The Castlevania Thread [Archive] - Page 3

Arasoi

07-01-2006, 08:00 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com/CASTLEVANIA-ADVERTISE-CUBE-NINTENDO-DS-GAMEBOY-PROMO_W0QQitemZ7606636035QQihZ017QQcategoryZ45101Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

These are pretty common, but kinda cool. Its 11 bucks including shipping, so collectors have little risk.

And yeah, I thought COTM had some nice challenging parts. You had to level up and use cards effectively, which I thought was good. And the coliseum was hard enough to warrant a lot of a playthroughs.

MarioMania

07-01-2006, 09:43 PM

Is Castlevania X on the SNES the same as the PC Engine, They have the same Music

aaronpetrosky

07-01-2006, 10:56 PM

Interesting. I remember playing Haunted Castle years ago. I read that it was very hard. Have you beat it?

Arasoi

07-01-2006, 11:07 PM

MarioMania, the SNES Dracula X is a very different game than the PC Engine version. It shares the main character, plot, and some levels/music and bosses. But it lacks the CD audio, the branching levels, the anime cutscenes, and the looser more forgiving control scheme of Rondo. DX SNES (Or Dracula XX, as its referred to in Japan) is a harder more traditional Castlevania game, good in its own right but certainly not the same kind of game as Rondo was.

Aaron, you are correct that HC is very hard. Of course, it got that reputation from the most common US version, version M. The difficulty was so ridiculous its almost impossible to beat. The Japanese version K (Akumajo Dracula) is much more reasonable, and there was a version P I believe for the US releases that was easier than M. (If Im wrong on this version correct me) I have beaten some of the more reasonable versions out there, but not M.

If you have a modded Xbox, or import ready PS2 you can get HC playable reasonably. I own Oretachi Game Center Akumajo Dracula, but I prefer the Xbox using XMAME and one of the more reasonable versions difficulty wise.

MarioMania

07-02-2006, 02:07 AM

Cool..Thanks for clearing it up

Anyways, How much can Dracula X RoB be...I might pick it up..& get a TG-16 CD later

aaronpetrosky

07-02-2006, 09:58 AM

Yea I might have to look into that. Thanks! Heck I thought I was awesome beating Castlevania 3 without a helper X_x

smokehouse

07-02-2006, 02:00 PM

I must not be that good of a gamer because I find most Castlevania titles to be rather difficult. Some like Castlevania II, SotN and the GBA titles are rather easy but I, III, IV, Bloodlines, X and some of the Gameboy titles are hard.

Arasoi

07-02-2006, 03:23 PM

Personally, I thought Dracula X for PC Engine (Rondo) was a pretty easy game, especially compared to Dracula XX (the SNES version). The gameplay and controls were a lot more fluid and forgiving, not to mention the game could be breezed through playing as Maria (she kinds of breaks the game IMO)

MarioMania

07-02-2006, 05:00 PM

I think Dracula XX is easy for me..I got up to the Stage 2 Boss, But I been playing Castlevania for like a long time..

Arasoi: Have you played Akumajo Densetsu on the NES using a Convertor, I heard the Music isn't right because of the Special Chip in the Game

Arasoi

07-02-2006, 07:14 PM

Yes, its a special chip from Konami called the VRC6 chip. It basically allows samples to be played off the cart a lot better (correct me if Im wrong).

The 72 pin consoles dont play them right with an adapter and some of the sound is lost. The Generation NEX doesnt play it right either. You need a native 60 pin console like a Famicom or Sharp Twin to get the right effect.

Or emulate it, but only if you own the cartridge (and all that XD)

aaronpetrosky

07-03-2006, 10:40 AM

How about which Castlevania game has the best music?

Arasoi

07-03-2006, 12:31 PM

Well, thats a matter of preference really. Personally I like a rather off beat soundtrack best, Akumajo Dracula X68000 (not Chronicles, which had arrange tracks leaning towards techno). I really liked how the music complimented the game itself overall, its part of what made X68000 one of my favorite CV games.

What does everyone else say about the best CV OST?

Rook_Jones

07-03-2006, 10:02 PM

What does everyone else say about the best CV OST?

Of course the music in SoTN blew me away, but I think my favorite might actually be Dracula XX's. Dracula XX is best when not compared to Rondo, and I think it really shines in the music area. All of it is catchy, in a jazzy vampire hunter sort of way, even (especially?) the tracks which are not remixes of older songs.

I also like Dracula Battle Perfect Selection, if you've ever heard of that.

Arasoi

07-03-2006, 11:05 PM

Stand alone CDs count?

