/vr/ - Retro Games

>>10230683
you posted it

3 and Dracula X (SNES)

>>10230683
PS1 Loading Screen Simulator.

>>10230683
Certainly not this one.

Dracula's Curse, Rondo of Blood and Super Castlevania 4 are top contenders.


>>10230685
Fucking tourist.

>>10230683
>baby's first castlevania
Anyway, Castlevania 3 and Rondo are pretty cool

>>10230737
I finished 1, 3, Rondo of Blood, Dracula X and SotN. SotN is my favorite.

>>10230754
Just means you have shit taste.

SOTN > *

>>10230683
For me it's Castlevania 3. Both US and JP versions are goated

>>10230754
>I finished Dracula X
My condolences.

>>10230754
SotN si a different genre than the other games you listed.

>>10230885
but they're all castlevania games and I was responding to OP what the best castlevania game was

>>10230885
Which is irrelevant to OP's question

Why do Castlevania threads always attract so many contrarians? SotN and IV bad, Dracula X and 64 good. Embarrassing.

>>10230683
Definitely not that one.
I would go with 1 and RoB.
Harmony of Dissonance was pretty fun too despite all the flaws. I've yet to play 64/LoD and Aria of Sorrow so maybe those are good too

SotN is fun
classicvania is fucking annoying to play
>4 crisscrossing medusaheads knocking you into an instakill pitt 12 times in a row until you gameover
>DUUUUDE SOVL LMAO

>>10230918
Every thread attracts contrarians now. 90% of 4chan users are contrarians these days. Did you know the RE remake is bad now? Did you know MGS 3 is also bad?

>>10230918
4chan is a contrarian site as a result of not having a like system, no matter where you go or what thread you go into someone's gonna be a contrarian about it

>>10231031
You're not supposed to get hit, anon. It's more fun when the stakes are higher than "lose a few of your 700 hp which you can open the menu and heal at any time"

SotN is my favorite, too. I used to love the classicvanias (particularly 1, IV and Rondo) but my tastes have changed over the years and these days when I'm playing a platformer I prefer ones with more movement options and speed behind them than the old Castlevania games.

>>10231031
skill issue, not a valid criticism

Castlevania Bloodlines on the Sega Genesis. You get to play as two characters in John Morris and Eric Lecarde. With John Morris, you basically play like Simon Belmont from past Castlevania games, whereas with Eric Lecarde, you’re basically OP with his weapons.

>>10230685
nah man

>>10231031
Get good

>>10230683
Depends what you want. If you want the satisfaction of overcoming a challenge and getting better through experience, 3 or Rondo. If you want the total package of art, music and gameplay so easily broken that finding new ways to do it is its own reward, it's SotN by a mile.

>>10231048
Ok redditor

>>10230760
Just means you're a pedo

I'll stir the pot a little and post my list. Ordered by what I had the most to least fun playing for any reason.

>Curse of Darkness
>Portrait of Ruin
>SotN
>Bloodlines
>Rondo of Blood
>Harmony of Despair
>Harmony of Dissonance
>Circle of the Moon
>Lament of Innocence
>Aria of Sorrow
>Dawn of Sorrow
>Legacy of Darkness
>Lords of Shadow 1/1.5/2
>64
>Judgement

I never played Belmont's Revenge, 4, Order of Ecclesia or Bloodstained if people actually want to include that.

>>10230683
Top 3 (1st to 3rd) are Rondo, Dracula's Curse and Bloodlines imo. SotN's 6th overall for me

>>10231031
SotN is a tourist game, and by that I mean all you do is a tour of the castle where you pick up trinkets. Classicvania are focused and polished dungeons crawls, the challenge is meant to be interesting but still fair enough to be completed.

>>10231048
you're saying that as if having contrarians in exchange for no like system a bad tradeoff or as if a sycophantic website is more preferable

>>10231657
>Belmont's Revenge
Great game for the Game Boy, the first game is one of the few bad castlevania games.
>4
System seller.
>Order of Ecclesia
Best IGAvania.
>Bloodstained
IGAnotvania excellence.

Why do classicvania fans have such a chip on their shoulder.

>>10230683
1 and it's not even close.

castlevania 1

>>10230918
>Castlevania threads
Implying that isn't in every thread.
Why is Dracula X bad, because it isn't Rondo? Shit reason. I just finished it and it's a good game. My only complaint was that the invincibility window after getting hit is way too short and caused some annoying moments. It's tough, has fun bosses, and an amazing soundtrack. People just parrot what they hear.

>>10232237
>Why is Dracula X bad, because it isn't Rondo?
It's nowhere bad, but its also nowhere as polished and sharp as Rondo either. Even next to the other classics, it doesn't manage to shine.

>>10232243
Fair opinion. I'm not sure where I would personally place it.

>>10232237
i thought dracula x was way more fun than linear corridors of blood.

>>10231048
Absolute bullshit
Boomer hobbies with old fashioned forums don’t have the contrarian complex that 4channel.org does
Updooterino systems destroy every website they come into contact with, every social ill that the Internet has unleashed on mankind can be traced back to them in some way

>>10232280
>Updooterino systems destroy every website they come into contact with
unequivocally true
>every social ill that the Internet has unleashed on mankind can be traced back to them in some way
hyperbolic nonsense so emotionally biased it may as well have been said by a woman

>>10230683
I like symphony like the next guy, but fuck you, Akumajou Dracula.
https://youtu.be/X-CCoxJUTvQ?si=hC61sfCpzu8UmfEZ

>>10232237
>the invincibility window after getting hit is way too short and caused some annoying moments
Rondo has the same problem honestly. I couldn't even beat those two armors towards the end of stage 5' as Richter because they kept stunlocking my shit up.

>>10232363
From my memory you have to focus on the first one that shows up if you want to stand a chance.

>>10230683
I'll tell you in a year when my favorite ones are considered /vr/ material.

>>10231657
>64 that low and CoD that high

SotN.

>>10230683
SotN is my favorite of the series. But to break it down into categories
>Classic
Rondo
>Igavania
SotN
>3D
Curse of Darkness.

>>10232525

Tips to help me enjoy Super Castlevania IV more?
Each time I play it, it's a snoozefest, I'm convinced it has the "launch-title boost".

>>10232602
If you cant enjoy that soundtrack and atmosphere I cant help you.

>>10232602
It seems you've already made your mind, but I think the game has a great pacing, it's beautifully designed.
Try a no-death run or at least a no-continue run, beat the game with a good score

>>10232680
soundtrack and atmosphere cant help the shit gameplay

>>10232602
>it's a snoozefest
How?

