When you watch the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct, one thing immediately becomes very clear. Castlevania is going to rock the game. If you’re a fan of the series which made its debut way back on the NES then you are in for a treat. You won’t just be getting a playable character. There will be two playable vampire hunters who should be very familiar to you as well as an all new assist trophy, a new stage, new items plus a sizable number of Castlevania music tracks straight from your favorite games in the series.
The first Castlevania tease comes at the very beginning of the recent Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct. A cloaked figure enters a spooky castle. We then cut to… ghost hunter Luigi as he wanders around the same castle and is suddenly confronted by a pair of mummies. After a lucky shot with a plunger the plucky plumber retreats only to find himself in the Queen Medusa’s chamber. Fleeing her petrifying gaze, Luigi finds himself face-to-face against Death. In a rather startling scene Death uses his scythe to rip Luigi’s spirit from his body.
The cloaked figure from before then attacks Death and reveals himself to be Simon Belmont – the star of the first two Castlevania games. After a brief sequence showing off Simon’s moves, he faces Dracula and suddenly another celebrated vampire hunter appears – Richter Belmont.
Playable Characters
Simon and Richter are echo fighters, meaning that they both share the same moves list while having distinctive appearances. Both characters use the holy whip. At first you may think the whip is a little slow and leaves you vulnerable to counterattack from other players. You wouldn’t be entirely wrong but the holy whip gives the Belmonts the longest reach of any of the characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The Belmonts can also use the axe, cross, holy water and even an uppercut serve as special attacks. The Final Smash for the Belmonts is the Grand Cross. Your opponent gets shut into a coffin which your chosen Belmont launches into the air with his whip before blasting it with energy.
A New Stage
As you probably guessed, Dracula’s castle is the setting for Simon’s stage. The developers say that this is the darkest stage in the entire game. You will find little nods to the Castlevania series here such as items hidden within candles and familiar bosses such as Frankenstein’s Monster and Queen Medusa making appearances. There will even be very rare appearances by Dracula himself!
Alucard
The son of Dracula will not be a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate but he will appear as an assist trophy. He can assume mist or vampire bat form and of course wields his sword, the Crissaegrim.
Music
There are 34 music tracks for Dracula’s stage alone including old favorites like Bloody Tears and Vampire Killer along with some all new melodies.
All in all it looks like the game developers are going out of their way to make Castlevania a special addition to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