Dracula Battle all the way, especially Dont' Wait Until Night :D

MarioMania

07-03-2006, 11:27 PM

I like Dracula X Music on the PC Engine

What did Konami do when they couldn't add the Mucis from Akumajo Densetsu on Castlevania 3

Arasoi

07-03-2006, 11:51 PM

The music tracks compositions are the same, but the CV3 version lacks most of the PCM effects of the Akumajo Densetsu. CV3 did have a special chip, called the MMC3 I believe (If Im wrong, correct me NES experts) that made it a step above other NES games, but not near the VRC6 chip in quality.

Ive heard that some people prefer CV3 versions of some songs to the Akumajo Densetsu versions. But personally I dont see it.

Rook_Jones

07-05-2006, 10:28 AM

Ive heard that some people prefer CV3 versions of some songs to the Akumajo Densetsu versions. But personally I dont see it.

Doubtlessly the enhanced music is amazing (having never heard it), but you've got to admit the US version already has a pretty rockin' awesome soundtrack, even for the NES. The drums in the first level always made me really happy (similar drumbeats are found in other NES Konami titles, incidentally).

Arasoi

07-05-2006, 08:35 PM

Rook, Theres a fairly easy way to sample the music between the two:

http://www.zophar.net/utilities/nsf.html

Grab an NSF player here and..

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/akuden.zip

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/castlev3.zip

Grab the NSF files here. I recommend Meridian, or the nosefart plugin for Winamp.

Hope this helps =)

Arasoi

07-05-2006, 11:52 PM

Man.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Konami-Castlevania-PCB-Arcade-Nintendo-VS-Rare_W0QQitemZ270003197373QQihZ017QQcategoryZ3945Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This is, in a word, pathetic. An entire kit can be purchased for around 100 dollars, a motherboard maybe.. another 100 at the most?

This item originally showed up on Yahoo Japan auctions a month and a half ago, or so.. at a very high price in yen. And now the extra cost is being passed on to another tool, just here this time. This set has no marquee, no cabinet stickers, no marquee glass. Its just the leftovers of a Japanese VS Castlevania kit and a VS motherboard. (There was no such thing as VS Akumajo Dracula, as it was FDS at the time and the cartridge re-release came out in 1993. VS CV just was shipped with the Japanese portion of the manual and the cover of the manual in Japanese)

Ebay is so lame sometimes.

Captain J

07-06-2006, 01:02 AM

I own Oretachi Game Center Akumajo Dracula.

i just picked this up, and i thought it was a great package for the price (i think i paid $28 shipped from japan)

Arasoi

07-06-2006, 02:29 AM

GhostDog

07-06-2006, 04:31 AM

What does everyone think of Bloodlines? How would you rate it among the other Castlevania games?

Captain J

07-06-2006, 11:36 AM

Agreed, if you can set your PC's DVD region to 2 and check out the mini DVD, its got a nifty music video on it.

Or find it on Youtube, I posted it up there :D

I loved the little trading card, and book showing the arcade board.

actually i have a cheap $90 u.s ilo dvd recorder that has a 2 second remote control hack to make it region free! i have watched that video 100 times already! i think its cheap though how the speedplay cuts off half way through the game! well since other people have done it as well, i will share my "small" castlevania collection as well, i wonder if i have anything you dont arasoi? LOL

1.castlevania 1 (msx)
2.castlevania 1 (nes)
3.castlevania 1 (gameboy nes classics)
4.castlevania 1 (famicom cart)
5.castlevania 2 (nes)
6.castlevania 2 (tiger handheld)
7.castlevania 3 (nes)
8.castlevania 4 (snes)
9.castlevania 4 (super famicom)
10.castlevania dracula x (snes)
11.castlevania dracula xx (super famicom)
12.castlevania rondo of blood (duo)
13.castlevania bloodlines (genesis) (sealed!)
14.castlevania new generation (uk genesis)
15.castlevania vampire killer (megadrive)
16.castlevania nochturne in the moonlight (saturn)
17.castlevania symphony of the night (playstation)
18.castlevania 64 (nintendo 64)
19.castlevania legacy of darkness (nintendo 64)
20.castlevania adventure (gameboy)
21.castlevania adventure 2 (gameboy)
22.castlevania adventure 2 (jpn gameboy)
23.castlevania legends (gameboy)
24.castlevania circle of the moon (gameboy adv)
25.castlevania harmony of dissonance (gameboy adv)
26.castlevania aria of sorrow (gameboy adv)
27.castlevania lament of innocence (playstation 2)
28.castlevania curse of darkness (playstation 2)
29.castlevania haunted castle (playstation 2)

well thats about it, i know i listed the imports as castlevania instead of akumajo draculas, but i just got up for petes sake! LOL

Ed Oscuro

07-06-2006, 01:24 PM

jajaja

07-06-2006, 01:39 PM

Wow, that a really high price @_@
Which of the 2 games is pulling up the price?