>>10232602
I'll never understand people who don't like SC IV.

>>10232797
Get good, you'll understand then

>>10232797
I think it's just contrarianism, notice how he mentions "launch title boost" - he is making clear that he knows the game is popular and that actually affects him.
Basically another case of popular bad. Console wars may or may not be involved.
Other than that maybe it's just people who prefer the metroidvanias to classicvanias.

>>10230737
>>10230760
Man, every time I see Maria fanart I think it's deliberately enhancing her chest but I forget that in both official art and in-game she really does have massive tits.
>>10230973

>>10231265
What is this from? I know I've seen a non-Castlevania version before.

How the fuck should I play Rondo? PC port or Dracula X unlockable?

>>10232934
>I think it's just contrarianism, notice how he mentions "launch title boost" - he is making clear that he knows the game is popular and that actually affects him.
Dafuq? No. I have no problem with the other "popular" Castlevanias. Don't be intellectually lazy. I'm suggesting that, had it been released later in the console's lifespan, it probably wouldn't have had such a prpfound effect of people who grew up with it.

>>10230683
>Classic
Kid Dracula
>IGA
Portrait of Ruin
>3D
N/A

>>10232959
This board, and the internet in general, doesn't have too many people who were actually alive/conscious when the SNES launched.
Most people here are in their 20s.

>>10232939
Filthy Frank.

>>10232952
>Dracula X unlockable
I think this one still isn't emulated properly and is missing the audio.

>>10232959
>it probably wouldn't have had such a prpfound effect of people who grew up with it
I played the game long after it was out and even refused to play it because of how it looked. When I finally completed it, I understood the praise.

>>10230683
>Guaranteed_replies.jpg

3>Rondo=Bloodlines=1>4
ALL are at least 9/10 games though.
Like 10, 9.5, and 9.
I never played 2 so I won't comment on it.

>>10230918
SotNiggers have been shitting up and ruining this franchise for nearly 30 years now. How would you feel if your favorite game got hijacked into a Metroid clone with shitty ARPG elements that tricks any possibly interesting gameplay completely?

>>10231657
>playing all those including 64
>never played 1, 3, or 4
Interesting

>>10233251
>ass is still red raw 30 years later
you might have deeper problems than the existence of SotN

>>10233248
>I never played 2 so I won't comment on it
2 is completely worthless as a game. It's like a filler thing.

>>10233251
>your favorite game got hijacked into a Metroid clone with shitty ARPG elements that tricks any possibly interesting gameplay completely
The biggest problem of SotN is that the devs didn't give a shit about balancing their game, this and the awful approach to level design. Igarashi only started to figure it out with Aria.

>>10232602
Well for one thing, you could look up names and codes to skip around parts of the game,including going right to hard mode/second loop. Second, you could always do things like not using the new whip stuff or fully dedicating yourself to whatever jump you make. I did that, can feel like a totally different experience.

Inb4 "the game isn't designed around that, though", I don't care.

>>10232959
Mate, there are still people new to this franchise who pick up this game or that game and end up enjoying the hell out of them despite having no history with any of it prior or not even having been born then. Come on.

>>10233251
>SotNiggers have been shitting up and ruining this franchise for nearly 30 years now
I'm still convinced from since PoR released that SoTN fanboys are the original asshole CV contrarians and that their shit attitudes and the shit they engage in during discussions has infected everyone else in the fandom. The Rondo/SoTN/Aria fanbases were like some unholy trinity back then, now it seems like everyone is like this form being on edge.

>>10231657
Curse of Darnkess and Lament of Innocence are basically the same. Your view seems a little bullshitty by placing them so far apart.

>>10233309
SotN is definitely one of those front-loaded games, where the beginning is difficult, but just through normal play you get so powered up that by the end you're just breezing through and can brute force most things without too much thought. They also had so many little mechanics like familiars that you don't really get to take full advantage of, almost like there should've been maybe 50% more game (which gets more difficult) to justify all the leveling, abilities, and pickups.

>>10230683
This for RPG MetroidVania style ones, Rondo of Blood for classic whip style games. The two games being related as prequel and sequel is just the cherry on top. Always my most recommended CV games.

>>10230683

1 or Rondo.

>>10233486
>They also had so many little mechanics like familiars that you don't really get to take full advantage of
>mfw Mojo Mail with a fully maxed out Sword familiar
Literally the most fun I will ever have with this game because I fucking hate it for the reasons >>10233251 described.

>>10233445
Nta but I get it. Similar on the surface, but consider just how their weapon systems alone function. LoI only gives you whips for your main weapon, Leon will have a pretty robust moveset with it by the end with his strings extended, new strings and new moves that can be done at various points by the end that all work so well. In CoD, you have loads and loads of weapons if you put in the effort to forge them, but you only get one string per weapon type with the length determined by how strong your weapon is, with a finisher for every point. Death's Scythe has a unique finisher compared to other axe weapons, but you can only do it if you get through the string without being interrupted. It's little nuances like these and some other differences that can affect how someone sees both games when comparing them.

>>10233445
On top of the weapon system/ID forging, I liked the characters and music in CoD more than I did in LoI.

>>10232505
64 wasn't fun to play, CoD was.

>>10233264
Just never got my hands on them and didn't care enough to actually do it. After looking into them later on I didn't think I was missing much anyway.

>>10233062
For real? What the FUCK

>>10233440
>The Rondo/SoTN/Aria fanbases were like some unholy trinity back then
Those are just the most popular games in the series. Are the OoT/MM/ALttP fanbases also an unholy trinity?

>>10233924
>Those are just the most popular games in the series
Yeah, and? Are you going to tell me that it's because they're actually super good games and that there's no reason for someone to dislike them? Are you going to maybe tell me that my mere opinion doesn't matter? Maybe if I call them overrated, you'll say that there's no such thing as overrated or underrated and that it's all subjective while insisting that they're the best games ever in the same breath. You know what's my favorite thing when a given argument goes this way, though? It's when you got a fanboy who doesn't even give much of a reason for why their favorite game is the best, or even better, he'll misrepresent or really just lie about what's so good about his favorite game while doing the same to make your favorite game sound like trash. This isn't a /vr/ or a /v/ thing, this is not a 4chan-specific thing, this is not something that's only come up recently, this is what the CV fandom is like pretty much in general today and what those three groups in particular have been like for ages, on every corner of the internet.
>Are the OoT/MM/ALttP fanbases also an unholy trinity?
It'd be whataboutism if they indeed are, and they'd probably have better standing with actual arguments, too.

