Released for the Nintendo Wii by Konami in 2008, Castlevania Judgment is a 3D fighting game developed by Eighting. It was the first beat ’em up in the Castlevania series, and it remains the last one, too (at the time of writing).

Castlevania Judgment is actually a pretty decent fighting game; with special guest characters, some of whom you might notice from the Castlevania series. Or, at least, you might recognise the names, but the characters might look a lot younger than you remember, and might now have tattoos…

The game has six play modes: Story, Arcade, Castle, Versus, Survival and Training. In “Story”, each character plays through their respective story line. In “Arcade”, the game plays like the arcade game (ie. you fight the computer in a knockout tournament). In “Castle”, you conquer each floor of the castle, until you reach Dracula. In “Versus”, you fight against the computer or another human player. In “Survival”, you fight a succession of enemies until you run out of health. “Training” is, of course, self-explanatory, although you can train with another human player too.

There are 14 playable characters in total, including: Aeon (new and exclusive to this game), Alucard (Dracula’s Curse), Carmilla (Simon’s Quest), Cornell (Legacy of Darkness), Death (Castlevania), Dracula (Castlevania), Eric Lecarde (Bloodlines), Golem (Haunted Castle), Grant Danasty (Dracula’s Curse), Maria Renard (Rondo of Blood), Sypha Belnades (Dracula’s Curse), Shanoa (Order of Ecclesia), Simon Belmont (Castlevania) and Trevor Belmont (Dracula’s Curse).

Other (non-playable) characters roam the game’s stages, serving as obstacles that can be eliminated to replenish energy. These characters include common Castlevania enemies such as zombies, mermen and Minotaur.

Each character uses different weapons, and the fighting stages are also interactive. The game used to have online multiplayer matches, but not any more (that I’m aware of). You can also connect to the Nintendo DS game Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia to unlock bonus content in both games.

Overall, Castlevania Judgment is a fun beat ’em up. The presentation is good; there are lots of unlockables, and the gameplay is fluid and slick (the game uses MoCap for its animation).

If you like the Castlevania series, and also like fighting games, then it’s definitely a game to try out. Just be warned that the characters have all been “modernised” to make them appeal more as fighters, and therefore look like they’ve all just stepped out of an expensive hair salon…

More: Castlevania Judgment on Wikipedia