Ed Oscuro

07-06-2006, 03:08 PM

Hard to say. Complete original Game Boy games are hard to find, but some of the more obscure Famicom games are very seldom seen on eBay. Plus you've got to factor in the fan aspect - once I skipped buying a Castlevania related soundtrack, only to see the exact same item go up a week later and end up selling for three times what I could've bought it at LOL

Captain J

07-06-2006, 07:23 PM

1.castlevania 1 (msx)
2.castlevania 1 (nes)
That's backwards, if you're listing by release date, just fyi.

Also, this got ridiculous in a hurry (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=001&item=110003479853&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1). It was like $30 yesterday, if even that.

Oh, and I thought the Haunted Castle "music video" from the Hamster rerelease was...well...shitty.

yeah i saw that i was just more or less grouping those by sequels :D

my favorite thing on the hamster releases is the speedplay but as i said for some reason on this one it doesnt go all the way thorough and cuts out half way and when they did they guy had only lost 2 bars of life so it wasnt like he was dying or anything like that!

Arasoi

07-06-2006, 08:30 PM

Nice collection, Captain!

I think I have all those already, save for a few region differences. But its good to talk to another collector in any case ^^

I liked the Oretachi Akdra port more or less, the packaging and extras are what sold me. Since the game itself is just an emulator and ROM on a disc Id say Xmame on a modded Xbox with the same said ROM loaded would provide a better emulation experience. (I thought it did, anyway)

Just my two cents, though.

Captain J

07-07-2006, 11:40 AM

i agree as i have had the roms on my computer for years. thanks for the props on my collection. along with my cv collection i also have a huge zelda one as well!

Arasoi

07-07-2006, 08:13 PM

I feel free to post up any collection pics in here (CV or Zelda, or both) =)

I judge by your custom title that you have the infamous (and horrific) Zelda CDi games in said collection?

Ed Oscuro

07-07-2006, 08:17 PM

I have the first two myself...with a better control scheme I think they'd be pretty playable. As it is, well...bleh.

I've seen some videos of the third one...oh...my LOL

GhostDog

07-07-2006, 09:16 PM

What does everyone think about Bloodlines for Genesis and Legacy of Darkness for N64? 8-)

GhostDog

07-07-2006, 09:19 PM

I own Bloodlines but never really played it that much. I also own Legacy of Darkness but I don't own a N64 but I will buy one soon.

Arasoi

07-07-2006, 09:27 PM

I talked about LOD a bit earlier in the thread, but at any rate..

Bloodlines is one one my favorite games, It has a style all its own and the act of traveling all over europe in one CV game and the differences between the locales really made the game enjoyable for me. The only downside I felt was the Genesis' Yamaha SPU dragging down the music and sound effects.

GhostDog

07-07-2006, 10:11 PM

Thanks for the input. What does everyone else think?!

Captain J

07-08-2006, 10:47 AM

I feel free to post up any collection pics in here (CV or Zelda, or both) =)

I judge by your custom title that you have the infamous (and horrific) Zelda CDi games in said collection?

of course! as ed said the first two arent all the great but the third one is actually ok. imagine the original gamplay of the first zelda, with the overhead view and the scrolling screen. its that plus everything in the game, the enemies, the water, the trees, even zelda, are digitized movie characters. its something different and everybody should check it out at least once! its hard as hell though!

pics coming soon of both collections!@

Arasoi

07-08-2006, 07:59 PM

Speaking of Bloodlines, picked up an original clamshell release version today in mint condition, complete. When Vampire Killer gets here from Japan the Bloodlines portion should be complete (all regions and releases collected)

Captain J

07-08-2006, 11:38 PM

yeah i need that clamshell version of bloodlines to, actually i think that new generation is the only european cv i have! LOL

Arasoi

07-09-2006, 03:02 AM

I won one of the mint condition SOTN display boxes that were up on Ebay. should be nice..

http://manaexe.com/poopydoodles/CVCollection/cv_disbox.JPG

aaronpetrosky

07-09-2006, 09:00 AM

I always wanted the Tiger Handheld, how is it? I see they go reasonable on ebay.

Rook_Jones

07-09-2006, 09:33 AM

I always wanted the Tiger Handheld, how is it? I see they go reasonable on ebay.

Resist the charms of the Tiger Handheld! That tiger lies!

...lies!

