Castlevania Megathread

[PhaseJump]

Super IV was all about slow atmosphere and new gameplay with the whip direction.

Bloodlines was more traditional and awesome, tying it's lore into Bram Stoker's original Dracula.

Rondo had the best design and enemy placement, Dracula X remake on SNES butchered everything about it, Dracula X Chronicles was a great 2.5D remake.

I only ever care to play Rondo and Bloodlines.

They're all great, but Rondo is the one for me of these, and apparently for Konami as well since it's the one they followed up on. Bloodlines plays fine but has a thing for me where it feels too visually busy and the colors are too... not bright, but too colorful? Too saturated? Idk, but it detracts from the experience. Super IV is definitely well made, but it makes me sleepy? The slower pace and the music doesn't hit quite as hard as other titles. Also, the "but you can whip 8 ways" thing doesn't hold water for me, because that's why subweapons exist in the series. I've never been a "git gud" kind of person, but it's an unnecessary freedom, as evidenced by the way they've never revisited it.

SOTN followed up Rondo.

Portrait of Ruin followed up Bloodlines.

Never revisiting Super IV is also a bit odd to think about, considering it is a technical showcase and remake of Castlevania 1, something they did again on other hardware.

 

[Turbo Kid]

Bloodlines also drew inspiration from the real life Elizabeth Bathory.

To quote some info from online she...

"was an infamous serial killer –one of the most prolific female ones in history– who's thought to have killed up to 650 victims over her life, all young women. This, along with myths about her bathing in their blood to keep herself youthful, has led to her commonly being associated with vampires. In addition, the Countess was distantly related to the historic Vlad III Drăculea, but, contrary to the game's background, she was his cousin rather than his niece."


Here's a cool metal song about her:

 

[PhaseJump]

Bloodlines also drew inspiration from the real life Elizabeth Bathory.

To quote some info from online she...

"was an infamous serial killer –one of the most prolific female ones in history– who's thought to have killed up to 650 victims over her life, all young women. This, along with myths about her bathing in their blood to keep herself youthful, has led to her commonly being associated with vampires. In addition, the Countess was distantly related to the historic Vlad III Drăculea, but, contrary to the game's background, she was his cousin rather than his niece."


Here's a cool metal song about her:

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Super IV was all about slow atmosphere and new gameplay with the whip direction.

It may be an unpopular opinion but CV IV should've been a sequel to III with Trevor or a sequel to Simon's Quest featuring Simon's descendant instead of being an extended remake of CV I.

Yes I know, the SNES was infamous for being a console producing pseudo-remakes like Metroid III being like Metroid I in many aspects with more areas, Zelda ALTTP being a reimagining of Zelda I with more content and story along many other things.

I'd almost say that Rondo of Blood is the proper Castlevania IV in term of chronology/release (but since it was never called Castlevania V it could still be counted as such).

Bloodlines was more traditional and awesome, tying it's lore into Bram Stoker's original Dracula.

Which felt a bit like a non canon spin-off/gaiden game until Portraits of Ruins made it truly canon by connecting it to other CV games.

Bloodlines also drew inspiration from the real life Elizabeth Bathory.

I'm feeling bad for that woman because most of her story around came from claims but there were no actual proofs. Almost as if people just conspired into making her fall after her husband's passing...

 

[Tonberry]

I hate Castlevania 4, but Rondo is my very favorite Castlevania game, and Bloodlines is great too.

 

[MajesticSiN]

I agree
Super Castlevania IV was too amazing.
I wish they would make another game with those whip mechanics.

 

[Grumpy_Old_Man]

Bloodlines and Rondo for me.
I find Super Castlevania IV too easy, the 8 way whip and an easy way to block most projectiles make the main character too overpowered in my book.

 

[petran79]

I really liked the classic action platformer formula but Castlevania lost me when it shifted to 3D and action rpg platformer. Even managed to beat the difficult Gameboy first game

Those changes felt not classic Castlevania anymore and the ones that praised SOTN were probably new fans or Playstation players who had not played previous Castlevanias before.

While I would have loved to delve into the Mega Man X games for example after the NES games, despite the fact we did not get a SNES or Playstation for that matter

 

[Graves Ruinwalker]

I agree . All 16-bit CVs are peak except Rondo. Its great on its own but i prefer Dracula X more . Rondo is so bland for me and its difficulty is rather dissapointing .

 

[throughdarkness]

Those changes felt not classic Castlevania anymore and the ones that praised SOTN were probably new fans or Playstation players who had not played previous Castlevanias before.

I've been playing Castlevania since I was 8 years old on NES and thought SotN was amazing. Pretty sure the point of SotN was to shake things up, it wasn't intended to be like the classics.

I don't really care whether they went metroidvania or classicvania, they're all best in their genre in my book anyways.

 

[petran79]

I've been playing Castlevania since I was 8 years old on NES and thought SotN was amazing. Pretty sure the point of SotN was to shake things up, it wasn't intended to be like the classics.

I don't really care whether they went metroidvania or classicvania, they're all best in their genre in my book anyways.

Irony is that this happened first with tmnt 3 on the Gameboy that was developed by the sotn team. There you explore a mine instead.
I finished it but it was a difficult and tedious game.
I prefered the 2d action platformer tmnt games on the Gameboy and NES and the arcade NES game over this.

