Castlevania Miscellanies

[Blinge]

^This of course. I should've mentioned atmosphere in my earlier post.

It's a real treat for the eyes and ears after spending so long on the NES games.

[BIL]

Dracula IV is nowhere as tightly designed an action game as the other traditional entries, though the last four blocks (Cellar/Treasury/Clock Tower/Keep) do finally develop some satisfyingly nasty setups. But I love the gloomy downbeat air. More of an atmospheric favourite - I tend to replay it every couple winters when it gets dark early. The series' most maturely mellow, brooding OST easily defeats some occasionally garish colours and weak sprites.

(paradoxically, it's also one of the few sidescrollers outside Super Metroid I find entertaining to see speedrun. The XTRA-strong damage kickback and frequent HP restores create an almost Garegga-esque tightrope act)

You can skip almost the entire screen by jumping all the way down, no finesse or tricks needed.

I'm glad others know of this Pro Strat

I'm Simon Berumondo, and this is suicide divin'!

[Skykid]

For me SCIV is the closest CV to actual gothic horror literature in videogame form. It's long, absorbing, and beautifully detailed. Its softer difficulty allows for a different kind of gaming love in.

Pour a glass of red, light the fire, draw the curtains and dim the lights, wrap yourself in a blanket and crank up the speakers.

It's pretty wonderful.

[Volteccer_Jack]

Long is the only part of the description that reflects reality, IMO. I get bored of the pointless easy tedium of CV4 what seems like an hour before the game gets interesting, and that's assuming I don't just turn it off when I get to that "WHOA GRAFFIX" part and remember that the game is going to force me to wait motionless for half a century for seemingly no reason before letting me progress. Maybe that was a callback to Simon's Quest, I don't know, I would rather be playing Simon's Quest. And it's the only CV game I've played where I hate the music and think the controls are awful, so there's that.

[Skykid]

I think it's arguably the overall best OST of the series.

[soprano1]

I think it's arguably the overall best OST of the series.

It has a great variety in composition and use of instruments (on the SFC/SNES no less!), and gives that haunting ambient you would expect of a game with Dracula out of the rest of the OST's.

[soprano1]

On the subject of SCIV, uncensored patch:
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2928/

[Kino]

And it's the only CV game I've played where I hate the music

Wait, people can actually remember the soundtrack well enough to hate it?

[copy-paster]

SCIV is actually good imo, despite of some silliness that make "expert" players quit. And this is the only CV game I clear with no continues besides the original CV.

[FinalBaton]

I think it's arguably the overall best OST of the series.

Let's agree to this disagree on this. There's one that best it for sure IMO (well, for my tastes anyway).

But it's great and up there in the series entries, no doubt.

[FinalBaton]

Started playing CotM last night on my TV and so far I really, really like it. When a game keeps you up when you're supposed to go to bed, you know it's a good one

There are some enemies who are really fun to fight (AKA require that you find their pattern, and answer with a move that can dispatch them easily and in a satisfying manner). Bosses are fun fights so far too.

Level design: so far I have no complaints

[evil_ash_xero]

I love CV IV. It's right below SoTN and RoB, for me.

[Durandal]

I think it's arguably the overall best OST of the series.

I think it is the most consistent soundtrack in the series because of the great atmosphere it provides. While other CV soundtracks have more memorable individual tracks, I could care less for the rest which don't manage to stand out. At those times I rather prefer IV's haunting ambiance.

[FinalBaton]

I think Bloodlines' soundtrack is as consistant as CV4, and is even slightly better
It is dark, powerful and elegant, making it an exquisite treat for the soul /\^..^/\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BVFbBX ... D3&index=7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSn1f-X ... D3&index=2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4HhvGk ... 54DB6D47D3


Bloodline's is my #1 favourite Castlevania OST and an absolute chef d'oeuvre of an FM synth-score. Yamane-San absolutely destroys in this one!

[EmperorIng]

Super CV's musical combination of eerie ambiance and progressive jazz fusion easily makes it one of my favorites in the whole series.

It's nice to get a break from the usual poppy synth-rock the series is known for. Some of Bloodline's tracks, like the baroque and unsettling Tower of Pisa theme, are my favorites for that reason.

[evil_ash_xero]

The soundtrack to CV IV does stand out. It's not a favorite of mine, as I'm more fond of stuff like SoTN. You know, more...stereotypical Castlevania. But the soundtrack to IV is pretty interesting.

[Squire Grooktook]

Just look at this smug motherfucker.

[FinalBaton]

Some of Bloodline's tracks, like the baroque and unsettling Tower of Pisa theme, are my favorites for that reason.

Oh man, I love the music to the Versaille palace so much... It's really cool to hear baroque music in CV, I think it fits exceptionnally well. It carries an air of elegance, but also of arrogance, which create some discomfort I feel like(treachery and betrayal are other words that immediatly pop in my head when I hear this music style that was reserved for the upper class of the time). And also, needless to say: it fits a castle environment like a glove!
There's also a track like this in an NES CV too (can't remember which right now) and it stands out as well.

Bring on the emulated clavecins! BRING 'EM ON!!!


EDIT : found it, it's the Clockwork stage in CV 3 on NES. It's clearly aiming for a clavecin/baroque sound : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aUHiFIpRRE
The boss battle in O.G. CV on NES also has that feel : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb2VQmWQ-J8

[BIL]

Even the title of Bloodlines' st3 track - The Discoloured Wall - is vaguely discomforting and sinister. Best creepy tune of the traditional games imo. (the pacing of the traditionals and nonlinears being so radically different, I tend to not compare them directly - stuff that works superbly in the former could grow repetitive in the latter, while many great SOTN/onward tracks would be unwieldy in linear stage format)

Bloodlines is probably my favourite OST of the traditional series - stage tracks are grandiose and built around huge climactic flourishes, yet perfectly streamlined to fit a very fast-paced game. The miniboss theme exemplifies this, crashing in with that menacing arpeggio to darken the mood no matter how quickly you vanquish the enemy and resume the scrolling.

IV excels in quite the opposite direction, I find. Stuff like Cellar and of course Dracula's theme brood and smoulder in a way none of the other traditional OSTs ever managed... even the more conventionally melodic stuff like "Theme of Simon" and "Forest of Monsters" stands out to me more for their darker interludes. "Clockwork Mansion" is the exemplar of this - the main hook is easily up there with the series' catchiest but it's the ominous interstitial hum I really gravitate to.

I also love the contrast of the stiltedly sumptuous banquet hall BGM with what is frankly a bit of a dump. I used to find that area simply bland and over-lit (much like the earlier cave). But being charitable, these days it gives me a bit of a The Shining vibe (particularly with all the ghosts). Party's long over, sorry Berumondo. Ghosts drank all the booze too.

There's one in a NES CV too (can't remember which right now) and it stands out as well.

Castlevania III's Clockwork? Along with the final incarnation of "Big Battle" (Dracula v3), it's my #1 reason to prefer the Famicom soundtrack. ^__^ Each note has incredible clarity and punch via VRC6. edit: CRUMBZ, I was too late! But I applaud your superb taste in Castlevania BGMs!

[Leandro]

SCIV music is good, no doubt, but the gameplay is extremely boring. Because of the tedium I could never finish the game, always turned it off at some point.

Circle of the Moon is my favorite CV, I remember finishing the game like 4 or 5 times consecutively, each time playing on a new mode that would be given as a password upon completion. It was just too good. And it inherited the Sinking Old Sanctuary song from another fave CV of mine

[FinalBaton]

But I applaud your superb taste in Castlevania BGMs!

Same Cheers

[Volteccer_Jack]

And it's the only CV game I've played where I hate the music

Wait, people can actually remember the soundtrack well enough to hate it?

Off the top of my head, I remember this awful crap that sounds like a Tarzan cartoon for small children took Casper the Friendly Ghost out on a date at a dance club run by fans of subpar chiptune music. If I were feeling generous about the ambience, I would instead compare it to the Addam's Family having a dance-off in Shrek's swamp. I also remember it having the only bad rendition of Bloody Tears in history. But the rest escapes me. I don't even remember the music that plays at that part where you have to wait motionless for a thousand years while the game shows off the SNES's UNBELIEVABLE ABILITY TO SPIN THINGS.

As far as atmosphere goes I think Symphony's music takes the cake there even with all the weird stuff it does, close runners up would be Ecclesia, Dissonance, and Bloodlines (or whatever we're calling the one on the Sega).

SCIV is actually good imo, despite of some silliness that make "expert" players quit. And this is the only CV game I clear with no continues besides the original CV.

Hey now, Rondo is my all-time favorite CV game and Symphony makes my top 5, and those are both very easy games, so I don't think I have super demanding hardcore standards here. The fact that most of SCIV is insanely easy isn't the (only) problem. The main problem is that it doesn't present interesting situations for the player to navigate. The mudmen in one of the early stages are the really obvious example that jump to mind; they multiply when you hit them, but that doesn't actually DO anything, it doesn't pose a threat to you or result in any interesting tactics, it just means you have to stand motionless whipping the same enemy for a long time.

A lot of situations in SCIV are almost interesting, except that they're designed with CV1 Simon in mind, and the aimable whip makes them totally trivial (see: every moment of the game that involves significant verticality). The ability to control your movement during jumps has a similar effect, and I initially blamed both of these mechanics for the game's issues, until I played Chronicles and realized that no, those are fine mechanics, SCIV just has really lazy design.

Just look at this smug motherfucker.

Smug as fuck, baby.

[Blinge]

Well IV is done now, not sure when or where in the 'vania i'll be heading next.
It was strange to be playing the game for the first time and enjoying it, to then enter this thread and read about how shit it is. I hadn't noticed.

I don't even remember the music that plays at that part where you have to wait motionless for a thousand years while the game shows off the SNES's UNBELIEVABLE ABILITY TO SPIN THINGS.

Bahaha. Yeah, you're right there. That section suuucked.

[Skykid]

Well IV is done now, not sure when or where in the 'vania i'll be heading next.
It was strange to be playing the game for the first time and enjoying it, to then enter this thread and read about how shit it is. I hadn't noticed.

It's a great game, rest easy you enjoyed it for all the right reasons.

Castlevania III's Clockwork

One of the best, and one of the very few I actually listen to outside of the game world.

[Nagumo]

Quality of IV aside, does anyone else love the Japanese logo of the game? It perfectly encompasses the game's gothic atmosphere. I have a hard time deciding which one I like better: this one or the logo for Akumajou Densetsu. Interesting how the most atmospheric games in the series have that quality reflected in their logos.

Spoiler

Spoiler

[FinalBaton]

IV's logo is badass for sure! I love it

[Strider77]

C IV's soundtrack is quite good. I'd argue it and Super Metroid are some of the best out of SNES's audio library.

[BrianC]

Off the top of my head, I remember this awful crap that sounds like a Tarzan cartoon for small children took Casper the Friendly Ghost out on a date at a dance club run by fans of subpar chiptune music. If I were feeling generous about the ambience, I would instead compare it to the Addam's Family having a dance-off in Shrek's swamp.

That's actually one of my favorite tracks in the game.

[Squire Grooktook]

It's a good track, yes.

[Austin]

C IV's soundtrack is quite good. I'd argue it and Super Metroid are some of the best out of SNES's audio library.

Agreed.