Konami's announcement: Another PS2 Castlevania, 3D

[Ed Oscuro]

The Castlevania Dungeon (http://www.classicgaming.com/castlevania/dungeon.htm) has scans of the new 'play' magazine article. I wasn't initially too hopeful, but looking at some of it now - there's a lot of good points here. Indeed, I started off making fun of Dave H (I don't think I've ever read anything of his before! LOL ) sometimes quirky English, but he makes some very good requests. Here's the lowdown:

1.) It takes three years after Castlevania III; no interaction between the main character (see artwork: very similar to Juste's poster but this guy's more gaunt looking) and Alucard

2.) It's a revenge story, but not against Dracula in particular - one guy leaves his job with Dracula (that's essentially it) and his former buddies have his wife reported as a witch and killed (one quibble; why are folks burning all the witches they can find but not taking on the Demon Castle itself? Hmm). Obviously our lead man Hector takes issue with that.

3.) One friendly NPC has been confirmed; not too different from LoI here yet...

4.) Free camera system, the emphasis of the game team will be on textures

5.) There will be outdoor areas. (The screenshot with a wyvern reminds me a great deal of an early fight in Dracula X: Chi no Rondo.)

6.) The gameplay seems to borrow more from Chaos Legion than, say, Pokemon (as did AoS). It revolves around so-called "Innocent Devils" and "devil forgery;" i.e. building up these critters that follow you around like happy puppies. Instead of collecting souls to do better things, you build up your Devils - like a suit of armor - to do things like open heavy doors for you.

7.) Requests from Halverson: Put some magic into the character's step, like the classic Alucard animation from SotN; include levels from Resurrection (Hmm! The maps probably aren't too great, and in any case these seem better suited to a later date CV game as the baroque to Jacobean styles didn't exist at this date in time).

8.) With this many people able to whip Drac's ass around, why don't all his henchmen simply do it to claim his spot? Seems logical. :P

[MegaDrive20XX]

I NEEED LINKAGE MAN!!! LINKAGE!! I WANNA SEE PICS!!! @_@ *going into a heart attack*! To the Dungeon!! away!!

[Ed Oscuro]

ROFL

When you're done, be sure to hit up the Castlevania Dungeon Forums and post a topic about how much it's gonna rule or how much Iga sucks. @_@

I gotta hand it to the guy - he's kept the Castlevania tradition of exciting INTENSE emotion in regard to the series direction alive and well!

[MegaDrive20XX]

http://www.classicgaming.com/castlevania/playmag/playcod7.jpg


*DROOL* That is the shit

This rocks my PANTS OFF!! Because it's a direct sequel to my ALL TIME favorite CastleVania EVA!!

oh ya, I cant join the CV Forum, because they dont like people with hotmail accounts for odd reasons...

[-hellvin-]

Fucking bombastic. I love every thing about castlevania, and am sure I will continue to with this game. LOI was fun, but there was too much amiss. One thing that bothered me was the stat system....you could raise certain things with items by like....FIVE awesome points and that's it. It's almost like they started to integrate a classic SOTN leveling system but just said fuck it at the end and released the game.

[GarrettCRW]

A direct sequel to CV III? I'm there. Though, if Trevor shows up, it'd be nice to also see Grant and Sypha as well (and the ending for CV III seemed to imply that Trevor might keep contact of a sort with Sypha ;)).

[Ed Oscuro]

Though, if Trevor shows up, it'd be nice to also see Grant and Sypha as well (and the ending for CV III seemed to imply that Trevor might keep contact of a sort with Sypha ;)).
Already confirmed that none of those characters will be there, essentially.

Interesting that Iga won't touch the characters in those games. I likes it.

[IntvGene]

What's wrong with one of these pictures?

http://photobucket.com/albums/v359/intvgene/good.png
http://photobucket.com/albums/v359/intvgene/crap.jpg

The correct answer may vary from person to person, but to me, the bottom picture has more to do with Devil May Cry than Castlevania. I don't care if it has the same characters from an old classic, it's just not the same.

And for the Random Kojima Quote of the Day:

"Oh yes, 2D is my favorite gaming style too! I want to keep working on 2D games. However, my current goal is to make a better 3D action game, so that's taking a big part in me right now."

Memo to Mr. Kojima, go back to your day job.

[EnemyZero]

i hope this is sweet, because as much as i love castlevania the last 3D attempt left me unhappy...it wasnt horrible but could of been better

[Richter]

just hope the level layout isnt as linear as it was in LoI

[Aussie2B]

I see Ms. Kojima is just as creative as ever.

