Castlevania Miscellanies

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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BIL
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by BIL »

NYN wrote: Thu Aug 08, 2024 10:44 am Youkai Club just got a digital re-issue. As part of a JALEC0lle Famicon Ver., other titles, including, I guess, many exclusives back when.

Please don't blow up because it's City Connection...folks around here are thoroughly informed about quality emu, I reckon.

When it comes to Jaleco's Famicom titles, think challenging, B-grade, and quirky...

Is it a Vania in spirit? I won't read the article on Hardcore Laming 101! :P I ask the players!
I tried getting into it several years back, wasn't impressed unfortunately. 3; Felt like one of those games that's obscure for good reason; just not very memorable. HOWEVER! As noted in linked post, it does have some nice BGM, inspiring a killer arrangement by estimable Yone2008!

Raving Stomping Dracula RIDDIM Image

So in its own way, it did make the universe slightly better! Image

I'm not sure who actually developed it, but for my money, the best FC title with Jaleco's name on it is Teh Lord of King aka The Astyanax. Sort of Rastan Lite, as is its Aicom-developed arcade forerunner. Some nice cathartic Weaponised Bombing ala Yagawa. Seibu aficionados will appreciate its notably involved Bonus Fairy Mechanics!

EDIT: hm. I never did get around to MAGIC JOHN aka Totally Rad. That was Jaleco-published too IIRC. Well, Lordy's my favourite of stuff I've put through its paces, anyway!
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Sumez »

Totally Magical Rad John is more of a Mega Man-like. It's a perfectly alright NES platformer that I don't think I'm ever going to play again.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Arino »

Cool I'm gonna add these two games to my list. Yokai Club and Magic John.
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gimme total radness

Post by NYN »

Aah, I searched topics with current Y0KAI romanized spelling, while before for free emulation it was Youkai, y'know. Otherwise BIL's entry would have sprung up. 0h, well.
BMG sample most agreeable, summation not. Pass for more class, then. Merry thanks.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Sima Tuna »

Tried Gal Guardians' demo and did not enjoy it. I don't know exactly why I like Curse of the Moon 1 and 2, but not this. I think the main differences are level design (it's bland here) and enemy design (needlessly obnoxious.)
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Sumez »

Yes. They have a similar smell, but there's a massive gap in actual quality
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by BrianC »

Sumez wrote: Thu Aug 08, 2024 11:39 am Totally Magical Rad John
It would be interesting if someone made a hack combining the story of the US and JP versions with Zeb and Mr. Pong turning out to be the same person. I like the name "Zebediah Pong".
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Sima Tuna »

Sumez wrote: Sat Aug 10, 2024 4:58 pm Yes. They have a similar smell, but there's a massive gap in actual quality
You know how it feels really good when you play Castlevania, and you whip that annoying fleaman mid-jump so he dies in one hit? "Take that, motherfucker!" 8)

That feeling. That's the secret sauce missing from Gal Guardians, based on what I played. Most enemies take more than one hit, no matter which sister you pick. They also tend to spawn quite close to your character model in a way that feels shitty. Removing a basic zako with the machine gun sister takes like 20 bullets. :roll:
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Sumez »

Yeah the gun is really dumb most of the time. Feels like replacing actual action gameplay with just sitting back and pushing a button, moving forward and repeating.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by FunktionJCB »

Castlevania Dominus Collection, featuring the 3 DS games + Haunted Castle Revisited (the original version of Haunted Castle is also playable) is out now on all platforms.
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re-qualified

Post by NYN »

REVISITED looks metal! Very much like ReBirth in art style. Those BL00DY EYES!! M2 produced this, same as the former, I wonder? :P What a incentive! Otherwise I would pass the collection, since I own the other games.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Mortificator »

Looks like they're homogenizing HC, the trailer shows candelabras (all drops came from enemies in the original) and the knife & axe instead of the the game's homegrown sub-weapons. I bet they take out the sword too.
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Post by BIL »

FunktionJCB wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 3:38 pm Castlevania Dominus Collection, featuring the 3 DS games + Haunted Castle Revisited (the original version of Haunted Castle is also playable) is out now on all platforms.
Christ, my dick, honestly, I'm a bit faint. ;w;
Spoiler
BUT NOT FAINT ENOUGH (■`w´■)

Image Image Image
Spoiler
Image

Image Image
Wanted to replay Ecclesia on a proper screen for so long. That's me fookin weekend booked then.
Last edited by BIL on Tue Aug 27, 2024 4:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Sengoku Strider »

