9. Super Castlevania IV (SNES – 1991)
Castlevania is undoubtly one of the greatest video game franchises ever. I mean seriously, how many great Castlevania games are there? 15, maybe? I have not tried them all yet, in particular I still need to experience the Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS titles, but so far I think Super Castlevania IV is the greatest. This is of the old type of Castlevania games, which are linear action platformers rather than Metroidvanias, but I actually think I have a slight preference for the old style, though each are great in different ways. Super Castlevania IV improved on the already masterful NES titles, by making the gameplay more fluid and responsive. You simply have better control over your character and have more moves. The game also really utilizes the better hardware, to create some fantastic atmospheric environments and an ambient soundtrack that is up there with the greatest in video game history (disclaimer: the soundtrack for Belmont’s Revenge for Gameboy somehow managed to be even better).
