Castlevania Miscellanies

[Sumez]

I guess it's a question of whether you want a "Castlevania" game, or a beat'em up. :\ Thinking back to the game, I don't remember ANY "puzzles", and pretty much only one instance of "platform jumping" in the entire game.

[CIT]

Ah, there're definitely several per stage. I guess they weren't to memorable if you forgot about them.

[copy-paster]

Rondo of Blood has been selected as reddit's Game of the Month, quite an impressive entry. Would revisit the game sometime, as I haven't 1LCed with Maria.

[davyK]

Mondo have published soundtracks for Castlevania games - on vinyl.

I couldn't resist picking C IV album... a double vinyl LP.

[Blinge]

I was just thinking about Lords of Shadow 1 for some reason.

I did enjoy my time with it, I mean.. it's not bad.

Anyway - what's the best 3D Castlevania?

[CStarFlare]

Mondo have published soundtracks for Castlevania games - on vinyl.

I couldn't resist picking C IV album... a double vinyl LP.

Mondo is fab. I've got the first three. 4 has my favourite soundtrack but I've been trying to cut back on my purchases.

Dracula-kun got/is getting a vinyl release too. Sigh.

[Weak Boson]

Anyway - what's the best 3D Castlevania?

I had a really good time with Curse of Darkness. I think the game engaged me more by enticing me with new shiny weapons and items and levelling up my familiar, rather than with its combat or exploration. But overall it was good enough to keep me going to see the things the game actually does well.

iirc there was a 'stealing' mechanic where you could get unique / rare items from enemies if you countered certain attacks in a certain way. It added an extra layer of risk/reward to boss fights that was really cool, I wonder if any other games do something similar? The closest thing I can think of is cutting off tails in Dark Souls 1.

[Mortificator]

I don't like the RPG elements in Curse of Darkness myself, and think they dilute what's good about the combat system in Lament of Innocence. Lament and Legacy of Darkness would be my picks, the latter for its stage design.

[Turrican]

https://www.destructoid.com/castlevania ... 8995.phtml

Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls (iOS).

Is that Ayami Kojima's new artwork?

[Jonny2x4]

She finally drew the real Simon Belmont. I don't know what the hell was the deal with that Visual K artist who was in the PS1 version.

[Blinge]

I've been playing Dawn of Sorrow, Yoko only like a weirdo.
only switching to alucardo when i need flight to progress.

Man paranoia was tough and the bee/swarm of bugs boss even tougher!

as for grimoire of souls, don't really care about mobage but man.. why is it always loli maria.

[Sumez]

https://www.destructoid.com/castlevania ... 8995.phtml

Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls (iOS).

Is that Ayami Kojima's new artwork?

She finally drew the real Simon Belmont. I don't know what the hell was the deal with that Visual K artist who was in the PS1 version.

Is that actually Ayami Kojima though, or just someone trying to approach her style?
I really really dig this rendition of Simon either way.

Too bad it's a shitty mobile game.

[Turrican]

Is that actually Ayami Kojima though, or just someone trying to approach her style?
I really really dig this rendition of Simon either way.

If it's an impostor we're talking about, he/she must've been impersonating her since Harmony of Despair, as the illustrations are just too similar. But I think it's genuine Kojima, those thick gold brushes are a trademark of sorts, and I know Japan can be shady sometimes (Samuragoch, anyone?), but this would be just too much of a low blow.

[Jonny2x4]

why is it always loli maria.

Because most people in Japan remember as a playable character in Rondo of Blood. In Symphony of the Night she wasn't playable until the the Saturn port.

[Blinge]

Yes but I prefer older Maria therefore it should be older Maria in this game i won't play.
=]

[soprano1]

Same reason as Deathsmiles, otakus will buy it for the lolis.

[JBC]

I'm okay with both versions of Simon but it's nice to see the ruff n' gruff original represented in a modern game. I wonder if this will come to the US or Android.

[Mortificator]

I think the redheaded design of Simon in Chronicles is the best take on the character.

If the devs were going to put in a blondie Belmondo, they should have shown Christopher some love.

[Jonny2x4]

Christopher was black-haired on the JP boxarts for the GB games.

Spoiler

Although, personally I prefer to think of Trevor/Ralph as the true Christopher Belmont.

[Blinge]

Played through Castlevania Gameboy II: Revenge Berumondo

Is this the first rival battle in 'Vania? Nevermind battling former allies and known characters, how about beating the shit out of your own son lmao.
shut up DAD.

(I guess you could count CV3's doppler as a rival battle)

The game was alright actually! Servicable. Much better than The adventure Castlevania.
Final boss was a real fucker. Had to look a video up for that one and memorise the safe spots.

Also the Yoko only run is finished. Soma was a bastard until i realised i could dodge that one snake attack, then it's all gucci.

[BIL]

After a slow-paced but generally sound trip, DORAKYURA is where GBII's wheels abruptly fall off. Massive hitbox and trudging speed mandate total memorisation of each pattern's safespots. The patterns are at least randomly-ordered, so even having each down cold, hustling to the latest refuge between hits stays nicely volatile. Pretty satisfying execution too. Scary radial blasts be rufflin that Berumondo mullet. Pure improv is near-impossible though. Whenever I pick the game back up after a while, I'll either kill Dracula in one shot with the cross, or die and then use like six lives re-learning the correct responses.

