Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Played through Castlevania 3 and Super Castlevania within the last day.

3 is great. I'm a huge sucker for multiple distinct characters in action games, so I should have expected this game to grab me. Grant is fun as hell - awesome contrast to the standard Castlevania character - and Sypha is neat as a boss-killer (although she's not particularly interesting outside of that). I haven't gotten Alucard yet though; I definitely need to do another playthrough and take the lower route. I'm really not sure how I feel about the game compared to the rest of the series. I'm not really sure why, but it feels like a less consistent and well-paced game than the original, although its high points (like stage 9) probably eclipse any single moment from the first game. I'll definitely give it a couple more playthroughs.

One thing about 3 that threw me off was the first phase of Dracula. Sometimes he summons his pillars of flame around you in a way that leaves you trapped on a single tile and unable to avoid taking damage - what's the deal with that? Is avoiding damage during that part of the fight really a matter of hoping he doesn't just fuck you over?

Super was solid enough; it ended up being more fun than I expected at least. Definitely a bit too easy for the most part, the dangly whip annoys me (I wish it were placed on a separate button or something), and probably full half of the bosses just suck. Great aesthetics though - maybe not quite as technically good as Rondo but it does a fantastic job of making a dreary atmosphere, and the climax of the game, the boss rush at the end, was definitely an upper-tier Castlevania moment.

[Squire Grooktook]

What keeps me from getting into CV3 as much as the other games, is two things mostly:

1: not quite as random as past games. Nothing quite on the level of Frank/Death/Drac in CV1, or the numerous harrowing and unpredictable enemy and boss encounters in x68.

2: It's kinda long IIRC. I don't mind longer arcade style games, but thanks to the above it doesn't quite grab me enough.

[Volteccer_Jack]

When the flame pillars don't leave a gap to move, you have to get out before they rise.

[dojo_b]

I think the amount of space between the two small flame pillars is proportional to your distance from Drac. So if you're trapped in a small flame-prison, it's because you allowed him to corner you at the edge of the screen, rather than high-tailing it to the middle while he was still choosing a position to materialize. Which is not to say that I can consistently avoid being cornered.

[Obscura]

I think the amount of space between the two small flame pillars is proportional to your distance from Drac.

This is correct. Stay at a proper distance away from him, and you'll never get trapped. Since he gives you some hints on where he's going to teleport, once you realize what's happening, this should never be an issue.

[Ed Oscuro]

In with some more "fawning appreciation from Brothers Duomazov" game list spit-takes:

Veigues Tactical Gladiator is somewhat hard pin down. So far it's been an autoscroller with varying terrain. You turn by pressing down. At the game start, there's a punch and shot. I don't see any way to aim them other than jumping, and there's little speedboat-like missile-launching hovercraft that zoom about underneath you at part of the first stage and throughout the second stage. I was only able to kill some because the second stage has some steps in the terrain. There's no hitstun or invincibility window to speak of; you can take tons of damage in moments from colliding with a boss. Enemies mostly seem to pass through. It's not unpleasant to watch or listen to this game, but the play style doesn't have me convinced at all.

Shubibinman 1: Just watched the attract sequence. Looks like you need 2P to really get the full intent of this game. Beyond that it looks like a simple platformer. A goofy town map got in the way of playing further - I'll have to go back to it later.

Shubibinman 2: You know it's going to be good when the first battle scene is accompanied by a blatant ripoff of Power of Anger (from Salamander).

Son Son 2: According to one of the Brothers, possibly the best HuCard ever made. Into the second stage, I have my doubts about that. The much-vaunted "multiple paths" seem more like a sprawling and unfocused stage design with dead ends. I'm sure I don't yet fully understand the gameplay - so far I've only found a simple poke attack with the staff, but there's a magic meter also. Beyond that, it's very basic platforming and vine-hopping action so far. Not awful, but definitely not what I'd call the best HuCard ever made.

Shape Shifter: One of the other games much hyped by one of the Brothers, this CD-ROM from Icom Simulations throws a poorly mastered voiceover at you to accompany the opening cutscene. Demos suggest flat stages. The first gameplay plops you in a very basic town setting with useless villagers milling about an a hilarious log-built wood elevator in the center. Going into one shop revealed you needed to buy a weapon; another wastes lots of time giving you fake info about the provenance of the weapons you might choose to buy.

