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Retro Gaming With Castlevania and Friends
Jeremy Parish, over at 1up, has single-handedly taken up the banner of the classic game. Today, he talks about Castlevania and other classic vampire killers. From the article: "There was recently a rather lively debate on my personal blog about how silly the whole franchise has become, considering it started off as little more than a loving tribute to classic monster movies and has somehow mutated into a rather straight-faced effort by silver-haired pretty boys to battle vampires. It's like a horrible Ann Rice/DeviantArt mash-up, based around a not-quite-menacing villain whose job is basically to serve as a MacGuffin for exploring twisty castle corridors and has occasionally been depicted as a dude in a badly-designed tuxedo."
I got as far as "There was recently a rather lively debate on my personal blog ..." and then gave myself a swirly.
frist psot
He only mentions a random smattering of Castlevania games, and there doesn't seem to be any point to his discussion (except maybe to mention Haunted Castle for the PS2, which he implies isn't very good). The biggest travesty is no mention of Symphony of the Night.
Arguing about vi versus Emacs is like arguing whether it's better to make fire by rubbing sticks or banging rocks.
I've played a good bit of these games, or at least the ones that came out in the US....
My favorite, even more than the modern Metroidvanias, is still the first game. It's just such an elegant combination of control and reflexes. The thing about the game to realize is that your character is purposely limited (you can't control how high you jump, you can't change direction in mid-air, can't jump very high, can't walk fast and climb stairs even slower) but has a powerful main weapon. None of this two-pixel-long sword crap, your whip extends like four blocks ahead of you! And once powered up, which wasn't hard at all usually, it could take out most non-boss foes in one hit.
On the other hand, your enemies were a lot more manueverable than you, and of course it turns out that it was not Dracula who was the bane of Simon's existence but gaping pits. When a friend told me that "Dracula X" for the SNES's version of Dracula was fought over a giant hole and was made much harder as a result, I realized it: gravity is classic Castlevania's secret ultimate boss! "So, we meet again, player! I see you've met my lackey Dracula... a charming fellow, and his fangs are quite deadly, but he is as nothing next to my awesome power! Now you must fight us both at once!" (Bottomless Pit runs out and just looms underneath the fight.) "Take that!"
Hm. Bottomless Pit. Something makes me think a lot of people are going to use that as a character nickname for the new Smash Bros....
If we're talking about Castlevania specifically, and not the knock-offs, then the series has still produced generally great games. there are a few notable exceptions (aka, any Castlevania game that occurs in a full 3-D environment), but the 2-D games on Game Boy/GBA/DS are downright awesome, and while a little short on length, excellent successors to what i still consider to be the best 2-D side-scrolling game ever made, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (for PS1). just like i didn't play the original Castlevania purely for the story, i still don't play any of the games since then for it either. getting upset over the color of the main characters hair, or the fact that many of them haven't been Belmont family members is just ridiculous, because the underlying games are still engaging and fun. and, isn't that the point?
I have the #1 entry on MARP, With one life I make it to Dracula, kill him, but his 2nd form kills me.
God spoke to me.
One shouldn't look back to the early NES games as the only worthwhile members of the franchaise. As far as I'm concerned, and I'm sure many here will agree, the best game was Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It suffered from risible voice action, and some of the sound-effects were corny, but even with a suave pretty-boy as protagonist, it still possessed some bad-ass gameplay. For those who went without strategy guides, the fact that the easy ending obscured the entire second half of the game came as a shocking revelation when stumbled upon.
Frist Psot!
Thou shalt not "knock" thy 2-D Castlevania, or thine shal be "whipped" most umercifully.
Say whatever you want about the 3-D crap.
"If I were bound by all laws everywhere I'm sure I would have committed a capital crime somewhere."
I never got into the series' NES incarnations, but for me "Castlevania Adventure" for the original GB was a killer app that drained many charges from that fist-sized belt-clip rechargeable attachment. Jumping was a bitch to get the hang of, though I gather that's pretty much a Castlevania thing.. apart from that, it was classic.
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...my favorite is still Castlevania II - Simon's Quest. For it's time it was the perfect blend of Action/RPG. A huge world to explore, items to find, towns to wander through, and lots and lots of secret passages -- like Metroid, set in Transylvania.
After that, just one castle was never enough.
$TUPid C4$TLEVaNi4 n00B5! MeG4m4N I$ +H3 9r34TE5T sId3 5cR0lL3R 3VER!
I put the NES and controllers high-up on a shelf, and left a note saying;
"Anyone wanting to play with this NES and its controllers may do so whenever they like, but will be impaled if they try to steal it."
They just played and didn't think anything of it. Instead of taking the NES Castlevania cartridge without permission, someone did took the golden Zelda-1 NES cartridge. When it was returned, it had been jarred in such a way to cause a peice of plastic to unfix inside the cartridge and rattle. I have still not caught-up with them, given they moved to another town before I could impale them.
without prejudice
I love some of the messages that the villigers and other status messages is just so classic. Here are a few: (Posting in caps to preserve the sense of the game)
WHAT A HORRIBLE NIGHT TO HAVE A CURSE
Yea, like those horrible nights that you don't have a curse are any better.
YOU NOW PROSSESS DRACULA'S RIB
Clearly a typo... but which word? Possess, or possibly Process.
GET A SILK BAG FROM THE GRAVEYARD DUCK TO LIVE LONGER
So, is the bag in the graveyard and I should crouch to find it, or do I have to get it from a mythical "graveyard duck"?
HIT YOUR HEAD ON DEBORAH CLIFF TO MAKE A HOLE
Um, a hole in the cliff or your head?