SwooshBear wrote:I recently picked up Bloodlines and its really awesome. I still think of the original for nes first though. Those are the only two I've ever played. So when does "Classic" turn into "Metroidvania" or whatever. Also which Casltevania games would you recommend to a new comer like me? I liked the first one and Bloodlines, and I want SoTN and SCIV. I'm not interested in the 3D ones at all. What about the Gameboy/DS ones?
Definitely check out Castlevania 3 if you liked the first one and Bloodlines. It's pretty much the same game experience as the first game, with some added goodies. It's one of my personal favorites, and a lot would agree it's one of the best CV games of the original format. The Famicom version (Akumajou Densetsu) is even better. We were talking about it over a few pages in this thread.
CV2, you might wanna stay away from for now. You kinda have to appreciate it for what it is in order to enjoy it. If you dive in thinking it's gonna be like 1 and 3, you'll be disappointed.
You can't go wrong with 4 though. In some of the first few pages of this thread, there was talk of it being overrated. It's definitely not a bad game though. If you enjoyed Bloodlines, then I think it's safe to assume you'll enjoy 4.
Rondo of Blood is amazing. A lot of people say it's the best CV game of the original format. I don't know if it's the best, but it's definitely one of the better ones. I would recommend getting it (unless you plan to emulate) for the Wii on the Virtual Console, if you don't own a Turbo Duo or whatever. I found it to be the best way to play the game. It was translated into English as part of the Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP, but I don't enjoy hand helds as much as consoles.
SotN, like brunoafh already said, is where it turns into Metroidvania. Definitely a great game. All the other Metroidvania's are on GBA and DS (right?). SotN is actually a direct sequel to Rondo, but if you play SotN first, you're not gonna be lost when it comes to the story.
Which leads me to Dracula X on the SNES. Long story short, we didn't get Rondo of Blood outside of Japan, so when SotN was coming out they were like "Oh no, we have to get the first part of the story out!" So they rushed Dracula X out for the SNES. It isn't the worst game, but definitely not one of the better ones. And definitely no Rondo of Blood. My main complaint with it is being too hard. If you're looking to buy these games (as oppose to emulating them) I would put this one toward the bottom of the list. It's kinda expensive, so the money to fun ratio is out of whack.
Then there's Castlevania Chronicles on the PS1. I don't much care for this one, but some have said they like it. And with that, I think I hit all the console games up to the 3D entries.
The ones for the original GB aren't too bad. If you can appreciate GB games for what they are, then definitely check out the second one. The first one is kinda lame, but the second one is alright. The third one seemed alright (I check it out in an emulator briefly) but if I remember correctly it costs a little too much for me to care to pick it up. After that, I believe all the other handheld releases (not including Dracula X Chronicles or CV1 rerelease) are Metroidvania style.
You can read about all the games here:
http://www.castlevaniadungeon.net/games.html including the differences between regions (which is my favorite part about that site).
edit: Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth is definitely worth mentioning. It's a WiiWare title. If you liked CV1 and Bloodlines, then you should definitely check it out.
