The Castlevania Thread

[Turbogfx]

I wasn't crazy about Simon's Quest. The music, however, is great and some tunes are reused in other CV games. I also liked the castle levels (where the boss/Drac body part is).

 

I especially like the items. Loved the shield as well! And that flame whipe is pretty awesome as well!

[StanJr]

I love Simon's Quest. I like everything about it. I like the non-linear approach, I like the curse, I LOVE the music. The items are great.

 

And best of all, the damn thing is a dense mystery. I agree that the riddles are brutal, but that is mostly due to a very, very rough translation. For me, as a kid, that game was like Voodoo. It was deep, dark and mysterious and getting to the ending was a journey. It was also the first game I ever played with more than one ending (that I was aware of). And getting a different ending the second time around blew my freaking mind.

 

Sure, its not perfect and the "boss" fights are lackluster to say the most, BUT, the game itself is totally awesome and a lot of fun.

 

That's it! You've talked me into it! I'm going to go play it through again!

[retrorussell]

Awesome.. I'm starting to get a lot more of the "white areas" by glitching the game and going inside the castle on Symphony of the Night.. got over 250 percent now. I just hate when I get stuck. A lot of the inverted castle seems to give me less problems than the upright castle (except the library).

[+Black_Tiger]

Dracula X Rondo of Blood is my favorite overall, followed by Circle of the Moon. I loved Simon's Quest bitd and for years I wanted the series to head back in that direction. I played SotN/NitM to death on both PSX and Saturn, but when revisiting it in recent years it has aged terribly overall as a playable game. CotM is the most polished and well design of the adventure Castelvanias for gameplay, layout, progression, etc. The first time I played it, I was disappointed that the aesthetics weren't more like SotN and I was happy that Harmoby of Dissonance fixed that. But the more I play them all, the more that CotM strides past the rest as an actual game.

 

And that's just the main quest. All the bonus modes make it one of the best and seemingly "petfect" games ever made.

Edited September 18, 2012 by Black_Tiger

[Turbogfx]

I played the HoD/AoS Double Pack on GBA today, and I have some questions.

 

Multiple times in this thread, Aria of Sorrow is preferred over Harmony of Dissonance. However, I have to say that I find Harmony of Dissonance quite enjoyable.

Story seems to be rather meager but nonetheless, the gameplay is there IMO...

[+Black_Tiger]

The only problem I had with HoD is that it is WAY too easy. Still fun to play, but terribly unbalanced compared to other Castlevania Adventure games.

[Austin]

I felt Harmony of Dissonance was frustratingly repetitive and monotonous. The graphics were great for the time (that's what everyone gloated about), but It has a lot of other issues in my opinion, and they all really drag it down: The castle layout made little sense and has you going to one side all the way back to another over and over again (with minimal teleport rooms), the experience system was barely thought out (you get 1 EXP for spending time killing larger enemies later on in the game, but you get more to kill easier enemies), the typical room layout is completely uninspired (dash left twenty times, jump to a platform, dash right twenty times, jump to a platform, dash left twenty times, jump to a platform, rinse and repeat seemingly infinitely), there were cryptic puzzles like in Simon's Quest in order to progress (e.g., that one sewer/aquaducts section where you have to walk through a wall to get one of Vlad's pieces), and the worst part is that the music is seriously grating. It's just a poorly designed game. I can't fault anyone for enjoying it, but I was really disappointed with it when I finally buckled down and plowed through it back in April of this year.

 

Aria of Sorrow on the other hand--I feel it's a far superior game. The visuals are more detailed, the soundtrack is catchy and memorable (how a Castlevania OST should be), the soul system offers a wide variety of abilities and makes for good replay value, the backgrounds and environments are interesting, the castle flows very well and rarely has you backtracking to the extent you do in HoD, and more. All of this makes for a really tight package that is a lot of fun to play.

[retrorussell]

I love Aria Of Sorrow. Probably my 2nd fave in the CV series after SOTN, then maybe the original.