I keep dying at this hallway, I haven't even got to death yet, fucking medusa heads. Anyways I really like castlevania 1

>>10234093
The trick there is to keep advancing and never look back. If you have holy water (you should if it's your first time playing this game and facing Death) you can use them to stunt knights so you can jump over them and their hitboxes wont damage you.
It's not easy but not impossible either. Never look back because then the medusas will come from both ways. Keep advancing.

>>10234093
That wall next to the stairs you use to enter here has a chicken in it, if you're eating a hit or two before or at this point. As for the hall itself, just remember that

1. You don't have to crouch or anything to deflect the axes thrown at you if you have at least one whip upgrade, while crosses will bounce off shields, you're damaging the knights that way.

2. Keep walking as a medusa head spawns and they'll go right under you without hitting you, and never look behind you to the right unless absolutely necessary.

I'm not saying it won't take practice, in fact if you're using an emulator, consider saving here and restarting the game git even moar gud than you already are, but it can in fact become manageable, maybe even easy, with time and experience.

Death will probably still be a cunt, though, but by that point, spamming the hell out of cross to hit him and his sickles will be your best strategy. Even if you go in with just a single shot, you can pretty reliably get roman numeral Double and Triple Shots to drop. Make sure you don't get punked by leftover sickles until you grab the red orb, too.

>>10230760
GUYS LOOK HOW HARDCORE I AM, SEE HOW I DONT LIKE POPULAR THING??

Fucking faggot

>>10230683

>>10234093
>>10234098
>>10234110
My tactic, and the one that I think the game design encourages, is to grab the cross in that room below and level it up as much as possible before you get to Death. The barrage of Medusas and axes, as well as candles, should get it up to III before you're at the boss. Also, standing whip attacks hit stuff that's on the "ground level", like the low axe throws or fleamen. You never actually have to crouch to attack those axes.

>>10232952
Bizhawk works just fine for me

>>10233897
It's not a regular PSP game, it's a modified version of a PCE game already running on an emulator.

>>10234093
They made this level with the holy water in mind.

>>10231036
>>10231048
> does not agree with my opinion = contrarian
Ok so some anons do post bullshit like "Rise of the Robots is the GOAT".

But seriously, how is either liking/disliking SOTN or CV4 etc contrarian? All of these can be reasoned opinions. And what's the alternative? Everyone agreeing just to fit in?

>>10232934
>>10232959
I like CV4, but have to agree on the launch boost idea. It was the 5th game released in my PALregion and we were starved for titles for a while... Maybe it was different in other regions but SMW didn't take that long to beat and I can only play so much FZero.

>>10230683
>Contrarian Answer
Rondo of Blood
>Purist Answer
Super Castlevania
>Real Answer
You posted it

>>10230685
bah!

Played Castlevania as a kid, didn't beat it until I got older but have fond memories. SotN was one of my favorite PSX games. Once I got RoB for emulation it was fun but I only played it 3 times. AoS was fun but I really liked DoS.

I've gone back and played the retro CVs, I still think the OG is fun and found a lot of enjoyment in 3.

With that said, I think my current favorite is OoS. It's a great throwback to the originals while incorporating modern mechanics.

>>10234378
No one would give a shit about SotN if it didn't have nice graphics and music, it's a game that entirely relies on its superficial layers to appeal to players. The game itself is aimless and unfocused, it's basically simon's quest with shiny visuals.

>>10234646
Thats something different to other CVs that it arguably does well. Seems to me that SotN became the archetype for DoS, which felt like a refinement of the earlier game's style and progression. Players obviously liked enough elements of SotN for Konami to revisit and build off them

>>10234736
>Thats something different to other CVs that it arguably does well
Different it is that's for sure, doing well it does not.
>Seems to me that SotN became the archetype for DoS
AoS is the the archetype for DoS, HoD was still chasing after the aimless nonsense SotN was.

>>10234834
All this is up for debate but it sounds like you just hate igavanias and Im really not trying to sell them. My pick is still CV1

>>10234883
>you just hate igavanias
SotN, HoD and Simon Quest all suck because they do not know what they are doing nor what they want to be. All the others are quite fine, some among the best castlevania games ever.

>My pick is still CV1
CV1 is tight as fuck, but it's clearly lacking in contents next to most other entries.

>>10233870
>64 wasn't fun to play, CoD was.
You had fun going through the same flat boring corridors with perfunctory combat ripped straight from DMC1 and no platforming? Lament and Curse are frankly embarrassing dungeon crawlers, with truly awful stories that barely fit in with the games and disgustingly bland settings locations.

The N64 games are much more ambitious, adventurous, and true to the series than the lifeless corridor simulators of the PS2 era.

>>10235009
>The N64 games are much more ambitious, adventurous, and true to the series than the lifeless corridor simulators of the PS2 era
Didn't like the original 64 release, big fan of LoD version despite its flaws, it's even more tolerable on replay than something like OoT that's designed to be anti gamer. I gave up on Lamanet after a few times of having to kill a bunch of fodder to go through the same door again and again.

Castlevania just works like a dream in 16 bits. I like 4 best, but if Bloodlines or Rondo are your faves then you're alright to me.

>>10235009
Curse is a frankly neat ARPG with some DMC trappings, compare that shit to Dark Cloud's repetitive combat, and the insane arsenal you got in that game with juggling and parrying and shit. I can't think of another 3D action game with this kind of monster raising, it's just the "wrong" genre for the series. On the other hand what I played of 64 as a kid pissed me off coming from 4 and Bloodlines. It controlled like ass and it barely had any music and much more generic locations than Curse, wasn't much of anything but I at least wanna go back and finish that game some day.

>>10232952
install the WAD with dolphin

>>10235074
>Bloodlines and CotM that high
>Aria and 3JP on top
Based.

>>10234093
One of the most famous "walls" in gaming.

>>10232025
You're misunderstanding. I would rather have a million retarded 4chan contrarians in every thread than have to deal with the shit that Social media sites with like systems have become due to their nature.

>>10231642
Just means you're never gonna be a woman!

>>10235821
>you will never get nakadashi'd and birth kodomodachi

>>10235780
>>10235784
I despise the original tower of duels but the visual effects were cool and cruelly missing in LoD. It still has an unexpected sense of comfiness.

>>10236037
I actually like many levels better in the original than in LoD, including the Duel Tower. But the worst offender for me is the tower with lava around it, it's super fun to go around and on top of it in the original, and in LoD that is a cool level, but it's super disappointing that the middle tower is just there for decoration save for a small secret place at the top

>>10235906
Is it canon that Alucard get Maria in SotN?

