Castlevania Megathread

[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]

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]

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]

No, Souls games are nothing like Castlevania. I'm sick of that myth. And these are the best 3d ones:

 

[ThunderBoy]

The first Lords of Shadow was very good

 

[Turbo Kid]

Of the ones I've played I would say:

1. Vampire Killer on the Mega Drive
2. Super Castlevania IV
3. Bloodlines: Curse of the Moon

Super Castlevania IV is a masterpiece but there are things I just like more in Vampire Killer.

I still view the Bloodlines games as Castlevania as long as Koji Igarashi is involved with them. I like the first Curse of the Moon better than the second one. It's a perfect modernization of the classic 8-bit formula.

Rondo of Blood is very good but overrated, and I actually prefer the PSP remake version over the original. I also think the PSP version of SOTN is the best one.

There's some I haven't played yet like the arcade game remake or the X68000 one.

Honorable mention for Kid Dracula

For non Castlevania games, I have to mention Infernax

 

[Turbo Kid]

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

 

[evercaptor]

If Castlevania 2 doesn't count as "classic" becasue I'll be honest, it feels like a search-action game, the Super Castlevania 4. Fantastic remake and I had a BLAST (or more accurtately a MODE-7) playing it when i got a snes at a second hand shop a decade ago

 

[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.

 

[Ikagura]

LoD's biggest crime was that we'll never see a 1999 Eclipse event CV game...

 

[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]

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

I remember this one mostly because of the ghost boss.

 

[dropsmegamega]

Honestly the similarities to Souls games are superficial, it doesnt translate the room to room feel, or the aesthetics. and the gameplay feel is very different.

Also I have never played Lord of Shadow, but I recall back then everyone hated it and called it generic? Weird to see it being praised, wonder who is right about it. btw I really loved the PS2 Castlevania duology, I felt it was the perfect adaptation of the series to 3D, not sure why konami dropped then.

 

[Nickakyoin]

I hated how overrated the first LoS was when it was released. I was astonished when I saw casuals acting like they never heard of the franchise, especially freaking SOTN. Are you all serious? It's one of the most and influential games of all times.
...seriously, I thought it was a 7.5/10 game. It starts pretty hype with controls that felt smooth and fun to use, but then the level design was a huge no for me. It's fine with decent combat, but best Castlevania? Absolutely not imo.

It's funny that we can joke about how rough the transiction into 3D with Castlevania was. Yes, Sonic The Hedgehog style lol.
The N64 feels dated but with some potential, the PS2 games would be pretty good but with repetitive level design (definitely because they were on the low budget side. Which sucks because having potentially a SOTN fully 3D would have been amazing).

 

[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.

 

[Deleted member 856878]

Lords of Shadow was great PS2
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence good too PS2
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate 3DS

 

[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.

 

[_Axl]

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)

 

[_Axl]

Legacy of Darkness and Lament of Innocence.
LoD is basically Castlevania 64 but somewhat better (I still prefer the original C64 tho) and Lament of Innocence is just really fun, besides having one of my favorite stories in a Castlevania game and PEAK SOUNDTRACK. For me at least :)

 

[Nickakyoin]

Legacy of Darkness and Lament of Innocence.
LoD is basically Castlevania 64 but somewhat better (I still prefer the original C64 tho) and Lament of Innocence is just really fun, besides having one of my favorite stories in a Castlevania game and PEAK SOUNDTRACK. For me at least :)

I never understood if LoD is basically an expanded version of Castlevania 64 or not.