This is amazing, the DS games are the only ones I've never finished and I've been hoping for a collection for a long time. Didn't expect one to shadow drop out of nowhere. It looks like they made the right choices in resolving the dual screen options.
Mortificator wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 4:07 pm Looks like they're homogenizing HC, the trailer shows candelabras (all drops came from enemies in the original) and the knife & axe instead of the the game's homegrown sub-weapons. I bet they take out the sword too.
If it's M2, they probably don't get rid of everything. But even if they did, altering a game nobody likes and is still freely available in is original form registers a zero on the concern meter for me personally.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Mortificator »

You need a big D to like Haunted Castle. Regardless, I got Revisited and gave it a run through.

I jumped the gun a little on sub-weapons. The knife and axe are added, but it does have the torch (which makes a sad little pfffft of fire) and the boomerang (which now returns). The cross is neither the classic returning version nor the deadly energy weapon of original HC, but a screenwide zako obliterator like the old rosary pickups. The bomb and watch are simply gone.

Main weapon upgrade goes leather whip -> morning star -> sword whip. That third tier works like Christopher's fireball on The Adventure Rebirth's classic mode, it's on a timer and is also lost on hit. Jumps are 100% controllable until you whip, which locks you in a la Harmony of Dissonance.

The graphics are the game's strongest feature. They have a tinge of Adventure Rebirth, as NYN noted above, but do a much better job of preserving the arcade game's aesthetic. Nice sprites with a prerendered / Harryhausen unnaturalism. It has the same six stages as the original with the same bosses enjoying snazzy new animations. What they did with Dracula's giant head transformation, previously one his most embarrassing forms, is something to see.

But... one huge issue all but ruins the game: it has NO CHALLENGE WHATSOEVER. The absolute easiest classicvania. So easy that's there's no damage scaling and you can facetank through everything. So easy that if you die to Dracula's final form, you'll start at his final form. So easy that if you fall in a pit you'll respawn on a platform! You will almost certainly 1cc it your very first run, and unless there's something hidden, Revisited has no second loop or higher difficulty. No reason to ever touch it again. Hugely disappointing.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Sima Tuna »

Order of Ecclesia is the big release in this package, for me.
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Post by BIL »

Mortificator wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 5:50 pmThe bomb and watch are simply gone.
I guess Danger Mouse got tired of Berumondo's shit and terminated the lease 3;

Image

Can't help feeling the watch got punted with a certain vengeance, the poor thing being AC's only decent subweapon. Image Nice cheesin' 1ALL. :cool:

It's hard when your game was punted out the door rebadged and unfinished, only to take four consecutive top-rope elbows from Splatterhouse, Daimakaimura, Jigoku Meguri, and Saigo no Nindou, in the ~ Image Great Horror Action/Platform Slam 1988 Image ~
But... one huge issue all but ruins the game: it has NO CHALLENGE WHATSOEVER. The absolute easiest classicvania. So easy that's there's no damage scaling and you can facetank through everything. So easy that if you die to Dracula's final form, you'll start at his final form. So easy that if you fall in a pit you'll respawn on a platform! You will almost certainly 1cc it your very first run, and unless there's something hidden, Revisited has no second loop or higher difficulty. No reason to ever touch it again. Hugely disappointing.
Hm, wasn't expecting that. :o :lol: Ah well. Sounds like a fun ride at the least, ty 4 forward reconnaissance ;w;7

Hamster as always in with the save, Akumajou Dracula (1988) being on ACA in stunning Gotch quality. Image Even has the North American rev, for those S&M occasions!
Sima Tuna wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 5:53 pm Order of Ecclesia is the big release in this package, for me.
DOMINATION Image

Looking forward to revisiting DoS, too. A lot of good friends love it, but I ended up rushing it to play Ecclesia instead, which all the noobs were making sound UHMAZIN with their whining of getting bummed unmercifully in smaller, more linear, discrete stages. They were right! Well, about the latter. :cool: You must remember your warrior blood! Image Or acquire it. Image

I have to be absolutely balls-out into a game to tolerate it on portables, just not my thing at all, so DoS became a fond vague memory. Conversely, there were times in Ecclesia I might as well have been playing on an Astro City hooked up to my old man's beast wood 70s speakers, the tactical ultraviolence was radiating off the tiny screen. Fond memories of equipping Agony and a pair of trench daggers, then pulverising a certain ambusher's face, DPS rocketing as HP plummeted into the red. Such a rad trip. Image

I didn't even finish PoR, can't say I'm all that motivated, but who knows. Great to have it around for reference, in any case. I got a few areas in at the time and went "Yeah I'm good." Really wasn't in the mood for a third consecutive IGA canon assassination, either. Isn't it ~Funny and Weird~ how all three of IGA's sequels involve the old protagonists getting humiliated and shoved aside by his Mary S*coof* I mean, very interesting new characters? Hm!