>>10236068
Nah but there's hints that Maria likes him, obviously the dude looks like a bishounen albino Peter Steele no shit a teen like María falls for him. Alucard doesn't really show any interest, though.

>>10236079
Ok, I can see it being a real deal with how the franchise works and romantic partners.

>>10236068
Canon? Not explicitly, no.
But they live together according to a post-SotN radio drama, Alucard mellows out a bit with the bloodline talk post-SotN, the Belmont-related Renards disappear from the timeline at around the same time the Belmont-related Lecardes appear, "LECARDE" suspiciously looks like a portmanteau of rEnARD and aLuCARD, the Alucard Spear crafted by Alucard as a contingency to the Vampire Killer canonically first appears in the Lecardes' hands, Eric Lecarde reveres both Alucard and Maria almost as if they were his forebears, and Sonia gives Alucard the "blonde in green" type if she were canon...
Feels like a revelation they were saving for the 1999 game that never got made.

>>10236195
Yeah I think Eric is a descendant of both given he's super human without being a Belomt (I forgot why Belmont clan got powerful, they said in LoI).

I thought Sonia's game was from like 1201 or something super long ago, and Lament basically retronned it with her being the first Belmont.

I just finished IV the other day, and my biggest gripes were that its a bit too easy in the first half of the game, and the Whip is too good to the point it muscles out most of the subweapons. Is there a legit reason to ever use subweapons?

I enjoyed it overall, but I unironically prefer Dracula X; Its a tigther experience that mirrors what I like about classicvania; You have your toolkit and limited movement, and you figure out a way through a gauntlet. Nothing in IV was as satisfying as in Dracula Xx when I figured out the Axe was the go-to weapon to fight the final boss.

>>10236209
Pretty sure Sonia is Trevor's mom.

>>10236195
>>10236209
Makes sense. Eric is literally just blonde Alucard. A bit sad since both of his daughters become vampires.

>>10236220
>Is there a legit reason to ever use subweapons?
The Cross is good, longer horizontal range and you can really fuck up some of the bosses with it. Stopwatch is also good for a few situations. I can't think of any uses for the Dagger, Axe, or Holy Water.

>>10236220
>in Dracula Xx when I figured out the Axe was the go-to weapon to fight the final boss
The Axe is the go-to weapon for the entire game.

Are the Belmonts and their associates actually respected for what they do, or are they outcasts for being cursed and entwined with Dracula? I haven't played all of the games yet, but the fact that most of their support seems to come from Alucard or other vampire hunting families makes me wonder.

>>10236047
>I actually like many levels better in the original than in LoD
I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, and would also include some of the enemies, particularly the vampires. The Duel and Execution Towers, like a lot of 64's original designs, had this minimalism that I think really worked, even if I appreciate what LoD did.
>But the worst offender for me is the tower with lava around it
Granted, there was probably space constraints or something, but it would have been nice if Cornell got one version and Reinhardt got the other.

>>10236281
>I can't think of any uses for the Dagger, Axe, or Holy Water
Axe is actually good for having more reach than the whip or if you'd rather not risk your position moving around on ground or in the air to whip upward-diagonal, and holy water gets hits in at a speed that you just can't do with the whip even up close. The dagger still works as fast, ranged weapon, and like all subs, is better than nothing when you're occupied with whip swinging.

And personally, wile everyone talks about how the whip makes subs useless in IV, I've felt for a long time that subs blew the whip the fuck out in the NES games to the point of replacing it at times. It's been said in this thread already, but spamming crosses is pretty much better than using your whip almost at all when fighting Death.

>>10230689
great taste

>>10236552
In Trevor's time when Dracula was just getting started, Belmonts were known and despite fighting for good, feared for being seemingly just as strong as the spooky shit they hunted, to the point they were asked to leave the country. Trevor being asked to come back was out of desperation when sending a damn army and a mystic/magic user didn't work.

I think their reputation got better when Trevor and co put down Dracula, but as I understand it, it wasn't until Simon two centuries later, after defeating Dracula twice and lifting a curse the second time, that the populace started trusting the Belmont family.

A century later, though, Richter would fuck up and quit vampire hunting out of shame, and the Belmont lineage would disappear with no one knowing where they went to and everybody actually being pretty upset about it. The Belmonts didn't become pariahs or anything like that, but by OoE and PoR (1944 for the latter), they were legends, mythical even to the Morris family despite being a branch family. This isn't helped by Church organizations deliberately hiding paranormal activity from the general population all the way up to 2035.

>>10230683
I liked Portrait of Ruin for DS.

>>10230685
fpbp

>>10236756
Damn, poor Richter. Very interesting stuff though, it's nice to know they were at least more obscured than hated.

>>10237074
Honestly, I feel like Richter got done dirty. I get that they wanted to make Alucard the main character and hero, but did they really require having Richter jumped by a guy he killed deader than dead? They could've at least given him a more interesting motive and reason for becoming lord of the castle than just "hurr hurr, I want to war against Dracula forever because I, Richter Belmont, heir to the family legacy and boyfriend/husband of Annette, have no other purpose but fighting, or maybe not, that might just Shaft's mindgoblins talking". Dude's last interaction with Dracula in Rondo's original ending was the latter laughing at his optimism regarding humanity and what motivates them, it'd be understandable if Richter wanted to end the cycle by taking Dracula's castle and powers form him or toughen up his fellow man but his mind goes haywire from trying.

>>10235009
>You had fun going through the same flat boring corridors with perfunctory combat ripped straight from DMC1 and no platforming?
Yes

>>10230683
i just played aria of sorrow and it was pretty good. harmony of dissonance was tough. symphony of the night is probably the one i have the most memories of.

>>10237118
>I get that they wanted to make Alucard the main character and hero, but did they really require having Richter jumped by a guy he killed deader than dead?

It doesn't help that Richter only got one canon game, which was also the last chronological game to star a Belmont. And the original sequel to Rondo that would've starred him- "The Bloodletting"-got cancelled.
I haven't played OoE yet, but it feels like the consequences of SOTN never got directly explained in a game (except GoS, I guess), despite leading to everything that comes after it in the timeline. PoR is pretty vague on why the whip had to be cleansed, compared to HoD which explains that Juste's grandpa collected Dracula's body parts to dispel a curse.
I feel like Richter deserves a sequel. Maybe something where he's a bit older and the game can lay out the corrupted whip, Morris, and 1999 stuff, with Richter coming to terms with everything.

Also
>Dracula says "we will meet again, Belmont" at the end of Rondo of Blood
>never meets Richter or Maria again

>>10230737
>SCV4
>top anything
Lol. Lmao.

