Super Castelvania 4, despite its flaws, is the best example

[Tetsu]

I just finished playing it start to finish again, as I usually do every month for the past 10 years. It's still entertaining. I don't like video games at all, but I love this game so much it's almost erotic. Critics can say what they want about its linear gameplay, but it's still a thrill to play. From the opening theme to the final confrontation with Dracula, the game blends incredible music with stunning graphics and rock solid gameplay. A few secrets here and there, some inside jokes and references to Gradius, and you have the greatest game in existence. What more could you want?

[buttasuperb]

What more could you want?

symphony of the night.

[Sylentwulf]

Indeed.

[Mayhem]

Bollocks... :P

C4 is the best version of the series imo...

[kainemaxwell]

The 3 best of the series to me are COtN, Castlevania 4, and Castlevania 3.

[Atariguy]

I always prefered 2 and Bloodlines.

[E Nice]

What more could I want? Well for starters I could go for some exciting and challenging boss battles.

[digitalpress]

Tough crowd!

I liked all of the Castlevania games except II which was a little too RPG for me. Thought IV was a spectacular game, especially for its time. It made great use of the SNES sound and mode 7 effects, too.

[Baron]

From the sound of things, I divine that

Tetsu = A VIRGIN.

[ShinobiMan]

I had chills up my spine the first time I played Castlevania 4. I got it christmas '91... and for me it was the true testament of the SNES's power. Great experience!

[Baron]

Alright, I can't let my first and only post on the new board be a jab, light-hearted as it was, at another member.

MY CONSCIENCE EATS ME ALIVE.

Castlevania 4 is fun. I only just bought a SNES last spring, and it was one of the first few games I bought for the system. At a Toys R Us, brand new, for only $8, no less! I enjoy Castlevania Chronicles more, but the music in #4 is far better.

[Achika]

Maybe Baron is the VIRGIN?

Tetsu, you will be back into gaming like you once were. I garauntee you will....

[maxlords]

Bah...Castlevania 4 is good, Shadows of the Night is Metroid with vampires and whips, and Castlevania X: Rondo of the Blood is the best Castlevania by far I'd say Castlevania 3, and then IV, are the next best, followed by SOTN and Circle of the Moon.

[mauigamer]

I have a few complaints about super castlevania 4. I too recently played it all the way through. The whip upgrade makes no sense at all. You get the power whip within 4 candles. I also found it extrmely frustrating when you jump off a platform and die simply because the game wont scroll down. I must have died 50 times this way. I would let this go in a NES game but not a SNES.
Where were the references to Gradius?

[Dire 51]

I'm curious about the location(s) of the Gradius references myself. I don't recall any in CV4, but I do recall the one in SOTN.

[Tetsu]

Tetsu, you will be back into gaming like you once were. I garauntee you will....

Ahh, my child, if only that were true... *Phantom of the Opera music plays...*

Anyway, in the Armory/Library stage of SC4, there is a firey Salamander type creature that loops about in figure eights and makes a wierd, alien noise for a while before going on its merry way. I recognize the creature from the volcano stage in Gradius and Life Force.

Finally, my two cents about SotN: The music was more ambient, and the sprite animation more fluid than in SC4, but the inventory system was hideously flawed. Furthermore, the backgrounds seemed bland to me and lacked parallax scrolling in many areas. Even the most feverent SotN fans among you have to agree that jump-slashing bosses with Alucard's sword isn't as easy or as satisfying as cracking them with a whip.

[Dire 51]

I recall the thing you're talking about now... but that looked more like an fast moving orange centipede rather than one of the fire dragons from Gradius and Salamander. It didn't have the dragon-like head that the flame dragons had. Still, it may be a reference to Gradius, for all I know.

[jaydubnb]

The only thing that I really liked about C4 was the multidirectional whip, which needs to be returned in a future game. Its not a bad game by anymeans, but i think its a bit overrated.

[kainemaxwell]

The multi-whip was one the things that sold the game so well too.

[NE146]

I also found it extrmely frustrating when you jump off a platform and die simply because the game wont scroll down.

that's par for the course on most of the Castlevania's I thought. :P

By the way I bought and finished Castlevania 4 the day it came out (as I was in that early starving for SNES titles stage). And quite honestly I wasn't all that impressed with it. Sure it was fun and don't get me wrong I liked it a lot... but the graphics just didn't seem all that. And those were my impressions when the game was BRAND NEW. *shrug*