[Turbogfx]

I felt Harmony of Dissonance was frustratingly repetitive and monotonous. The graphics were great for the time (that's what everyone gloated about), but It has a lot of other issues in my opinion, and they all really drag it down: The castle layout made little sense and has you going to one side all the way back to another over and over again (with minimal teleport rooms), the experience system was barely thought out (you get 1 EXP for spending time killing larger enemies later on in the game, but you get more to kill easier enemies), the typical room layout is completely uninspired (dash left twenty times, jump to a platform, dash right twenty times, jump to a platform, dash left twenty times, jump to a platform, rinse and repeat seemingly infinitely), there were cryptic puzzles like in Simon's Quest in order to progress (e.g., that one sewer/aquaducts section where you have to walk through a wall to get one of Vlad's pieces), and the worst part is that the music is seriously grating. It's just a poorly designed game. I can't fault anyone for enjoying it, but I was really disappointed with it when I finally buckled down and plowed through it back in April of this year.

 

After playing some more of this game, I need to admit that I agree with most of what you are saying. While I still feel that the controls are good, it's kind of discouraging to backtrack through the whole castle once again, hoping to find a room in which you can progress with your newfound powers, only to find out after 30min of extra play, that you are stuck. I'm at 60.5% now, and honestly, I don't know how to proceed.

Really frustrating...

Edited September 24, 2012 by Turbogfx

[retrorussell]

I can't seem to pass 278% on Symphony of the Night. I think I'm done with that one for a while.

[pixelated]

I really need to catch up on my Castlevanias. I never played too deeply any Castlevania game after Super Castlevania IV. I guess that game blew my head off so clean I had/have a hard time with all the others after.

 

I guess you could say Super Castlevania IV is my favorite, yeah. I'll never forget playing it for the first time in late 1991. I was 12 and I was hooked! At the time, the grim reaper was pretty astounding and kinda scary-lookin'.

[Turbogfx]

I've got a question for any one who's played Akumajou Dracula X: Chi No Rondo (PC Engine) and Dracula X (Vampire's Kiss in Europe) on the SNES:

 

What are the differences between those two games, I haven't played them but they look fairly similar. Are they two entirely different games or are they more or less the same?

 

Thanks!

[StanJr]

They are different games, although they have similarities in plot and basic game set up. The levels are completely different and the worst thing is that you do not unlock Maria and you cannot play as her (the main thing that made Rondo so totally wicked, even though the rest of the game is pretty epic) Dracula X is still great, as long as you don't consider it a port of Rondo.

 

If you really want to play Rondo (and you do), you can download it on the Wii Virtual Console.

[Austin]

If you really want to play Rondo (and you do), you can download it on the Wii Virtual Console.

 

That, or buy it on the PSP.

[Turbogfx]

Oh I want to play it, for sure, but I have no Wii nor a PSP.

I do however plan to buy a PC Engine Duo soon, so I'll get it then.

[Turbogfx]

So, I finished Castlevania Chronicles (Original Mode) last weekend on the PS1.

That is one brutally difficult CV game, might be the hardest one I've played to date.

 

I also got SOTN in the meantime, as well as Belmont's Revenge and Kid Dracula for the Gameboy Classic.

I really like those games, I think Belmont's Revenge has some of the greatest CV tunes out there, definitely my favorite handheld CV game to date.

[StanJr]

I cannot beat the final level in Belmont's Revenge for anything. I take way too much damage just getting through the level. Is brutal.

[cimerians]

I love em' all. Rondo and SOTN are my favorites followed by Super Castlevania IV.

 

I actually had quite fun with Curse of Darkness the often bashed non-2D Vania's. Mainly due to the familiar that follows you around and levels up with you.

[cimerians]

So, I finished Castlevania Chronicles (Original Mode) last weekend on the PS1.

That is one brutally difficult CV game, might be the hardest one I've played to date.

 

 

WHATT??

 

I cant beat that. I just can't...

