Vampire busting fun
While not quite up to the standards of the classic adventures in the Castlevania series, Night Hunter is a pretty decent stab at a bit of vampiric platforming action that is well worth checking out for genre fans. Players are thrust into the well-worn shoes of the legendary Dracula himself and rather unusually, your game is to create complete chaos on Earth which for some reason involves collecting a bunch of holy medallions. Of course, you're not going to have it all your own way and legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing and his chums, including priests, vultures and the police, are out to stop you with all the holy water and crucifixes they can find. Evening out the odds a little is your ability to change into a bat and a werewolf, which certainly comes in handy as you make your way through the 30 or so side scrolling platform levels, scouring the land for the medallions. An added danger is of course Drac's dread of sunlight so when you see the sun coming up, it's time to locate a crypt pretty sharpish or risk turning into a pile of ashes. In terms of gameplay there's nothing we haven't seen before, but it's all executed pretty well on the whole. The controls and tight, responsive and intuitive while the action never lets up from the get go and which is satisfying and enjoyable. The visuals too are pretty strong in that old-school way, with chunky sprites and atmospheric environments that really create a strong mood of dread and fear. Night Hunter is not a classic, but if you enjoy shooters like Trantor and Contra, you should get a kick out of this.