[kainemaxwell]

Wow, sounds like great news!

[Sotenga]

I think I already have an automatic candidate for Game of the Year 2005. :D

[TRM]

I felt that the Castlevania series hit the crapper with the SOTN style games. Hopefully this title will improve the reputation.

[Kim Possible]

Yaaaa! I love Castlevania! But I'm pretty much a blind fool for it. I loved Lament, Symphony is my fav. The only one I didn't care for was Bloodlines (too much of a stretch from the main story). Yaaaaaa! I can't wait!

Thanks for the info. No Sypha? No Grant? oh poo. :bawling:

[Lord Contaminous]

I felt that the Castlevania series hit the crapper with the SOTN style games. Hopefully this title will improve the reputation.

Agreed. I prefer the linear straightforward stage to stage gameplay of Castlevania. Enough Metroidvanias.

[spider-man]

Intvgene, don't you mean Igarashi instead of kojima?

[SoulBlazer]

Yeah, I was going to say -- Hideo Kojima works on the Metal Gear and some other of Konami's franchies, I never heard of him working with Castlevania.

[sharc]

i feel castlevania has just gone downhill since symphony of the night as well. it was a good game, in spite of how ridiculously overhyped it is today, and not my favorite of the whole series; but ever since then, the games have been heading in every direction except their roots. devil may cry's combat, metroid's exploration/item wrangling, pokemon's powering up familiars, and so on. i'm also getting pretty sick of the effeminate, waifish character designs. that style made sense for alucard, but freaking enough gothic prettyboys already.

i'd like to see another traditional castlevania, but it's just not gonna happen with igarashi directing the series. the guy has his own thoughts on where it should go, and "linear," "innovative" and "difficult" don't seem to be on the itinerary. maybe i'm being too harsh, but i don't respect the guy for coming into an established series and treating prior games and stories as subject to omission and rewriting as he sees fit.

-sharc

[joshnickerson]

This was Konami's big frikkin announcement? Whoopde crap.

[maxlords]

Ew. Just ew. Now we have Pokemetroidvania coming for the PS2. Great. On top of that, it's going to be "less linear" and focus on RPG-like elements. And the composer wants to go with singing in the music too? Count me out.

LoI was one of the worst pieces of shite I've ever played in the 3D action genre. I literally beat it in less than one day, and I was bored as hell with it by about halfway through. I know I'm in the minority here but I agree with TRM....SotN RUINED Castlevanias. They're not the same series they used to be and I hate them. I'm at the point where I can't really imagine another good Castlevania ever coming out. The only thing I REALLY like anymore is the music, and they're even about to ruin that. Pathetic.

[xaer0knight]

I'm really surprised they want to take Castlevania back to the consoles, I thought they were going to stick to the GBA (or DS) LOL. Its great and finally, after CV: Resurection got the axe and we havent seen 3-D Castlevanias since the N64. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy SotN and Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, but its time to see another 3-d one "hopefully" better camera angels than the N64 games, overall I enjoyed them. I hated the camera in CV 64 1 and 2, hope the learned there lesson with crappy camera angles. Can't wait!

Has Konami only stated a PS2 release? Would love to see it have a triple/dual launch. Is this also the big new Konami is talking about on there website?

[Aussie2B]

Yeah, I was going to say -- Hideo Kojima works on the Metal Gear and some other of Konami's franchies, I never heard of him working with Castlevania.

More likely he got confused with Ayami Kojima, the Castlevania artist making all the girly boys that look exactly the same over and over and OVER.

Anyway, I'm a HUGE Castlevania fan. I have nearly every Castlevania game released in the US (plus some of the Japanese releases), and I've been a member of the Castlevania Dungeon message board since the very beginning of it around 1999. The first game is basically the reason I got into gaming, and I even met my boyfriend because of our mutual love of the series. However, despite all that, Igarashi has ruined it SO HORRIBLY that I practically hate it now. When I hear "Castlevania" I don't think "quality", I cringe and think of the garbage this no talent hack has been shitting out and calling "Castlevania". The only reason I don't own pretty much every Castlevania game is because I feel like it's a waste of my money to buy the more recent titles. Same reason why I'm not posting at the Dungeon message board much anymore; I don't care to talk about the new games or argue with people who think Igarashi is the best thing to ever happen to the series. Now, don't get me wrong, I do like SotN. That was before the fucker became a complete arrogant bastard. CotM was okay as well, but of course since he had no involvement in it, he thinks it's trash. Sorry, Iga, but it's HoD and AoS that's the real trash, and LoI is even worse. I'd play Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness over Lament of Innocence anyday. This new game looks no better, so I mourn the death of my beloved Castlevania series. :(

