Castlevania...

[Melfice Darkmage]

The first Castlevania Game I ever played. I think the other only one I've played would be the original, on NES.

I'm interested in playing some other ones. What are ones you guys would suggest?

Also, on a side note, would there be any specific Castlevania tracks that would fit into a Dark Nexus level?

[elbryan42]

I suggest.... ALL OF THEM!

Actually I love and suggest all of them EXCEPT the original GB ones: Castlevania Adventure, Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge, and Castlevania Legends.

All the rest kick ass. I love the GBA ones (Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance) and SOTN (for the PSX) especially.

For classic level-by-level gameplay, Rondo of Blood, Castlevania 1-4, Castlevania Chronicles, and Castlevania Bloodlines are all exceptional.

Lastly, for 3D, which some love, and some hate, the N64 Castlevanias are worth checking out.

The newest and best are the GBA ones and SOTN is an instant classic. This morning I heard rumors of a new GBA one coming out in May called Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. Hmm...

[Kaiser]

the first one I played was Simon's Quest for the nes.

I fucking LOVED that game.

I still own the rom too I also liked Symthaphy of the Night (spell) for the psx.

thats just about it. I haven't played the new ones for the GBA.

[elbryan42]

That's SYMPHONY of the Night.

And look what I found when I was cleaning out the closet in the computer room:



It's me playing my first Castlevania game, Super Castlevania 4 on Christmas morning in 1991.

Ah, the memories...

[Kaiser]

AH yes Castlevania 4 on the snes I remember that one too.

I loved the golden level and the last level (the bridge) that boss on that one was a pain.

[elbryan42]

Yup. One of my fave games of all time. I love the Forest of Monsters, Great Hall, and the Clock Tower.

In the picture I'm in the Caves, level 3, whipping a Mudman.

DIE MUDMAN!

[Kaiser]

I remember dying a lot on the water/serpant level...

[Melfice Darkmage]

Hehe, I'm gonna have to start playing more Castlevania so I'll have some sort of idea as to what you guys are talking about .

[Malphas Ellipsis]

Melfice, I strongly suggest you take a gander at the "Dracula Perfect Battle" series of alternate Castlevania soundtracks, if you can find them online anywhere. All of the selections and tracks have a distinct flair about them that re-invents the original songs in their own[/i] image. Simply glorious stuff... the kind of stuff that could bring tears to your eye, if you've played Castlevania extensively. Convert a few faves into MP3 or OGG format, and you're as good as set for some music for Dark Nexus.

Elbryan, did you know that the man in charge of the Castlevania series basically APOLOGIZED for the N64 games in an interview with EGM (roughly during the time of Castlevania Chronicles hype). He actually said that Devil May Cry has more to do with the idea of Castlevania than the N64 incarnations. While I personally have no problem with the N64 games per se, it kinda makes one wonder when the guy in charge feels bad about something so ambitious like a 3D Castlevania. Any thoughts on this? If they insist on doing a 3D incarnation of Castelvania, then I hope they keep the 2D gameplay that hooked so many of us gamers (like the treatment of Contra for the PS2, for example).

Incidentally, I own both ROMs of the GBA games and the "Dracula Perfect Battle" OSTs. If anyone's interested, you can try looking for them online... the second GBA game(Harmony of Dissonance/White Night Concerto) really shows how much the creative team learned about the limitations of a non-backlit screen, as reflected by the color choices.

[Jorge]

That's the man CURRENTLY in charge of the Castlevania series.

I personally think he's overplaying the whole Metroid-ish style of game play... and am finding that this genre is getting Stale.

Igarashi wasn't ALWAYS in charge of it. In fact, some of the better games were made before he even got ahold of the project (Castlevania III, Castlevania IV, Rondo). He only picked up the series now with Symphony... the earlier ones were done by other teams, some of which I suspect branched off of Konami to become Treasure.

Sincerely,
Jorge

[Malphas Ellipsis]

I stand corrected on Igarashi's history with the Castlevania series. Thanks for the FYI.

However, with regards to the 2D gameplay as a genre... that is a matter of preference that is up to each individual player, I'm afraid. While I disagree to the idea of it getting stale, I do respect your view a lot. To each his own.

And yes, most of the people who worked on Super Castlevania IV on the SNES (and other games) broke off to form Treasure. I personally love a lot of their work (which is mostly 2D gameplay, ironically). I'm glad and excited to read that they're working with Konami on the new Gradius chapter. I'd like to see them return to Castlevania with the stuff they learned while making other beautiful games like Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga.

Can you imagine how that would turn out? Man, that's exciting... ;D

[Jorge]

I'm glad you see one of my points.

However, when it comes to the other thing you're talking about, I wasn't at all referring to "2D Genre as a Whole". I'm just talking about how Iga has overplayed the Metroid-ish strategy on Castlevania. I'm a big fan of 2D, just as I'm a big fan of 3D (I'm an all-around gamer). It's just that the last three games in the CV series have been like that... and I long for the Action ones that actually had some difficulty (Circle of the Moon actually did have difficulty... but once one levelled up it got easier).

Metroid is cool because it has no HP or MP, so in order to get stronger you HAVE to find stuff, and there's only so much stuff around before you reach your peak. However, in the latest Castlevania games, not only do you find a plethora of stuff everywhere, but enemies drop stuff as well. Add that to the fact that you can level up, and that's a recipe for an overall easy game (I'm not a fan of easy games... i want a challenge, but not cheap).

I love the N64 Castlevanias 'cuz they're challenging.

Sincerely,
Jorge

[Melfice Darkmage]

Is looking for the Dracula Perfect Battle tracks now

[AgentSpork]

I had an obsession with CastleVania SoTN at one time! I
must've played through that game so many times!!

I also have CastleVania: CoTM for GBA, and it's great!
*sigh*
Maybe I should dig up my PSX and play some SoTN tonight ;D

[iori]

Castlevania SOTN is imo THE best castlevania game. A wanted to play dracula x for the pc engine (aka phillips cdi) but i cannot find it. It was the prequel to SOTN, not the crappy snes one