darksnowman Posted October 4, 2010 Posted October 4, 2010 (edited) GT are back with another series of videos looking at another classic series, this time its the turn of Castlevania. :awesome: Part I - Road Into Darkness The legacy begins! The origins of Dracula's evil and the accursed Belmont bloodline commence the Retrospective of over two decades of vampire hunting! Part II: Resurrection of Evil The series strikes four consoles in four years including Simon’s Super return, Richter’s first quest and Alucard’s Playstation Symphony. Part III: Realm of Horror The Castlevania series reaches what has come to be known as its darkest hour on the Nintendo 64, and struggles toward the light on Sony's PlayStation 2. Part IV: Procession of Portability The plight of Konami's vampire hunters goes mobile with Nintendo's Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS. Edited October 28, 2010 by darksnowman
Pit-Jr Posted October 4, 2010 Posted October 4, 2010 Boy those older Castlevania titles look rough today but i loved Simon's Quest, its music, and its 'cliffhanger' ending
Jonnas Posted October 4, 2010 Posted October 4, 2010 Man, Castlevania is such a good series. Too bad it got so repetitive with the "Metroid-style" gameplay.
mcj metroid Posted October 4, 2010 Posted October 4, 2010 Man, Castlevania is such a good series. Too bad it got so repetitive with the "Metroid-style" gameplay. I know it's gonna sound biased coming from me, but I freaking love the ds castlevania games more than the older ones
Jonnas Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 I know it's gonna sound biased coming from me, but I freaking love the ds castlevania games more than the older ones Don't get me wrong, me too. But there were too many of them! Imagine if 3 Super Metroids came out on the SNES. Wouldn't it get tiring?
mcj metroid Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 Don't get me wrong, me too. But there were too many of them!Imagine if 3 Super Metroids came out on the SNES. Wouldn't it get tiring? OH yes I agree, for me personally 3 of anything is too much for one console. Hell I even got tired of the prime series and that stretched across 2 consoles. I only played the ds games recently enough and took long breaks in between each( except portrait of ruin which was a bit meh)
nekunando Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 My history with Castlevania started with the N64, so it wasn't until I purchased Dawn of Sorrow on the DS that I got my first taste of Castlevania in 2D.. and what an introduction I still consider Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow to be my favourite, though since then I have finished Portrait of Ruin, Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow and Super Castlevania IV whilst also reaching the final boss of Circle of the Moon, only to find myself critically underpowered and yet to return I also have Order of Ecclesia and the NES Classic version of the original on GBA to take care of along with the likelihood of downloading Symphony of the Night on the XBOX 360 at some point. Needless to say, I enjoy the series but it has got to the stage where I feel I need to be in the right mood before I try to tackle another one..
Captain Falcon Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 The first Castlevania game I played was Simon's Quest back in the good old days... that game was broken. Not that you notice these things at that age but I always just remember that feeling f not having a clue where to go and then on the off chance I did, having one hell of a difficult time getting there. Queue a massive jump to March 2007 where I fancied a new DS game. I was eying up Yoshi's Island but went for Portrait of Ruin because I'd heard good things and wanted something a bit different for my collection. And I every much doubt I would have enjoyed YI as much as PoR - PoR is my favourite DS game. I consequently picked up Dawn of Sorrow and then Order of Ecclesia on release. I also have Super Castlevania IV on my Wii. I'm not a super big fan of that one for the sole reason that you move so slow. I'm sure a typical crappy PAL conversion didn't help things though. Having seen videos comparing Dracula X(XX Jp) with Vampire's Kiss, I don't think I would get it if they released it on the VC. I do have Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth on WiiWare and that's not too bad.