There's one thing these games have vaguely in common: They're big on story and premise but thinner on the action. So far, the Brothers are in danger of striking out; three games I identified as being some of their most promoted fail to make any good impression in the first minutes of play.

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Thanks for the tips there; I guess there was a whole dimension to Dracula 1 I was missing there. It's a good thing I lucked out on my successful fight with him, but that'll help me on my next playthrough for sure. It's an interesting fight, and I do like it more than pretty much all of the copy-pasted CV1 Dracula human forms in the subsequent games.

I sat down and did (and recorded) a 1cc of the first Castlevania earlier (without holy water). I expected to have more trouble with it, but taking knowledge from later games and applying that to get the triple cross right before Death (and realizing I should just take the axe from stage 1 up to Frankenstein) made it not too big of a deal. (Using the triple cross on Death is still fairly cheesy....but it's not insta-killing him with holy water so I'll take it.) Doing that run actually made me realize I could probably go for a no-death run if I wanted to hash it out (the final stage would be the only real issue, particularly Dracula) but I think I'm just going to split that dedication up and put it towards the game's largely lesser sequels for the time being.

[GSK]

Son Son 2: According to one of the Brothers, possibly the best HuCard ever made. Into the second stage, I have my doubts about that. The much-vaunted "multiple paths" seem more like a sprawling and unfocused stage design with dead ends. I'm sure I don't yet fully understand the gameplay - so far I've only found a simple poke attack with the staff, but there's a magic meter also. Beyond that, it's very basic platforming and vine-hopping action so far. Not awful, but definitely not what I'd call the best HuCard ever made.

I haven't actually played Son Son 2 so I can't speak to it on its own merits but I recently learned that it's essentially a cutesy reskin of Black Tiger, the old Fujiwara arcade game. If you A/B the two games on youtube you'll immediately spot the similarities.

[BIL]

I haven't actually played Son Son 2 so I can't speak to it on its own merits but I recently learned that it's essentially a cutesy reskin of Black Tiger, the old Fujiwara arcade game. If you A/B the two games on youtube you'll immediately spot the similarities.

Very interesting! Will have to give that a look.

[Squire Grooktook]

Between Ninja Spirit and Rastan Saga, I've been in action platformer heaven for the past few days.

Made it to the final stage of Ninja Spirit on one credit. I set up a save state to practice The Dreaded Ninja Pit later. Still can't get over how brilliant the penultimate stage is. One of the most intense, warlike push forwards I've ever played. It just pulls out all the stops. Not to mention Dark Blue is such a unique track for an Irem game. Incredibly fast paced (like the stage) but with an uplifting quality seldom found in their grim soundtracks.

Finally watched a replay to figure out how to get past the troll wizard boss of stage 3 in Rastan Saga. Totally worth it. The early game is chaotic and fun, but a bit haphazard. The late game in Rastan is a tight balance between masterful platforming and environmental hazards, and swashbuckling swordplay. Love it.

Also gave Iwanaga a try. I think I almost got the basic mechanics figured out, except how to recharge your time limit. Can't quite figure out what makes enemies drop time power ups. If anybody know how that works, let me know.

[Zaarock]

Also gave Iwanaga a try. I think I almost got the basic mechanics figured out, except how to recharge your time limit. Can't quite figure out what makes enemies drop time power ups. If anybody know how that works, let me know.

Time is recharged by destroying enemies & cancelling bullets with the blue weapon equipped while the orange one recharges life. You get bigger items if selected weapon is near maximum ammunition (ammo recharges as you use the other weapon). You can get tons of score by no-missing and keeping the timer maxed out while getting big bullet cancels.

I only noticed this after clearing hard mode a few times, but teleporting through bullets or jumping consumes a little of the timer. (it is written in the manual, though) Not sure if I like that as a design decision but it means you need to be selective about your actions if you want to keep the timer up or go for high scores. I've recorded a (bad) scoring attempt here

A sequel 'Another Iwanaga' has been in the works for many years, looks very cool judging from this old trailer http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm16477496

[Squire Grooktook]

^^^Thanks, that helps a lot. Game makes a whole lot of sense now. Balancing the two ammo types for health and time restore is a really cool dynamic.