<end rant>

[SoulBlazer]

How can you HATE the Game Boy Advance Castlevania games? They ROCK! Aria of Sorrow is the best CV game I've played since Super Castlevania IV. I even enjoyed Lament of Innocence. In my eyes, the franchise is alive and well. Now, if you want to talk about a franchise in a sorry state right now, I'd argue Mega Man. But everyone is entitled to their opinions.

[IntvGene]

Yeah, I was going to say -- Hideo Kojima works on the Metal Gear and some other of Konami's franchies, I never heard of him working with Castlevania.

I didn't mean Hideo...

Kojima must be the equivalent of the "Smith" in Japanese. ;)

[Aussie2B]

How can you HATE the Game Boy Advance Castlevania games? They ROCK! Aria of Sorrow is the best CV game I've played since Super Castlevania IV. I even enjoyed Lament of Innocence. In my eyes, the franchise is alive and well. Now, if you want to talk about a franchise in a sorry state right now, I'd argue Mega Man. But everyone is entitled to their opinions.

Well, we can both agree that Mega Man sucks now. :P I don't think there's been a good X game since X4.

[Steven]

You can only make so many sequels where you defeat 8 bosses, take their weapons, discover each boss' weakness and fight an ultimate end boss.

8 and X4 were my faves. Of course 2 rocks as well, but IMHO hasn't aged all THAT greatly.

[Psycho Mantis]

from what i read in play magazine, it looks pretty good.

[DynastyLawyer]

but ever since then, the games have been heading in every direction except their roots.

I'd agree, but they don't really have to head in the direction of their roots to produce a videogame. It's not like the Castlevania games need be confined to the time period of 1700-1900. As we discussed earlier, you could set it in present day or in the future, for interesting results.


i'm also getting pretty sick of the effeminate, waifish character designs.

Leave Squaresoft out of this.


How can you HATE the Game Boy Advance Castlevania games? They ROCK! Aria of Sorrow is the best CV game I've played since Super Castlevania IV. I even enjoyed Lament of Innocence. In my eyes, the franchise is alive and well.

As a rule, I hate the GBA Castlevania's because they seem like a cop-out. Konami could have made a big budget sequel to SOTN, and we'd see how the Playstation 2 or Xbox makes a badass gothic 2D game. If you look at Klonoa, the possibility of a really sweet looking Castlevania on the PS2 isn't even a matter of probability. It'd be more of an inevitability. Slap on Music at the level of SOTN's, and make a good story, and you have an easy good time. Instead, they use the advanced technology to create 3D laughingstocks, and keep the 2D action that made the franchise confined to essentially old technology. The result? Gamers who want to see the franchise thrive as it once did treat the Castlevania series like Nelson Mandela: We're definately reverent, but we have no idea what the hell to do about it's current condition.

[SoulBlazer]

Notice I said 'best CV game since SC4.'. I'm one of the six gamers out there who HATED SOTN. ;) So I was THRILLED to see the series return to it's 2D roots in the GBA games, and I loved playing them, especily Aria of Sorrow. Lament was'nt the best game in the series but it had nice easy game controls, just the right difficulty, a decent camera angle, and good music.

Actually, that's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about the franchise -- the music. Every game has had great music, and I own numerous OST's and remixes.

But as I said before, we're free to disagree. This new game seems like it would be a good one, mixing some old ideas with some new ones, and I still love the franchise.

But you know what I would love to see? A Castlevania RPG game. :D

[sharc]

I'd agree, but they don't really have to head in the direction of their roots to produce a videogame. It's not like the Castlevania games need be confined to the time period of 1700-1900. As we discussed earlier, you could set it in present day or in the future, for interesting results.

i meant its roots in terms of the gameplay. trips through castlevania have gotten more meandering and unfocused with all the metroid elements, and the games just feel like such cakewalks. castlevania 4 was scaled down in difficulty too, but at least it had a hard mode. sure, there's the odd tough nut to crack, like galamoth, but it all feels "off" to me. maybe a personal issue, i dunno.


But you know what I would love to see? A Castlevania RPG game. :D

role playing game game? that some new genre?

ah, just messin' with ya. ;) castlevania 4 is one of my favorites too, though i haven't played rondo of blood, which seems to be championed as the ultimate old school castlevania.

