Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

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awbacon
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Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by awbacon »

https://youtu.be/kxUxudRa8yw

Maybe it's because I was 7 when I got it, but as a kid it really made me nervous lol. Can't remember if it was the difficulty or the skeletons (7 year old me hated skeletons) but it took me a bit to get into it.

Now as an adult I def try to play it once a year. Rondo of Blood will always be my #1 non-Metroidvania Castlevania game, but IV is a strong second

Curious what everyone elses fav is? SotN is still my favorite of the entire franchise, with Rondo being my fav classic style Castlevania
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it290
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by it290 »

At this point I'd have to go with 1, the Japanese version of III, and Rondo as my faves, but I do have a soft spot for IV's atmosphere. They really upped the ante on the classic Universal Horror vibe and brought it into the 16-bit era in a way that none of the other games save perhaps X68000 managed to nail. As much as I like Rondo (and Bloodlines), their anime stylings are less compelling to me than the 'real horror feel' that IV presents.
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PFG 9000
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by PFG 9000 »

Castlevania is my #1 series. I played the original, CV2, and SCV4 as a kid and absolutely loved them, although Simon's Quest was a bit over my 8 year old head (I keep walking to the right, so where is the Castle?). Now I've played all of them except that elusive motion-based arcade title, and the mobile phone games. I love the classic style and Metroid style equally.

My favorites are Castlevania 3, Super Castlevania 4, Symphony of the Night, and Aria of Sorrow. Really it's hard to pick many bad games in the series, although The Castlevania Adventure and Haunted Castle are obvious contenders.

I'm not terribly fond of the Lords of Shadow reboot miniseries. The first one was a really good game but a shitty Castlevania. Mirror of Fate was okay, but some questionable mechanical choices nearly ruined it, and the storyline was even less respectful of the original series than the first LoS. And LoS2 had some real big issues, like enemies that can one-hit kill you at the end of the game. Why didn't the final boss just surround himself with a few of those guys? He would be unbeatable.

I really despise Mercury Steam for what they did to Castlevania. Their treatment of Metroid was only slightly better, and I hope to God they don't touch any more of my favorite franchises.
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Post by NYN »

awbacon wrote: will always be my #1 non-Metroidvania Castlevania game,
A backwards classification if one is to ever encounter one.
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by Sumez »

I can think of at least 6 non-metroidvania CV titles I'd prefer over CV4 without hesitation XD
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by Bloodreign »

For me it is CV 3, followed by the first game, then the X68000/PS1 version (classic mode, not arranged), then Rondo, then CV 4 (I used to 1LC two loops of this thing, and it never really got any harder, so I'd turn it off out of boredom). Bloodlines I tend to like as well, it mostly stayed true to the Castlevania roots, though connecting it to Bram Stoker's novel, I never felt a good vibe for.
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Squire Grooktook
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by Squire Grooktook »

My personal ranking would be...

Akumajo Dracula x68 > Bloodlines > CV1 > Rondo of Blood > CV3 > CV4 > Dracula XX

Bit of an eccentric list, I know. Most people would put CV3 much higher, but despite its admirable ambition and polish I find the game just takes too long to get interesting and the bosses are a lot more static and less fun than CV1's hell gauntlet trinity of frankenstein/death/dracula.

I do think CV4 gets more criticism then it deserves sometimes, it's a bit too long but gets pretty good near the end. Great atmosphere too.
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by WelshMegalodon »

Anyone else here think it would be more appropriate for awbacon to keep his YouTube promo posts within a dedicated thread?
Sumez wrote:I can think of at least 6 non-metroidvania CV titles I'd prefer over CV4 without hesitation XD
So... almost all of them. :lol: Which are the exceptions? Haunted Castle and the first Game Boy installment?
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by Mortificator »

I'd put Super Castlevania IV right in the middle of the classicvania pack. Below Rondo of Blood, Castlevania, Bloodlines, Dracula's Curse, Belmont's Revenge, and Dracula X68k. Above The Adventure Rebirth, Haunted Castle, Dracula XX, The Adventure, Legends, and the MSX Vampire Killer.

I came to appreciate it a little more after playing the Japanese version with the password for hard mode (which still isn't particularly hard, but makes the pre-castle areas less of a sleepwalk).
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by Sir Ilpalazzo »

Squire Grooktook wrote:My personal ranking would be...

Akumajo Dracula x68 > Bloodlines > CV1 > Rondo of Blood > CV3 > CV4 > Dracula XX

Bit of an eccentric list, I know. Most people would put CV3 much higher, but despite its admirable ambition and polish I find the game just takes too long to get interesting and the bosses are a lot more static and less fun than CV1's hell gauntlet trinity of frankenstein/death/dracula.