Is Buster still working on that sequel? I seem to recall checking his blog, and he hadn't updated for years.

[BIL]

Ninja Spirit's sixth stage rocks. I didn't want to mention its return to the harrowing open battlefield of st3 because it almost felt like a spoiler. Reminds me of Gun.Smoke introducing a concept early on (st3's awkwardly bisected riverland), then bringing it back in fully developed, hellish form later.

Finally watched a replay to figure out how to get past the troll wizard boss of stage 3 in Rastan Saga. Totally worth it. The early game is chaotic and fun, but a bit haphazard. The late game in Rastan is a tight balance between masterful platforming and environmental hazards, and swashbuckling swordplay. Love it.

I really need to play Rastan properly sometime. I didn't twig until reading blackoak's New Corp interview translation that they totally stole that awesome tombstoning downthrust for Little Ralph. Now I wonder if they were influenced by its later level design too.

[Ed Oscuro]

@ BIL: The

Son Son 2: According to one of the Brothers, possibly the best HuCard ever made. Into the second stage, I have my doubts about that. The much-vaunted "multiple paths" seem more like a sprawling and unfocused stage design with dead ends. I'm sure I don't yet fully understand the gameplay - so far I've only found a simple poke attack with the staff, but there's a magic meter also. Beyond that, it's very basic platforming and vine-hopping action so far. Not awful, but definitely not what I'd call the best HuCard ever made.

I haven't actually played Son Son 2 so I can't speak to it on its own merits but I recently learned that it's essentially a cutesy reskin of Black Tiger, the old Fujiwara arcade game. If you A/B the two games on youtube you'll immediately spot the similarities.

That's interesting! I played Black Dragon via MAME for about an hour in early April - not really well, but enough to see what it's about, and I just reloaded it to look at enemy movement again. I see lots of indications of idea recycling, but I wouldn't call it much more. There are things in the game that look the same, but they don't work in the same way; anybody expecting Son Son II to be a competent port of Black Tiger / Black Dragon will be sorely disappointed.

Son Son II doesn't have arcade-level stage and enemy design or challenge. At least in the starting stage of SS2, enemies don't do anything particularly interesting and level design is already sprawling, instead of the direct (but twisting) routes of the arcade game. It doesn't have the demanding stage timer of BD, and it lets you exit and reenter rooms repeatedly and grind healing items.

A very basic thing: In SS2 you start with a simple staff, instead of having multi-way daggers from the start. In SS2 you have to crouch to hit pots, instead of only needing to crouch in order to hit blue slimes as in BD.

There's other things which trigger my memory from BD, like a large disc-shaped thing in SS2 that kind of moves back and forth but seems invulnerable. I remember things in BD that looked like this, but I don't recall them being invulnerable, nor were they floating with no apparent purpose.

Console re-imagining and watering down, yeah; "reskin," no way.

[BIL]

Oh yeah, I wouldn't think it'd be a 1:1 port - too good to be true. And even then I probably wouldn't be happy, I love my compact action man sprites and hate it when mean n' tuff action games get cuted up. ^_~ Trying to recall an actual instance of the latter happening, maybe it's just a phantom memory...

Just sounds intriguing (and maybe a bit disappointing), a coinop property getting rebadged with an existing older one for its home port.

I'm getting my ass flayed by Magic Sword at the moment via Capcom Classics Collection vol2, incidentally! Black Tiger (overseas version of Black Dragon) is on the same PS2 disc, but apparently it's way easier than BD. I've a few things to write about Magic Sword but want to spend a bit more time with it (and its SFC port) first.

[blackoak]

you guys see this? some interesting comments about our favorite game.

http://www.polygon.com/a/life-in-japan/ ... n-Nintendo

In the retail game, one of the most common player complaints is that when the player dies toward the end, the game sends them back to the beginning of the level. "That actually wasn't my intention," says Yoshizawa. "I wanted to put players back to the middle of the stage. But one of the programmers lied to me and said he'd do that, then ended up putting them back to the beginning."

