Castlevania II playable at E3?

[04.26.99] » Nintendo has hinted that a playable version of Castelvania II may be shown at E3.

   The long-running Castlevania series saw its latest installment, simply titled "Castlevania", only a few months ago, but a sequel may already be in the works. Not only that, Nintendo has strongly suggested that a playable version of the game could be available at next month's E3 convention in Los Angeles.

   The incredibly swift turn around rate for the sequel suggests one of two things. Either the game will return to its 2D roots, or this sequel will reuse much of the engine from the previous incarnation.

   A quick consideration of the facts would suggest the latter. The Nintendo 64 is much better suited for 3D games than for 2D, and the fact that Konami opted to title the first 3D title in the series simply "Castlevania" just as the first game in the series itself suggests that Konami expected the third dimension to be a rebirth for the series. As such, future titles would continue to make use of the newer consoles' 3D capabilities. Add to that the fact that Konami sunk a lot of money into developing the engine for this new breed of Castlevanias and would stand to recoup some of that by the reuse the engine, another 3 dimensional game seems likely.

   Castlevania had a lot going for it; a creepy and immersive atmosphere, intruiging villains and foes, and on the whole decent gameplay. With a few tweaks both graphically and in the area of control and camera, this sequel could stand to finally give the mighty Zelda some competition in the 3D adventure game genre on Nintendo's machine.