[Turbogfx]

It's very tough, that's for sure. But with the right amount of perseverance you'll get there eventually. Thank God for the save feature.

 

The hardest stage is the clocktower IMO with the Werewolf boss fight. I curse that level..

[Great Hierophant]

Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance seem to be almost polar opposites of each other.

 

Circle of the Moon has dark graphics and smaller monsters, (it was very difficult to play on a non-backlit screen) Harmony of Dissonance has very bright graphics and larger monsters.

 

Circle of the Moon has excellent renditions of mostly recycled Castlevania music. Harmony of Dissonance has awful sounding, mostly original music.

 

Circle of the Moon has one castle, Harmony of Dissonance has "two".

 

Circle of the Moon has lots of difficult enemies and bosses, Harmony of Dissonance has mostly weaker enemies and easy bosses.

 

Circle of the Moon "spells" come from enemy drops, Harmony of Dissonance has spells mostly from found items.

 

Circle of the Moon character portraits are anime inspired, Harmony of Dissonance use Ayami Kojima's ornate style.

 

Aria of Sorrow is better than both.

Edited December 20, 2012 by Great Hierophant

[Turbogfx]

It's been a while since this thread has seen any new posts. And so I thought I'd ask you Castlevania fans about your thoughts on two of the best known 16-bit Castlevania's:

 

- Super Castlevania IV (SNES)

- Castlevania: Bloodlines (Genesis / Megadrive)

 

I admit it, I really, REALLY have a soft spot for the Genesis game.

To me, Bloodlines (or The New Generation in Europe) got a lot of things right about what makes a Castlevania game great, and used the Genesis' best features to enhance the game even more:

 

- kick-ass soundtrack (with those fat Genesis bass-lines)

- character animation and sprite art are superb

- backgrounds and environmental visual effects were mind-blowing for the time (just look at the Tower of Pisa level, or the Mirror palace at the end)

- good difficulty level, altough I'm not a big fan of the limited number of continues

- gameplay is a nice cross-over between CV III and Super Castlevania IV controls

- 2 playable characters (although I have only played one of the two)

- memorable boss battles

 

In general, I really prefer Bloodlines over Super Castlevania IV. The latter, in my opinion, was a bit too easy, the soundtrack was underwhelming and it didn't really bring anything new to the table.

 

What do you think about both games? Which one do you prefer and why would that be?

Cheers!

[Austin]

I am a big fan of both games. I do prefer Castlevania IV over Bloodlines though. I just like the more pseudo-realistic art style of Super Castlevania, and the game feels like a more "epic" experience. The symphonic styled music works very well with the game, and there are so many locales you traverse through in that game. I also appreciate the slightly lower difficulty in Part IV. It makes for a game I can load up, and an hour later have rolled through it without much trouble, but still feel really good about it in the end. It allows me to soak up the experience as a whole without having to worry too much about the next difficult section coming up. I also appreciate how the bosses in the game rely less on memorizing patterns, where in Bloodlines there are parts where it is pretty much mandatory for survival (a couple of the later bosses in the game, for instance). Part IV is a more relaxing experience for me, and I can't fault it for it. It's one of the reasons why I come back to it more than any other in the series.

 

 

In general, I really prefer Bloodlines over Super Castlevania IV. The latter, in my opinion, was a bit too easy, the soundtrack was underwhelming and it didn't really bring anything new to the table.

 

I hear people say this, but I don't quite understand it. At the time of its release, it brought a lot to the table. The graphics were a monumental improvement over the original three games and was mind-blowing to me when I first saw it (as a young kid, mind you). It also introduced whipping in all directions, as well as swinging on hooks (something that was borrowed and then modified for Bloodlines on the Genesis). It also fixed some of the issues people had with the prior games, by making it easier for players to get on and off stairs, and it also gave the option to land on them and drop off them at will. There is also the separate item use button, which made using said-items less cumbersome, and this is another trait that was carried over to Bloodlines.