God bless that programmer!

"We developed the game with the intent that the player should use items shortly after they get them, and if they do that, the game isn't that hard because the items are designed to help with certain enemies," he says.

Always sensed that was the case...

[BIL]

Always liked how even the lowly shuriken had a clear purpose in NG1, being the game's only fullscreen horizontal attack.

I looove that programmer. In one ruthless stroke, he forged a generation of sidescrolling adherents and loosed an ocean of SCRUB TEARZ for them to sail upon in search of new challenges! (・｀ω´・)

I wonder about the decision process behind NGII and NGIII both retaining "the feature." Albeit in slightly refined form - you only get bounced back a stage, but there's no free life refill upon reaching the boss rush (let alone for each individual boss).

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And wow, Ninja Cop aka Ninja Five-O (I'm playing the former) is amazing. Just cleared the opening three missions on Normal, and there's three more plus a Hard mode and time trial. Loving where this is going, judging by Mission 3. Tentatively filing this with Gimmick, Taromaru and Little Ralph in the sidescrolling "believe hype" folder. I know, slowpoke.jpg, but I always put stuff off until I'm in position to pick up a copy. stfu ok? bawww! :[

Bionic Commando and Shinobi tend to get brought up in discussion, and with the grappling hook and precision hostage rescues, neither's too far off. The expertly restrained elements of mild stealth and cinematic animation demand another namedrop, though: Elevator Action Returns. The remote, all-seeing POV and the mischievous improv violence it facilitates scream EAR. It goes one better by scattering legitimately deadly enemies around, and indulging in the outsized boss battles Taito's game largely went without.

Umihara Kawase is a useful mention too, I think. As there, the grappling mechanic and level design go beyond BC's horizontal and vertical travel with the vital addition of abseiling. You have to rappel down shafts and around overhangs quite a bit, and it's just as intense and fun as flinging your ninja up and over obstacles. There's also times you'll have to grapple straight up sheer walls. It's nowhere as technically intense as UK, but still much closer to that sense of limitless potential than the FC and Gameboy BCs.

Fans of grappling hooks, ninja action or EAR should try this out. For fans of all three, like me, this will likely be goddamn catnip. ¦3

INCREDIBLE NUB NOTE: slide (down+A) will pass straight through enemies, provided they're not in attack frames. I damn near cried. ;-; Let off the button to terminate early, hold for a longer slide.

Anyone know if there are any important regional differences? Did some light research, but couldn't find anything (apart from the obvious name + title screen difference).

[Perikles]

Unfortunately I'm unable to contribute something to this game as I've never played it (your sweet philippic most certainly piqued my interest, however! ) but speaking of grappling hooks: what do you think of Super Turrican 2? Game's not without its flaws, namely the reiterativeness (both stage layouts and mid-bosses tend to repeat themselves a few times) and the sometimes flat level design put a dent to its overall high production value. On the other hand, it is amply varied with lots of different genre-altering stages (mostly stolen from other titles such as Gyruss or Axelay) and some profound usage of the aforementioned grappling hook. It is exceedingly satisfying to make an ascent to a battered building whilst scorching flying buggers with a flamethrower. Some creative boss fights with heavy emphasis on the grappling hook and some stunning graphical effects elevate the otherwise somewhat lukewarm material (the last real stage in particular is as dull as it gets). Not universally recommended (unlike the first Super Turrican and Mega Turrican (which also features a grappling hook, albeit in a less spectacular manner from my point of view) which are both pretty great), but definitely worth checking out.

[Ed Oscuro]

I love Ninja Cop Five-O's grappling hook for not being inflexible, or slow and ponderous (seems to be the case in most other games with a similar mechanic like Super CV IV, Bionic Commando, Super Turrican II, etc.), but it does get awfully hard to control once you've built up some speed. Some of the maps seem to expect you to use that ability to really whip around. Good game though! Definitely close to hitting the hype meter.

Only thing I cannot abide is Konami USA's execrable shit job printing the lazily-designed cover. From what I've seen, the European region really got the goods here. Still, it's the same game.