Not to rag on the man. He employs a lot of good people in his grocery stores. And he also displayed serious directorial chops by enlisting Nakazato for Ecclesia! Much as Hagigara did for SOTN, when IGA was the coffee guy!

And for all HoD's teething problems as IGA's first time in the captain's chair, he did at least give Takeshi "Hard Vampire Corps Killer" Takeda a last hurrah.

It's best to remember the good things. ;w;7
Last edited by BIL on Tue Aug 27, 2024 7:40 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by ryu »

I sold my copies of Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin (big regret) and never even played Order of Ecclesia (big shame). This is an instant buy for me when there is a physical release. :)
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Re: re-qualified

Post by hamfighterx »

NYN wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 3:51 pmM2 produced this, same as the former, I wonder?
Yes, confirmed M2 is responsible for this one. Nice big M2 splash screen upon starting up the game. Now we know one of the projects that has been keeping them busy. It's kind of insane that they did a Haunted Castle Rebirth (which is absolutely the first thing I booted up), but here we are!
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by FunktionJCB »

I couldn't be happier that these titles are available again, since last year I sold my copies of all 3 DS games, for a decent amount (I believe I got around 62€ from a used items store for Order of Ecclesia alone, which was quite good, I thought).
I'm moving to a new house, and packing 40+ years of stuff (films, video games and consoles, music CDs, ...) is a bit of a nightmare, so I've been trying to get rid of as many stuff as I can, particularly my old consoles and games, since I mostly game on PC (digitally) nowadays. I had my fun with my collection throughout the years, but a guy reaches a point where the time available isn't what it once was, and you start valuing having some "quality of life", like moving to a decent location that has green spaces, and it's mostly crime and noise free. :)

As a big Castlevania fan, it pained me a bit to part with my DS copies, especially Order of Ecclesia, which is a personal favourite (along with Aria of Sorrow, it's my two favourite "Igavanias"), but I had a feeling the DS games would be getting a compilation release someday. I guess I was right. :mrgreen:

For those that like the series/genre, these titles are very much worth revisiting.
I "bounced off" a bit with Portrait of Ruin for some reason (despite an awesome soundtrack featuring Yuzo Koshiro), but Dawn of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia are great.

I look forward to check that new version of Haunted Castle.

---

Side note: I wish Konami would re-release the various Rebirth titles they did for the Wii. I guess they mostly forgot about them, but it would be great to have them available on modern platforms.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Klatrymadon »

Haunted Castle Revisited is the main event for me. A really beautifully produced piece concerned with nothing but celebrating a beloved game rather than 'fixing' a bad one (although it improves on lots). Even the visual style, while technically far more accomplished, is in thrall to the ruggedness and ungainliness of the original work (crucially, everything is huge - we have a new Simon sprite in 2024 and it's fucking massive). It's a bit easy on the Normal mode - a lot of the platforms and stage hazards are just there to give the impression of danger - but there's a Hard mode available from the start that offers a well-judged difficulty hike with lots of meaningful changes to the stage layouts and enemy types used, etc.

I'm a bit stunned it exists. Not only is it a new Castlevania thing done in earnest, but it's done in the old style and (in terms of remake material) plumbs the more interesting depths of the series. And it's just tacked onto the end of this collection of other stuff with no fanfare!
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by To Far Away Times »

Klatrymadon wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 10:55 pm Haunted Castle Revisited is the main event for me. A really beautifully produced piece concerned with nothing but celebrating a beloved game rather than 'fixing' a bad one (although it improves on lots). Even the visual style, while technically far more accomplished, is in thrall to the ruggedness and ungainliness of the original work (crucially, everything is huge - we have a new Simon sprite in 2024 and it's fucking massive). It's a bit easy on the Normal mode - a lot of the platforms and stage hazards are just there to give the impression of danger - but there's a Hard mode available from the start that offers a well-judged difficulty hike with lots of meaningful changes to the stage layouts and enemy types used, etc.

I'm a bit stunned it exists. Not only is it a new Castlevania thing done in earnest, but it's done in the old style and (in terms of remake material) plumbs the more interesting depths of the series. And it's just tacked onto the end of this collection of other stuff with no fanfare!
That sold me. I'll have to check this out.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Sengoku Strider »

ryu wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 7:09 pm This is an instant buy for me when there is a physical release. :)
Previous compilations were Limited Run releases, so be prepared for a long wait.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Sanguis »

I was, coincidentally, on a playthrough of Castlevania Rebirth. Good stuff. Really interested in Haunted Castle Revisited. I wonder if Manabu Namiki is still the composer.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Augemitbutter »

Need this for Haunted Castle Revisited, wow. Still have all my complete DS copies. OOE replay was 2 years ago. Now please offer a normal retail version so this can be bought properly.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by evil_ash_xero »

Sima Tuna wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 5:53 pm Order of Ecclesia is the big release in this package, for me.
This game has a lot of fans, but I could never get into it. The level design was just too weak.
Everything else was very good, but that's impossible to overlook.... for me, anyway.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Mortificator »

Klatrymadon wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 10:55 pm Haunted Castle Revisited is the main event for me. A really beautifully produced piece concerned with nothing but celebrating a beloved game rather than 'fixing' a bad one (although it improves on lots). Even the visual style, while technically far more accomplished, is in thrall to the ruggedness and ungainliness of the original work (crucially, everything is huge - we have a new Simon sprite in 2024 and it's fucking massive). It's a bit easy on the Normal mode - a lot of the platforms and stage hazards are just there to give the impression of danger - but there's a Hard mode available from the start that offers a well-judged difficulty hike with lots of meaningful changes to the stage layouts and enemy types used, etc.
Thanks for the heads up on hard mode. Turns out you need to load Revisited, pause, and select "other options" in the menu to find the difficulty toggle. I really don't think much changes about stage layouts, though, and while I appreciate the higher enemy count and later baddies showing up sooner, they're still very pedestrian. A Revisited flea man is never going to hit you no matter how they're placed. Mummies are so much toilet paper without their projectile. Bosses still telegraph their attacks with a flash and sound effect and do little damage. I 1CC'd Revisited hard my second attempt, while I can't confidently clear Adventure Rebirth hard+classic even with continues.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Steven »

So yesterday I

wake up

open Steam

see add for new Dracula collection WITH NEW REMAKE OF HAUNTED CASTLE WTF INSTA-BUY

go online while it's downloading, see said remake is super easy and that someone already no missed it on hard even though it only released a few hours ago

play game on hard

get to Dracula on second time playing game

yep, it's way too easy.

Like damn, this game is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo close to being one of the better (high-tier, but not top-tier) Draculas, but it's too easy. Might be a bit too short as well, especially because it doesn't loop, but yeah. I guess Order of Ecclesia and some other things are here, but I don't really care about those that much.

M2 lived up to their normal standard of complete incompetence when doing PC versions, too, as there aren't any options for resolutions or even fullscreen (gotta mash Alt+Enter several times... but at least they actually have an option to exit the fucking collection this time instead of having to Alt+F4 like on the Anniversary Collection).
Augemitbutter wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2024 6:21 am Need this for Haunted Castle Revisited, wow. Still have all my complete DS copies. OOE replay was 2 years ago. Now please offer a normal retail version so this can be bought properly.
It's on PC. That's as proper as it gets.
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by SuperDeadite »

No loop? Lame, the og arcade loops forever (but will counter-stop around loop 12-14).
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Re: Castlevania Miscellanies

Post by Steven »

Yep, it sadly joins the No Loop Despite Really Needing One Club with Rondo, Vampire Killer/Bloodlines, and probably something else that I forgot. This needs it even more than Rondo does, and Rondo REALLY REALLY REALLY SUPER DESPERATELY NEEDS IT, which makes it even more disappointing.

All other aspects of it aside from the super low difficulty and lack of any scaling options at all are REALLY GOOD, though, so it's definitely worth it.

Now we just need X68000 Dracula and I'll be satisfied, preferably specifically emulating the X68030. It's like Konami wants everyone to forget this game exists even though it's by far the best one in the entire series... my sadness is immense.

Also hope Adventure ReBirth eventually gets rescued from Wii eshop closure hell. I could just illegally download it and put it on my hacked Wii, but I'm too lazy.
Sanguis wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2024 5:39 am I wonder if Manabu Namiki is still the composer.
He left M2 in 2017. chibi-tech did the music for the remake.
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