a little castlevania help

[suznjak]

I just bought castkevania loi for the ps2 and thought this is a good game,but now i want to play the older ones.i have some friends who have some of them but said that not all castlevanias are all good.so maybe someone hear could tell me all the good ones so i dont waste money on crap. ;)

[Lemmy Kilmister]

I never played a Castlevania I disliked, but super Castlevania 4 (snes), CV:Bloodlines (genesis) and Harmony of Dissonance are the weakest in the series IMO. Oh and people say the GB version suck, but I never played them myself.

[le geek]

avoid the B+W gameboy games and the 3D N64 games, otherwise they're all pretty good...

[TRM]

I liked the N64 ones (the 2nd is better, cuz it basically includes the first) and the gameboy ones were not bad (especially 2 & legends). I did not care for the Metroid-ish Castlevanias though.

[SoulBlazer]

Yeah, I have'nt played a CV game I disliked either.

My personal favorites? Castlevania, Castlevania III, Super Castlevania IV (I just don't understand how anyone can dislike this one!), Castlevania Chronicles, and Aria of Sorrow.

My least favorites? SOTN and Castlevania: The Adventure.

[Cauterize]

I recommend All GBA ones, even HoD, the classic GB versions arent too bad, just nothing special!
PSX ones - Chronicles & SOTN are top notch too

IMO the PC Engine CD Version is the best of all possibly

The DS version is gonna rock too!

[MegaDrive20XX]

Best: Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, CastleVania 3 Dracula's Curse, CastleVania Bloodlines, Super CV4, CastleVania Chronicles, CV SOTN, All the GBA games. The only classic GameBoy I recommend is CastleVania Adventure 2: Belmont's Revenge

One you should try: CastleVania Legacy of Darkness for N64. I know many have bashed the N64 games, but give this a try please.

[jslithy]

These are my favorite CV games:

1. Symphony of the Night (PS1)
2. Dracula X (PCE-CD)
3. Castlevania 3 (NES)
4. Castlevania Chronicles (PS1, X68000)
5. Super Castlevania 4 (SNES)

Unfortunatly, most of these are pretty expensive these days.

[PDorr3]

bloodlines was very good. i need to getmyself a copy again...

[whoisKeel]

The 2D games can be split up into two categories:

The original and (relatively) linear games:
CV 1 (nes)
CV 3 (nes)
CV 4 (snes)
Dracula X (snes)
Dracula X (pce-cd)
Chronicles (psx, re-release of x68000 version)
Bloodlines (genesis)

The 'metriod' style, these have a VERY different feel to them and are focused on exploration:
SOTN (psx) aka Dracula X (Saturn)
The 3 GBA titles.

I think the best and cheapest way to get started would be CV 3 for nes and Symphony of the Night for psx. If you like those and beat them, branch out and start playing some of the other titles.

[Sotenga]

All the good ones, eh?

...

All of them. LOL

I keed, I keed, some games are certainly better than others. First off, the basics: If you have an NES, I'd definitely recommend all three CV games released for that, but if you only had to get one, I'd recommend CV3: Dracula's Curse. Super Castlevania IV for the SNES is practically a must, as well as Symphony of the Night for the PSX. If you have a Turbo Duo, or at least a PC-Engine CD, then Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo is an excellent, if not pricey investment. Aaaaaaaaand... dammit, it's really hard to pick the best of the best out of this awesome series.

[Mr Mort]

One you should try: CastleVania Legacy of Darkness for N64. I know many have bashed the N64 games, but give this a try please.

Holy Crap! Someone other than myself actually liked this game!?
I don't see why people rip on this so hard. I honestly think most of the folks who hate on this game haven't even played it for more than a minute or two (if at all). It's really a great platformer. The music and sounds are good, the bosses are great, and the levels & gameplay are solid.

In any case, my fave CV games are (in no order):

-Legacy of Darkness
-Bloodlines
-CVIII
-Circle of the Moon
-SOTN
-CV IV

[MegaDrive20XX]

yup, you are not alone on that, the N64 game Legacy of Darkness had some awesome moments, especailly by bringing back the pirate ship from CastleVania 3, Medusa, and some good new areas to explore.

[Lucifersam1]

If you have a SNES, I'd say go with CV IV. The game is really fun and relatively easy to beat. I think it's a good way to get into the old school Castlevanias. I am very partial to the original CV for the nes, so that would be a good one to do next (albeit much harder then CV IV imho).

[suznjak]

thanks for all your help guys :D

[boatofcar]

No love for CV 2? This was my first game of the series, and one of the first NES games I ever played. I really enjoyed it, and the soundtrack is pretty badass as well. I like how the villagers will flatout lie to you, too.

"Hit Deborah Cliff with your head to make a hole"

LOL

[Crush Crawfish]

I too, have yet to play a castlevania I didn't like.

My favorites are:

Aria of Sorrow - GBA
Bloodlines- Genesis
Super Castlevania 4- SNES
Symphony of the Night- PS1

[drewbrim]

No love for CV 2? This was my first game of the series, and one of the first NES games I ever played. I really enjoyed it, and the soundtrack is pretty badass as well. I like how the villagers will flatout lie to you, too.

"Hit Deborah Cliff with your head to make a hole"

LOL


Very funny, this was also the first CV game I ever played and I agree the music is awesome.