-sharc

[Sotenga]

How can you HATE the Game Boy Advance Castlevania games? They ROCK! Aria of Sorrow is the best CV game I've played since Super Castlevania IV. I even enjoyed Lament of Innocence. In my eyes, the franchise is alive and well. Now, if you want to talk about a franchise in a sorry state right now, I'd argue Mega Man. But everyone is entitled to their opinions.

Well, your opinion, I agree with. Although I still want to see another 2D linear old-style pure action Castlevania (and will NOT die until Konami does so... or I beat Radiant Silvergun, whichever comes first), the action-adventure-RPG bit is still working well for Castlevania, as far as I'm convinced. I also agree with Mega Man going down the drain. I blame Battle Network. :P

But Curse of Darkness here seems like it'll turn out alright. It already fixed one of the main problems with Lament (lack of diverse environments), so this looks to be rather promising.

[calthaer]

Why does everyone act like the Castlevania series took some unheard-of dramatic departure when it did SotN? If anything, SotN is really just a maturation of the ideas started in Simon's Quest - moreso than it is a clone of Metroid.

The familiar system seems more llike the whole sidekick thing in CV3 than Pokemon.

Sure, the original was a linear "whip-em-up," but who says that's the only good game in town?

[kainemaxwell]

I'd agree, but they don't really have to head in the direction of their roots to produce a videogame. It's not like the Castlevania games need be confined to the time period of 1700-1900. As we discussed earlier, you could set it in present day or in the future, for interesting results.
The last of the GBA Castlevania titles took place in the future in Japan though.

[Dire 51]

Why does everyone act like the Castlevania series took some unheard-of dramatic departure when it did SotN? If anything, SotN is really just a maturation of the ideas started in Simon's Quest - moreso than it is a clone of Metroid.

The familiar system seems more llike the whole sidekick thing in CV3 than Pokemon.

Sure, the original was a linear "whip-em-up," but who says that's the only good game in town?

Agreed, on all counts.

So far, I have yet to play a Castlevania that I've disliked completely. I even found a couple of things to like about The Castlevania Adventure, a game I've been known to say is the worst CV ever made. Diversity is great, and between all of the games in the series there's plenty.

[le geek]

I would like to see castlevanias return to going outside. which this one is supposedly doing (which is cool).

What I don't understand is why folks want more old school castlevania when there is Castlevania, Castlevania III, Super Castlevania IV, Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, Castlevania: Bloodlines, and Castlevania Chronicles to choose from.

Series need to change and evolve IMHO...

Cheers,
Ben

[kainemaxwell]

But see, why ruin a good thing (ala Metal Slug)?

[Ed Oscuro]

What I don't understand is why folks want more old school castlevania when there is Castlevania, Castlevania III, Super Castlevania IV, Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, Castlevania: Bloodlines, and Castlevania Chronicles to choose from.

Series need to change and evolve IMHO...
You've been around for the last eight years, yes? There seems to be more variety in those games than there is between SotN and the three subsequent fusions of handheld Castleroid since (CotM was stylistically quite different, though, not always a good thing but it works quite well), plus we now have an upcoming AoS sequel, and a second LoI style game (with, as you say, the kickass ability to go outside, yay). SotN itself reuses (with some small adjustments) a great deal from from Dracula X, but that game's definitely different enough. Chronicles was messed up by pink haired Simon. Simon =! Fuuma, after all. If Simon = Fuuma there wouldn't be a problem (Fuuma is the character from Get Fuusu Ma Den, a series with a good deal of overlap with CV in two major ways...). We also have weak redone cutscenes and I'm not sure the graphical changes are all for the best. One can still play the original game, more or less, only now with Fat Simon, but what can you do?

But anyhow, to get around to my point.

You've mentioned six of the best Castlevania titles, all released here in the U.S. (I would add Belmont's Revenge, though CVII can be left out if one so desires), so there's that. Perhaps seven to nine good titles to play.

Thus we have 1 PSX, 3 GBA + upcoming DS + 2 PS2 titles...that comes out to seven. While the total number of games released is far more, this means that of actual, Konami-staffed, full budget flagship CV titles, Iga has released about a third and one not released by him (CotM) is quite the same but simply lacks the style.

Series need to evolve and change?

Iga keeps talking about doing a new 2D Castlevania, perhaps a remake of Rondo ("Chronicles II,"), and I'd like to see him do something more along the lines of Castlevania II or III with more cinematic, constant ingame action, as opposed to cutscenes as he seems fond of them.

Everybody who's looked at Castlevania recently has said their piece about Iga's choice of art direction; I'd also argue that the choice of music is getting stale.

There really was a split in the direction of the series in 1993; one team did the x68000 game, and another did Rondo/Resurrection of Blood. Since then, it's been one story of the Igarashi Steamroller, as he's managed to flatten the competition. The work is par excellence, but I tire of these golf courses. Where's the classic, unfriendly and tougher CV style, darnit? LOL

[MegaDrive20XX]

forget you guys, I love them all regardless of what happened, whose changed, who's hating who....this is supposed to be a HAPPY occasion! Let's not bicker and argue over who HATES what game!

*hugs all the CastleVania games* <3 :D

[Ed Oscuro]

I hate Legends. See? It's unfortunately been the case that Igarashi has been going along on the unique style his team presents, as no other team has topped that. The other teams have been tainted by garbage like Legends, and that U.S. CV experiment in Resurrection.

[MegaDrive20XX]

I hate Legends. See? It's unfortunately been the case that Igarashi has been going along on the unique style his team presents, as no other team has topped that. The other teams have been tainted by garbage like Legends, and that U.S. CV experiment in Resurrection.

Legends was the adopted child....he's got a peanut growing out of his head...he's kinda slow....:(


As for Resurrection, I remember their quote about, "Too much like the N64 game" they claimed

Which ironically was going to star Sophia Belmont from Legends...so we kind of knew that the DC game was doomed from the get go

[blue lander]

Oh boy! Another 3D Castlevania game! I can't tell you how many times somebody's said to me, "Hey, remember those 3D Castlevania games on the N64 and Playstation 2? Those were awesome! I sure hope Konami brings out more of them."

Seriously, though. Are Castlevania fans really clamoring for more 3D Castlevania games? Wouldn't they all vastly prefer a new 2D game in the style of Rondo of Blood or SOTN? I like the GBA Castlevanias, but what I really want to see is another 2D Castlevania on a console rather than a handheld. I don't have the figures, but I'd bet Aria of Sorrow sold much better than Lament of Innocense did.



Sure, the original was a linear "whip-em-up," but who says that's the only good game in town?

Actually, Castlevania 1 on the NES isn't the first Castlevania. Akumajou Dracula/Vampire Killer on the MSX 2 is the first game in the series. And that one is actually rather non-linear like Castlevania 2. You have to go through several rooms to find a key before you can go on to the next area. Plus there are shop keepers that sell you items.

[le geek]

But see, why ruin a good thing (ala Metal Slug)?

True the 3D Slug looks like ass.

Now if they took Slug 3 as a base and either went hi rez or went 3-D or cel shaded, but kept the 2-D gameplay...

Ben

[MegaDrive20XX]

Oh boy! Another 3D Castlevania game! I can't tell you how many times somebody's said to me, "Hey, remember those 3D Castlevania games on the N64 and Playstation 2? Those were awesome! I sure hope Konami brings out more of them."

Seriously, though. Are Castlevania fans really clamoring for more 3D Castlevania games? Wouldn't they all vastly prefer a new 2D game in the style of Rondo of Blood or SOTN? I like the GBA Castlevanias, but what I really want to see is another 2D Castlevania on a console rather than a handheld. I don't have the figures, but I'd bet Aria of Sorrow sold much better than Lament of Innocense did.



Sure, the original was a linear "whip-em-up," but who says that's the only good game in town?

Actually, Castlevania 1 on the NES isn't the first Castlevania. Akumajou Dracula/Vampire Killer on the MSX 2 is the first game in the series. And that one is actually rather non-linear like Castlevania 2. You have to go through several rooms to find a key before you can go on to the next area. Plus there are shop keepers that sell you items.


and don't forget to add fast passed, MSX verison was always quick to get things done when trying to find that key, and you're racing like a mad man to find the first boss.

I don't know why people disregard the MSX verison. I guess since many people weren't fimilar with it at the time? So Nes has to be the one to say "Hey remember that wacky CastleVania game that was released ONLY on NES?" when it's really a lie...god I love how the industry is to mention the systems that sold well instead of the true story...

[le geek]

You've mentioned six of the best Castlevania titles, all released here in the U.S. (I would add Belmont's Revenge, though CVII can be left out if one so desires), so there's that. Perhaps seven to nine good titles to play...

