Which is harder: Ninja Gaiden or Castlevania?

[Jamisonia]

Castlevania is harder, because you take so much damage in later levels. 4 hits your dead. Ninja Gaiden it seems like you always have tons of health, you only die from falling. Castlevania has those cheap deaths too, but because you'll die so much more from actually taking damage that makes Castlevania harder. In seems like in Ninja Gaiden you just have to run, and often not have any regard for how much you're getting hit. Just go you know?

[Ziggy]

I really couldn't make up my mind, but after reading that, I think CV is harder. If only slightly. The last two levels, you're dead on the forth hit. How many hits can you take in NG? Seems like an unlimited amount. Now that you said it, I don't pay much attention to my health when I'm playing NG. When you're on the last two levels of CV, you know damn sure how much health you have. It's easy to count to four.

[Gamerforlife]

Castlevania

I always found those tougher than the NG games because the NG games give you freer movement and more useful sub weapons. Belmont has crappy jumps, more restricted weapons and moves very slowly. I always do better in games where I control a character who isn't stiff in movements.

Plus, there is a certain fluidity to the NG games once you know the levels.

[TheSSNintendo]

I'm gonna go with Ninja Gaiden. Castlevania doesn't have any respawning eagles.

[BurningDoom]

Definitely Ninja Gaiden, IMO.

[CFFJR]

I've played and beaten CV more times that I can remember, but I only played NG for the first time the other day. I've already gotten up to the second form of the last boss, and it didn't take that much effort. CV, on the other hand, I remember thinking that I'd NEVER be able to beat it. It might just be that I sucked at video games back then, and that I'm better now. But I honestly don't know which one is harder.

I've had pretty much the opposite experience.

I played Castlevania for the first time a few months back, and I beat it inside a week.

I've owned Ninja Gaiden since I was a kid, and I still have not beaten it. Any attempts to do so nowadays usually end in me quitting out of impatience before I get far at all, probably because I got sick of trying when I was a kid.

I honestly think Ninja Gaiden is the more difficult game.

Castlevania definitely has its moments though. Those little bouncing bastards infuriate me.

[Hobie-wan]

I'm gonna go with Ninja Gaiden. Castlevania doesn't have any respawning eagles.

It has respawning medusa heads instead.

[Xeogred]

Your best friends when you're slowing crawling up those steps. lol

[flamepanther]

Ninja Gaiden is way harder. The gameplay is basically a buggier Castlevania hopped up on crack. The short-range attacks and cruel jumps (and crueler jumping physics) are there in both--but in Ninja Gaiden you have much less time to react to them. Both have obnoxious respawning enemies, but Ninja Gaiden places the spawn points where you'll get constantly spammed with the same enemy as you try to negotiate all the difficult jumps. It's not difficult at all in Ninja Gaiden to cause a situation where an enemy spawns continuously, by having the spawn point just at the edge of the screen. It's not just the eagles by any means, either. I've yet to see that happen in CastleVania, medusa heads not withstanding.

[rainnyx4]

Having played both starting from when I was a kid, I can say unequivocally say that Ninja Gaiden is the harder game. A few years ago, I was able to completely master CastleVania and beat it quite easily. But the BS about the last level in Ninja Gaiden makes the game pretty unfair. If it didn't keep sending you back every time you died, the game's difficulty would be much lower. I have never beaten Ninja Gaiden but it has been a long time since I've tried again. I think if I used save states to get really good at beating the last boss I could probably beat the game straight through. But the frustration factor of getting to the last boss, dying, and getting sent back always kept me from completing that game.