[EnemyZero]

can't say i played a bad castlevania game and i played them all...some just weaker than the others ps2 - loi being the weakest ive played yet - i really enjoyed bloodlines and symphony of the night the best

[jerkov]

I'm a huge Castlevania fan, and to be honest the only game in the entire series which isn't that good is Castlevania Adventure for Game Boy. The sequel (Belmont's Revenge, I believe) is actually an excellent game, with some of the best music that I've ever heard on a Game Boy. The main problem with CA is the piss poor play control and extreme frustration; CA 2 fixes these problems and even adds a cool Mega Man-like level select system.

I even liked the N64 Castlevanias, although I haven't bothered to play much of Legacy of Darkness yet (I own it, but I'm just not that motivated to play it after beating the original Castlevania 64). I did get LOI on lauch day and had fun with it, but I only got halfway through it and stopped playing for some reason. Since this was over a year ago, now I have no idea as to what the hell the story is about and forget almost everything about the game. I'd like to get into this again one day, but I'll tell you, it was quite depressing to drop $50 on this game and see it selling for $30 just a couple of months later, especially when I didn't get to play it that much. I'll have to see about the next PS2 CV, but I'm sure I'll be buying it eventually.

My favorite? Symphony of the Night. Even though it ripped off Super Metroid, I think it is a beautifully executed game with an astounding soundtrack. The atmosphere is perfect and even though there are no whips, it is a true CV game. And this is coming from an old-school CV fan; my introduction to the series was renting CV 2 right after I got my NES back in the 80's and fell in love with it. Right now, I have all of the U.S. releases, and I think that the new CV game for the DS is going to be killer - now I just need to buy a DS!

[MegaDrive20XX]

Time to lay down some "Simon's Quest" love in here

Yes this was my first CastleVania to own, hell who didn't know Simon's Quest in 1988? Almost everyone I knew had CastleVania 2 back then..plus if you watched Captain N the game master in the late 80's as much as I and the rest of the members here, you always heard CastleVania 2 BGM when Simon appeared...it really effected our gaming culture that deep.

The first time to hear the song "Bloody Tears" had to be the highlight of what this game stood for, changing the face of the series as the first true black sheep of the series to drift away from the traditional styles when compared to CastleVania MSX, CastleVania NES, and Haunted Castle.

Plus exposing the series to basic RPG elements in an action/adventure world was a real smooth idea. Plus I think not many adventure series wanted to try something new to give their series a twist.

Yet here ya go, I <3 CV2: Simon's Quest

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Akumajo22/CV2.jpg

[Kim Possible]

Big love for Simon's Quest. I remember when I first played it, we all went giddy over it. It was a Castlevania RPG, it was like Adventure of Link with Castlevania. It rocked. I still love it, although I can now sit down and run through it in about an hour. I love trying for the different endings, that was the BIG kick when we were kids. We had not seen such craziness.

Big love for Simon's Quest.

[JWKobayashi]

...and I think that the new CV game for the DS is going to be killer

Agreed! This game looks awesome. If you haven't seen it already, you can check out two videos of it in action at IGN.

Also... am I the only one who thinks that the first Castlevania (NES) is the best one in the series? I love SOTN and the GBA ones, but everything about the first one - the music, atmosphere, difficulty - is just perfect.

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I join in the Simon's Quest love. For some reason, I love that one a lot. My top 3 would be Castlevania: SOTN (PSX), Dracula X (PC-E), and tied between Castlevania 2 & 3. Not too much love from me for the N64 ones, and the ones I like the least (that I own) are Bloodlines (Genesis) and a tie between Castlevania 4 and Dracula X (SNES). I still like them...just not too much. I never knew why IV was always rated so high...

[suznjak]

I didnt know there was so much castlevanis love out there.when i started this,i thought i would get a quick answer from one or two people but my god this is more than i was expecting.so once again thanks for all the help guys. :D

[MegaDrive20XX]

I didnt know there was so much castlevanis love out there.when i started this,i thought i would get a quick answer from one or two people but my god this is more than i was expecting.so once again thanks for all the help guys. :D

No problem at all, we're always here in the hordes. Just like Dracula...we just keep on coming back...

[calthaer]

avoid the B+W gameboy games and the 3D N64 games, otherwise they're all pretty good...

I'd agree with you one the first Castlevania Adventure for GB, but not on Castlevania Adventure II: Belmont's Revenge was a good game, especially for its time. The traditional Castlevania formula is changed only slightly with those ropes you have to climb (as opposed to the stairs), but other than that it was a 100% improvement over the original in terms of graphics, sound, gameplay, everything.

[kainemaxwell]

Thanks to LoI and a bit of SotN, I'm on a Castlevania kick presently playing some my roms of the NES trilogy. May play around with the GB games later on.

[MegaDrive20XX]

avoid the B+W gameboy games and the 3D N64 games, otherwise they're all pretty good...

I'd agree with you one the first Castlevania Adventure for GB, but not on Castlevania Adventure II: Belmont's Revenge was a good game, especially for its time. The traditional Castlevania formula is changed only slightly with those ropes you have to climb (as opposed to the stairs), but other than that it was a 100% improvement over the original in terms of graphics, sound, gameplay, everything.

I concur, CastleVania 2 Belmont's Revenge was a fast improvement. You could tell the same crew who did CastleVania 3 Dracula's Curse did this project as well. Makes me wonder why CastleVania Legends turned out so odd

[kainemaxwell]

Been playing the GBA games and enjoying them alot, especially Aria of Sorrow. Trying to get into Circle of the Moon moreso then the other 2 now.

[klausien]

Makes me wonder why CastleVania Legends turned out so odd

Yeah, that one sucks for some reason. It may be the single worst Castlevania. I actually like the original Castlevania Adventure more than Legends, but that may be nostalgia speaking. Adventure also has great tunes.