Castlevania: Judgement (Wii)

just terrible my sister has it ,the worst game we played on Wii.not a classic castelvania at all.Not a figthing game and not a good game. terrbile graphic ,controls ,design just terrible.

Let me say this: Castlevania is a fantastic games series, a classic and an important benchmark that, in years gone by, has set the standard in the gaming world for huge gothic atmosphere and platform action coolness. I own every Castlevania game ever made, imports and all, (except a juicy original of Rondo of Blood, although I do have it on the old PSP version. ) but of late - well, over the past six or seven years - I have noted a severe decline in innovation or even change in the series - and trust me, as a total fanboy it hurts me to finally admit that, but since the advent of Symphony of the night we have been served numerous, much shorter, version of essentially the same game with ever more anime inspired, girly-boy looking, characters, pathetic story arcs, rpg-lite antics and numerous `inventive' new magic systems tagged on. Other than that we've had a few rehashes of older titles and some truly vom inducing 3D aberrations that have sadly been put to shame by the Devil May Cry series. So when a spin off of the main series came along in the form of a beat `em up I couldn't help but feel a cold chill shoot up my spine (much like when I heard they where attempting a film...but at least Paul Anderson has dropped that ill advised project) as I'm sure most purveyors of the series did - but, hey, it's not the same old same old so what's the score?

THE GOOD STUFF:
- Graphics are above par for the console and the backgrounds in particular are superb representations of the Castlevania world.
- Some of the greatest, and best loved, characters of the entire series are present.
- There are some interesting moves and supers that are, at times, inventive and fun to execute.
- The music is like a `best of' Castlevania tunes and are all done very well. Sometimes through the series they have taken the tunes and messed with them much to their detriment but these are some fine representations (although nothing will beat the clock tower tune in Super Castlevania IV for me).
- The sound effects are equally good and nice and chunky which real slams the kicks and punches home.
- There is a decent amount of content, characters, accessories and modes to enjoy and unlock and with it being a beat `em up this only helps it's longevity.
- The controls are well implemented and if you don't dig swinging your pad for every punch, which is getting a tad tiresome now, then you can use a classic controller.
- Presentation is suitably gothic and well set out.
- The characters are not only representative of the series as a whole but provide a good mix of styles and moves that counter balance each other well. (Cornell is wicked)
- Suitable and helpful tutorial.
- Castle mode is a nice addition as is getting to beat some creatures from the series as it shows how a decent 3d Castlevania could work - finally.

THE NOT SO GOOD STUFF:
- As sort of mentioned in the above point, this feels like a constrained full-on Castlevania as you sort of run around fair sized arenas picking up sub weapons and hearts, sometimes killing creatures along with your main foe and dodging hazards. Now this may sound good but it makes the entire thing feel like a weak boss fight and also makes you think `what could have been?'
- The controls are for most part spot on but the camera is more than a little unruly and can be downright infuriating.
- Some of the characters are a bit too far out looking compared to their series ancestors and some just look plain old silly - why in the world is Simon wearing spandex shorts? He's an ancient vampire hunter not a modern day cyclist. Plus, I know a lot of people don't mind this, but the farther the series degenerates (and I use that word in the strongest possible way) into a-typical, passe, anime cliché, where every character looks like some sort of freakish hermaphrodite, I can't help but feel the series churn it's wheels in the mud in more than just the gameplay steaks.
- The move set is as simple as it gets, once you've seen the sparse set on offer you've seen it a million times and it don't get any better.
- The characters although varied just feel like rip offs of another famous series, namely the soul caliber series, Grant is a sad Voldo rip off and Carmilla an Ivy style kink machine. The problem with this is yet again, as with Devil May Cry, Castlevania is no longer leading the pack but following and picking up the less inspired crumbs, and also these characters had form and function in their own rights before they where just dumped with some second hand beat `em up persona. Sad.
- Swiping your pad to do a basic punch is getting old - not the games fault more the Wii's, but it does add nothing at all - but as said above: at least it supports classic controls.
- Some of the one liners are embarrassing as they come and the English voice acting does little to help this (although there are a few nice nods to one liners from the past).
- Once you are over the Castlevania connection you are left with a fairly shallow, although quite well balanced, (although it would be considering there isn't that much in the way of moves to balance out) slightly above baseline-average, beater.
- Yet again Castlevania takes a left turn instead of a right - did anyone really want, or particularly need a Castlevania fighter? No. Did we and the series as a whole need a new 3d innovative addition? Definitely. Shame we didn't get one then.

CONCLUSION:
This is not what anyone needed and after you've got over the theme, which to a `vania fan and collector is irresistible, you are left with a basic fighter with a few snazzy moves and ideas pilfered from a what could have been a decent full on action platformer. Fair enough the graphics are a lot nicer than the average Wii fare, and it's not completely aimed at kiddies and just falls into that, already getting old, `hardcore Wii game' category, which in itself is even more incentive for a buy considering the current lack of such things (although Madworld plants this one in the fetid earth more than a little), but if you are a casual day-tripper or new comer to the Castlevania series (and even if you're not) you can do a lot better in the `vania and beater steaks than this (Any other Casltevania game or Streetfighter IV, Soulcalibur IV or the upcoming Tekken game - take your pick) and although there is a fair amount of longevity in here there are much, much better uses of your time. Not bad but definitely not great, not even close

Castlevania Judgement is one of the best things that could have happened to us castlevania fans. All my favourite characters(except Trevor Belmont)have been brought to a time rift by Aeon to find out who is the strongest.
Many levels and charcter customizing make this almost as fun as the Soul Caliur and Super Smash Bros series.
I deeply recommend this game.