Hasslevania

Hasslevania: The Quest for Shuteye is a large, non-linear 2D platforming adventure game that spoofs the Castlevania series of video games. The game was created by DXF Games and took a total of 10 months to complete. It is DXF Games' most popular title to date.

Overview

From the DXF Games site description:

Poor Rovert Bellhump!

He has just bought a house on the cheap and the big reason why is because his new neighbors are none other than Count Dracula (tm) and the whole of Castle Hasslevania!! You see, all our hero really wants is peace and quiet. Unfortunately, tonight is the 100th year a certain you-know-who wakes up and starts making big plans for world domination. Since world domination is always very loud and irritating, Rovert decides to go and tell Drac and the gang to knock it off- or else he's calling the cops! But can he survive the dangers of old school challenges in the world of today?

NOTE: The latest build of Hasslevania is version 3, which features fundamental improvements over the first two versions of the game. The game is considered finalized.

Credits & Specs

Graphics, Music, Story, and Code by Dave Fillion of DXF Games, and was made using Multimedia Fusion 1.5. Hasslevania was Developed from February - November of 2007, and had numerous great ideas brought to light from members of the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night message board on GameFAQs. The original release date of Version 1 was November 21st, 2007.

This is a 137MB freeware game.

Voice Credits

Dave Fillion: Count Dracula, Skelecopter Pilot, Skelevator Operator, Del Duio, Alucart, Chris Subdevil, Ghouly Lee, Alex Deadson, Simon Bellhump, and the Prison Zombies. Also sings the bonus song "Oh Rovert!", which plays during the good ending of the game.

Brad Rogers: Rovert Bellhump, Me Sued Ya, Neil Hurt, and Ninja Bradley- Salesman.

Unca' Reach: Oldie the Ripper.

About

Hasslevania features DXF's first-ever custom platform engine, original graphics and MIDI music. It's an homage / spoof, but will stand alone for anyone who's been living in a cave and has no idea what games like Castlevania, Castlequest, and Wizards and Warriors are. The game plays out a lot like a "Del Duio" version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Look for cameos of DXF Games' other creations in the game in the form of Hasslevania's statues and other characters.

Hasslevania promotes exploration above all else- there are numerous ways Rovert can achieve his ultimate goal. There are multiple paths to obtain the same items, and as a non-linear game some areas don't even have to be entered to win. There are 6 big bosses and that doesn't include the final showdown with Count Dracula himself. The game is a lot like the old NES Metroid as far as the "Where the heck do I go now?" feelings players might experience from time to time.

The game also has similar bad B-movie voice acting that the recent Castlevania games seem to have in common. You go about the castle finding weapons and other items to help you progress. The pyro "mace" iac can burn thorny passageways. The mighty Blade of Del Duio doubles your run speed but lowers your defenses. There's even a Belmont-type whip that can kill most undead enemies in a single hit! The iron armor protects you from spikes. The shield can deflect arrows, nails, and other projectiles.

There's a little Devil you can find that will follow you and basically destroy anything in its path, but it has a hunger for Rovert's skill hearts and takes them at an alarming rate! It might be worth it to keep him around though, as a big chunk of the comedy is devoted solely to the Devil. The Devil's name is Chris. He was named after the most powerful weapon in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the crissaegrim sword.

Reception

Overall, reviews for the game were generally positive. Most of the initial gripes from early players focused on the large filesize (brought on by the large amount of voiceovers the game has) and the overall difficulty, especially towards the beginning. There were also complaints that health wasn't restored when you used one of the game's 3 save points (coffins) and there was too much candle "grinding" to get money. Versions 2 and 3 were attempts to allieviate some of these concerns, and a new game mode called "Wussy Schoolgirl" was added which heals players up to 50% of health upon saving. To balance things out, you cannot get the best ending while playing a "Wussy Schoolgirl" game.

Vs. David Hasslehoff?

Many first believed that this was a game where instead of fighting Dracula you had to fight television icon David Hasslehoff. Although this isn't true, there are some references to him that can be found. There are 2 areas in the game where players will see Hoff Heads, which are obvious nods to the annoying floating medusa heads from the Castlevania series. When defeated, Hoff Heads make the same "woo-woo" sound that can be heard from the 80's television show Knight Rider. (K.I.T.T.'s scanner). Hoff heads also highly resemble the 80's era Hasslehoff. The final reference to The Hoff, a red LED light display that resembles K.I.T.T.'s actual hood scanner itself, can be found in the Engineering room.

The Good Ending

There are 2 endings to Hasslevania. In order to get the "good" ending, which includes an extremely cheesy bonus song and lyric scroll, you need to defeat Count Dracula and escape Hasslevania with a collection percentage of at least 80%. You also must have found and rescued Chris Subdevil. If you're playing a "Wussy Schoolgirl" challenge, you can't get the good ending no matter how many things you've collected.

Sequel

On July 13th, 2008 the sequel to this game, Hasslevania 2: This Space for Rent, was officially confirmed on the DXF Games frontpage. The game is a direct continuation from The Quest for Shuteye's endgame events.

Links
* The Hasslevania Homepage
* DXF Games official website
* Archived development history from GameFAQs

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu