IV and Bloodlines are better than Rondo of Blood
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Mr Bakaboy
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Been playing the Sharp x68000 version of Castlevania for a while now. I started w/ the PSX version and noticed right away it felt harder but couldn't put my finger on it. Today I bought Castlevania Chronicles for PS3 and know the difference. Take the gimp walk and slower whip from Castlevania NES then make an upgrade by making the walk as smooth as Super Castlevania IV and the whip go as fast as Super Castlevania IV and you have the major difference between the two. Now I am running this on emulation, but the rest of the game doesn't feel slower. Just the main character and his whip.
I did see a little more sneaky stuff in the PSX version like fireballs from the fish men going high and low, but all of this pales in comparison to fixing the walk and whip.
I did see a little more sneaky stuff in the PSX version like fireballs from the fish men going high and low, but all of this pales in comparison to fixing the walk and whip.
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I hear a lot of good things. I've never come across it out in the wild, should just ebay or emu that shit.
Kid Panda
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Just emu it. No point in looking on a tiny ass screen.
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I have chronicles for ps1 and never noticed any slowness, but I was playing on a ps1 (68k version with hidden midi music menu) and was able to clear it fine.
Mr Bakaboy
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The slowness was the Sharp x68000 version.
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Usually I'd agree, but my old purple Gameboy Color and my SP Advance are perfect travel companions. I have a ton of games for both and it's original hardware.
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I talk about it in threads that would be about the series in general but that isn't the case here, innit
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What if I told you Belmont's Revenge was better than Rondo, Sage?
What then?
I wouldn't, but just think about it.
If I'm ranking the three I guess I'll say Rondo>Super IV>Bloodlines.
The paths, the little details, the sprites they never stopped using, the intro, the ability to backtrack and replay stages, the item crashes... Come on, Rondo is the king.
Super IV is magnificent, especially considering how early it came out in the life of the SNES. Tons of stages and effects that really showcase the potential of the system. Is the whip too powerful?
Fuck. You.
The whip rules. The sub weapons are there to support the whip, not upstage it.
The worst thing about the whip is how badly I miss it in every other CV game.
Bloodlines is good. Respectable. The theme is good, but they don't really make the most of the setting outside of stage 4. The animation on the main characters feels a bit off. I almost always play Eric. Quincy feels wrong, but that's probably because he isn't Super IV Simon.
What then?
I wouldn't, but just think about it.
If I'm ranking the three I guess I'll say Rondo>Super IV>Bloodlines.
The paths, the little details, the sprites they never stopped using, the intro, the ability to backtrack and replay stages, the item crashes... Come on, Rondo is the king.
Super IV is magnificent, especially considering how early it came out in the life of the SNES. Tons of stages and effects that really showcase the potential of the system. Is the whip too powerful?
Fuck. You.
The whip rules. The sub weapons are there to support the whip, not upstage it.
The worst thing about the whip is how badly I miss it in every other CV game.
Bloodlines is good. Respectable. The theme is good, but they don't really make the most of the setting outside of stage 4. The animation on the main characters feels a bit off. I almost always play Eric. Quincy feels wrong, but that's probably because he isn't Super IV Simon.
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A lot of the contemporary criticisms of IV were popularized in the Sequelitis video. Not that that applies to any of the comments in this thread. (Takumaji was preaching the gospel of Bloodlines ages ago and seems to have mellowed on IV, if anything.)
But the suggestion that IV should be more "built around" the whip mechanic is off base. IV's whip and gameplay mechanics are, I would say, the appropriate level of departure from the NES series.
Dracula X is the game to aim those criticisms at. That's where the mechanics established in IV should have been elaborated on. Instead we get a garish step back that fails to take advantage of the capabilities of the platform.
But the suggestion that IV should be more "built around" the whip mechanic is off base. IV's whip and gameplay mechanics are, I would say, the appropriate level of departure from the NES series.
Dracula X is the game to aim those criticisms at. That's where the mechanics established in IV should have been elaborated on. Instead we get a garish step back that fails to take advantage of the capabilities of the platform.
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CV4 is great, but I really felt like it was more of a showcase of the SNES vs the NES since its a remake. Don't get me wrong, the game is legit AF and has great music, visuals, mechanics, ect.
Dracula X (XX) on snes well, they really should have done more work on it. While its a fun game in its own right if you don't compare it to rondo, its still a mess. Yeah, the music sounds great for a snes cart, and some of the anime backgrounds are cool but it doesn't do enough to be a solid improvement over 4. Had they did some more improvements and maybe tried to set it farther away from rondo it might have been better received.