I actually like CotM and CV2 a lot. Rondo and SCV4 may be my favorites...


...Iga keeps talking about doing a new 2D Castlevania, perhaps a remake of Rondo ("Chronicles II,"), and I'd like to see him do something more along the lines of Castlevania II or III with more cinematic, constant ingame action, as opposed to cutscenes as he seems fond of them.

Now this would be cool. Take the original concept but refine it. I guess what I'm trying to say is...

It seems fine to not like the metroidvania style games set up by SOTN, but it seems silly to pine for the old school Castlevania with JUST graphic upgrades since you can go and get the old games.

[Crush Crawfish]

Now, if you want to talk about a franchise in a sorry state right now, I'd argue Mega Man. But everyone is entitled to their opinions.

Ugh. Yeah, I'll admit X6 and X7 were pretty sucky, but X8 is a completely different story. It's everything a Megaman game should be. Don't knock it till you've tried it. I'll agree that Battle network kinda sucks though...It went down hill after 2, though Network Transmission was a frickin' masterpiece.

Anyways, back on topic. I think this new Castlevania really looks great. I like the idea of raising monsters to help--I always find that addictive. Lament of innocence was a pretty good game, and I'm hoping this one will improve on it a lot.

[Ed Oscuro]

It seems fine to not like the metroidvania style games set up by SOTN, but it seems silly to pine for the old school Castlevania with JUST graphic upgrades since you can go and get the old games.
Well, that's not what anybody's arguing, though; even the hardest of hardcore action fans would say that there can be great updates in terms of the number of enemies onscreen. That might sound like nothing, but considering how oldschool Castlevania tends to be very predictable tough spots come down to memorizing patterns - random enemies all over the place and in great quantity would destroy that gameplay mechanic, probably for the better. I'd say that most fans - even hardcore ones - expect to see more Super Metroid-style (because the game does it so well) ingame storyline progression. We've all seen a thousand games where a wall of blocks slowly shifts into the ground while smoke sprites flicker across the screen, but the technology now - nevermind in the next console generation - is leagues beyond that. Yes, the style is a major issue here, but so is the gameplay format. It's gotten to the point where even my little dog Checkers...um...wrong speech. Anyhow, you get the point.

Speaking of the next generation, I realized that if the PS3 uses its Cell processors for graphical computing then it might be possible to do relatively fast vector based graphics. That would be good not only for fans of Tempest and Rez, but for fans of sidescrolling games in general.

[klausien]

Wow. What started as a "check this out!" thread has turned into one full of "haters" who can't seem to understand that there are other valid opinions out there other than their own. But enough on that.

The fact that there are not only new 3D games being made in this series, but 2D love fests as well should make anyone who yearns for the past content. I love the Castlevania series. I'm glad to see that it is continuing on. It is also good to see Iga continuing to take a chance on the idea of a 3D Castlevania. Lament was a step forward in some ways, backward in others, but still was a good time. So what if the games since SOTN have had a similar style. The RPG and exploratory elements add replay value. The art direction, girly men or not, has been exceptional, as has the music. Playcontrol has also been butter, something that none of the much revered linear action Castlevanias past (save Rondo and Bloodlines) can boast. I love the NES games as much as anyone, but I have to admit that the control is definitely on the wooden side, to be polite about it.

The best case scenario, which has not been happening as it seemed it would towards the end of the PSX, is having a revival of the linear 2D games as well. The last one we got was Chronicles, and as we know, it was just a port of an older title. They really should throw everyone a bone in the US and give us a release of Rondo. So many people have no idea how good it really is, and an arrange option would allow for some interesting graphical upgrades in the vein of the Prologue from SOTN.

But I digress. Can't wait for this one.

[le geek]

They really should throw everyone a bone in the US and give us a release of Rondo. So many people have no idea how good it really is, and an arrange option would allow for some interesting graphical upgrades in the vein of the Prologue from SOTN.

Hear Hear!

This, I'm sure, is something we can all agree with :)

Cheers,
Ben

P.S. and it's much more likely that my other pipe dream, Policenauts in English

[blue lander]

As for the 2D Castlevania vs 3D Castlevania debate, I think some types of gameplay work best in 2D rather than 3D and vice versa. Castlevania seems to fall into this category. They've tried three times to make a great 3D Castlevania game, and they've failed three times.

And if it works fine in 2D, why try to make it work in 3D? Is 3D intrinsically superior to 2D? I wouldn't expect an attitude like that here. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Some day people will get tired of 2D Castlevania games, but I don't think that day has come yet. When it does, that's when it's time to move on.