>>10237625
>I haven't played OoE yet, but it feels like the consequences of SOTN never got directly explained in a game
OoE doesn't really explain it either, no. Don't want to spoil too much about its story, but I will say that, while I fucking love OoE and appreciate its story from a moral standpoint, I'm not sure said story really adds anything to what we already know about CV in general. I suppose that from an in-universe point of view, it maybe helps give Brauner of all people ideas, who would perhaps go on to give Jonathan, Charlotte, and Julius ideas of how to deal with Dracula and his power, but eh.
>Dracula X
Given that X's intro says it takes place three centuries after Simon Belmont, I like to pretend that it's the real battle of 1999 and that Bad End!Richter goes on a time-traveling Dracula-killing spree until 1792 and then the both of them circle back to the present, possibly coming to an understanding only after their shenanigans cause trouble for everyone else. The sorrow games are just a lame way to end things to me, and for that matter, IGA probably shouldn't have written the ending to the story so damn early.

>>10237625
>And the original sequel to Rondo that would've starred him- "The Bloodletting"-got cancelled.
We know very little about The Bloodletting, but we do have an idea that it was one of Symphony of the Night's early names, probably back when it was a Bloodlines sequel.
Magazines at the time indicated that the 32X game was a form of Dracula X, so it was probably another twist on Rondo.

THE DREAMCAST CASTLEVANIA REMAINS ONE OF THE GREATEST WHAT IFS IN GAMEING SEARCH YOUR FEELINGS YOU KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE PIC UNRELATED

>>10237665
This, same with Rondo.
Only CV1 and 3 are good, rest is trash.
(I'm being sarcastic, of course, but the NES ones are the hardest ones, if you care about hardcore cred)

>>10238228
The X68000 one and Circle of the Moon are harder than the NES ones from my experience.

>>10238248
X68000 let you jump on stairs and has HP replenishing herb item.
I've never played any metroidvania other than SOTN, so I'll have to give Circle a chance some day.

>>10238265
Jumping on stairs doesn't help particularly often, some of the game's harder sections don't involve stairs (such as the final stage which is mostly focused on enemies and obstacles along with a few instant kills). The herb does help a lot.

>>10238265
>X68000 let you jump on stairs
Fucking what?

>>10238248
>Circle of the Moon
>harder than the NES ones from my experience
Really? Outside of maybe CoTM Dracula, my experience is the opposite, at least when it comes to 3. CoTM I feel just comes down to having patience about when to attack, good timing when you attack, and maybe not attracting too many enemies at once. Not to mention, the cross subweapon is as overpowered as ever.

>>10238265
>I'll have to give Circle a chance some day
Good luck having enough, if any, potions by the time you reach Dracula.

>>10232952
It got rereleased as one of the more recent collections, "requiem" comes with Rondo and SOTN.

Konami's obviously trying to milk the catalog by releasing a bunch of individual collections instead of one comprehensive one but still, I got this and the anniversary collection off PSN for $5 each during a sale and that's a more than fair price.

>>10238492
isn't "Requiem" just Dracula X Chronicles without the Rondo remake?

>>10238248
Circle of the Moon's difficulty is heavily dependent on prior knowledge. If you know which card combos fuck up which bosses and where to get them it gets a lot easier (except for the Arena of course).

>>10236545
Except for 3 bosses:
>Cerberus
Cross
>Minotaur
Knife
>Death
Knife

>>10237849
I hear you, the screenshots looked really cool.

Rondo and it's not even close

>>10237849
It was also gonna explain the Belmonts disappearing in the 19th century as the result of Victor Belmont not wanting to be a vampire hunter.

Weird how there's been three Belmonts created for that spot in the 1800's, and they've all had the games they were supposed to appear in cancelled.

>>10238825
The axe does the job quite nicely for these bosses as well.

>>10238895
Not nearly as well though

>>10230683
This but on saturn

>>10238898
>uhh koji maybe we should have playtested this more

>>10238926
Nah, I just got good beyond expectations. There is ONE boss FAQ for this game on gamefaqs, it says not to bother using the knife agains the Minotaur because it doesn't work.

>>10238898
This is a war crime

>>10231031
There is no screen in any classicvania game with Medusa Heads more annoying than SotN's reverse clocktower.

I wish SOTN got an enhanced DS or 3DS rerelease
>map on bottom screen
>ability to edit the map and place markers and notes
>map tile detection reworked so you don't have to check the map screen constantly to see if you got that one corner in the reverse castle
>no more turning into a wolf to map water ceilings
>both versions of Maria playable
>introduce circle of the moon's different playstyles and iterate on them a lot harder (think sotn randomizer presets like the one that enables you to beat the game in bat form)
>playable Juste just because he is the one Belmont most like Alucard and he gets a spriteset that doesn't look like complete shit

I miss handheld ports of retro games that build on top of them mechanically and add new modes or remixed content.
I wish they still made true dedicated handhelds so we could get releases like that, instead of developers taking weird niche builds of games and tacking on rewind and save states.

>>10232936
They should have kept her gazongas just as ginormous in future games.

>>10235074
If you played Rondo then you've basically played the Dracula X chronicles. It's about as faithful as a 2.5d remake could be but it's also just kind of pointless since it doesn't do anything better than the original and the 2D pixel art has more soul. But since it included the original Rondo as an unlockable anyway it doesn't matter which version you prefer because you get them both in the same package. The version of SOTN it comes with has a few dialogue changes and and a 2nd faerie familiar but honestly the differences from the PS1 version are so marginal it really doesn't matter.

Also, I know I'm in the minority here but I'm one of those people who thinks Lords of Shadow 2 is severely underrated. It had a great aesthetic, a deep and fun combat system, a ton of secrets to discover, and while the stealth sections are annoying and unnecessary they're like 5% of the game. The Spider-Man game everybody thought was the greatest thing ever forced you to play as Mary Jane and Miles fucking Morales multiple times for lame-ass stealth sections much longer and more obnoxious than anything in LOS2.

>>10238565
Basically, yeah. But honestly most people just bought DXC to unlock the original version anyway. The remake is fine, but it's 2.5D. If you're into retro you're going to prefer the original so no big loss

>>10239536
You didn't play DXC. It has several changes and extra content, including new bosses and a third form for Dracula, making him actually challenging.

>>10230737
>>10230760
What could have been the porpusse of this room?

>>10240434
door to the secret underwater level

>>10230683
SotN is still my favorite, aside from that 3 and 4 are extremely fun, 1 is a good time and it's fun seeing retards get filtered by some of the easiest bosses in the franchise. 2 is a good game hindered by some really retarded decisions. Every other Castlevania game might as well not exist especially the 3D ones.

