Castlevania Miscellanies

[BIL]

Can't believe the prices Dracula X on SNES command these days. Makes the PCE version look "cheap", so I think I'll go after a copy.

I'm going through one of my occasional XX phases, incidentally. By now I know the pattern. Around stage 6 (GOOD END VER), just when one side of the brain starts to concede "shame about the arthritic knees, but at least it's a substantial oldschool challenge!" the other reminds me "so are CVIII and X68k and they're also not rickety licensed ROMhacks." A bit earlier this time actually. It's great that they promoted Rondo's first boss to stage 5. Or it would be if they didn't add a blatant safespot making it even more harmless than it already was. As always, Stage 6's perilous, punishing clock tower with its tense Death duel is the game's only real triumph. And a very considerable one, which is why I keep coming back...

Fun with that dang dirty key, the game's ultimate subweapon which has more applications than WD-40:



Whether all the stuff you can do with the thing is intentional or not, I'd love to know. It almost seems like they were making the best of a bad lot there. Either that or they just didn't playtest enough.

Also: holy crap, randomly discovered Vampire Killer's stage 5 health restore today. It's been twenty years and I'd never found it. Maybe because it's at your back and the game's destructive forward drive is so compelling. I love little things like this, it's why I rarely if ever read FAQs.

Also regarding stage 5, I'd posted a few times in the past that I didn't think the bomb chuckers in John's route ever threw health on Bloodlines/Expert. Confirmed today they do, it seems about as infrequent in both versions. Even without that, the guaranteed health restore in both would put the US and JP Expert difficulties yet closer together.

[soprano1]

Jesus, that gif is hilarious.

[Captain]

I KNEW I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO USED THE HIDDEN POWER OF THE KEY

YOU ARE WORTHY, PERHAPS YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO THAT WITH A KEY IN REAL LIFE SOME DAY.

NOW GO, KEY WIELDER, AND FIGHT THE FORCES OF LOCKED DOORS.

[BIL]

There's a good reason you only get the key for such short intervals in Rondo. ^_~ That's REAL GAME BREAKING POWER right there!

[GSK]

Man, what I'd give for a new Dracula game that looked as cool as the XX box art:

The PSP Dracula X Chronicles version of SotN retained the Pixie and Nose Devil familiars in the localized releases, but is otherwise identical to the PS1 version.\

Aside from Maria, of course.

There's also the new localisation, but we needn't discuss that.

[CIT]

Illustrated by Akihiro Yamada — one of the best!





He also did the Record of Lodoss War manga:

[Ed Oscuro]

There's a good reason you only get the key for such short intervals in Rondo. ^_~ That's REAL GAME BREAKING POWER right there!

I know - it was love at first sight. I never went ahead and looked exhaustively for cool tricks but it makes you wish somebody had thought things through better than Igarashi's useless multiplication of range and DPS variations on the basic whip and holy water.

Also, holy hell, Akihiro Yamada is new to me, but so obviously awesome...I wonder, did they do the X68000 cover possibly? Some of the detail and the watercolor-like quality seems familiar.

[Bar81]

Illustrated by Akihiro Yamada — one of the best!

Ummmmm, why does she have a cross penis?

[Captain]

Yes. that is exactly whats going on in that image.

[Squire Grooktook]

She is straddling it in a most irreligious fashion.

[Bar81]

She is straddling it in a most irreligious fashion.

Because, riding a cross makes a lot of sense???

[Bar81]

Yes. that is exactly whats going on in that image.

You are a sick man if you see that.

[Squire Grooktook]

Well, if your feeling blasphemous...

[BIL]

Because, riding a cross makes a lot of sense???

Agreed, she should've been rubbing her pussy on a Koran. Or a plate of spaghetti.

Besides the minor action/platformer masterpiece of stage 6, XX's box (baaahahaha!) is definitely its most infernally tempting asset.

edit:



BAH GAWD ALMIGHTEH HES BROKEN IN HALF
SOMEBODEH STAP THE DAMN MATCH

edit2: and now I'm doing a quick retour of the good Draculas to forget about XX once again. Game's just a poor installment. I usually think of X68k as a more conservative 16-bit entry, but after gritting my teeth through XX's cement shoes it feels like friggin flying through Strider 2. Such a great game.

the no-health gauntlet that is the entire stage saps your energy, and the numerous traps of the spinning blade things and the stained-glass man (who I can not get to reliably retreat in a consistent way)

EZ Stained Glass Cheeze: if it's any help, for future reference here's my safe strategy now that I'm refreshed. When you reach the top of the staircase, advance on the knight to send him retreating down a few levels. Then get back up top - he'll try to follow but be stymied by platforms, and locked in place. From there you can just lob subweapons at him. If you've got the axe or holy water, throw them from the summit at your jump peak. If you've got the boomerang or dagger, get on the stairs and hit him from straight across. When he blows up and gets shmuppy you can herd the shards accordingly, or if you're really paranoid, just fall down the staircase and make your way back up.

