dimensional approach, with Cornell as a new protagonist and additional playable stories. It is a separate cartridge, not an expansion that can be activated in this version. The original Castlevania consequently retains its own selection of heroes and routes. Comparing the two Nintendo 64 instalments shows how Konami explored different interpretations of the series’ new format within a short time.
Similar games for Nintendo 64
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness shares the Gothic environments, jumping and monster battles on Nintendo 64. There you start as Cornell, who can transform into a werewolf, and unlock additional stories later. The first Castlevania lets you choose Reinhardt or Carrie immediately. Their routes are not simply identical copies across both games either, so the original cartridge retains its own progression.
Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers likewise takes you to a dangerous, secret-filled castle on Nintendo 64. You view its rooms through Del’s eyes and find solutions through conversations, books and inventory items. Castlevania instead makes reactions and jumping part of the danger. Both involve investigating ominous spaces; Shadowgate omits the direct whip or magic-based combat.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time also alternates sword fights with spatial puzzles and dungeon exploration on Nintendo 64. Link uses new equipment to overcome earlier obstacles and travels through villages and Hyrule Field. Castlevania concentrates its journey on the route to Dracula and dangerous platform sections. You also choose a hero with an individual main weapon beforehand, rather than continually expanding Link’s equipment.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask likewise uses an ominous atmosphere and a clock that matters to events on Nintendo 64. There you repeat three days to help residents and prevent the moon from falling. Castlevania has its own day-and-night cycle, but no constantly restarting three-day world. It remains focused on your chosen hero, combat and successive obstacles on the way to Dracula.
Paper Mario shares the idea of a long journey in which conversations and unusual inhabitants advance the story on Nintendo 64. Mario gains partners with individual abilities and fights turn-based battles. Castlevania places attacking, dodging and jumping directly in the environment. Where Paper Mario gives you time to select the next attack from a menu, Reinhardt or Carrie must judge distance and timing during the action.