>>10240729
Forgot about Rondo of Blood and Dracula X which are argueably as good or better than SotN.

>>10240434
>>10240468
I like to think it was either the original entrance to the "guest-made" 5' before the devs decided to make it a postgame extra, or it was where you found one of the two other playable characters that got removed early in development.

>>10230918
>64 good
Correct.

>>10230918
It's from the same people that state that FF& and/or OoT are overrated garbage and that their niche little shit game with broken controls is a million times better.

>>10230918
Because I think for myself instead of being le trendy retro gamer
>ZOMG RONDO IS THE BEST CASLTEVANIA EVER BECAUSE ITS THIS OBSCURE JAPANESE HIDDEN GEM (heavyrockmusicjesus™) ON THE TURBO HECKIN GRAFX 16 BIT
>Clastlevania 64 bad because the camera AGED terribly thank god we don't have to deal with this shit on switch games haha
>IV is also pretty good why yes it's the only one I could beat

Bloodborne proved that metroidvania is better.

>>10236552
>>10236756
So I found an old interview about HoD that sheds even more light on this for me
https://web.archive.org/web/20090402012951/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=77052

Simon actually gained so much support for the clan in his lifetime that an entire village formed around them. Now that sounds cool. I like how the games mostly keep the story contained to where the action is, but I also wish we got to see more of this stuff.

>>10240375
All the minor changes are completely forgettable and Drac's 3rd form feels tacked-on and weird.

I stand by my original statement. The remake is a good game because the game it's based on is good and they didn't really screw anything up while remaking it. But nobody who played Rondo is going to play DXC and walk away saying "oh man, I'm glad I finally played the definitive version of the game I was really missing out." Rondo is the definitive version.

>>10240967
Rondo's status as a game most people didn't actually get to play helped add some mystique to it but between emulation, the Dracula X Chronicles and the recent gen rereleases everyone who gives a shit has had a chance to play it by now and I don't think it becoming more accessible has harmed its appeal at all.

Most people who finally get to play it find it lives up to the the hype. It has the traditional classicvania gameplay from the first 3 games, arguably the best aesthetic out of any of the side-scrolling games, its difficulty is a nice balance between the semi-casualness of IV and the occasionally sadistic level of the NES games, it has branching paths, unlockable characters, an excellent score....the fact that it was a holy grail for so long didn't make it overrated, it was a holy grail because it was a great game that happened to be stuck on an obscure console.

Also IV isn't as piss easy as people imply. Much, much easier than 1 and 3, yes, but I still think your average pleb gets filtered hard by stage B if not before

>>10241404
Yeah I played Rondo recently and it owns, I loved it. I'd also say it's the second most accessible Classicvania after 4, arguably even more so cuz of Maria mode being a click away and the game being less long. The one part that dips into 1-3 assholery is Death and the boss gauntlet with Shaft's two balls, and even then, there's a trick to those fuckers way more manageable than Death in 1, or that wretched mine level in 3.

>I still think your average pleb gets filtered hard by stage B if not before
My normie friend got filtered by stage 3, the water city, and my less normie friend whom I shared the Igavanias with as a kid got to the Dungeon before giving up to all the traps in there, but he was too tired to press on by that point, he wanted to go back another day. I think that's another issue with 4, lil too long. I've never minded much though.

Then again, the former friend got fucking ravaged by Stage 2 of Rondo already, I had to tell him to carefully handle the crows with daggers and explain the trick to Axe armors to him lmao

>>10238898
So what's the trick to this exactly, what exactly makes the Minotaur flinch? I saw it in a video and when I tried it (in the 3DS VC version) I couldn't get the timing down, I thought it had something to do with hitting him with the tip of the whip, I could swear I've stun him twice in a row that way in Rondo too.

>>10236281
>>10236737
Axe is still very nice to have in IV, specially in Loop 2, with all those club knights, ravens and skeletons the mode loves to throw at you. It still can get to places your whip cannot, above and below, you can also use it for the harpies, the dancing zombies, the peeping eyeballs... still a great weapon like in any other Classicvania. Dagger is fun to spam against white dragons and the first two bosses but I am drawing a blank at holy water. That weapon is genuinely useless in this game.

>>10241457
>got to the Dungeon before giving up to all the traps in there

When I was a kid I forgot you could crouchwalk so I somehow made it through the random spike tunnels by madly rushing forward one inch at a time and then ducking right before the spikes dropped. Took me about 50 tries because even on the rare occasions I made it through the spikes I would die to the disappearing bridge

I spent years thinking that was one of the most unfairly brutal section in vidya history until I realized I wasn't even doing it right and you just pushed down + forward you got through the spikes 100% of the time. When I finally grokked it I was both incredibly happy but also filled with post-hoc rage because that was a gauntlet I put myself through for no reason

>>10241652
I remember having a minor revelation like that with crouch walking but instead with the carpet monster in the library lmao

>the disappearing bridge
This shit still fucks me up, together with that one part in B where you have to outrun the rising stones it is the one truly pat of 4 that dips into Castlevania 3 territory, what is that Megaman shit

>>10242158
>This shit still fucks me up
If it's any consolation it's not your fault, the 8-2 bridge is literal RNG

>>10242158
The thing about the carpet monster is that you have enough time to just walk normally and still not take damage. My excuse for being retarded is that you don't actually need to crouchwalk at any other point in the game and I guess I managed to never do it by accident so I was just unaware it was even a thing.

The bridge chaps my ass because I'm pretty sure it's completely random so you just have to take your chances and go for it. It's the single most arbitrary thing in the entire game. I'm still not sure if I hate the dungeon because it's actually the worst level in the game or just because I had to replay it too many times

>>10241373
There doesn't need to be a "definitiva" version. I like the original better due to 2D graphics, but the extra challenge in DXC is good. Drac's 3rd form doesn't feel tacked on, they did a good final boss fight with it

>>10242759
I disagree. I didn't hate the extended dracula fight but I felt like it was another example of the "no boss battle can be concise or we didn't try hard enough so every time you think you beat them there's another part to drag it out" mentality that's so pervasive now. 2 stages was enough. Hell, it was only 1 in IV.

And again, I don't think it's an actual problem that would make me not recommend the remake or anything. It's just that none of the extra stuff is so compelling that I'd say you missed much if you never got around to it. If you have the time and want to see an alternate version, it's worth checking out, but if you only ever played the original then you can feel like you've seen all you really need to see. The original is essential. The remake is bonus content

most of the classics controls are too stiff to be considered anything more than just okay

>>10243263
Those games are designed around the mastery of those very controls. Even Mario games are stiff in their own right because that's part of what makes those games interesting.