The crusher trap holy water is there just like the original Akumajou Dracula, haha. I had no idea about the secret cache earlier. I love how X68k plays about with references to the first game's architecture and item placement (pretty sure everyone walks straight into that My First Wallmeat hunchback trap).

[BulletMagnet]

Can't believe the prices Dracula X on SNES command these days. Makes the PCE version look "cheap", so I think I'll go after a copy.

It appears that both it and Circle of the Moon are headed to the Wii U VC.

[KindGrind]

Can't believe the prices Dracula X on SNES command these days. Makes the PCE version look "cheap", so I think I'll go after a copy.

It appears that both it and Circle of the Moon are headed to the Wii U VC.

Perhaps the prices on it will cool down a bit... Still, I caved in and bought the PCE version.

Come to think of it, I don't now if prices go opposite ways when a game is released on a service like the Wii's or PSN. Logically a reprint gets more games out there, relieving some tension on the physical carts, but it may very well generate more interest, people wanting to get a physical cart after having tried the game at a friend's or something.

I thought about it this before buying a dozen US Turbo games recently... The fact that you can get for 50$ on the Wii what will cost you 1000$ physically... I guess there's a moment when people just stop the physical game, but it seems we're not there yet.

[Bar81]

Expect prices to go up after a virtual release. It introduces or reminds about the game and people want to play the real thing onthe real system - not emulation.

[CIT]

Prices for SNES games have been going through the roof for the last two years anyway. It's the new Neo Geo.

[BIL]

Been playing lots of Dracula X68000 via the PS1's Original Mode this week, just got back into decent 1-ALL form. Excellent sidescrolling action game. Immaculate handling with thumping hit feedback, arcade pace, uncompromisingly tough stage/boss design and tons of style*. I never bothered with the loops back in the day, so they're almost like getting an entirely new game now.

Normally I have an obsessive's memory for this stuff, but I'd totally forgotten just how smoothly this one plays. Granted I was coming off the parodically stilted XX, but even compared to Vampire Killer it's a joy to handle. The enormous whiplash is a blast to crack stuff with, and collision is absolutely dead-on; smacking incoming projectiles or pests with a leaping downstrike feels particularly crisp. I do think it's a shame there isn't a dedicated subweapon button, like VK or Dracula IV's - Rondo has a bit more of an excuse with the default PCE pad's lack of buttons. Maybe there was a similar button deficit on the more popular X68k gamepads? Still, as with the FC games it's easily worked around.

Being only passingly familiar with the original FDS incarnation of the first Dracula, I always forget that it allowed progress saving. Having read blackoak's interview translation, and understanding now just how much of an influence that game was on X68k, it's suddenly obvious how both used saving to offset their considerable difficulty levels. Good approach, Irem's brilliant Metal Storm (FC) does similar. Easily disregarded in arcade-style play, while letting a player take down a stage (or loop!) per session if desired. I wonder if CV1 would be a bit less of a nostalgia bogeyman had it substituted for its loss of saves with passwords. Incidentally the FC cartridge reissue lacks saves too, but introduces an exclusive EZ MODE.

*I'll never be down with stages 2 and 3 having a cavern area apiece (too soon!), but stages 5, 6, 7 and 8 are full of ghoulish fun. Especially 7. Demon Fetuses Must Burn. Check out the reaction of the sixth stage's dolls if you die, haha. Aww!

Akumajou Dracula x68000 [translation]

The only thing I enjoy more than firing up old favourites after reading shmuplations is doing the reverse. I like knowing that they were specifically going for a feel closer to the first game than the then-recent SFC one. I'd always thought the combination of Mega Man air control and Dracula 1-stiff stairclimbing could've easily ended in disaster, but it's clear now that they knew to keep the latter restriction in mind, as AD1 did. I was thinking on my last session that the Tower of Dolls played like a dream with its stairs and the lazily yet relentlessly homing dolls and drifting balloons.

The archer guy in the garden has his junk swaying in the breeze. And yet there’s no wind… this was censored and removed.

I knew something was up with those lovingly drawn little dongs.

[CIT]

I do think it's a shame there isn't a dedicated subweapon button, like VK or Dracula IV's - Rondo has a bit more of an excuse with the default PCE pad's lack of buttons. Maybe there was a similar button deficit on the more popular X68k gamepads? Still, as with the FC games it's easily worked around.

Yep, the X68000 only has two buttons by default, like the PC Engine.

