Castlevania Miscellanies

[BIL]

Be aware the Japanese PS1 version, the Arranged version music is buggy as hell. If played on a PS2 or some models of PS1, the music will simply stop playing about 30 seconds in a stage. They fixed this bug in the USA release though.

Thanks for the heads-up, I always like knowing this stuff. Fortunately for me I never play Arrange, phew. Fugly and doesn't loop!

[Squire Grooktook]

Thanks, will probably pick it up. Even if it's not perfect, I really want a physical copy for such a perfect game (just like I do for Bloodlines).

Also I am bad at the Medusa fight, but it sure is fun.

[SuperDeadite]

Thanks, will probably pick it up. Even if it's not perfect, I really want a physical copy for such a perfect game (just like I do for Bloodlines).

Also I am bad at the Medusa fight, but it sure is fun.

Most bosses in that game do not hurt you by touching alone. They have to connect with an actual attack, just like you. Another reason why it's the best of the series.

[Squire Grooktook]

Thanks, will probably pick it up. Even if it's not perfect, I really want a physical copy for such a perfect game (just like I do for Bloodlines).

Also I am bad at the Medusa fight, but it sure is fun.

Most bosses in that game do not hurt you by touching alone. They have to connect with an actual attack, just like you. Another reason why it's the best of the series.

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

I have to admit, at first I was adverse to the new jumping physics, always having been interested in the franchise's focus on absolute commitment. But the stages, enemies, and bosses are designed in a way so that the commitment to whipping and your basic movement options provide for all the tough decision making you could want. Alterable jumps are a bit of a trade off, since they take a bit of that commitment away in favor of occasionally more complex and precise dodging, but ultimately they work real well for the game.

Also love some of the subtle aesthetic touches in the game. Particularly fond of something a Youtube comment pointed out

"In the intro, Dracula is revived by purple robed cultists. And in the first stage, Simon is battling purple robed zombies. Coincidence?"

Hard to feel sorry for them if that's the case. I mean, they had to have gotten that heart from somewhere.

Another interesting touch is in stage 4, where Medusa is the boss. Notice how the room with the "bloody tears" statue has greek/roman style columns, almost like a temple. And notice how the statue itself is of a woman carrying a spear and wearing a helmet. I wonder what Greek/Roman associated female deity was always depicted wearing a helmet and often carrying a spear as well? And I wonder what deity turned Medusa into a snake person from a human?

*edit*

Whoa! That was intense! I managed to beat She-Wolf on one credit and made it through stage 6 blind on the same credit! I know the devs said not to worry about credit feeding to learn the game, but since She-Wolf is such an awesome boss, I wanted to do it the old fashioned way of quitting on game over every time. I'm super hyped I managed to do it on my third credit reaching her. Incredibly exciting fight, heart was pounding by the end there.

Mirror Simon wasn't too bad. Took me two lives before I learned his pattern and wasted him. Bit of a cakewalk after the last two devilishly tricky bosses, but I do love his tongue role animation if he beats you. Also love how dolls in the tower respawn if you scroll off screen then come back. I got knocked off by a bunch of dolls, and ended up with a gigantic army chasing me when I landed midway through with a crowd respawned and the ones from above still chasing me. Also gotta love how many enemies actively dodge your attacks (Water Droplets in stage 3, She Wolf, Dolls, etc.). Credit ended about midway through stage 7 on the Sideshow Bob floor panel, ha ha.

[BIL]

I hadn't really thought about it until reading blackoak's X68k team interview translation, but it's crazy how it, Rondo and Vampire Killer were all in development simultaneously. That's a helluva lot of quality going on at Konami circa 1993. Three brilliant and soundly diverse sequels, on three different platforms even.

Almost makes me forget that travesty Dracula XX. But not quite.

Also love some of the subtle aesthetic touches in the game. Particularly fond of something a Youtube comment pointed out

"In the intro, Dracula is revived by purple robed cultists. And in the first stage, Simon is battling purple robed zombies. Coincidence?

That's too cool a theory for me to not believe from now on.

[Ed Oscuro]

I hadn't really thought about it until reading blackoak's X68k team interview translation, but it's crazy how it, Rondo and Vampire Killer were all in development simultaneously. That's a helluva lot of quality going on at Konami circa 1993.

By a funny coincidence, I recently saw the Jimquisition bitching from a couple years ago about the "month of madness" that saw the (proposed, not actual) release of three Silent Hill games simultaneously.

See, release stacking doesn't matter. I also think that Jim Sterling's "people have to pick and choose what to buy" argument didn't work for either release pattern, because in both release rushes each game was for a different platform (although the difference between MD cart, X68000 floppy, and Super CD-ROM^2 is arguably greater than between the three game systems). Both series blitzes included at least one remake (though in 2012 it was expected that the Silent Hill release pack would be a "HD collection" or some such of not one but three games, so basically the same game released nearly a decade before). It looks like the basic problem was that 2012 Konami just didn't have the chops to release quality games.