 

[Isegrim]

It may be an unpopular opinion but CV IV should've been a sequel to III with Trevor or a sequel to Simon's Quest featuring Simon's descendant instead of being an extended remake of CV I.

I played the Japanese version of SCIV initially and since I couldn't understand the story back then, the gravestone at the intro made me think that was the actual grave at the end of Simon's quest due to their very similar appearances. (Some details were cut in the U.S. version)

The similarity of the gravestones makes me think that maybe at some point in the development cycle, SCIV really was planned as a Simon's quest sequel but they decided against it ultimately.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I played the Japanese version of SCIV initially and since I couldn't understand the story back then, the gravestone at the intro made me think that was the actual grave at the end of Simon's quest due to their very similar appearances. (Some details were cut in the U.S. version)

The similarity of the gravestones makes me think that maybe at some point in the development cycle, SCIV really was planned as a Simon's quest sequel but they decided against it ultimately.

I would love to be able to do romhacks because Super CV IV getting a "Castlevania V" type of sequel would be great.

Of course, the whole "100 years for Dracula to revive" would put people in a corner canonically speaking but whatever, SotN had already transgressed the rule.

 

[Nickakyoin]

mfw this shit is still locked in the WiiWare jail.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

View attachment 115909
mfw this shit is still locked in the WiiWare jail.

The joys of digital only games...

I've downloaded the .wad but if the game was officially re-released I'd buy it (and Gradius Rebirth).

 

[throughdarkness]

I would love to be able to do romhacks because Super CV IV getting a "Castlevania V" type of sequel would be great.

Of course, the whole "100 years for Dracula to revive" would put people in a corner canonically speaking but whatever, SotN had already transgressed the rule.

Actually kinda surprising to me how few romhacks there are for IV. IDK anything about romhacking though, maybe SNES is more difficult.

 

[Turbo Kid]

Castlevania Symphony of the Night overall. If we are talking "classic style" though it's Vampire Killer on the Mega Drive.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Actually kinda surprising to me how few romhacks there are for IV. IDK anything about romhacking though, maybe SNES is more difficult.

Super Metroid got a ton of hacks but I guess it's also about the tools given to people.

 

[Nickakyoin]

Castlevania 1 and IV will always remain for me masterpieces. They may be "overrated" inside the franchise, but they deserve all the praise.

Kid Dracula also is pretty good and people sleep on that too much.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Kid Dracula also is pretty good and people sleep on that too much.

I remember this one mostly because of the ghost boss.

 

[Pjira]

My favorite used to be Super Castlevania IV for the longest time, but now I think it's Rondo of Blood. Bloodlines is also great, and even Dracula X for SNES is good. None of the 16-bit Castlevania games I played missed.

............
actually wait is Haunted Castle for the arcade 16 bit? That game sucks, I do like the remake on the most recent Castlevania collection though.

 

[SeeroftheNight]

Maybe I'm just not Gamer enough but Rondo of Blood is simply far too difficult for me. I love the music and atmosphere in Bloodlines but I'd have to say Castlevania IV is my favorite gameplay wise. It's kinda bizarre as a remake however.

 

[Nickakyoin]

The joys of digital only games...

I've downloaded the .wad but if the game was officially re-released I'd buy it (and Gradius Rebirth).

Don't forget also Contra ReBirth.

 

[Bacon Eater64x]

Super IV Master Race! Reminder to myself to play this game again for halloween, it's a Yearly Tradition. Getting sucked into an ambient somber world that no other game in the series as managed to master, and a unique artstyle before the games tried to copy Rondo of Blood's spritework for over 10 years., and smooth butter controls to make this a fun game to come back to anytime. "BUT THE SUBWEAPONIES ARE USELESS AND THE GAME IS TOO EA-

We do whip and triple shot cross combos here, plebs. Simon Belmont takes no prisoners!

Aria of Sorrow is the best Metroidvania, Symphonycels gtfo. The Power of Dominance mechanic is peak, and Julius is the second best Belmont.

Portrait of Ruin: Tag Mechanic FTW! 6 characters to play as, sub weapons and weapons galore, the only game where you visit egyptian themed places, and just overall a fun time. Charlotte is best girl.

Belmont's Revenge: Underrated Classic coming through. More fun than CV1, and the music is top notch for a GB title. An amazing apology for the absolute dogshit that was The Adventure.

Castlevania X68000: An upgrade to the NES original that keeps the challenging difficulty if you are a masochist, but bonus points for the amazing soundtrack and having the best Simon design that would not be topped until Smash Ultimate. Chronicles gets excluded because it changes this two things and therefore i find it worse (easier difficulty notwithstanding) in only play it to play Original Mode.

Honorable mentions: Bloodlines, Rondo of Blood, Dracula's Curse, Order of Ecclesia and Dawn of Sorrow.

 

[UArx.]

Well, my favorite Classicvanias are Bloodlines and Belmont's Revenge.
Meanwhile, my favorites Metroidvanias are Harmony of Dissonance (don't kill me please) and Order of Ecclesia.
And talking about games everyone hates except for me, I love both Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness.

btw Symphony of The Night is not that good lmao (I mean, it's amazing, but Aria of Sorrow is like a million times better imo)