Castlevania Appreciation Thread

[Gunstar Green]

There's a pretty cool romhack that fixes the translation for Simon's Quest as well as several other things. It's worth trying out if you ever wanted to play the game with less of a headache.

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1032/

[Ziggy]

There's a pretty cool romhack that fixes the translation for Simon's Quest as well as several other things. It's worth trying out if you ever wanted to play the game with less of a headache.

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1032/

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 50#p958450

[Gunstar Green]

Woops, I'll stop posting at 3 in the morning.

[Xeogred]

I really do want to like Castlevania II... in a cool way it almost feels like 2D Dark Souls. The music and graphics kick ass. But...

INVISIBLE BLOCKS

FUCK!!!

I'm at the first mansion and if this is just a taste of what's to come, eh. I really don't like the level design here... instead of being more linear and varied like I (and what I've played of III), this big mansion is just like a weird maze and too open. Up these stairs... down those stairs... those stairs over there, it all really looks the same.

This seems more cryptic than Zelda II, which I wasn't sure was possible.

[noiseredux]

hahahaha. Dude, I am always one to defend Castlevania II. Any complaint (and there are many) I feel like I can always say "well, that's part of the charm." Except invisible blocks. Invisible blocks is the one completely legit complaint about that game. It is the worst part of that game. Totally infuriating.

[Ziggy]

Here's a CVII hack that removes the false blocks (it just makes them gaps you have to jump over).

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/912/

The hack that I posted on the last page, I wish that one also removed the false blocks. Those things fucking suck. I don't much enjoy having to perpetually toss holy water.

[Xeogred]

I think I'll jump over CVII for now...

I'm not sure how I feel about CVIII, all the additional characters, the weird backtracking and multiple paths (I know this is in others, but I'm not sure about having to fully backtrack through some stages?)... I might favor the first game since it's simpler.

Super Castlevania IV is awesome. One of the easier ones, though still a challenge. Fantastic music, levels, graphics, the whole package.

Dracula X... wow. Um, this game is annoyingly cheap? The second level is terrible. I can see how AVGN was saying this one is more platformer heavier. Most of my deaths are from falling off platforms or being knocked off. You don't get invincible frames after being hit, so enemies can combo breaker you right off of platforms. I'd love to appreciate this game as a weird remix of sorts, but I'm really not digging it. The sound seems awful too (the music is fine). It's so odd that this came out 4 years after Super and that's completely backwards. It looks worse, feels worse, and everything. It's so different from Rondo of Blood, they surely could have done a bit more here and gave it its own spin.

Rondo of Blood, this one rocks. Far more combat heavy than Dracula X and yeah, it's just awesome. Very hard though, so hopefully I can finish it. I love how it looks and sounds so similar to SoTN, being the prelude I believe? Great stuff.

[KalessinDB]

CVII: Invisible blocks or false blocks? 2 different design choices with 2 different answers: Invisible blocks you need to have the crystal (or IIRC Dracula's Eye once you get it) equipped and you can see them -- I know this is true for the first mansion, I'm pretty sure it's true for later ones but I haven't played through in a long time so I'm not positive. False blocks, that's what holy water is for. Constantly be throwing holy water. So much holy water. Well that and watch where the little blob enemies fly through the ceiling.

CVIII: Only stage I can remember fully having to backtrack on was the clock tower, and man... that's just about my favorite iteration of the clock tower ever, plus you get GRANT!! That wall-climbing, high-jumping, piratey sonofagun! How can you argue with that?!? True story: I play CVIII purely to get to the clock tower then reset sometimes. Love that stage.

Totally agree on your take on Super IV, X, and Rondo. And yes, Rondo is the prelude to SotN, the last stage on Rondo is the first stage on Symphony (despite Symphony saying "Final Stage: Bloodlines"... dunno if that was translation error or intentional due to Rondo not being localized at the time or what)

[Ziggy]

I'm not sure how I feel about CVIII, all the additional characters, the weird backtracking and multiple paths (I know this is in others, but I'm not sure about having to fully backtrack through some stages?)... I might favor the first game since it's simpler.

The Clock Tower is the only stage in the game where you ever backtrack. And AFAIK, it's the only time in an original CV game that you ever backtrack through an entire stage. So it's unique, and you gotta at least give it credit for that.

CVIII: Only stage I can remember fully having to backtrack on was the clock tower, and man... that's just about my favorite iteration of the clock tower ever, plus you get GRANT!! That wall-climbing, high-jumping, piratey sonofagun! How can you argue with that?!? True story: I play CVIII purely to get to the clock tower then reset sometimes. Love that stage.

Yeah, you have to admit, it's a fun level to play. I never even thought to criticize the backtracking, I always saw it as something clever that they did. A level is design to play in one direction. It's practically a completely different level when you backtrack through it. I don't even look at it is two levels.

I got the NES CV games during the SNES era, I never had the manual for CV3 and for the longest time I never knew that you could PLAY as those other characters.

Even now, I tend not to use the other characters a whole lot. I never play as Sypha. I use to keep Grant, and I would only use him here and there for his jumping and wall clinging abilities. More recently, I keep Alucard. I only ever use him for the same things every time I play. Mostly to skip areas that piss me off. I also like to use any of the three to fight the doppelganger (there's a trick).

But yeah, you don't HAVE to play as the other characters. You can simply ignore them.

You playing the NES version of CV3? I've said this many times before, but I'll say it again. I never plan on playing the NES version of CV3 ever again. The FC version, Akumajo Densetsu, is the way to go. It has such bad ass audio, I like to compare it to the Genesis. It has slightly bumped visuals here and there.

But more importantly, the NES version changed a couple of things that are SO FRUSTRATING. The only one that matters is your respawn point when you die against Dracula. For some reason, they decided to start you all the way back two rooms before Drac's staircase. So it's impossibly hard to get to fight Dracula starting with a full health bar. Full health or not, it's just straight up really annoying! For that reason alone, I'll never play the NES version again.

So if you're playing on an emulator, own a Famicom, or have a NES flash cart, I highly recommend the FC version over the NES version. There's even translation patches for it.

Totally agree on your take on Super IV, X, and Rondo. And yes, Rondo is the prelude to SotN, the last stage on Rondo is the first stage on Symphony (despite Symphony saying "Final Stage: Bloodlines"... dunno if that was translation error or intentional due to Rondo not being localized at the time or what)

IIRC, the last level of Rondo is called "Bloodlines."

[KalessinDB]

Totally agree on your take on Super IV, X, and Rondo. And yes, Rondo is the prelude to SotN, the last stage on Rondo is the first stage on Symphony (despite Symphony saying "Final Stage: Bloodlines"... dunno if that was translation error or intentional due to Rondo not being localized at the time or what)

IIRC, the last level of Rondo is called "Bloodlines."

Could be, but for American audiences you're gonna think of the Genesis game (at least I am). Been a while since I've beaten Rondo honestly. I should really sit down and do it again on my PSP to unlock all the SotNy goodness.