Arasoi

07-09-2006, 01:09 PM

I own the CV2 Tiger Handheld and wristwatch, and I have to say they rank among the most boring and unplayable CV games to date.

Mind you, I dont think much of any of those old LCD handhelds back from those days. A gameboy wins any day of the week. I suppose as far as the tigers go they arent bad.

aaronpetrosky

07-09-2006, 01:31 PM

Interesting. Too bad they never came out with Castlevania figures.

mills

07-09-2006, 02:10 PM

I remember playing the CV tiger hanbdheld when I was a kid. I'd take a step, see a monster take a step, take another step and think "oh. shit! If I move forward that bat is gonna kill my head!"

Cryomancer

07-09-2006, 09:58 PM

I do hope i didn't post in this thread already but i don't think I did...

Anyway, I kinda like metroid and valis, and some castlevanias seem to be vaugely similar in game approach, yet I can't seem to really get into the series. And I even played the NES ver as a kid, so I don't know what the hell.

Can you guys make some suggestions on what ones to try?

Arasoi

07-09-2006, 10:23 PM

Start out with Symphony of the Night, its the best "Castleroid" title in the series in every respect. The greatest hits versions are worth 20-30 dollars, not a terrible price.

The next Castleroid worth playing is the new one, Dawn of Sorrow on DS. Second best one.

For classic side scrolling linear gameplay I recommend Rondo of Blood for its looser gameplay, which is easier for those lamenting the difficulty of the NES titles.

Additionally, give Castlevania Bloodlines a try.

Hope that helps. =)

pseudonym

07-09-2006, 11:22 PM

Maybe Super Castlevania 4 on the SNES?

It's an easy game compared to some of the others; it only starts getting hard toward the end of the game. It should be cheap and easy to find.

I'll second Arasoi's other choices.

Try Bloodlines for the reasons Arasoi mentioned earlier. It's one of my favorites also.

Steven

07-10-2006, 12:16 AM

I'm going through Bloodlines currently and does (did) it tick anyone else off that with the password code it saves how many continues you have left? That means you have to beat the game PERFECTLY so as to conserve your continues and lives for the final battle.

I recall in Super CV IV that the passwords still give you full continues.

I was on level 4 but found out I was on my last man of my last continue. So now I have to re-do stage 2. Maybe I'm just spoiled b/c of SCV IV though :P

Captain J

07-10-2006, 10:09 AM

if you have the means to do so, play rondo of blood, its my favorite for sure and has an excellent sountrack! after that go with castlevania 4. i much more into the side scrolelrs than the castleroids (sounds like an ass disease! LOL )

Rook_Jones

07-10-2006, 03:32 PM

One thing that always has been a big thing in Castlevania games is the boss fights, more and more so as the series progressed. As such, I'd be interested to know what some peoples' favorite boss battles from Castlevania are. Here are a couple of my picks:

-Olrox, SotN. I've already mentioned this guy, but I say again that something about the way he beckons you to join him at his little dining table makes me want to speak dialogue for him since he so blatantly refuses to tell us any more about why he expected Alucard that night. Also, the sort-of-Metroid-rip-off segment is very cool.

-Death, beginning of Rondo. The only time I've ever played Rondo was on a crappy Hu-Go! Emulator with no music. The boss battle at the beginning with Death and his huge hat was still amazing.

-Galamoth. I watched my friend beat him at level 30 with no equipment. I swear that's true.

-Kraid. Oh wait, wrong game...

JWKobayashi

07-10-2006, 03:43 PM

Arasoi

07-10-2006, 09:56 PM

My favorite boss fight was the Ice Magician in Chronicles/Akdra X68000. I liked getting the timing just perfect when jumping on the ice platforms. Easy, but very fun IMO.

JWK, Ive heard of that Worlds of Power book. Its a neat little collectible for sure, though I heard the actual content is mind numbingly bad lol.

mills

07-13-2006, 02:29 PM

My favorite boss, hmmm. I loved fighting legion in AOS. And the equivalent of that in SOTN. and Beezlebub.

Captain J

07-13-2006, 04:01 PM

I've been away from DP for a while and come back to find a 9 page thread dedicated to one of my favorite game series.

Great recommendations in the thread.. I've been meaning to pick up Bloodlines and the two N64 games to add to my meager but growing collection.

Does anyone out there have this?:

http://webpages.charter.net/jbeard/cvwop.jpg

I've got a copy that is all beat to hell (I had this book as a kid and used to read it every other week or so). Just wondering if it's still easy to find.

i just bought a bunch of those books last month at the classic computer and gaming show in lorain ohio. the guy had a bunch for a quarter each! i got castlevania 2, mega man 2, shadowgate, balster master, and wizards and warriors!

