Castlevania Miscellanies

[Skykid]

Am I right in thinking some things are off limits to Lacarde (in the same way other things are open). The two 1ups on Germany seem to be out of reach.

[Obscura]

You are correct. Both characters have certain paths that are only open to them.

[BIL]

Eric can get the first st4 1UP, just polevault from the conveyor belts below. The second is most definitely verboten however.

The only two bona-fide path splits are in st3 and st5 - the latter's Eric route being your only chance to see the game's strangely arachnid Fleamen, outside of deliberately letting Countess BATORI summon them. And lord knows she's tedious enough without dragging things out!

VK is significantly easier than Bloodlines on Normal, but only marginally easier on Expert. Check out my riveting expose! :O

Right, well that probably explains why I feel it's fairly easy then. Since I only ever play the region of copies I actually own (because I like to make headway!) I doubt I'll play through Bloodlines.

Same, though I technically have Bloodlines too rofl. It's a battered ol' rental place firesale copy from the mid-90s sans manual, but it's runnin' strong! Vampire Killer otoh is an immaculate collection centerpiece, obviously. ¦3

If you want a bit more challenge from VK, note its Expert difficulty is 95% equal to that of Bloodlines Expert. Either finish the game on Normal, or just unlock from the title attract sequence by hitting [Start] to bring up the "Game Start/Password/Options" menu, and entering the Konami code. UU, DD, LR, LR, BA (you'll hear a chime), then go to Options and Expert will be selectable.

All this MD CV talk got me in the mood, so this evening I 1CCd both back-to-back with Morris; one life lost in VK (dumb mistake in st4's ghost pit crossing) and none in BL. That 5% smidgen of extra pressure is what fine-tunes the game from "fuckin rad" to "best Dracula" for me, but as far as raw challenge goes, if you can ace VK/EX you're qualified to handle BL/EX.

[Skykid]

Yep, already found the alternate paths (assuming it's the ascent that you can make on Pisa through the previously inaccessible stone beams). The fleaman route was nice, although kind of pointless (I think the normal route is way faster).

To be clear, that vault only goes vertically right? How are you supposed to get the 1st 1up on stg4 near the conveyor belts (tucked in the top left corner of the screen) by using that? I tried it yesterday with no luck. Just checked a youtube run now on expert, and the player didn't go for it either (despite no missing the game and collecting all other 1ups in the process).

EDIT: Ok watched the same guy's Morris run and he ignores both 1ups on this stage with him too. Are they not there on Expert or something?

The second 1up in the adjacent room is a bit high risk anyway. I usually go for it once and generally can make it there to collect - it's getting back that's a bit less assured. For some reason Morris' whip swing likes to break at odd times for me, especially when you're doing multiple grabs on uneven platforms.

[Sumez]

What are the differences between JP and US that makes the difficulty differ so much?
I take it US and EU are identical in this regard.

[BIL]

To be clear, that vault only goes vertically right? How are you supposed to get the 1st 1up on stg4 near the conveyor belts (tucked in the top left corner of the screen) by using that? I tried it yesterday with no luck. Just checked a youtube run now on expert, and the player didn't go for it either (despite no missing the game and collecting all other 1ups in the process).

Only vertical, yep. Not an issue here though! You see the platforms John has to swing onto, then traverse to the left and into the 1UP's nook? Pole vault up from the conveyor belts below them. Here's a GIF, to torpedo all doubt:

Animated GIF "All Controversy Begins With DOUBT"

Spoiler

Not surprised a no-misser would ignore both, I do too in my run. The first is far out of the way, the second will easily get you killed, and neither's much use in a no-miss run. ;3

EDIT: Ok watched the same guy's Morris run and he ignores both 1ups on this stage with him too. Are they not there on Expert or something?

No, they're there. By the time you're no-missing this game you won't want to interrupt your fun to go for them, either; shit's a drag tbh!

The second 1up in the adjacent room is a bit high risk anyway. I usually go for it once and generally can make it there to collect - it's getting back that's a bit less assured. For some reason Morris' whip swing likes to break at odd times for me, especially when you're doing multiple grabs on uneven platforms.

It's safer to get to the exit and drop down, then whip-swing onto the 1UP's platform. You'll still need to make it back across the pit, which is deadly precise and can easily see you fall. For this reason it's best to go for both 1UPs or neither - at least you'll cancel out the risk of the second.

What are the differences between JP and US that makes the difficulty differ so much?
I take it US and EU are identical in this regard.

I've no idea about the EU version, never bothered with it. JP vs US depends on difficulty level - Normal is mostly a matter of missing spawns and a lower damage scale in the former. Expert US has lots of little tweaks, some very little indeed (the platform-orbiting fuzzies move a tick faster; st2 Golem has an extra segment; st5 Evil Pillar fires three bullets per shot) that don't mean much individually, but accumulate to a slightly tougher (and, imo, honed to perfection) run.

There's also the big change I note in my commentary linked a few posts back: Death won't give you jack shit health, making stage 6 a significant challenge of attrition; in VK you'll get a health refill that'll compensate for any damage taken in the first half.

[Skykid]

Only vertical, yep. Not an issue here though! You see the platforms John has to swing onto, then traverse to the left and into the 1UP's nook? Pole vault up from the conveyor belts below them. Here's a GIF, to torpedo all doubt:

Animated GIF "All Controversy Begins With DOUBT"

Spoiler

*Facepalm* Kind of straightforward.

With Morris I stood directly under the left-most alcove, would jump to whip the corner, then bring the whip in short so Morris could hop up onto the right ledge. Was I doing it the hard way?

Not surprised a no-misser would ignore both, I do too in my run.