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The basic leather whip (before it evolves into a morningstar chain) has a sound effect that is so pleasing to listen to I don't want to get the upgrades. The problem is I really, really like whipping candles. it's a conundrum
You guys want to talk Belmont's Revenge, ok let's do it
PROS
-bitchin' soundtrack, they even Game Boy-ized Bach's Chromatic Fantasy
-walking right-to-left in one stage instead of left-to-right which is unheard of in 2D games and genius
-Mega Man-style stage select which should have been the default for every Game Boy game really
-first ever Belmont VS Belmont boss fight, added bonus it's Father VS Son
-absolutely every, I MEAN EVERY single problem that plagued Castlevania: The Adventure was fixed (walking speed, rope-climbing speed, slowdown, input lag)
CONS
-no second form for Dracula
and that's it. That game is one of portable's finest platformers. for (WARNING MADMAN TRIGGER WORD) nostalgia's sake I even looked up the gamefaqs review I wrote when I was 20, https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gameboy/585659-castlevania-ii-belmonts-revenge/reviews/119746
edit: and of course the great cover which elicited a sense of wonder in that strange world, by Tom Dubois who did so many other Konami covers
looking up, I can't believe there was an interview done with Tom, here it is for anyone interested http://www.boxequalsart.com/tom-dubois-interview-page.html
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I mellowed out a bit after I gave it another good go on emu, it's a decent game when taken for itself but there just isn't enough CV atmosphere in it for me to consider it a worthy addition to the series.
Still preaching the Bloodlines gospel, tho, just in a more casual way.
Had a day off yesterday and played loads of Genny games, among them Bloodlines for two hours. It just feels right in every aspect for me, specially when playing with the Alucard Spear. Ace stuff.
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Bump. Because it's a great thread and close to Halloween.
I played through IV's Hard mode for the first time in my life.
Hard mode gives the player a sense of urgency. Perhaps the best thing about Hard mode is now it makes subweapons useful, in that you have to use them in conjunction with the whip to smoothly go through the levels. With all the extra enemies on screen as well as most enemies needing two hits to die, going with just the whip slows things down.
Level 1: more enemies so no doddling; skeletons and Mr. Heds take two hits to kill. So far the enemy placement appears to be the most different in this level.
Level 2: more bats, zombies take two hits.
Level 3: the bridge that falls apart at the beginning of the vertical section has two bats come at you. Eyes are stronger.
Level 4: annoying bats swoop down from the screen way more often.
Level 5: this is the level without a boss that is short and sets a mood before you finally enter Dracula's castle. More harpies and those ugly rabbits.
Level 6: the difficulty is noticeable with the dogs that don't die at the start. Thankfully the axe throwing armored knights retain the same hit points.
Level 7 to the end of the game: No discernible difference.
In conclusion, the first couple of levels were most different. What was most appreciated was adding in enemies where before there was empty space.
This game is such a classic. It's a bummer Konami didn't put in a Hard difficulty in the options setting; on the other hand, it isn't as drastically different a game from the Normal mode that I had heard over the years.
I played through IV's Hard mode for the first time in my life.
Hard mode gives the player a sense of urgency. Perhaps the best thing about Hard mode is now it makes subweapons useful, in that you have to use them in conjunction with the whip to smoothly go through the levels. With all the extra enemies on screen as well as most enemies needing two hits to die, going with just the whip slows things down.
Level 1: more enemies so no doddling; skeletons and Mr. Heds take two hits to kill. So far the enemy placement appears to be the most different in this level.
Level 2: more bats, zombies take two hits.
Level 3: the bridge that falls apart at the beginning of the vertical section has two bats come at you. Eyes are stronger.
Level 4: annoying bats swoop down from the screen way more often.
Level 5: this is the level without a boss that is short and sets a mood before you finally enter Dracula's castle. More harpies and those ugly rabbits.
Level 6: the difficulty is noticeable with the dogs that don't die at the start. Thankfully the axe throwing armored knights retain the same hit points.
Level 7 to the end of the game: No discernible difference.
In conclusion, the first couple of levels were most different. What was most appreciated was adding in enemies where before there was empty space.
This game is such a classic. It's a bummer Konami didn't put in a Hard difficulty in the options setting; on the other hand, it isn't as drastically different a game from the Normal mode that I had heard over the years.
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My whole life I haven't been able to comprehend exactly what I am looking at with this:
Here is some art from a Nintendo Power guide:
And some art from a Japanese Castlevania compendium:
I guess the artists didn't know either.
Here is some art from a Nintendo Power guide:
And some art from a Japanese Castlevania compendium:
I guess the artists didn't know either.
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Four was my first Castlevania. Will always be my favorite. Prefer the classic 8 & 16-bit Castlevanias over the Metroidvanias. Simon's Quest isn't a real Metroidvania yet.
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Great 2018 thread and I have to disagree about the Vampire Killer post—adding keys to the game was not a good idea and it would have killed the series on 1 if not for NES Castlevania. Castlevania has perfect pacing, Vampire Killer is Castlevania, but now with a series of dumb mazelike levels you have to backtrack in search of small keys hiding inside walls in order to get a bigger key to open doors and proceed. Sounds fun? Developing the NES game must have been a revelation to everyone involved.
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Started another playthrough of IV yesterday and you can roll through that game very quickly - until stage 8, then it's time to pay some attention vs rushing.
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Speaking of bump, I finally beat Operation C a few months ago.
BUT, did you get the bridge to appear at the top of the waterfall, before the Stage 3 boss? Can't 100% it until you do.
Jon