I don't know why people disregard the MSX verison. I guess since many people weren't fimilar with it at the time? So Nes has to be the one to say "Hey remember that wacky CastleVania game that was released ONLY on NES?" when it's really a lie...god I love how the industry is to mention the systems that sold well instead of the true story...

I assume most people disregard the MSX 2 version because it was never released in the US. The MSX computer itself and its sequels were never released in the US either, except I think as part of some music system. I never even heard of the MSX until a few years ago. It's even pretty obscure among classic gamers. The game is actually quite common, though, I think I only paid 10 dollars for it. I don't think anybody's intentionally ignoring the game, it's just too obscure. I'm sure Castlevania fans in Japan and Europe recognize it as the true beginning of the series.

Plus, while it's not a bad game, it's not so fantastic that people search it out like Rondo of Blood.

[Ed Oscuro]

As for the 2D Castlevania vs 3D Castlevania debate, I think some types of gameplay work best in 2D rather than 3D and vice versa. Castlevania seems to fall into this category.
Aye, goes without saying.


They've tried three times to make a great 3D Castlevania game, and they've failed three times.
Maybe three and a half times, as LoD is really just a cartridge-bound mission pack for Castlevania on the N64. The others are LoI and Resurrection, of course. How many of these games were developed by Igarashi? One (LoI), and whether that failed or not seems to come down to whether you liked the environments and it seems Nanobreaker feeds into this as well :) I don't think it's a lost cause.


And if it works fine in 2D, why try to make it work in 3D? Is 3D intrinsically superior to 2D?
Yes and no. There's no need for generalistic statements to try to shoehorn the whole future of the series together.


I wouldn't expect an attitude like that here. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Some day people will get tired of 2D Castlevania games, but I don't think that day has come yet. When it does, that's when it's time to move on.
You won't find that attitude here, but you'll also find that Igarashi is apparently planning to address the "ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality by adding a map editor, so Konami gets to release new games that seem like, well, new games, and let the fans lose themselves in the game as long as they'd like.


The game is actually quite common, though, I think I only paid 10 dollars for it. I don't think anybody's intentionally ignoring the game, it's just too obscure. I'm sure Castlevania fans in Japan and Europe recognize it as the true beginning of the series.
The price of the game goes up and down depending on its completeness (mine was $20, and this was rather inflated I'd believe; but I also was quoted $100 for a boxed copy - I'd pay $80, personally, to get a complete one).

As for it being the first game in the series, no, it's not. The FDS game came out 9/26, the MSX2 game came out in November.

[MegaDrive20XX]

I assume most people disregard the MSX 2 version because it was never released in the US. The MSX computer itself and its sequels were never released in the US either, except I think as part of some music system. I never even heard of the MSX until a few years ago. It's even pretty obscure among classic gamers. The game is actually quite common, though, I think I only paid 10 dollars for it. I don't think anybody's intentionally ignoring the game, it's just too obscure. I'm sure Castlevania fans in Japan and Europe recognize it as the true beginning of the series.

Plus, while it's not a bad game, it's not so fantastic that people search it out like Rondo of Blood.

So true, and awesome find for $10 :)

[Ed Oscuro]

All except the "true beginning" part, yeah. :)

[kainemaxwell]

As for the 2D Castlevania vs 3D Castlevania debate, I think some types of gameplay work best in 2D rather than 3D and vice versa. Castlevania seems to fall into this category.
Aye, goes without saying.


They've tried three times to make a great 3D Castlevania game, and they've failed three times.
Maybe three and a half times, as LoD is really just a cartridge-bound mission pack for Castlevania on the N64. The others are LoI and Resurrection, of course. How many of these games were developed by Igarashi? One (LoI), and whether that failed or not seems to come down to whether you liked the environments and it seems Nanobreaker feeds into this as well :) I don't think it's a lost cause.


I wouldn't excatly claim LoI a failure persay. How do you figure this??

[Ed Oscuro]

Hmm...I wasn't clear enough. I don't regard any of the released games as failures, and as noted I believe whether you like or hate LoI comes down to (outside of fanboy impulsiveness) to whether you can stand the lack of platforming, limited adventuring, and limited variety of environments. So no, none are bad games by my reckoning :)

[Aussie2B]

Wow. What started as a "check this out!" thread has turned into one full of "haters" who can't seem to understand that there are other valid opinions out there other than their own.

