Castlevania Review (NES)

[Corey_GB]

The game that launched a franchise that is still going strong today. Many gamers will recall moments of frustration and rage while playing Castlevania, but it was one of those games you just couldn't put down.

"Ah Castlevania. The title alone has come so far that it's synonymous with vampires and Dracula even to non-gamers. The very first edition into what has become a huge lineage of these games set the tone well for what fans of the style could expect in the future (if you ignore Castlevania II)."

Full Review:
GameBlurb: Castlevania Review (NES) (http://www.gameblurb.net/reviews/retrograde/retrograde-castlevania-review/)

[Blitzwing256]

yeah cuz castlevania two isn't anything like any of the current castlevanias, cuz none of them have, item collection and open ended exploring an....oh wait.

[tubeway]

So, how is this review of an extremely popular and already well documented title reviewed by hundreds of other people any different, and why should we look at it?

[Bratwurst]

Dear Diary,

This morning Castlevania kissed me in homeroom, it made my pants tingle! I hope we go steady, when we get married I want a daughter and we're gonna call her Symphony of the Night.

Gotta go, lunch bell is ringing!!

[pseudonym]

I thought it was supposed to be a Castlevania review. I think you spent more time talking about your childhood and the difficulty of NES games than you did about the game.

[Corey_GB]

So, how is this review of an extremely popular and already well documented title reviewed by hundreds of other people any different, and why should we look at it?

We are growing our retro review section and many people on DP seem to have liked our reviews in the past. I was just sharing this one as well. Also, just because you have read many reviews on Castlevania doesn't mean other people have. Every review has similar points, but also includes unique perspectives based on the writers personal experiences and memories. But you are correct, like many topics revolving around retro and even newer games, it's hard to put a fresh spin on something that is so covered.

[tubeway]

I hope you don't plan on creating a new thread for every classic review you post. Even the Angry Video Game Nerd just has one running thread.

[Corey_GB]

I hope you don't plan on creating a new thread for every classic review you post. Even the Angry Video Game Nerd just has one running thread.

I was unaware that this was the etiquette for review posting on the DP Classic Gaming forum. I just know other forums like
having the post be the overall topic of discussion (focused). It seems to work better than having a single thread with multiple sub-posts in the form of edits or replies. Those can get out of hand quickly and the discussions get confusing with all the cross-talk. But, I have enjoyed this community greatly and if that is how things are done on this forum I will be sure to respect those rules. :)

[Satoshi_Matrix]

How do you figure Castlevania is an Adventure game? It's a platformer!

[jcalder8]

Some questions:
What have you based it on as being synonymous with non gamers? Is this your opinion or do you have any facts to back it up.

You exclude Castlevania 2 and yet you include the 3d Castlevanias and Castlevania HD, do you feel that 3d and multiplayer castlevanias are truer representations?

Again what are you basing your believe on that " many retro lovers, this is one of the games we remember from our childhood being completely frustrated with." You state that you had trouble with the game but not that anyone else did. What are you backing this up with?

Why were the water levels unbeatable? You never give any indication why you felt this.

At this point I'm not sure if it's even a review or just a collection of your memories.

3rd time: Who says it's one of the hardest games of all time? It seems that you are merely claiming your opinions as facts.

"... and the player has some natural ability ..." So I will enjoy this game if I'm naturally good at it? If not I'm screwed? You could list similar games so that I would know that if I'm good at these other games I'd be good at this one. At this point I really don't want to risk the money on it since I may not be any good and there is nothing I can do about it.

You have been talking a lot about your memories and now you say that it introduced some of the best music to date. I'm very unclear if you mean at it's time or even for today.

[Aussie2B]

It's true that Castlevania has been covered to death (sorry for the bad pun), and while it's also true that a review can still be worthwhile if it has a unique perspective and/or wows the reader with its wordsmithing, this accomplishes neither.

There is no unique angle here. Just some stereotypical boring childhood stories that don't serve the review in any way, and then points about the high difficulty, good music, and that feelings on the controls are mixed. Really, where is the review here? What is the gameplay like and what makes it good? What about the setting and atmosphere? What about the graphics? Why is the music good and what genre would it fall in? There are countless reviews out there that have covered the game more thoroughly and are thus more informative.

As for the other side of it, there is no interesting writing here. I mean, the quote up above does not make me excited to read this review in the slightest. "Ah Castlevania"? Is that how you expect to pull readers in? An intro line is supposed to have some punch. Say something bold or surprising. That intro paragraph just puts me into snooze mode, and it's worse yet for the fact that it discredits everything to come because its statements aren't even believable. I honestly don't think the average non-gamer has even heard of Castlevania, let alone has a clue about what it's about, and, as already has been pointed out, if anything Castlevania 2 set the tone for the current Castlevania games. I imagine the average young Castlevania fan would be quite thrown off playing the original Castlevania, wondering why you have to follow a straight path and where the HP/MP/items/equipment went to.

[Corey_GB]

Thanks for all the honest critiques; they are always appreciated and will only make future reviews that much better. :)