I enjoy the game a lot otherwise, certainly more than the first GB effort, but it's slightly love/hate with the only marginally less trudging walk. Although I dislike resorting to hacks, this is truly how it should've been - worth at least one replay. You can even improvise on Dracula! I wonder where the notion of traditional CV characters moving slowly ala GBII/XX even came from. Some scrub I imagine.

Soundtrack is the game's enduring triumph. Fuuuckin rad. I like its take on Dorakyura himself too. Smoove!



DRACULA IV ver:

Spoiler

[Austin]

Agreed, Belmont's Revenge is pretty solid overall, but f*** that Dracula fight.

[BrianC]

I like how there is even a hack for the color version in the Konami GB Collection. The cross in the JP and GB collection versions of the game takes Drac down in one shot? The Axe in the western b/w GB versions doesn't, if I remember correctly.

edit: The speed hack for Castlevania Adventure/Dracula Densetsu 1 edits some of the sprites. The worst is chaning the cross back into the pot, despite how the Konami GB Collection has the cross like the original Dracula Densetsu. Still plays much better, but I wish it didn't unnecessarily alter some of the sprites.

[BIL]

The cross in the JP and GB collection versions of the game takes Drac down in one shot?

Oh no, absolutely not - just makes killing him far easier than with the whip alone, especially if you're rusty. You've got to do it in one go, though - there's no crosses in the final stage.

[BrianC]

The cross in the JP and GB collection versions of the game takes Drac down in one shot?

Oh no, absolutely not - just makes killing him far easier than with the whip alone, especially if you're rusty. You've got to do it in one go, though - there's no crosses in the final stage.

ahh. What do you think of the axe version of the game?

[BIL]

Dunno, never played it. An axe does sound pretty useful VS the game's extra-tenacious bats and ravens. Theory, wheee.

Shame they seemingly couldn't include all three. I wonder if cross getting the axe (baaahaha!) was more for fine-tuning or just censorship. The NA/EU sound test leans towards the latter, blanking the evocative JP song titles for track_01.wav generica. Always a grave gaming culture sin imo! Use proper tracknames you godless animals.

[BrianC]

Shame they seemingly couldn't include all three. I wonder if cross getting the axe (baaahaha!) was more for fine-tuning or just censorship. The NA/EU sound test leans towards the latter, blanking the evocative JP song titles for track_01.wav generica. Always a grave gaming culture sin imo! Use proper tracknames you godless animals.

Also, the way the hard mode where more enemies can downgrade your whip can often freeze on the US/EU version gives me the impression the game has hastily edited. Then again, the cross weapon appears in most other localized Castlevanias and the axe does come in handy in some spots.

[BIL]

Yeah, the cross/"boomerang" generally being kosher (baahahaha!) in the series' US/EU versions is what gives me pause. And of course even the totally unambiguous crucifix/rosary item was typically never censored back then. OTOH, CV Adventure did censor its crucifix, and there's the infamous de-crossed Castlevania IV intro from around the same time. Makes me wonder if the GBII localisers just got a bit overzealous while scrubbing text like "Messiah," "Satan" and "Praying" from the ROM. It's hard to tell.

Weirder things have happened in late 80s/early 90s censorship I suppose. My favourite is Bionic Commando (NES), which carefully omitted Hitler no Fukkatsu's rudimentary yet brutal-in-concept torture sequence... then left in the sequence of a man's head exploding in gorenographic detail. Or how they renamed Hitler to "Master D" without actually altering his remarkably accurate animated mugshot.

In purely design terms, assuming they couldn't fit in three subweapons, the axe arguably does make more sense. Its vertical range is an entirely unique asset (in a game with finicky airborne foes to boot), where the max whip already provides a horizontal projectile. Dropping the cross could be justified similarly to Bloodlines ditching the dagger (besides BL's dialled-up firepower and action not lending itself to weak precision sniping, its axe's special attack provides exactly that).

OTOH, GBII's max whip projectile is as categorically outclassed by the cross as CV1's dagger is by its. Max whip stops at the first hit, cross will shred everything in its path both leaving and returning. Max whip is completely snuffed by boss armour, cross DGAF and will tear through even Dracula while the player remains at safe distance. On balance I'd say axe is still the more balanced pick, but the cross certainly isn't dead weight.

I'm sure they were averse to junking the holy water's handful of special uses (lighting up Rock Castle's dark rooms + stunning its bugs, melting eyeballs that'll otherwise blow up your bridge) by deleting it outright, but tbh of the three it's that one I'd drop. With how dog-slow Christopher is I don't like the lack of range on it. Kinda handy vs Solieyu but utterly useless (AFAIK) vs Dracula, and there's no crosses in the latter's stage.

[Blinge]

I didn't find Chris' speed that bad because it's GB and we're in tiny little rooms for the most part.

Just had a credit of Legends before beddy-byes. Wow.. this seems, like a fangame.
Not sure how i feel about the surprise! zombie gangbang pit! better trade for hits!

[Turrican]

Solieyu

It's a mistranslation for Soleil. Nice name Christopher chose for the son. Must be still in the French branch of the Belmondo family tree.

So the Europeans censored the soundtest the first time, but retained it, along with the cross, and corrected the name misspell the second time. One of the rare instance where Europe was treated well.