Master of Darkness - the best Castlevania clone I’ve played

[awbacon]

https://youtu.be/qYQ-U7F4ftU

When I decided to an entire season about Dracula, someone suggested I checked this game out. It instantly became one of the best games I played in 2019. Wish Sega had kept up with the series and given us at least a sequel on the Genesis, but that’s typical Sega.

Anyone else ever play this? I don’t know how I missed it but man it was good

[CIT]

Developed by SIMS, not Sega. It’s pretty decent, though I‘d say Rusty, Odallus, and Bloodstained CotN are better Castlevania clones.

[awbacon]

I thought about Odallus but the catch was there is no Dracula...so I had to strike it off my potential list of options. I would have probably had an easier time if I made it "Castlevania" like games vs "Dracula"
lol..always making things harder for myself apparently

[rodolfocm]

that actually looks pretty good. i might try it out

[Ajora]

I've played through it. It was pretty decent for what it was.

[NYN]

Are there any significant differences 'tween SMS and SGG?

I failed in culling the info myself from the HCG101 article. First story time. Then structure. Then commences the constitutional whining about the difficulty.
Infernal bats! Almost un-play-able!.
It's like a hex.

[Imhotep]

Here's my short review, I've played it extensively some years back.

Master of Darkness

Gothic sidescroller based on Castlevania, but much more lenient in its difficulty and with its own atmospheric Victorian England setting. The game goes too far in trying not to be frustrating, health items are frequent and enemies hardly do damage. If the masks (read candles in Castlevanian terms) are ignored, however, and thus playing without damage and range upgrades, the game plays fluently and packs a solid challenge. Bats are a formidable enemy, attackig in manifold and bothersome ways (still without doing much harm). The boss fights generally have interesting and challenging patterns, but that's only to be noticed when playing without weapon upgrades, as they are too forgiving otherwise.

7/10

(for comparison: Castlevania 8/10)

[BrianC]

Here's my short review, I've played it extensively some years back.

Master of Darkness

Gothic sidescroller based on Castlevania, but much more lenient in its difficulty and with its own atmospheric Victorian England setting. The game goes too far in trying not to be frustrating, health items are frequent and enemies hardly do damage. If the masks (read candles in Castlevanian terms) are ignored, however, and thus playing without damage and range upgrades, the game plays fluently and packs a solid challenge. Bats are a formidable enemy, attackig in manifold and bothersome ways (still without doing much harm). The boss fights generally have interesting and challenging patterns, but that's only to be noticed when playing without weapon upgrades, as they are too forgiving otherwise.

7/10

(for comparison: Castlevania 8/10)

SMS or Game Gear? I think GG has some differences in levels to compensate for the lower resolution, but I'm not sure the extent of the differences. I know a couple GG games like Lucky Dime Caper starring Donald Duck added hit points to compensate for the lower resolution. Is it possible power ups are more frequent in the GG version in an attempt to compensate for the lower resolution?

[Imhotep]

SMS, forgot to mention, I've never played the GG version.

[BrianC]

ok cool.

[it290]

7/10

(for comparison: Castlevania 8/10)

I think it's a decent game myself, but come on, this is just heresy.

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

The best castlevania clone evar!!!!!11

Nah.

Really impressive for master system, though! Nice find.

[Imhotep]

I think it's a decent game myself, but come on, this is just heresy.

to put this into perspective, there's a huge difference between a 7 and an 8 in my book (good game, masterpiece). I don't have any religious feelings toward the Castlevania (or any) franchise and try to avoid the rating to reflect a spawned legacy and instead just take the game for what it is on its own. In this context let me just say that I think the original Castlevania is a great game that gets elevated gameplaywise by its later loops, MoD is a good game that is saved by a totally viable (except for the very last boss!) non item approach.

[it290]

I hear ya, and obviously this stuff is subjective, but in my mind there's no way Castlevania is anthing but a 10/10-it's almost a miracle of game design for its time thanks to how tight the play of every single screen is to say nothing of its superlative audiovisuals. Regarding its legacy, I think it still holds up as one of the best in the series. I agree with MoD being about a 7 though

[Austin]

MoD is more like a 5 out of 10 in my book. Complete mediocrity through and through that's put on a pedestal because the SMS doesn't really have a lot else to compete with it in this sub-genre of action/platforming.

[it290]

There's Kenseiden. Also not stellar, but I think I prefer that one tbh.

[Austin]

I was going to mention Kenseiden as well. One of the better ones on the system in my opinion, and it came several years earlier.

It's no Castlevania, but Kenseiden at least tries to do its own thing and stands out thanks to that.

SMS or Game Gear? I think GG has some differences in levels to compensate for the lower resolution, but I'm not sure the extent of the differences. I know a couple GG games like Lucky Dime Caper starring Donald Duck added hit points to compensate for the lower resolution. Is it possible power ups are more frequent in the GG version in an attempt to compensate for the lower resolution?

Game Gear version is the inferior one due to the cramped screen space. No adjustments were made to the sprites and tiles, so everything takes up more screen real estate. It's not an issue in the first couple of levels, but it starts to hinder some of the later boss fights where the arenas are smaller. Some enemies clearly weren't adjusted either, like the birds on Stage 4. You can see them in the SMS version and react accordingly, but in the Game Gear version they trigger off screen, dive bombing you before you even know they are there (and they are fast, too, so good luck reacting in time).

As far as power-ups are concerned, you get about the same amount as you do in the SMS version (which was way too much to begin with). Level progression itself is roughly on par with the SMS game, just with shrunken rooms to fit the screen space properly. There are only a couple of major differences (like the bell tower, where you can fall down a center shaft in the SMS version, but not in the GG one), but they are few and far between. Weapon placement is about the same too, meaning there will be a dagger drop right before each boss fight. Whoever thought being able to downgrade your primary weapon was a good idea needs a good kick in the balls.

[BrianC]

Thanks for the info. Not surprised that GG is the inferior version. I also found Lucky Dime Caper to be weaker on Game Gear. The changes made to hit points didn't make up for inferior level design due to keeping the same sprite size as SMS.

[Ajora]

I regret having forgotten to say this earlier. You should play through The Soul of Dracula. It's a better game than this one is and entirely free.