>>10243564
mario can speed up and change his trajectory in the air since the NES times, its far less stiff and actually very smooth.

>>10243263
Rubbish, the classic aer great because they're fine tuned to the stiff gameplay. That's why special weapons are useless in SC4, the special weapons were made to assist and balance out the stiff gameplay, and the gamnig experience would be transformed by yoru ability to keep special weapon and using them effectively. Also get good.

>>10230683
To me, it's Dracula X on the SNES, followed closely by 1 on the NES.
>But Super IV and Rondo
Don't care for easy as fuck or some god forsaken jap game that's impossible to even emulate

>>10243618
Mario's momentum however, especially in the first game or say, Super Mario Land, allows far more possible accidents, while the jump arc in Castlevania games is pretty reliable and consistent, same for movement. Think of it like Contra vs Mega Man: Contra has harder to use controls and you die from a single hit, but you can shoot in 8 directions from the start, your weapons take no ammo and most upgrades go even further in both damage and spread. On the other hand, in Mega Man the controls are more free and it's far easier to platform, but enemies that are in unorthodox positions will be difficult to handle without weapons, and weapons themselves consume ammo and require more effort to get. They're two different types of games, one is not necessarily better than the other.

>>10243630
>god forsaken jap game that's impossible to even emulate
Surely you jest.

>>10243643
i'd say megaman is better than contra personally, but i guess its just a preference of liking to have more control.

>>10230683
Any answer other than Sotn and Aria comes from an overly contrarian tranny. Stop treating video games like badges to collect. Nobody other than some internet faggots gives a shit you managed to beat an total slog of a game for bragging rights.

>>10244938
x68000 has a mad good soundtrack though.

>>10244938
the classics arent bad games though, so one shouldnt dismiss them. but they are clearly not as good as later entries, which is a natutal thing. games evolve with time

>>10237849
>>10238850
It was canned for a reason. It controlled even worse than the N64 iterations

>1986 Castlevania
Not bad for it's time.
>1987 Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Romhacks have corrected this.
>1989 Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Pretty cool.
>1991 Super Castlevania IV
Pretty cool.
>1993 Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
10/10
>1997 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
10/10
>1999 Castlevania (Nintendo 64)
Not as bad as it has a reputation for, but I don't like primitive 3d games that don't have the camera and controls figured out.
>2001 Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Didn't click.
>2002 Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Didn't click.
>2003 Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Didn't click
>2003 Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Fuck yeah.
>2005 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
No.
>2005 Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
Fuck yeah.
>2006 Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
It's all so tiresome.
>2008 Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Maybe.
>2009 Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
Seems cool.

the best non /vr/ castlevania

>>10246395
You should definitely try Bloodlines too if you like the first 3 games.

>>10246437
soulstards trying to sell the idea that somehow, a game without a jump button can ever be considered Castlevania, is baffling to me.
>but.... LE HECKIN' BACKTRACKING!
Castlevania didn't have backtracking until the metroid style games.

>>10235074
OOE is amazing
great list

>>10246493
but you can jump? you probably mean that its not a main mechanic?

>>10246616
Souls are not platformers, there's not a jump-exclusive button, you can only "jump" by doing different kind of attacks. It's like saying Ocarina of Time is like Castlevania.

>>10246437
That's not the first Kingdom Hearts game

>>10246437
For me, it's Odallus.

>>10246676
looks actually breddy kuhl, i'll check it out

>>10230683
Simon's Quest.

>>10233445
The only thing those two had in common is a poor level design. They are very different iterations on an action game. It's like comparing classicvania with igavania.

>>10246440
Oh, I accidentally deleted that from the list.

>Bloodlines
Probably my favorite.

>>10232797
I feel like its an absolutely great game but upon replaying classics (I only didn't play chronicles) I found it too reliant on whip, it has weirdly small screen space and thats pretty much it.
Game is very fun, atmosphere and music are great, I just dont feel like it fits into classicvanias all that well. With RoB standing strongly at the top of them.

>>10232952
http://www.mediafire.com/download/ms2mrxbswowwfob/rondo32v12.exe
I unironically used this. No viruses, if you are scared install it on VM.
Works perfectly on PC.
Enjoy it, definitely best classicvania.

>>10247786
I honestly started liking IV better upon replays. It's very solid from start to finish, and I found the diagonal whip thing was actually balanced with a lot of enemies that attack you with diagonal patterns, especially in loop 2.
Rondo is also a masterpiece but it also feels weird as a castlevania, with the more exploration-based design and with the bible subweapon being more useful tuan the classic ones. In IV I still always want to keep rank 3 Cross (another thing rondo got rid of, subweapon ranks)

>>10232952
retroarch + Beetle PCE core, that's how I did it.

>>10246502
OoE gets some shit for the straight line stages and magic basically becoming stamina from Demon's Souls but I think that game nails enemy placement and challenge imo, plus the artstyle is great, with the most original enemies out of any of the DS Castlevanias.

>>10246437
>>10246616
>>10246621
The true 3D Castlevania will always be pic related. Not Souls, not the actual 3D Castlevanias, and by god, not that Uncharted God of War SotC LotR amalgam they did for PS no, these games. I don't care if it's part of the GnG series; it has the weighty melee combat and rigid platforming; also don't give me shit about the artstyle, any Castlevania game would be honored to have character design by Susumu Matsushita.

>>10230760
Go back to /a/ fucking faggot

>>10231048
Predditor spotted

>>10231657
>bloodstained
I just fucking hate the 2.5 D graphics just to let coomers fap with it. What a shame

>>10246395
>doesn't mention Castlevania Harmony of Despair
damn dude you got robbed.

>>10248750

>>10230737
>muh board culture and cult of opinion
yeah you're an VERY cool guy i'm sure anon, you have opinions of your own

>>10248942

>>10249053
Anon, thank you for posting those Maria images, they're cute.

>>10249104
>Maria when she sees tourists

WHAT, in (You)'re opinion is OBJECTIVELY the greatest Castlevania of SOME time but not all of it?

>>10248937
>>10249053
>>10249223
people like you need to be taken out back and shot in the head.

oppai...

Is there a romhack for SoTN that does away with the RPG shit like weapon stats and the mana points shit? I like the simplicity of the original games, "these are your weapons, no more no less" kinda deal.

>>10234093
cv1 isn't a particularly good or fun game. Neither is cv3 for that matter

>>10251278
Why is that? They're great games.
>>10250206
I have to wonder why they designed Maria like that.