I do think CV4 gets more criticism then it deserves sometimes, it's a bit too long but gets pretty good near the end. Great atmosphere too.
This is pretty much my ranking. The only real difference in mine would be that I have real trouble giving any serious ordering to the first four, and often just think of all four together as my interchangeably favorite games in the series. Definitely agree on CV3 not quite being on the level of the others; the game is slightly overlong and has a weak start (stage 1 sucks, the clock tower isn't much better if you choose to take it - and not taking it denies you Grant - and a lot of the levels on the lower route where you get Alucard aren't very fun either).
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by it290 »

Yeah, for III I pretty much stick to the Sypha route only, occasionally throwing the clock tower in for good measure. I hate that stupid falling block stage on Alucard's route with a passion.

I agree that the first few levels are a bit slow, but I do love the music and atmosphere of the first stage, with its crumbling church and destroyed village, and that's enough to keep me from getting bored on those runs. III definitely starts stronger than IV (which doesn't get good until at least stage 5 or 6), at the very least.
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by Ajora »

I like Aria of Sorrow the most. Castlevania 4 is my favorite entry that isn't a Metroidvania. I haven't yet played any of the DS titles.
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by Austin »

Super Castlevania IV is basically my "comfort food" of videogames. It has a smooth difficulty curve, appealing atmosphere and soundtrack, and I love how it plays. That said, I still go back to 1, 3, Rondo and Bloodlines multiple times a year as well. They are all great in my eyes.
WelshMegalodon wrote:Anyone else here think it would be more appropriate for awbacon to keep his YouTube promo posts within a dedicated thread?
Yes, 100%.

I don't have a problem with people posting their own YouTube stuff (I even do it myself once in a blue moon, usually deep in some applicable thread). However, the shtick of posting some kind of generic topic, linking to a video, then only sparsely taking time to actually reply feels disingenuous to me. Even if it's unintended, it can feel like the end-game isn't to participate in meaningful conversation, but simply to get the "clicks".

(For those unaware, many of these threads have been cross-posted at other forums, sometimes with the thread titles altered to make it more applicable to said-forum. As a user of multiple forums, it gets rather old.)

It'd be different if these threads were just simple thread topics without video links. The conversation would then feel genuine. That's what people come to message boards for anyway.

But yeah, if all of these were slapped into one rolling thread, I'd care a lot less about it.
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by Sumez »

WelshMegalodon wrote:Anyone else here think it would be more appropriate for awbacon to keep his YouTube promo posts within a dedicated thread?
I'm split of this...
His YouTube videos are very competently made, and I think the debates he pretends to spark in his approach to promoting his channel here are actually fairly interesting compared to the interests of forum users around here, so I kind of appreciate the threads.

On the other hand, it's really obvious how shamelessly he's plugging his stuff, barely even participating in the talk himself, and out of principle it would make sense for the forum to take action against it.
And several individual threads about Castlevania subjects that's already been discussed 50 times before in the dedicated Castlevania thread among others, feels extremely redundant.
Sumez wrote:I can think of at least 6 non-metroidvania CV titles I'd prefer over CV4 without hesitation XD
So... almost all of them. :lol: Which are the exceptions? Haunted Castle and the first Game Boy installment?
Something around that.
I definitely prefer CV1, CV3, Rondo, XX, X68k and Bloodlines above CV4 with absolutely no hesitation. And I probably prefer ReBirth too. Actually, I probably prefer ReBirth over X68k, but having only played the PS1 port I probably can't judge that fairly.

I wouldn't put any of the GB games very high at all, and even though I subjectively enjoy Haunted Castle, CV4 is clearly still a much better game. :P
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by drauch »

At first I wasn't too annoyed by it due to some of the discussions that came about, but now I look at Off Topic and see like 6 posts per page that are just shilling, especially when it's been mentioned now we've got multiple Castlevania threads and the side-scroller thread. Bringing up the recent "forum upgrades" thread, that's why I like forums: you can easily find threads that feature all relevant discussions. This isn't reddit; we don't need to regurgitate the Rondo VS XX discussion in a new thread every couple months. And the 3DO is not deserving of this many threads... :lol:
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by Sumez »

"I totally agree"
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by drauch »

Maybe the most I've laughed on here in a while. Bravo!
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by Blinge »

Let me know in the comments what your favourite castlevania is
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awbacon
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Re: Super Castlevania IV - the game that scared me as a kid

Post by awbacon »

Lol I just like talking about games. Not like I make $ of YT. I will hapilly condense my videos down to one thread :)
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