Yeah, that makes sense. I just thought it was weird he collected the others. The one in the Pisa stage is also slightly out of the way for Morris (Lacarde can just go vertical after entry) but he still bagged it.

[BIL]

Never tried it that way! Here's my usual method:

Spoiler

Sounds like yours would skip that slightly taxing first jump, at least. I'll try it out on my next run.

[Shoryukev]

Do'h!!!!!! I've been doing it with John the same way Skykid was....looks like the way BIL posted in the GIF is ten times easier LOL. No wonder it would always take me a couple tries to get it.

[Skykid]

Yeah, I think BIL's is the intended method, since you're on the way back from a wall meat at that point. Sometimes you just find yourself thinking differently and trying things - but it took me a few tries to worm my way up from the left side (shortening the whip during swing is the key.)

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Wow. Played the game a billion times and I never had any idea that 1up was there lol.

[FinalBaton]

Wow. Played the game a billion times and I never had any idea that 1up was there lol.

same, lol

when I play Bloodlines, my mindset is to PLOW through it, so I never search for secrets

[Blinge]

Wait.. is there another 1-up in Germany besides that one? ^

Last week I tried Morris after 1cc'ing with Eric and got rekt. Maybe it's because the whip comes out slower.

[BIL]

Yup, there's another in the next room. It's directly under the exit, you need to either whip-swing across the pit using the conveyors, or drop down and grapple onto its platform. Either way you'll have to swing back across the pit, dangerous! Only really worth it if you're maxing out life stock for a 1CC attempt.

[Blinge]

It's pretty cool how a few of us are all going through the 16bit games at the same time.

Now for Rondo: PC Engine version? or the PSP port?
I saw something about unlocking the original, within the PSP port - but is it faithful?

[Shoryukev]

I'm honestly not sure how faithful it is, I know the remastered version on PSP has its framerate cut in half

I have it on my wii virtual console and it seems pretty legit, but I need to find a way to convert it to RGBs since my PVM doesn't accept YPbPr. I've heard you can get a SCART cable for the wii, but I haven't tried one yet.

[Sumez]

I haven't gone through it meticulously, but I did play the PSP version through once, and it felt just like the PC Engine version, which I own and have played through on original hardware a gazillion times.

There might be minor differences or emulation issues, I dunno, but definitely nothing immediatly noticeable.

To be honest, I don't even think the PSP remake is that horrible. Sure, the graphics are pretty mediocre, but it plays great and to me it was fun to see a different take on a game that I know so well.

[Shoryukev]

I have downloaded on my Vita (my PSP has a broken d-pad from too much SF Alpha 3 LOL), I'll have to unlock the original on there and give it a try.

[FinalBaton]

I haven't gone through it meticulously, but I did play the PSP version through once, and it felt just like the PC Engine version, which I own and have played through on original hardware a gazillion times.

nice to know from someone who played both. I have the PSP version but have never played the PC Engine game on original hardware.

[Sumez]

In that case, I'll preemptively tackle the question everyone asks the first time they try it:

Yes, the voice over in the intro is supposed to be in German

[Blinge]

Haha, you're too late! I was already bugging Squire with this question today.

Do you know why German and not say, Romanian?

[Durandal]

Haha, you're too late! I was already bugging Squire with this question today.

Do you know why German and not say, Romanian?

Everything sounds cooler in German, dude.

[trap15]

The Japanese love German. As expected of those axis fucks

[Sumez]

I guess Shaft just happens to be German
Romanian would be awesome though.

[Volteccer_Jack]

It's pretty cool how a few of us are all going through the 16bit games at the same time.

Now for Rondo: PC Engine version? or the PSP port?
I saw something about unlocking the original, within the PSP port - but is it faithful?

I played a single credit through the unlockable original Rondo, it seemed faithful at cursory inspection, except of course for the English voices.

[Sumez]

Just finished Bloodlines again for the first time in years. There's really a ton of things in this game I don't remember at all, such as Dracula's final form and some of the weirder enemies like the "monkeys" in the garden. I think this was probably also my first time beating it with Morris, as I used to love playing as Lecarde back in the day.

Also, the game is really not as good as I remember. Going back and reading my old comments and ratings of the game does seem to match quite well with my experience with it this time though - a pretty standard example of a classic Castlevania, very well done, but nothing extraordinary. I still think it is a lot more solid that CV4 in the way it controls and plays in general, but at the same time it's really not quite as memorable, so I can sort of understand why many people prefer CV4 to this. And Dracula XX is still my favourite little gem among the 16 bit titles (provided Rondo doesn't count)

[Squire Grooktook]

^^^Play it with Eric again and carve those fuckers up

RIP AND TEAR
STAB AND STOMP

[Blinge]

Started Rondo, just beat Death.
Been going for more direct routes because blind playthrough.. seeems they're a bit easier though?
I'm trying to avoid item crashes for now.

Also casually playing CoTM Magician. I'm liking that huge MP pool, am enjoying this playthrough a lot more from using the magics.

Oh, is Dracula XX the snes version of rondo?

[Squire Grooktook]

Yeah but it's basically a different game.

Don't forget to rescue the maidens by the way.

[Volteccer_Jack]

Started Rondo, just beat Death.
Been going for more direct routes because blind playthrough.. seeems they're a bit easier though?
I'm trying to avoid item crashes for now.

Also casually playing CoTM Magician. I'm liking that huge MP pool, am enjoying this playthrough a lot more from using the magics.

Oh, is Dracula XX the snes version of rondo?

The alternate routes in Rondo are basically the hard path.

Dracula XX is pretty much a completely different game from Rondo.