Castlevania

[Aaron]

Anyone else plays Castlevania?  What are your favorite Castlevania games?  What was your personal experience with the series?

Unlike some, I didn't play this growing up, but I was aware of it.  I didn't actually try playing this until maybe a couple years ago.  I figured I should start with the very first game that came out.  I really tried to get into it, but I just hated it.  I hated how stiff the controls were, I hated how you couldn't adjust your jumps, I hated how it was way too hard (I couldn't get past the fourth area), so I called it quit.  Afterwards, I didn't touch it again for awhile.

Later, I decided to pick up Super Castlevania IV.  I had heard that the controls were much better, and that the challenge was much more reasonable.  I have to say... I wish I picked this up much earlier in my life.  Great controls, visuals, music... SCIV is a fantastic game.  It was with this game that I better learned the quirks of this series and how to "play" a Castlevania game.  After this, I picked up the first Castlevania again, and after a few tries, it finally "clicked" for me how to play this game, and I managed to make it through to the end.  Count Dracula is perhaps one of the hardest bosses on the NES, and I had a late-night section trying (and eventually succeeding) to defeat him.

Right now, I have played the three NES games, the three Game Boy games, the two SNES games, Bloodlines, Rondo of Blood, Adventure Rebirth, the three GBA titles, the two PS1 titles, the PSP game, and Dawn of Sorrow.  I did try one of the 3-D games (Lament of Innocence), but I couldn't get into it.  I do want to pick up the other two DS titles later.  I haven't gotten in the Lord of Shadows reboot, partly because I don't have an Xbox 360 or PS3.

My favorite is probably Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.  It improves on everything that the first game did, has branching pathways, and several different characters to play as.

Least favorite is probably Castlevania The Adventure on Game Boy.  It has the slowest moving character ever, terrible jump physics, no sub weapons, and the difficulty is more about making things frustrating, rather than providing a fair challenge.  That said, the sequel (Belmont's Revenge) is surprisingly good.  They fixed just about everything that was wrong with the first game.


Any other comments?

[Drago]

I've unfortunately never played a Castlevania game, but I really want to try Castlevania, Castlevania IV and Rondo of Blood. I want to try Symphony of the Night too, but I have a PS3, so that won't be as much of a problem.

[Otaku]

I have barely played a Castlevania game. I really thought Castlevania III looked cool and wanted it... but it came out at a time when many other "threes" were vying for the 2-3 games per year I could get (like Super Mario Bros. 3, Mega Man 3, etc.).

I actually owned Symphony of the Night for years but barely got to play it. You see, I bought it when my PSOne was on the fritz and thought I'd get it replaced or repaired in a few weeks... which turned into a few months... which turned into several years (at which point I picked up a PSOne at Wal-Mart when it was down to $20-30 new). Factor in my preference to min-max characters in this kind of game, and I never found time to do more than dabble (I am the type to use player guides and I so needed one for that game).

[Drago]

I finally tried Castlevania IV and I wanted to see how far I could get without losing a life on my first try. I beat three bosses and finally died halfway through the 4th level. I haven't picked it up since, though not because it was bad. I thought it was a great game, but my controls aren't configured to it, so I decided to focus on a game that they are set to. I'll pick it back up sooner or later though.

[Aaron]

Well, I finally got around to playing Portrait of Ruin (the second of three DS titles).  This one is an odd mixture of trying new things, while also feeling rather samey.

Ruin tries to do something different by having a tag-team system, where you manage two characters at the same time.  Also new is how you travel through several portraits to go to different areas, rather than being stuck in the castle all the time, as is the case with the other Metroid-style games in the series.  Yet... it still felt like the same old.  The overall look and feel is almost the same as in Dawn of Sorrow, just with different main characters.  Being similar to DoS isn't a bad thing, but the road feels very well traveled. The three GBA titles were rather rough, comparably speaking, but they did all feel different from one another. 

It also seems that in spit of some new ideas, there was little creativity with the level design here.  There's too much "empty room syndrome" and recycled areas.  While going to new locations was interesting at first, the game then have you go through some more paintings, which are just "inverse" versions of those you've went through already.  Going through a pyramid level is fun the first time, going through another is just padding.

One thing I do have to say, the battle with Dracula was quite inspired, and surprisingly challenging.  But in a fun way.


Overall, it's still a decent game and a worthwhile entry in the series.  Just one that doesn't feel inspired (for the most part).

[Otaku]

As a design note, going through an inverted level is not padding when done properly. Sounds like it wasn't done right. =P

[Aaron]

I should say, to be fair, that the "inverted level" thing is done a lot better here than it was in Symphony of the Night. Symphony just has you going through an upside-down castle. Here, the level design is changed quite a bit. Though I'd have preferred levels with different themes, rather than reusing the same ones explored already.

Going through the extras, I do have to say, this game probably offers the most fun for unlockable characters. The rest in the series will give you one extra character to play as after completing the game. This one offers three sets; the sisters(this mode's gimmick is using the touch screen for attacks), Richter/Maria, and the Old Ax Armor(this one takes a lot of work to unlock). All three are different from one another, so they're all worth trying.

[megajer]

My favorite old school Castlevania game would have to be Super Castlevania IV. I dig the fact your whip's a lot more controllable, and the levels are some of the finest that Konami's come up with.

Now, as far as "Metroidvania" games go, I gotta go with Aria of Sorrow. The soul system, the fact you can actually sell some of your inventory if need be, a somewhat better variety of weapons (the Whip Sword and Claimh Solais being my two favorites), a definitely trippy final stage...those all are reasons why I call AOS my favorite "MV" game.

[Drago]

Has anyone played any of the DS era games? I haven't played them yet and wanted to know if I should give them a chance.