Which of the Big 3 Konami franchises is your favorite?

[treismac]

Contra. The king of shmups, the only reason you must own a NES, the reason I like Konami to this day.

Nice poll, treismac.

Ha! Contra (Bionic Commando, Duck Hunt, and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out too) was one of the reasons I decided to fix up my NES, since the game(s) never came to the Wii's Virtual Console for whatever stupid reason. Actually, that stupid reason is why I am collecting retro video games today.

[Aussie2B]

I'm kinda meh on Gradius IV myself. I need to give it more of a shot, but, as shallow as it sounds, the fugly graphics really turn me off to the game.

I like both Dracula X and Castlevania 64 (well, the improved and expanded Legacy of Darkness version, at least; haven't played the original version). Neither come close to the best Castlevania games, but they're still pretty fun and a lot more enjoyable than the no-challenge rehashes of recent years.

[nothingisttrue]

jackal

[substantial_snake]

This is a good poll, pretty hard.

I'm going to say contra since I had the most fun with that series growing up.

[Cryomancer]

Goemon or TMNT. Ah shit, those aren't options.

Guess I'll say Castlevania then.

[Daria]

Suikoden.

[Ace]

Gradius for me. Favorite Shoot-em-Up series of all time, period.

[retroman]

hmmmm...all three are good...a few stinkers in the Contra's, but for some reason i choose that over Castlevania...i like Castlevania, but Contra has a ...i cant explain it..kind of hold on me..

[Ryudo]

Goeman

[treismac]

hmmmm...all three are good...a few stinkers in the Contra's, but for some reason i choose that over Castlevania...i like Castlevania, but Contra has a ...i cant explain it..kind of hold on me..

I know what you mean. It was the video game that I got for Christmas with the NES, so I have a special love for the series and that game in particular.

[MarioMania]

Of cource Castlevania is winning the poll

I picked Gradius

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I have a lot of love for all of three, but I love platformers more than any other type of game, and that's mainly what CV is, so Akujamou Dracula, I'm looking at you.

[Wraith Storm]

I voted for Contra.

I was never a huge Gradius fan. I much preferred Salamander/Life Force.

Castlevania would probably have gotten my vote but I am so sick of the "Metroidvania" style games. The 8-bit and 16-bit offerings were my favorites, but were a long way from those. Maybe Konami needs to hand the reigns to Wayforward and let them take a crack at it. Those guys know their stuff.

Its hard to beat Contra for pick up and play fun. The 8 and 16-bit offerings are amazing and Wayforwards Contra 4 a couple of years ago really gave the series a shot in the arm.

[Tatsu]

I also go for the Castlevania series. SOTN is in my top 5 games of all time and the first NES games aswell as the sequel on the S-Nes are classics. The new 3D-Castlevania games are not my cup of tea but all in all there are more good Castlevania games than there are Gradious or Contra games (imho of course).

[tom]

Frogger and Gyruss and Time Pilot are the best of Konami.
But as far as your choice goes...castlevania tops

[djshok]

Contra for me, but it's a tough call between that and Castlevania.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I love all three, but I've probably played more Castlevania games to completion than Contra or Gradius.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Castlevania for sure here. Love the older ones especially and finishing them feels oh so great because of their difficulty.

[jonebone]

Contra, but I never really played Castlevanias at all. Just one of those series I missed, though I did own Simon's Quest (CV II) as a kid.

[Ninja_with_ Glasses]

What about Yie Ar Kung Fu? Two games counts as a franchise, right?