The Castlevania GBA and DS Games - Should I ?

[BurningDoom]

So... Having not played any of the DS games yet, I should play them in the order they came out?

It doesn't matter. They're all separate games with separate stories. Except for Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow, play Aria before Dawn. But even then, it's not like the story is very heavy in Castlevania games, you could probably still play Dawn of Sorrow first with little issue.

[Ziggy]

@ prfsnl_gmr: Well I have the original DS, so I wont be picking up a DS Lite any time soon. If the DS Lite had an XL screen, I'd be all over it though. DS games looks surprisingly good on my 3DS XL. From every thing I've read, I was kinda scared, but DS games looks alright. I'll be doing all my DS gaming on my 3DS from now own. The bigger screen is much funner to play on.


Well from what every one is saying, it looks like all 6 games are worth playing.

Like I said, I'm gonna hold off on the GBA games for right now. I'll get to them one day. I think I'll start with Dawn of Sorrow and play the DS games in the order they came out in.

[o.pwuaioc]

If the DS Lite had an XL screen, I'd be all over it though. DS games looks surprisingly good on my 3DS XL. From every thing I've read, I was kinda scared, but DS games looks alright. I'll be doing all my DS gaming on my 3DS from now own. The bigger screen is much funner to play on.

Aw, man, I got a DS Lite just because I was told DS games look funky on a 3DS.

[Ziggy]

The 3DS screens have a slightly higher resolution than the DS screens. So playing DS games on the 3DS will cause the image to be blown up slightly, thus degrading quality slightly. This sounds horrible on paper, I know, but it's not all bad.

First of all, I don't find DS games to look too bad at all on the 3DS. Don't get me wrong, you can notice that it's blown up, but it's very playable. It's not bad at all. If it really bothers you, you can actually play DS games on a 3DS without being blown up. The drawback here is that the image will not fill the entire screen. But the good news is, if you're playing on an XL, the image will be about the same size as a non-XL DS screen anyway. So no real loss there. However, I suppose if you're playing on a regular size 3DS and you play a DS game without blowing up the image, then the screen will be smaller than it already is. Perhaps too small.

Me personally, I'll be playing my DS games on my 3DS XL from now own. The bigger screen size is bitching and I don't ever wanna go back. Though, if a particular game looks horrible blown up, then I'll play it in the smaller resolution. Since the image will be the same size on the XL screen that it would be on my DS screen anyway, I see no problems either way you go.

So if you ever do pick up the 3DS down the road, be sure to get the XL. The XL is totally worth it for a few reasons. Right now, the two sizes are a retail difference of $20 I think. You get the bigger screens with the XL, of course. But you also get longer lasting battery life, apparently. And a larger SD card (4GB compared to 2GB).

edit: Forgot to mention. If you wanna play DS games on a 3DS without blowing up the image, just hold down start or select while launching the game.

[Ivo]

Of these Castlevanias, I played Symphony on PSP and Saturn very recently, after playing all the GBA ones plus Dawn on the DS. I'm probably going to play another one of the DS ones this year.

Symphony is pretty special, but if I remember correctly I think the GBA + DS ones are better balanced. Aria of Sorrow is a masterpiece with a great system (the souls), and Dawn of Sorrow (the DS one I played) is a worthwhile sequel with the soul system again, better graphics etc.

I'm not sure between Circle and Harmony which one is best, but I'm confident in putting Aria solidly above them.

They are all worth playing, particularly for a fan of Symphony, but you probably don't want to rush through all of them in one go. If you are worried with not enjoying them in an handheld, IMO after you get the carts you should have no ethical qualms about downloading the ROMs and emulating them.

Ivo.

[MrPopo]

From a storyline perspective, it's probably good to play Aria before Dawn, as there is a major plot twist in Aria that gets completely spoiled in Dawn. Otherwise, in stack ranking:

OoE > AoS > DoS > PoR > HoD > CoTM

[alienjesus]

So... Having not played any of the DS games yet, I should play them in the order they came out?

I have only played one Castlevania ever, which was the DS Order of Ecclesia. I had absolutely zero issues getting into it and enjoyed it a lot.

[Ziggy]

I have only played one Castlevania ever

[Bradtemple87]

Zig Aria of Sorrow followed by Dawn of Sorrow will be time well spent!

[o.pwuaioc]

Are none of the GBA/DS CV games in the NES style?