Super Turrican 2? I've picked it up and put it down a few times...just doesn't "grab" me. Maybe I oughta put some more time into that one.

[Volteccer_Jack]

Ninja Five-O is a bit awkward when you're still learning, but blazing through stages in the time trials is sublime. Between this and a steady diet of Megaman games, I had a GBA on my person nearly 24/7 for a decade.

[BrianC]

The talk about Son Son II being a cuted up version of Black Tiger made me think of another odd conversion to TG-16, Tiger Road.

[BIL]

Unfortunately I'm unable to contribute something to this game as I've never played it (your sweet philippic most certainly piqued my interest, however! ) but speaking of grappling hooks: what do you think of Super Turrican 2? Game's not without its flaws, namely the reiterativeness (both stage layouts and mid-bosses tend to repeat themselves a few times) and the sometimes flat level design put a dent to its overall high production value. On the other hand, it is amply varied with lots of different genre-altering stages (mostly stolen from other titles such as Gyruss or Axelay) and some profound usage of the aforementioned grappling hook. It is exceedingly satisfying to make an ascent to a battered building whilst scorching flying buggers with a flamethrower. Some creative boss fights with heavy emphasis on the grappling hook and some stunning graphical effects elevate the otherwise somewhat lukewarm material (the last real stage in particular is as dull as it gets). Not universally recommended (unlike the first Super Turrican and Mega Turrican (which also features a grappling hook, albeit in a less spectacular manner from my point of view) which are both pretty great), but definitely worth checking out.

Turrican is one of my bigger blind spots from the 80s/90s sidescrolling action canon - very unfamiliar with the series in general. I actually didn't realise there was a second Super Turrican, haha. Super's expensive on SFC and Mega is non-NTSCJ, so I've been putting them off for way too long despite their high regard. Might be time to remedy that, I'm just about done with my SFC/MD shortlists. This is also why it took me two years to try out Ninja Cop. ^__^

Only thing I cannot abide is Konami USA's execrable shit job printing the lazily-designed cover. From what I've seen, the European region really got the goods here. Still, it's the same game.

The EU cover is pretty goddamn fierce in its fiery, Ninja Action: The Videogame way - I was pleasantly surprised. The manual is also quite endearingly written, lots of technical pointers and exhortations to keep it ninja. Reminds me of Top Secret's FC booklet. Not sure if they copy/pasted the English text over for the NA version.

I'd love to know more about the devs (seems at least a few ex-Konami personnel had found their way to Hudson by 2003). This handles like a passion project from experts in the field of high-precision sidescrolling action. The finesse touch on the air katana roll is sha-weeeeeet, no moreso than when deftly taking down enemy ninja. Only thing I'd have added is the occasional arterial spray collapse ala Samurai Spirits. But eh, whacking baddies over high railings to a pratfalling doom is still good.

For all the good stuff on display, I think what impressed me most was the ability to enter search mode (L) from a crouch, and have the character stay crouching while you freely pan about. Really appreciate that while ducking under flying bullets and roaring flamejets. I'd expect a lesser game to have you pop up for a toasting.

Also, holy shit @ st3 boss and his Guts Sword. What a mean mofo, manhandling hapless pilot dude around for human shield action! I didn't realise you could headshot him at first, I went straight for the grapple onto ceiling -> falling katana roll to the back of the head.

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NORMAL mode finished! I notice I still don't have a gold star for EASY. :[ But with HARD unlocked I ain't got time! Even better the second time through.

Things wrong with Ninja Cop:

-TNT chuckers could've been a little deadlier.
-Bit of slowdown on a handful of occasions where the screen is choke-rammed full of enemies and lasers.
-No hawt wimmenz. :[

Otherwise yeah, fuckin thing PWNS! Play it nao! A mechanically airtight and stylish ninja PLUS grappling hook sidescroller that is sexy and knows it. Time trialling will whoop your ass into ninja shape.

Ninja Five-O is a bit awkward when you're still learning, but blazing through stages in the time trials is sublime.

