Castlevania Appreciation Thread

[Ziggy]

Bloodlines = Myabe a little easier than the NES games.

Chronicles = IDK because it sucks.

[noiseredux]

Insanity. I love Chronicles and have beaten it.

[Xeogred]

I can do really well in Bloodlines up to stage 5 (think there's only 6), how the hell do you handle those swinging ape/plant whatever enemies after the blood fountain bit? UGH!!!

[Ziggy]

The only hard parts, as I recall, is the boss rush and the part with the mirrors. And the mirrors are only hard until you realize you have to just watch your feet.

[Rurouni_Fencer]

Please tell me how you guys would rank Bloodlines and Chronicles in terms of difficulty...

After all this brutality, I don't know if I can keep going. lol

Just beat Adventure Rebirth.

On the good ol' "1 - 10 scale":

Castlevania Chronicles - 6.5
A very trying platformer, doing it's series lineage justice. Planning your jumps precisely and learning enemy patterns through multiple play-throughs is the name of the game here. The only reason I give it a more lenient rating is due to the fact that the Playstation port forgivingly utilizes the Sharp X68000 system's save feature. (Also worthy of note: the only differences between the Original and Arrange modes are sprites Simon sprites and OST compositions - purely cosmetic, and hold no sway on actual gameplay difficulty.)
Going to second Noise's opinion - I love it, and you should too - A solid, classic 'Vania game!

Castlevania Bloodlines - 8 (John Morris)
6 (Eric Lecarde)
Game difficulty depends on whom you play through the game as here. Eric's spear is a fun and refreshing weapon for the series, and affords the player many opportunities to attack and advance through the stage, whether it's through his crouching pogo-vault, or his flourishing spear attack, (holding attack button and alternating left to right). John is the more traditional route to take, but brings with him a more limited attack repertoire. His ability to jump in the air and crack the Vampire Killer in multiple directions, as well as the technique of latching onto and swinging from any overhead ledge pay a nod to the previous, (and IMHO superior Super Castlevania IV.)
After trying out both of these new characters, you'll appreciate at first the fresh option of a character selection in a Castlevania game, but will soon acknowledge that it's simply just a flashier and more marketable method of including a 'Normal' and 'Hard' difficulty on the cart.
Castlevania Bloodlines is a phenomenal Castlevania game; Hell, the first stage, alone, will impress even the pickiest of 16-bit gamers!
It was the first North American game in the series to feature actual gore, (blood and rotting flesh, complete w/ festering flies - and it STILL garnered only a GA/E rating.) It also featured a very catchy soundtrack, composed by Michiru Yamane, who would go on to compose Symphony of the Night's infamous OST.

If you are enjoying your ride through Castlevania, you cannot afford to overlook these two awesome games.

[Xeogred]

If you look above a little, I have been playing Bloodlines actually.

I keep getting stuck on stage 5...

Playing John Morris too, it only seems right!

[Ack]

I recently acquired Dracula X for the SNES. I have beaten Super Castlevania IV, but X seems a lot harder. Jumps are way more precise from the very beginning, and enemy placement is more than a little dickish, especially those spearmen in level 2. They stopped me the first time I sat down with the game to give it a test. I am looking forward to going back soon, though other games are currently pressing.

[Xeogred]

I recently acquired Dracula X for the SNES. I have beaten Super Castlevania IV, but X seems a lot harder. Jumps are way more precise from the very beginning, and enemy placement is more than a little dickish, especially those spearmen in level 2. They stopped me the first time I sat down with the game to give it a test. I am looking forward to going back soon, though other games are currently pressing.

I give that one a 5/10 or something. Not missing anything by skipping it, but there's worse.

Coming out 4 years after Super IV though, yeah it's embarrassing how much of a downgrade it is in terms of ... everything.

[Ack]

I recently acquired Dracula X for the SNES. I have beaten Super Castlevania IV, but X seems a lot harder. Jumps are way more precise from the very beginning, and enemy placement is more than a little dickish, especially those spearmen in level 2. They stopped me the first time I sat down with the game to give it a test. I am looking forward to going back soon, though other games are currently pressing.

I give that one a 5/10 or something. Not missing anything by skipping it, but there's worse.

Coming out 4 years after Super IV though, yeah it's embarrassing how much of a downgrade it is in terms of ... everything.

I wouldn't say everything. I find Dracula X to be prettier.

Beyond that....yeah. The jumping whip is really where I struggle the most with it. It just seems so limited. I find I miss candles a lot more often than I like.

[Ziggy]

It's sad though because Dracula X on the SNES could have been so much better if they just spent a little more time with it. Primarily level design and enemy placement.