>>10250206

>>10249884
Castlevania 1 upon release.
Castlevania 3 upon release.
Potentially Super Castlevania 4 upon release.
Potentially Rondo of Blood upon release.
Potentially Order of Ecclesia upon release.

>>10250226
There's the Richter mode, game still sucks since it wasn't intended to be a focused challenge like the classics.

>>10251554
>I have to wonder why they designed Maria like that.
Why did a nation of perverts design this character for perverts? It's a mystery...

>>10249884
For a year and a half, Castlevania: the Adventure was the only, so by default, best portable Castlevania.

>>10252020
Yeah, I see your point.

I can understand people liking other Castlevania titles better; but anyone who calls SOTN an outright bad game is a poser faggot just trying to look cool on the internet. Simple as.

The biggest problem with SOTN is how the sequels and imitators failed to live up to the concept's potential. It's not a perfect game, but it is and probably always will be the best metroidvania.

>>10251985

>>10230683
SotN

SotN is extremely overrated.

>>10252013
>it wasn't intended to be a focused challenge like the classics
This really bothered me while I was playing SotN, but after playing more of the later games I made my peace with it. The metroidvania style has a very flexible difficulty; if I want it to be harder I try to clear as much as I can without hitting a save room, minimize backtracking/needless grinding, don't worry about equipping the best stuff and avoid using potions unless a boss pulls out some undodgeable bullshit.
It doesn't really beat a focused, intentionally designed challenge but there are plenty of things you can do to make it interesting

>>10251554
terrible jumping mechanics. Flea men.

>>10253217
All the fun of SotN is using one of the 3 billion weapons and seeing the unique things they do. While half of them are just sword but slightly different some are pretty sick. That said I still play with some "hardmode" romhack to make it at least somewhat difficult.

>>10231036
>Did you know MGS 3 is also bad?
It isn't?

>>10238771
Have fun grinding for 150 hours while constantly double tapping to run

Rondo of blood

>>10230752
SOTN Maria was harder than 1. idk about 3.

>>10253675
Last time I replayed invented a challenge where whenever I acquired a new weapon I had to equip it, stats be damned. Don't think I stuck with it all the way through but "get weapon, equip weapon" is a fun way to play. Really makes you appreciate the effort they put into making every weapon slightly different (and not just in terms of stats)

soul steal! soul steal! soul steal! soul steal! soul steal!

>>10253869
I'm the last person who would defend Circle of the Moon. It's awful. I'm just saying that its difficulty is highly dependent on DSS cards.

>>10253869
>Have fun grinding for 150 hours while constantly double tapping to run

And without any money to waste or any in shops to get the items early. Circle of the moon deserved to have at least one shop and one merchant like the ones of other metroidvanias, so the main character could buy some items and some armors instead of grinding for too much hours.

>>10230683
All of them excel in one thing that makes it hard to decide which one is the best.
>Best visuals and music
Symphony of the Night
>Best game length
Aria of Sorrow
>Best challenge
>Order of Ecclesia
As a whole package, it's going to be Aria for me.

>>10254341
For classicvania
>Best visuals and music
Super Castlevania IV
>Best game length
Rondo of Blood
>Best challenge
Castlevania 3
As a whole package, it's Rondo.

>>10253675
>>10254137
Yeah the variety of weapons is great. This stuff is the reason why I like Castlevania more than other metroidvania series, constantly finding new things to play with and most of it isn't required to beat the game. It gives me a natural desire to explore that feels a lot nicer than just wandering around looking for the next movement upgrade.

>>10254354
That would actually be Bloodlines, Simons Quest, and Rondo, respectively.

No metroidvania is eligible for best vania

Finished it for the first time. This bad boy is better than I thought.

1st: SoTN
2nd: 1
3rd: 3
I dunno 4, Rondo, and the GBA games don't do it for me. I love the first and third games, but I just have more fun fucking around in SoTN.

>>10230683
>SOTN
definitive castlevania the only thing missing are the alternative characters. The extra mode kind of works like that, and Alucard's transformations make up for the lack of character switching, but it's the only thing missing to make the game complete.
>Rondo
Improved classic in such a way it's the best 16bit castlevania after an unimpressive IV game and unnecessary remake on sharpx68000
>CV1
It's the undisputed classic of the franchise both the nes and msx versions
>CV3
It's the best 8bit game in the series and one of the best games in the series overall
>Bloodlines
Second best 16bit castlevania improves everything that CV IV lacked
>X
The rondo demake/romhack which is surprisingly good much better than CV IV
>Super castlevania
It has a good presentation but unlike other tech demos from the early life of the snes, the game has nothing interesting to offer and is one of the most mediocre games in the series.
>CV2
Made obsolete by SOTN's improvements it's shitty but the trollish design is kind of fun
>N64 vania
surprisingly good games
>Curse of Darkness and Lament
Konami didn't spend a lot of money on these games and they look like ps1 games despite both being released late in the 6th generation, especially lament. the games are great though
>GBA vania
Aria is great but the soul system could use some improvement, curse is kind of fun I guess and Harmony is ok I don't get the hype for aria yet.

>>10246437

never heard of it

>>10252928
SotN is literally the anti castlevania (like Simon's Quest already was).

>>10253217
>after playing more of the later games I made my peace with it
With the exception of HoD which really is just SotN without the superficial stuff people liked about it, all later games do a much better job at crafting a more focused and balanced experience.

>>10257302
Some weird opinions here.
MSX "version" of castlevania 1? really?
If you think SOTN is the "definitive" castlevania, then I can't really take your opinions on classicvania very seriously, anyway.

ENTER

>>10258045
It even has mechanics from the spin off game kid dracula, which makes sotn the most complete castlevania up to that time

>>10258105
And lacks mechanics from the original Castlevanias, such as actual platforming level design with bottomless pits.

>>10258112
>Lack of bottomless pits
Is that it? The game reuses layouts from all other games. It can't get any more faithful than that.

>>10258124
Castlevania is, at its core, a platforming game. yes, bottomless pits are a core aspect of its design. If you don't get punished for failing a jump, then what's the point?
And to be fair, SOTN doesn't even have much in terms of level design, it is hallways, mostly.
It's not a bad game, it has a lot of detail and a lot of fanservice for classicvania fans (from references to the NES games, to straight up reused sprites from Rondo and IV) but it's a different genre of game altogether.

>>10258150
>Thinks level design is just floating platforms
Really

>>10258161
I didn't say floating platforms, I said bottomless pits. Punishment for missing a jump/getting hit by an enemy and knocked back.
In SOTN, you can fall on pits, but that just means going to a room underneath.

>>10230685
Correct.

>>10250226
this is the closest thing to what you're asking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf-Mq7OG2Z0