^^^ REAL TALK

edit: HAADO MODO clear! Holy shit, that was a pretty tight squeeze in the final mission! NUB TIPZ VOL.2: exploit the "R" trigger quick pullup while climbing sheer walls for XTREME vertical speed + distance! Make sure you hook the wall with plenty of slack, then kick away, hold "R" and hit jump. Final mission Hard ver almost feels like it was designed with the technique in mind. A lovely bit of finesse maneuvering regardless.

Spoilarz: great sidescrolling historical kudos for a final challenge simultaneously recalling

Spoiler

Top Secret, Hagane (Hudson-published, though not developed) and Elevator Action Returns.

rofl @ big baddie totally ripping off Guts with the mansized sword and billowing floor-length black cloak. Not that there's anything wrong with that! The velocity and weight of those sword animations are godly, makes me wish these guys had actually done a Berserk sidescroller. Bizarrely his dragon mask is also a dead ringer for Guts' "Beast" armour helm, I wonder if it was just a coincidence? The game's release date is close enough to the manga's relevant chapter for me to not think it was copied.

[Squire Grooktook]

The velocity and weight of those sword animations are godly, makes me wish these guys had actually done a Berserk sidescroller.

I never knew how much I wanted this till now.

[BIL]

Actually, are there any really good zweihander-centric sidescrollers? All I can recall off the top of my head are the various large swords in most multiweapon IGAvanias, which are fun... but obviously not really integral to the action.

It's tempting to think what a Berserk-licensed (or just Berserk imitating ) sidescroller could be like in the right hands. Guts is a ready-made multiweapon slaughter machine ala Hagane. Dragonslayer on one button as both sword and shield with directional modifiers, crossbow/grenades/throwing knives equippable to another, and a short-ranged automelee in the form of a skull-caving iron fist. And the cannon on a meter. He's an agile fucker too, and has to be to avoid getting swatted by mofos much mightier than himself! Maybe it'd be cool if you could plant the sword somewhere to move more easily, as occasionally happens in the manga. Could work great in either Dracula action/platformer or The Ninja Warriors Again sidescrolling beater models. MY CASH AWAITS. /GEEK DREAMZ

Not a big sword, but the nastiest big boy weapon I've seen in a sidescroller is possibly Ninja's nunchaku, from TNWA. Battering chumps with that thing never, ever gets old. The speed and velocity conveyed is pure agony, and with the shamelessly backstabbing AI, you WILL want to dish out the skull-shattering three hit punishment with vengeance. (・｀W´・)

I was about to say that NC50's Easy difficulty was proving surprisingly entertaining - it's more thoroughly reworked than Hard actually, with lots of divergences in key placements. Hard is pretty much a minor HP buff to enemies with less health items around, plus a nasty twist in the final mission. Game's so goddamn good I didn't mind at all but EZ was really impressing, until...

...I finished Mission 3 and got TOBLEROWNED

[Squire Grooktook]

^^^Nes Batman (chunky, heavy platforming) meets Ninja Warriors Again style brawling moveset was actually exactly what I was picturing.

Maybe it'd be cool if you could plant the sword somewhere to move more easily, as occasionally happens in the manga.

Not a platformer, but have you ever seen Donovan's fighting style in Darkstalkers 2? IIRC It revolves around planting his sword strategically to change his move-set, and then telekineticly calling it back to him, carving through everything in its path.

[BIL]

Not a platformer, but have you ever seen Donovan's fighting style in Darkstalkers 2? IIRC It revolves around planting his sword strategically to change his move-set, and then telekineticly calling it back to him, carving through everything in its path.

Aww sheeit. That series has so much rad stuff going on.

Spoiler

I guess there's a lot you could poach from FG weapon users for killer sidescrolling characters (both players and enemies). ^_~ Shame the genre had died out so badly in arcades by the late 90s.

Also, ninja cop was harmed in the making of this GIF:

Spoiler

^ Could see that being an advancing guard stance, similar to TNWA's. The swings themselves are exactly the kind of "realistic" superhuman effort Miura's panels convey, animated - I love the visible weight transfer (and dat WRIST ACTION >_>). Hard to swing, but so is cleaning up what remains of the poor fuckers it hit!