Rook_Jones

07-13-2006, 10:06 PM

i got castlevania 2, mega man 2, shadowgate, balster master, and wizards and warriors!

Mega Man 2 has got to be some classic literature. Of all of those awesome books, I've only read Blaster Master and CV2. CV2 lives up to its reputation of being absolutely ridiculous, but Blaster Master was actually pretty fun, although similarly silly. It added in a female character who was not in the game, but added a lot to the plot. I wish our dog didn't chew that book up beyond readability... :(

Arasoi

07-15-2006, 09:50 PM

If anybodys got an extra CV2 WOP book in decent or better condition Ill buy it. :)

Bought a complete Dracula Densetsu for gameboy Friday in excellent condition.

raregamergirl

07-17-2006, 07:55 PM

Hey there, very impressive collections! I just won this auction and it included the Lament of Innocence limited edition. there are pics of it in the auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:31&Item=120007142845

I had never heard of it before the auction, did a little research and apparently there are no more than 10,000 of them. Anyone know anything more about it, or its value?
thanks

Arasoi

07-17-2006, 08:27 PM

Good catch, you got a nice deal (considering the other items you got too)

The LOI LE originally sold for about 120 bucks, you got yours sealed and with the Sonim poster, which usually goes for 120-150 by itself in that condition.

I got my LOI LE for 50 bucks, its missing its spinecard and Sonim poster though.

raregamergirl

07-17-2006, 08:30 PM

Wow, thats awesome. I am starting to collect castlevania items also, found it and had to have it. Nice to know I got a good deal on it, hmmm, now I will be tempted to open it though. Thanks much for the info!

Arasoi

07-17-2006, 08:40 PM

If you're an aspiring collector (of any kind) I cant recommend using Yahoo Japan enough, all you need is a good middleman service and a good knowledge of the fees. Most of the more obscure items in my collection came to me that way and at mostly reasonable prices.

Arasoi

07-17-2006, 09:04 PM

While Im at it Ive been meaning to ask -

Has anyone seen this variant of Vampire Killer? It was being auctioned off in Spain, and apparently is a Spanish variant.

http://manaexe.com/poopydoodles/CVCollection/VKvariant/45_1.JPG

http://manaexe.com/poopydoodles/CVCollection/VKvariant/04_1.JPG

Arasoi

07-30-2006, 01:15 PM

A collection update photo of recent/unphotoed items =)

http://manaexe.com/poopydoodles/CVCollection/games_update.jpg

http://manaexe.com/poopydoodles/CVCollection/postersandisplays.jpg

MarkMan

07-30-2006, 06:14 PM

Igarashi was at San Diego Comic-Con this year and I got to see him running around and watching people play Portrait of Ruin. My company conducted a nice interview with him(which I wish I was a part of lol). I got to play the newest build of Portrait of Ruin and it is just as awesome as ever. They've added a few things since the E3 version such as menu interface options etc.

I can't wait til' the game comes out(looks like it might be pushed to the end of the year now). Did anyone get their hands on a beta/test cart of Portrait of Ruin? It looks just like a blank DS cart(I assume all game betas do?) with a white sticker on it lol.

jajaja

07-30-2006, 06:27 PM

What is that big box with CV DoS ?

mills

07-30-2006, 06:48 PM

its a promotional box comes with DOS t shirt, lanyard, key chain, official sound track, and special edition release of DOS.

Just kidding, its a display cube.

Lemmy Kilmister

07-30-2006, 07:10 PM

Does anyone out there have this?:

http://webpages.charter.net/jbeard/cvwop.jpg

I've got a copy that is all beat to hell (I had this book as a kid and used to read it every other week or so). Just wondering if it's still easy to find.

Yeah, I bought minty copies of the Simon's Quest and Metal Gear books around 2 or 3 years ago for a quarter each at a yardsale. However, like Arasoi said, they're all pretty lame.

raregamergirl

07-30-2006, 07:38 PM

Recieved my limited edition LOI, brand new with the poster. Very impressed, especially by the "poster". Incredible box set.

Arasoi

07-30-2006, 07:49 PM

Agreed, I especially loved the lithograph. Quality stuff.

secretvampire

07-31-2006, 05:12 PM

I've got a question for you CV gurus. I love the series and have almost every US title + a few Japanese releases.

I have recently gotten a "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" Soundtrack Sampler CD which is excerpts from the soundtrack, in a cardsleeve with artwork that is very similar to the US PSX release. It's definitely from the USA and an official product. Does anyone know the origin of this disc and what the value might be?