Borrowed Elements

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[Castlevania References] [Borrowed Elements]

 

Evolution Skateboarding

Date Released
Systems For
2002
GameCube and PS2
CD Size
Genre
Unknown
Extreme Sports
Related Scans
None Available
Main Characters
Arto Saari, Danny Way, Mark Appleyard,
Colin McKay, Stevie Williams. Kerry Getz,
Rick McCrank and Chris Senn
Borrowed Element(s)
A level inspired by the famous Castlevania

Evolution Skateboarding is Konami's entry into the genre of extreme sports, the craze sweeping a public access station near you, and it's made in the same vein as the very popular Tony Hawk Pro Skater series. It's also a sad reminder that Konami over the years has been reduced to outright copying other companies' working formulas almost exclusively. You know the story: You pick the skater of your choice and ride through a large level to accumulate points by avoiding obstacles and using ramps, grind rails and halfpipes to attempt tricks and generally impress your peers.

Konami adds into the mix some of its own elements, which include sidequests where you free imprisoned people and battle bosses. This works well for one of the game's levels, which is taken directly out of the universe of Castlevania. It's within the Count's haunt where you'll control your skater through the main halls, a lab, a cathedral, and even the castle's outer regions.

You'll be able to pull off all kinds of tricks using the castle's stairs, slopes, wooden rails and catwalks, and you'll finish off your trek by battling a giant spider creature in the heart of the castle. More relevant to series' fans is the ability to unlock and play as "skater" Simon Belmont (plus other Konami standouts like Solid Snake, from the Metal Gear series). If on the game's title screen you input a special code ("up, down, left right, up, down, left right, up, down, left right, O," which will open up a "Switch" option, via the "O" button, on the character-select screen), or if you satisfy certain conditions in Arcade mode, you can open up a whole new selection of skaters from the Konami universe, which in addition to the aforementioned includes Frogger, Gorilla, Gorlukovich1, Gorlukovich2, Gray and Raiden; to unlock Simon using the latter means, you must beat the Arcade mode using Kerry Getz.

Simon's Trek through the castle will conclude with a battle against perennial series final boss Count Dracula and his skeleton friends. Setting the mood for the epic encounter is Wandering Ghosts, the musical theme as heard in Symphony of the Night's Colosseum. (Thanks to Gildi af Svartur for the codes and the following screenshots; thanks to Morgoth for all other information.)

 

Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar Byuu to Deru!

Japanese-to- English Translation
Date Released
Systems For
Blow and Pyuu! Jaguar 2, Enter Megane!
2004
Game Boy Advance
Cart Size
Genre
8MB
Action-Adventure
Related Scans
None Available
Main Character
Jaguar
Borrowed Element(s)
Classic series' level decor: Main Halls, Clock Tower, etc.

Pyuu to Fuku! Jogger Byuu to Deru! Megane-Kun, the full title of Konami's unambiguously named GBA entry, falls expectedly under the category of "released only in Japan." It's no secret that Japan is home to some of the more weird, quirky games ever seen, and this distinction, alone, is often the reason that such titles never see western release. Though, even in weirdness can we find stability, and I'm of course referring to the game's borrowing of elements from our favorite series.

          

          

In Pyuu to Fuku!, the hero, who as of now is unidentifiable, must take on a series of short missions (some with sub-missions) to possibly earn high scores and otherwise advance the wacky story. Using at his most basic a staff and a flaming cartwheel attack, the hero will battle ninjas, sumo wrestlers, cats, and other random enemy types and do so from side-scrolling, isometric and heads-up viewpoints. Eventually, he'll enter into a strange yet familiar castle.

          

          

Starting from the castle entrance--drawbridge and all--he'll enter into closely emulated version of Castlevania's main hall. Later on, he'll within this huge stage-area pass through other nostalgia-based locales like the clock tower and the underground waterway plus other vaguely familiar iterations of famous series stages. For a reference within a reference, there exists a sub-mission that takes place within "The Gates of Death," where the background scenery consists of Moai Heads, which were hidden treasures in Castlevania.

          

          

The hero will within these many halls battle some typical enemies; the cast includes knights, fishmen, ghosts, mummies, armed skeletons (usually known as "Bone Scimitars") and whip skeletons. (All images and most of this information were supplied by Morgoth.)

 

Oz /Sword of Etheria

Date Released
Systems For
2005
PS2
CD Size
Genre
Unknown
Action/Beat-'em-up
Related Scans
None Available
Main Characters
Fiel, Armilla and Leon
Borrowed Element(s)
Meeting certain conditions will unlock a Leon Belmont costume

Konami's Oz (know in Europe as Sword of Etheria and in Korea as Chains of Power), whose creators had roles in the development of the two PS2 Castlevania titles, is a similarly focused action game set unabashedly in the beat-'em-up sub-genre. Its man hero Fiel, who was orphaned as a child, has recently faced another ordeal--his village has been attacked by monsters and his sister, Dorothy, has been kidnapped. In order to save his sister, Fiel teams up with Armilla and Leon, both of the Katena race, and heads out into the monster-drenched landscape, where the trio will administer insane beatdowns to all manner of creatures.

            

As a Konami game that celebrates its fighting engine, using which the hero and his CPU-controlled allies creatively bounce enemies around in long, dramatic combos, its nod to the increasingly action-focused Castlevania series is not unexpected. Upon meeting certain conditions, you can unlock "Belmondo's Costume," which you'll recognize as the garments worn by series hero Leon Belmont (not to be confused as one in the same with Etheria's "Leon," despite the clear patterning) in Lament of Innocence. When Leon is equipped with Belmondo's Costume, he'll be able to command the power of thunder. Sadly, he will not use any familiar Belmont-style weapons. Click on an image to view a larger version, if available. (All information and images contributed by JPCVFAN.)

            

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