NEEDLESS 2 SAY THO, excellent fighting would be required!

Spoiler

I think Gigantic Army's another useful reference point for a deliberately heavy sidescroller, one where you're sometimes forced to guard rather than evade (though obviously you'd need to tune it for a human avatar). Mentioning GA over its forerunner Valken cos its pilebunker is automelee perfection - instant crude violence. Bloodlines for a timing-based power select, Kenseiden for directionally modifiable swordplay. Hell, chuck in a Souls-esque stamina bar for limited bursts of explosive speed and evasion. As long as you had appropriate pest-swatting countermeasures, and a well-placed cleave gave appropriate results (ie: SCREAMING BLOODY GORE) I'd be so down with a "trudge and slash."

[Domino]

So I beat Gimmick! twice today both with the good ending. God my fingers hurt.

Similar issue to Contra, game gives out a lot of extends but however you will need them later in the game.

Also similar to Contra is how OMG HARD the game is from people online. I really didn't think it was hard once you figure out how things work.

Even beating the game twice it keep drawing me back in. Contra didn't do that for me.

Now to another platformer for the FC or SFC once I get off my lazy butt and order more games for the SFC.

[BIL]

I was gonna say in the Awesome Stuff thread - enjoy the intense initial difficulty it while it lasts. It's not an incredibly hard game by any means, though with lower extend frequency and a timer it'd have instant arcade cred. Being able to take your sweet time, with plenty of deaths, getting those treasures relieves a lot of pressure (I'd never change this - the breezy balance of challenge and leisure is central to its character, and the charming aesthetic of a dangerous toyland).

Replayable as hell. Besides the lean runtime and pace, it's endlessly rewarding of fine technique via rigorous stage design, cleverly reactive enemies and almost tangibly hefty physics. Even just goofing off and enjoying the stellar audiovisuals is fun. As it says on the label: Authentic entertainment in realistic another world. Travel snaps:

ROGERIN' THE RABBIT ;3

Spoiler

BOUNCIN' ON BEAVER

Spoiler

[BrianC]

I played a little bit of the NES and FC versions of BC on actual hardware to compare. The difficulty changes to the US version are really odd. More parachute enemies in places, but many of the enemies that put up a real threat were removed. Some places with the parachute enemies are a bit cheap in the US one too.

I also noticed BC: Rearmed keeps a lot of the stuff from the JP version while adding elements from the GB version and paying homage/parody to the NES version. I like that game quite a bit.

[dojo_b]

Lately (and under the influence of this thread, though I blame no-one) I've suffered the curse of classic-Castlevania completism. I've beaten enough of these games to feel the urge to take down ALL of them. My main ambit is the non-Metroidvania style of relatively linear action games (whether released before or after SOTN).

Advice or comments on this sort of quest are welcome. I neither encourage nor discourage others to join in; the obvious risks are being stuck playing what may be some very difficult and/or crappy games.
Like CV The Adventure (GB): Christopher Belmont is slow as fuck (Dracula X's Richter now feels sprightly) and the game can be cruel.

Like CV Legends (also GB): a pervasive feeling of shoddiness and questionable fidelity to the series' core essence, as well as a continue system that makes credit-feeding through frequent checkpoints the default play mode (boot-backs to the stage beginning on Game Overs are only possible through the password system or savestates). Maybe it'd be fun with a bit more practice, but this game was depressing me, so I just stopped midway.

I haven't tried the arcade games yet, but most people describe Haunted Castle as a shit sandwich and very hard to boot. I do like the sound of Vs. Castlevania. But Bloodlines, x68000, and Dracula X SNES are the next high-priority items as of this writing.


My progress so far is below, which I'll try to update (default is a basic clear with continues but no savestates). To avoid spreading mass psychosis, I'll ignore regional variants (although I've dabbled in this as well).

Fun games:

CV1 (1LC)
CV3
CV4
Rondo (1CC's for each of: PC-Engine version; the somewhat distinct PSP remake thereof; and the unlockable original therein)
CV2: Belmont's Revenge, GB (1CC)

added: Dracula X SNES (but, play it after Rondo)

***

Acquired tastes:

CV: The Adventure