[BIL]

Interesting - I knew there were special pads for its Capcom/SNK fighting game ports, but wouldn't have thought the default setup was FC-style. Makes sense with this game though. As with the original and Akumajou Densetsu, you can tell it was designed to avoid its Achilles' heel of subweapon use while descending stairs, with stairs themselves being a deadly liability you have to quickly traverse between eliminating or evading nearby threats.



Happiness is a third button. ^__^

[CStarFlare]

So, apparently HG101's own Kurt Kalata is putting the finishing touches on a book about the series.

I didn't care to read every detail, but I saw something about a complete track listing.

Grabbed this for my kindle. Nothing fascinating - a two/three page rundown of every game in the series including spinoffs like that iOS puzzle game and some CV clones. Not a boring read if you like CV, but very little depth to it (aside for the occasional background on character names or specific members of the teams the made the games). There's a list of official albums (which doesn't include promo discs) but no track listings.

There's a short section at the end about recurring themes, but it's very lazily thrown together and includes things like "castle gate" and "game over screen." :/

Not the worst $6 I've spent but not one of the great chronicles of video gaming culture.

[GSK]

^^So it's a collection of HG101 articles, in other words?

Drac X is out on Wii U in NA now, by the way. Circle of the Moon next week, Harmony of Dissonance the week after, I imagine Aria of Sorrow will follow.

COTM is a really odd game but I look forward to returning to it on a format that allows me to actually see what's happening.

[trap15]

Soundtrack to Harmony of Dissonance

[CStarFlare]

^^So it's a collection of HG101 articles, in other words?

The preface pretty match tells you that's what you'll get. I expected as much. I got a lot of use out of the Castlevania Dungeon, so I feel ok about my purchase.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ghost House on the SMS is interesting at first look. The everpresent bats fly sine wave patterns at different frequencies, and there's invisible holes all over the floors - rather reminiscent of Castlevania 2.

Other than that, it's just the typical early '80s multi-floor game but with scrolling, so a bit like Son Son or Jaleco's Ninja Kun games. It is interesting to see how some things keep being rediscovered, but at the same time there's also garbage that wouldn't be seen in any Castlevania - at least not outside a gag - like jumping on enemy heads for damage or attacking with a gigantic fist. You also get a really generous vertical hit range against those bats.

[Squire Grooktook]

Hey, I'm super busy right now, but I just wanted to ask a quick question.

I'm thinking of picking up the Ps1 Castlevania Chronicles. How good is the port of Akumajo Dracula x86 on Original mode? Also are you able to switch between all 4 ost's (including the arrange) on both modes, or just arrange?

[Captain]

[BIL]

I'm thinking of picking up the Ps1 Castlevania Chronicles. How good is the port of Akumajo Dracula x86 on Original mode?

I've one-lifed both the JP PS1's Original mode, and X68k via emulator to compare - as far as gameplay goes they seem identical down to the tiniest quirks. IIRC SuperDeadite has criticised the PS1 version's video output in the past, but as far as frames, layers, effects and the rest of the actual content, everything seems identical too. Right down to the marble archers' tiny little dongs!

Also are you able to switch between all 4 ost's (including the arrange) on both modes, or just arrange?

I never really looked into this, but according to GameFAQs' cheat page for the game, you can. You can definitely choose from the three X68k sound versions in Original.

[SuperDeadite]

I'm thinking of picking up the Ps1 Castlevania Chronicles. How good is the port of Akumajo Dracula x86 on Original mode?

I've one-lifed both the JP PS1's Original mode, and X68k via emulator to compare - as far as gameplay goes they seem identical down to the tiniest quirks. IIRC SuperDeadite has criticised the PS1 version's video output in the past, but as far as frames, layers, effects and the rest of the actual content, everything seems identical too. Right down to the marble archers' tiny little dongs!

Also are you able to switch between all 4 ost's (including the arrange) on both modes, or just arrange?

I never really looked into this, but according to GameFAQs' cheat page for the game, you can. You can definitely choose from the three X68k sound versions in Original.

The X68000 original runs in 31khz only. PS1 of course can only do 15khz. Though if you are emulating, will be hard to notice the difference.

When playing Original mode in the PS1 port, you can select between FM, LA, and GS soundtracks. In the USA version you have to push a secret button combination to access them though. I'm guessing Konami did this as the sound screen is 100% in Japanese, and they couldn't be bothered to hack the rom and translate it.

The Arranged mode uses the ''interesting'' CD redbook remixs only. 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.

Also be aware as far as I know, there is no way to access the original's pure GM soundtrack. According to Konami, they chose to make this a hidden feature in the X68000 original as every GM synth sounds different and they didn't want to hear complaints about it sounding off by people buying cheap as hell GM modules. On the X68K, you'd hit XF1+G on the keyboard at the music select screen. So I'd assume this feature does not exist in the PS1 port at all, as besides lacking a keyboard, you can't hook up a synth either.