The Castlevania Thread

[MarioMania]

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]

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]

How about which Castlevania game has the best music?

[Arasoi]

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]

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]

Stand alone CDs count?

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

[MarioMania]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Man.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Konami-Castlevan...QQcmdZViewItem

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]

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]

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

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

[GhostDog]

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

[Captain J]

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

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?

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!

[Ed Oscuro]

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. It was like $30 yesterday, if even that.

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

[jajaja]

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

[Ed Oscuro]

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

[Captain J]

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. 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

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]

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.