"Bad play control plagues this Castlevania clone"

8 Eyes was a game made by Taxan that bares many similarities to Castlevania. It had 3 quests, and the plot was that you were a falconer named Orin, and you and your falcon, Cutrus, must collect 7 Crystals to place in the House of Ruth. The plot is a bit different from Castlevania, but is the game as fun?

Graphics: 5/10- They aren't bad. You can see the enemies' weapon, and they're decently animated as well. The Graphics themselves aren't all that impressive, but the game loses big points for not bothering to get simple details right (The Taj Mahal, PINK?!). To be more specific about the animation, it consists of about 3 frames for each enemy, but that was about Par for the course when the game was released.

Sound: 6/10- The sound effects are weird. When you hit an enemy, it makes a sound as if it's suddenly been deflated. When they hit you, you make a strange sound that I can't really put into words. The music is basically forgetable, although the boss battle theme is pretty cool. The music when you die (Which you will hear annoying often...more on that later) is almost insulting in its somberness.

Control: 1/10- One word: Poo-poo! You move WAY too slowly, enemies have MUCH more range than you, and the Falcon is VERY annoying to control in one player mode (He controls decently enough when a second player controls him). The way you switch special weapons isn't very intuitive either, and they're also well nigh USELESS, unlike in Castlevania where they actually serve a purpose. There's ALSO a delay after you land from jumps where you are essentially a sitting duck.

Story: 7/10- At least the story is somewhat original. You're a falconer, and you and your trusty falcon must go to 7 houses to collect crystals. Once you get them, you must travel to the House of Ruth to place these crystals in the correct order. Good enough.

Challenge: 10/10- This game is HARD, and not just because of bad control (Though that's a major part). You have to go through each of the 7 houses (I'm told you have to do this in the correct order, though I've seen nothing that supports this claim). Then you have to fight ALL the bosses AGAIN, THEN you have to use assembled clues to place all the crystals IN THE CORRECT ORDER. Finally, as if that weren't enough, you have to do it TWO MORE TIMES in order to truly beat the game.

Replay Value: 2/10- There's three quests; However, you'll be hard pressed to even beat the first one, thanks mostly to AWFUL play control. There's nothing different to each of the quests; the enemies merely move faster, while you retain the same, sluggish pace.

Overall: 4/10- The graphics and sound are decent enough, but the play control is just AWFUL. I can't even begin to describe how bad it is. This simple fact 1. Illustrates that good graphics and sound do not necessarily make a good game (A fact that, sadly, seems to be lost on today's younger gamers), and 2. Makes this game, not a game I would buy if I had a choice today. This game is a Castlevania clone, and if you want that, but the real Castlevania, not this cheap imitation.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99