Castlevania series, whip it good!

[Ellendesu]

I'm a huge fan of Castlevania, I've been a fan of the series ever since I was a kid, and I'm talking 6-7 years old here.

True the series has had some black sheep, and some mistakes, but lets face it, next to Mega Man, this is what most of we older gamers grew up playing for action titles, the games have always just been "COOL".

So I ask you congress, what is your preference when it comes to Castlevania games? Personally I'm a fan of the Metroid-Vania formula that has been around since Symphony of the Night, (Metroid Vania, for the layman, is a term for a Castlevania with the Map-Coverage and Item Finding qualities of Super Metroid.)

So lets hear it?

For the sake of example, in case Vampire Killer noobies are present (Which I doubt)

Old School: Castlevania 1-5, Castlevania Adventure 1-2, Castlevania Legends.
New School: Symphony of the Night, Aria/Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance.
New School 3-D: Castlevania 64, Castlevania Legacy of Darkness, Lament of Innocence, Curse of Darkness

[ROMate]

I've never played Castlevania. =( A friend of mine was supposed to loan me one of the ones that was on GBA but never did.

[Mirai Doft]

I'm from the new-school 2D, played every game of it except Portrait of Ruin, and boy are they good. I also like my Castlevania with lots of exploration, unless this exploration involves bombing every fucking floor in the castle to find something.

[Ellendesu]

Of course I'm not dissing old school Castlevania, those are GREAT! I just think the new formula is much more enthralling.

lol speaking of bombing every floor in the castle, why don't you try figuring out where the hidden floors in the mansions of Castlevania 2 : Simon's Quest are? Now theres a game that wears your patience.

[R-9]

Well, I can only comment on the games I've actually played.

Akumajou Dracula- The first game was actually for the MSX Japanese computer system, and it had far more in common with new-school 2D than the NES version did. Of course, the semi-linear gameplay isn't enough of a novelty to protect the game from its bullshit controls.

Castlevania 1- The first one in the US. Better controls, but still unremittingly difficult from level 4 onward. It least this version made some pretense towards fairness- Linearity actually helped the franchise, here.

Haunted Castle- The Castlevania arcade game, more or less. Hard as any of the early games in the series, it did set the high point for Castlevania music for a good, long while. It's also one of the few games in the series to have a hilariously easy Dracula.

Castlevania 2- New school is old-school. the first of the non-linear Castlevania games, it has its problems, such as townspeople that refuse to make any sense whatsoever. While trial and error may be pert of the routine for players of MSX games like Maze of Galious, it just didn't exactly seem "in place" for Castlevania. At least, not until we got an automap, of course.

Castlevania 3- Back to roots. Well, with branching levels, alternate characters, and so on, but other than that, it's basically Castlevania 1 with a fresh coat of new pixels. Nothing wrong with that, though.

Castlevania 4- Or, the Mode 7 Tech demo. Other than that, however, it's an incredibly solid entry, and probably the first Castlevania game that's reasonably beatable. Thank Treasure for that.

Castlevania Bloodlines- The only Genesis installment of the game, it manages to overcome the limitations of the hardware and deliver something pretty good.

Dracula X SNES- Unfairly maligned in the US because we didn't get the Turbo-Duo version of the game, this version still manages to keep the visual flair and most of the music quality despite its presence on the cartridge format.

Symphony of the Night- Metroidvania really gets going, and with good reason. This was a superb way to start off what would become a dominant design paradigm for Castlevania, despite the fact that there are a few weapons and abilities that can break the game in horrible and funny ways. The game itself is quite easy once a certain point is passed, but the castle is so well-realized, that it doesn't significantly detract from the game.

Lament of Innocence- Nice game. Where's the rest of it? This one's a renter, for sure.

[Trapani21]

Old school 2-d Castlevania for me. Castlevania IV is my personal favorite. Nothing like a frustrating game that makes you want to throw your controller out the window, to make you really appreciate the challenge.

[JG]

Castlevania 4- Or, the Mode 7 Tech demo. Other than that, however, it's an incredibly solid entry, and probably the first Castlevania game that's reasonably beatable.

I disagree. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is quite beatable, and that being back in the days of the only hints you got came from Nintendo Power.  I will give you CV1 as "nigh impossible" and CV3 as "very difficult" though.

[Hyperguy]

WHAT IS A CASTLEVANIA?