Ville Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 Played the first Castlevania on NES...didn't really like the stiffness of movement in the NES and SNES games. Next time, came in contact with the series on the N64...was ok, though we didn't complete it. Can still remember the chainsaw maniac in the hedge maze... Years passed, and due to having read reviews about the best DS games, I traded my Mario Kart DS for Dawn of Sorrow. What a surprise...the game was just brilliant. No more stiffness, but open exploration and skills to collect from every single monster in the game, plus weapons and armours to make and find...combined with great music and challenging enough gameplay, the end result was plain awesome. I really liked DoS... Naturally, got PoR at some point, but it was more of a disappointment, since the game mechanics were simplified from DoS. Also, the enemy artwork was the same, which didn't really help... OoE was better than Portrait, though couldn't reach the brilliance of DoS. The weapon system was a clever idea, though it still lacked the depth found in DoS. Also, the transition from anime artwork towards a more realistic style didn't really appeal to me, since it made the game feel more like just another mass fantasy game...Furthermore, the game felt a bit disjointed due to the lack of a hub world, though it's good that the devs were trying to shake up the formula a bit. Still, good challenge, and some nice musical tracks as well... So thus far, the pinnacle for me has been DoS. Much to do, collect and explore...
dwarf Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 OH yes I agree, for me personally 3 of anything is too much for one console. Hell I even got tired of the prime series and that stretched across 2 consoles. I only played the ds games recently enough and took long breaks in between each( except portrait of ruin which was a bit meh) They should have cut it after Echoes. Then I'd be able to say 'it's the best game trilogy/series'. I played the first DS Castlevania. It was good. The ending paths/weird bosses were kind of gay but a fantastiche gaim nuntehless.
EEVILMURRAY Posted October 7, 2010 Posted October 7, 2010 OH yes I agree, for me personally 3 of anything is too much for one console. You hated Mario 3 didn't you. I quite liked the DS titles, granted they were fairly similar but I quite liked the format. Walking into a room with a massive axe ready for some ultimate beatdown - genius.
Arnieboy Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 The second part to this is up now: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/part-ii-the-castlevania/705740
nekunando Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 (edited) This retrospective has inspired me to treat myself to Rondo of Blood this Halloween on the Virtual Console.. and maybe one of the PS2 games Edited October 11, 2010 by nekunando
flameboy Posted October 18, 2010 Posted October 18, 2010 I still need to get Castlevania X or whatever its called on PSP so I can play symphony of the night....
Pit-Jr Posted October 18, 2010 Posted October 18, 2010 you do realize you can get SOTN in the PS Store right?
Arnieboy Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 (edited) Part 3: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/part-iii-the-castlevania/705741 Edited October 19, 2010 by Arnieboy
Arnieboy Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 Part 4 is up: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/part-iv-the-castlevania/705742 Edit: Sorry for the double post
darksnowman Posted October 28, 2010 Author Posted October 28, 2010 OP is also up to date. I can't remember specifically playing Castlevania on the Gameboy, but those rolling eyeballs are familiar.
Jonnas Posted October 28, 2010 Posted October 28, 2010 Man, the Castlevanias in GBA and DS are so good... But there's so many of them, they would've been way more memorable if fewer existed.
flameboy Posted October 30, 2010 Posted October 30, 2010 you do realize you can get SOTN in the PS Store right? don't think its on the UK one.
Fused King Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 I just fucking love this series. I am focusing my attention on the DS installments, but have bought a douplepack for the GBA - with Harmony of Dissonance & Aria of Sorrow - to be able to understand Dawn of Sorrow better. I have already finished Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia which both have great music and I can't wait to listen to the score of Dawn of Sorrow. Despite the fact that every Castlevania game I've played seemed similar to me, what draws me to the series is probably the simple yet intruiging story. Still, I probably don't get half of the references made to older games in these portable games:laughing: I guess the music is also a big incentive for me to buy and play the DS Castlevania games.
Captain Falcon Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 Gentlemen, I give you, Part V Konami's Curse
Jonnas Posted November 2, 2010 Posted November 2, 2010 Excellent ending. I wish they'd make a feature explaining the origins of each myth represented in those bosses, though.
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