Fans of Castlevania by Konami, particularly the Nintendo Entertainment System versions, will want to check out Nightstalker by Bad Landed. It is currently in development for the MSX2 computer platform (it was barely a blip on the radar in North America, huge elsewhere). From the intro to the graphics style, it is very clear the Castlevania influence here. Nothing wrong with that, at least in my opinion.
The familiarity that Nightstalker offers appears to be more of an acclimation option rather than straight ripoff. Gamers will probably feel at home quicker here. There is no demo available at the time of this writing so I am unsure exactly how Nightstalker plays, I can only go by pics and one YouTube video.
Your character is armed with a whip and sub weapons arming them to take on the denizens of the various levels. The opening area is very, very, like Castlevania – you traverse a courtyard to the main castle gate collecting some hearts from destructible objects. The differences begin with there being enemies in this area in Nightstalker – this journey may look familiar; it is indeed a new challenge.
According to MSXAll.com, Nightstalker features Molotov cocktails instead of Holy Water, a boomerang instead of a cross, a knife instead of a dagger (which is just another knife, I know), etc.
The levels have that familiar look to them but feature far more detail than the NES releases. There is more shading, ornamental designs on the walls that attack you when you lease expect it, and everything has a more dilapidated look to it thanks to the color palette available.
The trailer, embedded above, does show that some bosses are going to be like what Castlevania used – Grim Reaper being one. I am fine with that though, there are some creatures, weapons, etc that are just symbolic with horror and fantasy games that are unavoidable.
As of this writing, there is no release date available. I do want to point out that according to Time Extension.com we have not seen a new Castlevania game since 2014 with Lords of Shadow 2. Maybe it is prime time for an indie effort to step in and fill that void.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Which was your favorite Castlevania entry? Mine was Simon’s Quest, I know, not the most popular one but I enjoyed it immensely.
