The Castlevania series is one of the truly iconic parts of gaming. It has been around since the 8bit era and has received a critically acclaimed adaptation on Netflix. Whenever people ask what the best game for someone new to the series to start with is, I always give them the same answer. Super Castlevania IV.
Of the classicvania type games, Super Castlevania IV is without a doubt the best. Not only did it have amazing music that still holds up well compared to soundtracks from today, but the gameplay was the most refined the series would have for years to come. Moving to the 16bit SNES was a major change for the series and Konami took full advantage of everything the system had to offer. The sprites were more pronounced the enemies large and more varied, and the stages were far more unique. Konami took everything from the original trilogy and filtered out the bad from the good and combined the results into an amazing experience.
But more importantly, is how the good parts were combined. The unfair difficulty was reworked into a game that was difficult but fair at the same time. The whip was revamped into a truly versatile weapon that become as iconic as the Master Sword from the Legend of Zelda, and the subweapons were also tweaked slightly to better fit the levels.
Super Castlevania IV felt less like a remake of Castlevania 1 like many suggest that it is, and instead a “best of” type game using what fans loved about the NES games. This was exemplified best with the ending levels of the game, where the music from the first three games played with a new upgraded tune to them. This was the sendoff to a classic era, as the series would become more experimental from then on. But the sendoff was perfect, and the original era of the classic style will always be remembered well thanks to this game.