Castlevania is nearing that state of being a classic above reproach, like the original Super Mario Bros and first Zelda game. It has quirks, it is tough, and you are either a fan or not. There is no real in between. Obviously, someone is a major fan as they have been working on porting Castlevania to the Sega Master System (SMS). Right off the bat, I want to warn Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) version fans, get ready for more color.
A Mix of Versions Paying Homage
xfixium over on the SMSPower.org forums states their port of Castlevania to the SMS features aesthetics from the Castlevania Chronicles while keeping the original, familiar, NES level design and enemy placement. This is great news for fans that want to be able to directly compare the NES to SMS (even though development has been decades apart).
Graphically, Castlevania on the SMS is extremely detailed, features more color, and simply looks amazing. This is beyond impressive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HEh4loow34
Digital Voodoo Magic
Frogbull on YouTube points out devkitSMS was used to create this port. It is not based on an engine such as Scorpion (not available for SMS). This just makes this SMS port even more impressive.
Seriously, just look at the game in action above. Lightning flashes in the background, walls and level tiles have far more detail than the NES original. Even enemies have seen a bit of an upgrade, the ghouls in the opening area (the panther still lacks but come on, it is a black creature – hard to get detail in that).
This being Version 0.1 means it has a ways to go but what is here is already super impressive. Fans of Castlevania will want to head over to SMSPower forums and grab the demo release. While there, maybe create an account and let xfixium know what you think.