[Squire Grooktook]

Managed to no damage Death on my first try. Kinda funny how they compromised with the Holy Water stunlocking in the original, allowing you to sorta do it with any weapon now but only for half hp instead of full bar.

Also that skeleton across the spike pit in the opening of stage 5? He's there to show you that those guys instant swipe when you pass close to them. When you see them later, you instinctively know what they can do because of that. Master class game design.

[JBC]

I'm spoiling Lords Of Shadow 2 for myself by watching all of the cutscenes on Youtube. The only good thing I can say an hour & a half in to the 3 1/2 hours worth of 'not-playing time' the game offers is that some of the boss designs are good. This isn't Castlevania. In fact, the game comes off as mean spirited. It's in the future or something & there are cyborg muscle men hobbling around looking for the Unreal Tournament. It forces you to feed on at least one innocent family since you are Dracula now. Everything is ugly & gritty, which is a polar opposite design philosophy from the original series. It's sad really. Dracula is constantly having to throw up blood & cut himself to get things to work, as if that still flew as edgy in 2014. It's sort of distasteful & lacking in class. I feel like I've been crawling through a dirty alleyway from watching it.

I got about halfway through before I ran out of time but will finish watching the cutscenes later. I chose to do it this way to save myself a couple nights of pain having to play through it myself, as I wasn't much a fan of the first entry & this got an even worse reaction.

I know I'm being harsh on a game I haven't actually played, but it obviously doesn't get Castlevania right & might as well be it's own series. Maybe Konami should do a remaster collection that removes the title & renames the characters, because it could then be fairly unrecognizable as a CV entry & may be better received by late comers.

I'm glad it's probably the last & I hope Konami Japan goes back to the classic timeline. Neat little experiment there but let's get serious now.

Silly.

[Pretas]

Found a real-life picture of BIL:

[Obscura]

Thanks, will probably pick it up. Even if it's not perfect, I really want a physical copy for such a perfect game (just like I do for Bloodlines).

Also I am bad at the Medusa fight, but it sure is fun.

It's been too long since I've played X68K, but isn't there a wallmeat in the "ledge" right before the drop-off into the Medusa fight?

[EmperorIng]

Yup. It's what saved my butt as I cheesed through the fight.

[Squire Grooktook]

GJ Pretas you actually made me laugh.

Also yeah Obscura, I didn't know about that until AFTER I beat her though lol.


Also was thinking of posting this in the music sharing thread, but this is just as good. This is probably my favorite fan arrange of Rondo's Bloodlines.

[Squire Grooktook]

Are you guys ready for some EROTIC VIOLENCE???

[BIL]

It's like one of my Japanese animes!

[CStarFlare]

so that's pachinko

huh

[Captain]

Oh boy, I have the perfect playtester for this.

[soprano1]

Necro-bumping this great topic.
Decided to give HoD another chance (only played a bit of it more than ten years ago), after using a patch to remove the strange aura around Juste and Maxim. While the music quality sounds inferior to AoS, there's some great tunes there.

[Blinge]

CV3. Stage 9, the waterway.
I am become the salt.

Words cannot express.
(help me BIL =[ )

[Sumez]

The waterways in the end of stage 9 is probably the toughest place in the entirety of the game. If you have Sypha, though, her ice spell makes really short work of it, as you can just walk on the water, and the crows will be frozen in place on top of that.

[Blinge]

I tried the sypha method. The water gets frozen for about a second, and I'm still being hit from every which way, It's too much for me to compute.
I gotta stop playing for a while..

[Sumez]

It's the second you need to make the jumps across the holes without getting pushed by the water or hit by an enemy.

[BIL]

Haha, did warn you Blinge! :3 Probably the game's longest and toughest stage though not the most irritating (that goes to the final low route stage's infamous Block Mania sections).

That said, if you're getting to the ravens+mermen room, you're very nearly through it. Just one room left after that (stroll across a flipper bridge w/medusas... just don't jump while spacing them, and you'll be fine), then the boss (Doppelganger, who can be a decent fight if desired, but can also be EZ-cheesed with the character swap trick - which is so bleeding obvious, I can't believe even the NES revision didn't fix it).

IIRC, if you're a real cheeky fuck you can actually freeze a raven, then use it to hop straight up to the exit stairway... probably not something you feel like chancing though. Failing that, you gotta deal with good ol' raven homing AI. They're passive-aggressive buggers but you'll know when they're going in for the peck. All in the acceleration. Try freezing/twatting them aggressively as they close in. Same goes for the mermen and their fireballs. Don't try running away, and certainly not running+jumping (which helps against current, but also commits you to an uncharted landing). Smack anything that's closing in on you.

