"And your winner is..."                                         

"And here to accept the award on behalf of Super Castlevania IV is none other than the wife of Simon Belmont--Serena!"

"Oh, what a glorious victory for hubby and I!"                   

"Yes, and--"                                             

"Ooooooooooh, so pretty! I am pretty! I'm so pretty, and PRETTY, and preeeeeeeeeeeetty! I am the prettiest PRETTY in the Land of Pretty! Oh, so pretty and 'itty and witty and pretty and 'itty, oh ho!! Laaaa-lee-lee ah-leee-low!"

"You're going to look like a Slogra in a minute after I tug on your nose, deprive you of that weave, and pluck off that pink clearance-sale special you call a dress."

          "Oh, boy."

"Oh, the abhorrance! The hauteur! Have you no regard for such beauty? Don't you know the troubles one must labor in order to typify such perfection? Oh, heathens! Oh, a blot on the landscape!"

"Yeah? I'll put a blot on your landscape.

And I don't know trouble? I was in Castlevania Legends, babycakes. If that doesn't result in 'Survived a Major Disaster' on my resumé, I don't know what will. You try climbing Mount Redundancy and then get back to me."

"Oh, I see--so tugging on multiple ropes at once is your specialty? Does Alucard like to watch?

Hurry up and speak before yet another of your appearances is CANCELED!"

          "Ladies--I , uh, think we should tone it down just a bit..."

"BACK!"                                             

          "Mommy."

"Let me tell you something, sister: Your best work in Haunted Castle was seen from the back, which probably isn't the first occupation you've held where that's been prevalent.

But I don't have all day to argue with you and the bearded midget. Say your piece and then head back to the runway."

"My word--such boorish insolence! However, I will not continue to lower myself to Sonia's cretinous level. Besides, I can't squat that far. Now, where do I begin?

What is there to say other than that Super Castlevania IV was indeed an evolutionary leap over the previous games? It's easy to explain why: Though it didn't try to reinvent the formula in any major way and didn't really try to expand upon the replayability factor of Dracula's Curse, its gameplay was instead elevated to new heights thanks to the application of of an ingenious control scheme. In reality, Simon's almost gliding movements and pirouette-like, graceful leaps--which are as important to its success as you'd imagine--are only a small part of the package. Supplied to Simon is a system of whip-wielding that allows him to attack in multiple directions while standing and while airborne. More realized is the brandishing technique propagated from this thought-process: The brandishing move, a still-impressive 16-bit sprite effect, affords him an ability to quickly and wildly swirl, snap and shake the whip for close-range offensive and defensive measures; also, he can hang the whip downward, while standing or crouching, to catch enemies in its net for repeated damage.

And there's more: Super Castlevania IV took the next step sub-weapon-wise, too, as its creators assigned the use of such weapons to a single button, which eliminated stairway-weapon confliction altogether. And stairways, themselves? No need to worry anymore about falling into an abyss--now Simon simply walks down cliff-supporting stairways automatically without plunging to his death! Better yet, they allow for Simon to jump onto stairways for easy accessibility. All of these factors, I tell you, amount to the smoothest playing experience the series has ever known.

Thank you, everyone, for this honor! And a special thanks to me for being so pretty! Oh, so pretty! And so mitty, and litty, and gitty, and bitty and--"

"Woah-hooooooo--thank you, dear Serena, but this is only a nineteen-page special. We thank you for joining us, fair lady, and we hope that you enjoy the rest of your honeymoon ... far away.

Wow.

Is this thing over yet? No? Gah--SOMEONE GET MY PILLS!

Oh, but I am very pleased, now, to introduce to you one of the most brave and strong-willed heroes the world has ever known. It's his sense of dignity, honor and esteem that has won him the respect of both the living and the undead alike. Please give it up for one of my closest friends, and more importantly my young master, the son of Lord Dracula himself--Alucard!"

         "I  like to watch."

          "Huh?"

         "What!?"

          "Wha'?"

         "..."

"Hmmm--I could have sworn... Oh, well.

So, uh ... how are you?"

         "..."

          "How have you been?"

         "..."

          "Anything new?"

         "..."

          "Therapy working out?"

         "..."

"Right. Wasn't this the plot to Three Fugitives? Really--it's like Edward Scissorhands gets a bad perm.

Look, Al--we're close and all, but I'm going to have to insist that you speak."

         "I WILL NOT!"

          "You just did."

"Dammit... It seems so.

Well, then, I mustn't leave the audience waiting. ...

While the sense-tingling atmosphere manufactured by the NES originals (and evolved over an eighteen-year period) has always played a huge role in defining the games and excellently distinguishing them from the video game norm, perhaps the series' most telling attribute is its sense of challenge--its homage to the days when for your $50-plus a game could require, possibly, a long-term investment of even years.

Some would refer to such trials as 'infamous,' and in some cases, they'd be right. However, there are those titles that did it the right way--those that managed to find a balance between 'fun' and 'challenging' while staying true to the originals' vision. Frustration can oftentimes become the rule, yes--but, in the end, the player is rewarded a sense of accomplishment and an associated status. So, thereby, the nominees for 'Best Challenge' are:

• Castlevania: For the challenges it patented (read: dodging Medusa heads), its fearsome enemies, its extremely tough bosses, and its reputation therein.
• Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse: For honoring Castlevania's sense of challenge while allowing the player to ultimately decide how painful the experience.
• Castlevania: Circle of the Moon: For its very high challenge in spite of the RPG system's rewards and the terrorizing bosses that are a testament to this.
• Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow: For providing a consistent challenge thanks to well-planned incremental boosts to enemy levels and RPG-based statistics.
• Vampire Killer: For its gall in daring the player to conquer progressively difficult stages, solve quirky puzzles, beat tough bosses, and do this in one shot.

To find the answer you seek, 'twould be best if you were to click the link below."