[Ellendesu]

WHAT IS A CASTLEVANIA?

I think it has something to do with bondage and vampires, I DUNNO

[Nitorin]

I played lot of Castlevania.
Nes,I was young and was'nt really good at it,but those are good games.I played those on snes and genesis,good game but I did'nt really get into
 the game.
GBA,all game on GBA rocks!  Just like the one on ps1.Best Castlevania in my opinion.
I played a bit those on nintendo64,did'nt really like them.
The first on ps2 was ok but the second one was great.
I did'nt try yet the one on game boy DS...
oh hey,anyone remember back then,the rumor about a castlevania on dreamcast?The game never been release as far as I know.

[Cashino]

WHAT IS A CASTLEVANIA?

Using the name "Transylvania" as a reference:

In latin, sylva means "forest." Thus, Castlevania can mean "Castle (in the) forest." Specifically, they're referring the Dracula's castle in Transylvania (or just castles in general), which is/are in a dark secluded forest. Transylvania itself means "beyond the forest," although the castle itself is still in a forest and the "beyond" part is due to it's location real-life and can just be named in reference to "the unknown". The "syl" part of the name is slurred into the "Castle" part for fluidness (try saying Castlesylvania)



Knowing Konami, the name was for a reason and not completely custom, pulled out of the hat and/or ass (Gradius is probably supposed to be "Gladius" as in a sword, hence part of the Vic Viper's appearence; a good number of the major mechs in the Zone of the Enders series are named or references to Egyptian myth; Contra means "counter," as in "counterattack," and so forth).

[JG]

Knowing Konami, the name was for a reason and not completely custom, pulled out of the hat and/or ass (Gradius is probably supposed to be "Gladius" as in a sword, hence part of the Vic Viper's appearence; a good number of the major mechs in the Zone of the Enders series are named or references to Egyptian myth; Contra means "counter," as in "counterattack," and so forth).

I think Konami's "Rush'n Attack" speaks for itself.

[Ultros]

It's just a fact of the world. Some people are really mean. I mean, I'm a villain, sure, but I'm not as bad as some of them. Dracula from Castlevania, for instance, is just a sadist. When he built a new bathroom, he didn't install a toilet, just called in three Incubi and told them to open their mouths.

One of them was like, "Uh, why are we here? To help you put in the toilet?"

And he was all, "No, demons, you ARE the john."

[Xierfrogs]

I just ordered Dawn of Sorrow off amazon

I didn't realize there were DS castlevania games...


yaaay.! more vampires!

[Echelon]

Portrait of Ruin is a little better than Dawn of Sorrow in my opinion, longer too. Still, you can't go wrong with that.

I prefer the "Castletroid" games in the series myself, but it's kind of fun to bust out the classics for nostalgic from time to time.

Symphony of the Night takes the cake for me, in the end.

[Ultros]

I just ordered Dawn of Sorrow off amazon

I didn't realize there were DS castlevania games...


yaaay.! more vampires!

I don't think you have to worry, there won't be a shortage of Castlevania games anytime soon, the marketing team and developers really wanna make sure they can sink their teeth into the consumer market and continue selling as many games as possible. Bloodsuckers.

[Echelon]

I'd think the Double Pack is a little rare thesedays, that contains Aria of Sorrow and Harmony of Dissonance. Of course, Harmony was pretty chunky either way.

[Xierfrogs]

I'd think the Double Pack is a little rare thesedays, that contains Aria of Sorrow and Harmony of Dissonance. Of course, Harmony was pretty chunky either way.

I played those, then got them on emulator after my cartrige went through a friend's washing mashine (damnit gabe!).
They were good, but I actually though Circle of the Moon was better. The enemies were better designed and it seemed almost to take itself a little more seriously.

After I finish Dawn, I'm getting Portrait.
That is, when I finish being broke T_T. And finish almost falling into a coma due to brawl.

[MMX]

What about old school 3D castlevania?  eg. C64.  How dare you list C64 in the same group as the rest of that 3D shite.

Honestly... I dunno.  I like them all somewhat averagely... never been my favorite series.  Hard to not like it though.

[Xierfrogs]

C64 was hilarious. I kept falling off things and dying while my friends would try to distract me by...oh say, throwing my cat at my head. Good times, that.

Love how on easy mode you can't win...