Sorry, I know, kinda obvious... it's more of a groove/feel thing, this oldschool Dracula (or Makaimura) stuff. ;3

You're playing the NES revision I assume? Its difficulty is frequently regarded as a bit OTT (monster damage to player increases globally according to stage reached... on FC, pests do less than heavies). I grew up with the US rev and FWIW the FC version's first loop is only marginally easier. (the US second loop OTOH is way the hell harder, mostly for the brutally high damage to player scale but also an exclusive Medusa head replacement that'll make anyone bothered by the regular sort soil themselves in anger)

edit: and yes, for teh love of god, take a break if you must! Frustration + fatigue is a shitty combination! :O At least the game's not too easy m i rite :^D

[Perikles]

I always thought that Sypha's regular staff attack is really good against flying enemies since it covers a surprisingly big portion above her head and it also has a lot less recovery frames than a whip smack. Just make sure to not spawn too many ravens at once and patiently take them out one at a time, that should be the easiest way to go.

[BIL]

Yes - her staff is actually a pretty solid melee option, particularly on enemies that need to close in and ram you. Ravens of course, but also ghosts - even with their high HP, it's very easy (and satisfying!) to batter them to death in short order.

Speaking of short, rapid melee attacks... I really miss Grant's NES dagger, being stuck on FC for now. IIRC it's actually the game's deadliest melee weapon if you get a flurry in. So satisfying closing in on and assassinating large enemies like axe armours, knowing that if you screw up you're gonna take a brutal swatting. FC Grant with his throwing knife is a boring, weak sniper in comparison.

[Blinge]

Ha, well I've only reached the merman part once. I just plonked a save state down to practice that one section. I know; filthy casual.
(dw, i won't progress the game until I beat it from chapter beginning)

The hard-as-balls stair section seems to be a toss up between me getting through unscathed or completely shitting the bed.
Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll try to watch for that acceleration.

Now and then i'll try a one credit run from the beginning of the game, but every attempt so far ends with me losing 2/3 lives on the final Boat section - knocked off by the crows.

[FinalBaton]

Gonna spam my Castlevania no-death run in here as it is, at the very least, très on topic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET5mINgvDZs



I'm happy with this run. While I have no problem clearing the game on 1 continue, a no-death run is so much harder because of the clock tower segment towards the end, with those freakin eagles dropping hunchbacks, wich deplete your life bar considerably right before your fight with Dracula. The clock subweapon was key in that segment.

I also liked my fight with Death. Only took one hit. Got to him without a full life bar so I got a little nervous, but I took a deep breath and embraced the challenge
I trounced his ass! That was a truly adrenaline-fueled fight

[BIL]

Nicely done. I find harder console games like CV and Ninja Gaiden (NES) approach quasi-arcade difficulty when you're going without checkpoints... I've had a blast both revisiting old favourites and trying new ones with this mindset.

Stage 6 is both the game's weakest and hardest, I think. The bridge bats and clock tower eagles make those sections overly dependent on brute rehearsal; hang around and you'll almost certainly get squashed quickly. It's a rush getting through with minimal or no damage but still feels overly scripted. My favourite part of the stage is the skeleton tag team at the clock tower summit, much more organic and in line with the rest of the game.

Dracula's first form is goddamn ace though. Dodging those random, 20% HP-draining body slams is a brisk test of nerves every time. Creature and Death are even better... those are real showdowns, especially if you forego piercing subweapons for the master of the knifing This is how I love my oldschool CV action; fast, punishing and absolutely do or die - hesitate or panic and it's over. Esteemed mangaka Kentaro Miura illustrates the price of failure well... WARNING NWS, EXTREME GORE+NAKED MAN BUTT

Spoiler

Don't fuck with Dr. Frankenstein's indestructible fleaman, kids!

Not even if you know ancient Berumondo techniques

Spoiler

[FinalBaton]

Daaaaamn your dodging of projectiles against Frankenstein and Igor was amazing. I also enjoy fighting that boss. And it's also why I enjoy fighting Death.

The first form of Dracula's body slam is really annoying. At first my strategy was to keep moving but he always seemed to appear close to where I was heading. I then decided to stay stationary, and ready to move when he appears on top of me. This has proved to work extremely well.

And yes in the part with the giant bats, at the clock tower's entrance, the good strategy is definitly to keep moving forward all the while baiting them to advance in a certain direction (without losing any of your momentum).
Start fighting them and you're DOOMED!

[BIL]

Thanks Bit of a joke run really - you can see where I literally ended up facing the wrong way while fighting Creature, haha. I'm lazy as hell though so I just went with it - really just wanted to show the bosses a little. Both loops with the knife would be really something...

With Igor, I find the key is to go straight through him whenever possible - whack him as he charges, then pass through before he unfreezes, buying precious time and space. Ultra-hectic fight. Death is an all-time classic sidescrolling action boss, imo. His two-phase pattern (hover/summon sickles) is both elegant and wickedly unpredictable.

You've absolutely got to react to each and every Dracula teleportation, indeed - it's 100% fair that way, but a total lottery otherwise.

[Blinge]

Tried again and made it: from chapter beginning, taking a break payed off!

The ice strat worked but I got killed by a medusa next screen, kept going with sypha though and managed to do it without ice!
thanks guize.

oh, the next stage seems just as brutal..