I fail to see where any of the so-called "haters" were acting as if no other opinion was valid. It seems to me that you're the one suggesting that it's not a valid opinion to think this new game looks bad or to be unhappy with the current state of the series.

[SoulBlazer]

I do agree with almost everything that klausien said, with the slight addition of what aussie said in her last post.

The fact of the matter is that franchises need to change and evovle with the times in order to stay fresh and keep selling well. That was a big problem with the Mega Man franchise, IMHO. 2D games are done with except for the GBA/DS and the GBA Castlevania games were very good in that sence. For the big home consoles, they need to be 3D to sell well. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, I'm just saying thats how things work now.

[blue lander]

[quote=blue lander]
As for it being the first game in the series, no, it's not. The FDS game came out 9/26, the MSX2 game came out in November.

Huh, interesting. The histories I've read claim the MSX 2 one came first.

[Ed Oscuro]

Whoops, I faaaail at...erm, I'm no good at counting.

The FDS game came out September 26th, right, the MSX 2 game came out in October, not November (I've made this mistake before).

There was a site called Sugimo's "Castlevania -Record of Blood-" that was up a while back, right now it seems to be DOWN. UGH. That page had release dates and prices for all the games, including rereleases. Darn, I'm gonna have to find that again.

[blue lander]

Wow, that's suprising that they were released so close to eachother. Perhaps they were developed concurrently?

[Ed Oscuro]

It's hard to say how much overlap between teams there was - they share much of the same graphical style, though Simon in the MSX2 game looks just like CVII's Simon and has the shield (yeah, CVII's explanation of the shield was weak) so it's apparent that was reused. The MSX2 game should've been released early in October so that was less than a month between, but I've no way of saying when the FDS game was declared finished or how much work was put into remixing levels for the MSX2 version.

[blue lander]

I would imagine that even after a game is completed, it takes at least a couple weeks to print the cartridges and boxes ship everything to stores.

Porting Castlevania from the NES to the MSX would require a complete rewrite, too, rather than just "remixing" the levels. The NES is 6502 based while the MSX uses a Z80. I'd imagine such an old game wasn't written in a high level language, so it probably took significant time to recode it for the new processor.

[Ed Oscuro]

I would imagine that even after a game is completed, it takes at least a couple weeks to print the cartridges and boxes ship everything to stores.
I did think of that - here I'd assume that's the date Nintendo released the game, though I'm not sure how a launch back then, in Japan, would've worked compared to today's Halo 2 "don't sell until midnight" launch. Another thing worth thinking about is that both Nintendo and Konami had to go through that process; I can't say which group's manufacturing and distribution system was faster.


Porting Castlevania from the NES to the MSX would require a complete rewrite, too, rather than just "remixing" the levels. The NES is 6502 based while the MSX uses a Z80. I'd imagine such an old game wasn't written in a high level language, so it probably took significant time to recode it for the new processor.
I'm sure Konami had teams in place to work on both systems; whether or not it was the same team...

[blue lander]

Considering the huge library of games Konami released for the MSX 1 and 2, I'd imagine they must have had at least one development team for the system. I guess we'll never know if Castlevania NES was completed before Castlevania MSX2 was started. I'm sure somebody out there knows, but they probably only speak Japanese :) It does make more sense to look at Castlevania MSX2 as a bridge between Castlevania 1 and 2, though. Both in terms of graphical style as well as gameplay elements.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Wait a minute....Ed Oscuro....that name....HOLY SHIT! Now I remember! you're a Mod for CastleVania Forum! @_@ Well I'll be damned...all this time I've read that forum and the website for over 6 years now...never been able to join...and that's why you are so hardcore about CastleVania lol

Small friggin world man lmao

(GnG realizes that it took him a long ass time to put the pieces together, but hey we all learn something new...)

[Ed Oscuro]

You haven't been able to join? All ForumPlanet should ask for is the usual registration type stuff. Don't forget your password, that's all I can say.. :)

If you try it out again and it doesn't work, please lemme know.

[Aussie2B]

Hey, I was mod there too at one point. :P Even before Ed, hehe.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Oh it's ok now, someone was very nice enough to help me set up a way to join, so I should be doing that tommorrow if I get the chance :)

[Ed Oscuro]

Hey, I was mod there too at one point. :P Even before Ed, hehe.
Yeah, way before me. Apparently you got through unscathed...apparently. LOOKS CAN BE DECIEVING! LOL

[kainemaxwell]

I wouldn't mind seeing a follow-up with Leon after the events of LoI...