Is it weird that I had much more fun with that game than with Super Castlevania IV? Why is it so unpopular? Just because of muh Rondo of Blood assets? Also Castlevania thread, I guess.

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Anonymous Thu Jan 8 19:46:28 2015 No.2168707 [Reply] [Original]

Is it weird that I had much more fun with that game than with Super Castlevania IV? Why is it so unpopular? Just because of muh Rondo of Blood assets?

Also Castlevania thread, I guess.

>>	Anonymous Thu Jan 8 19:51:24 2015 No.2168715 It's not just the assets, level design, the extra character, more paths, music, etc. (pretty much everything but the backgrounds) were better in Rondo. It's a fine game on its own but after having played both I will never play it again

>>	Anonymous Thu Jan 8 20:00:38 2015 No.2168725 It is unpopular because it is the worst 16bit Castlevania and is unreasonably hard. Liking it more than 4 isn't really that weird, though. It plays more like a classic Casltevania than 4 does.

Anonymous Thu Jan 8 20:14:47 2015 No.2168745

>>2168707
On its own it's a decent CV game. It had some questionable level design in some parts and the last boss can suck a cock, but it wasn't horrible by any means. I enjoy it and SC4 for different reasons.

It's unpopular because it's a lesser, stripped-down version of what is widely considered the best classic CV of all time.

>>	Anonymous Thu Jan 8 23:11:04 2015 No.2168990 random difficulty spikes and stupid final boss. that said, it's either unfairly bashed or over worshiped. It's decent to good. And euro version is grossly overpriced.

>>	Anonymous Thu Jan 8 23:43:27 2015 No.2169037 My SFC copy should be arriving tomorrow finally. Pretty pumped to play it all the way through finally, but I do prefer IV from what I have played.

Anonymous Thu Jan 8 23:48:11 2015 No.2169043

>>2168707
The last boss really isn't THAT hard.

You can't get hit, yeah. But once you memorize the patterns you can carve him up with sub weapons.

Ah, I remember when I played through and thought he was a bitch. Mainly because I didn't know how to use my sub weapons THE WHOLE GAME.

The only thing in the game that legitimately pissed me off was the one and ONE chance to get the best ending by making a tricky jump. If you fall, you're fucked. That there was bullshit, not Dracula's final form.

Anonymous Thu Jan 8 23:53:39 2015 No.2169054

4 is ok, my main complaint with it is that the level design seem more focused on showcasing the SNES graphics capabilities more than anything. I thought the sprite work in general was inconstant. They were trying to give the art depth by putting highlights on things but a lot of it feels flat and Simon in particular really stands out from the rest of the game like he has this really rough outline.

I'm really not trying to hate on it because it was a pretty good game at the time and I think it was neat that you could control the whip even if it made the game a bit easy.

I would love to know the real story behind X and why it wasn't a carbon copy of Rondo minus the CD extras of course.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 00:17:59 2015 No.2169084 >>2169054 >cites sequelitis as main research source

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 00:30:49 2015 No.2169098 >>2169054 Most of the sprites look flat, but keep in mind it was the first 16bit Castlevania. Bloodlines, Rondo, and Dracula X are really late releases for their consoles.

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 00:33:15 2015 No.2169104

>>2169054
>I would love to know the real story behind X and why it wasn't a carbon copy of Rondo minus the CD extras of course.

Because NEC and Konami had an agreement that Dracula X was to remain exclusive and the only way to get the game to another system was to make a new one entirely. That's why it never got ported to the Sega CD like Snatcher did.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 00:34:04 2015 No.2169107 >>2169054 think about it, einstein, it came out at that time! almost all the launch titles for a system need to show off to get people to buy them.

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 00:45:09 2015 No.2169125

>>2169107

I don't need to think about it. I actually played it when it first came out. I wasn't impressed comparative to the other titles out at the time graphics wise. Mode 7 was used like bloom during the 7th gen. Straight shot rooms with pixelated rotating backgrounds and chandlers didn't make the level design better. If Nintendo was all you knew back then I guess it was impressive but I owned and played other systems.

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 16:41:02 2015 No.2170128

Drac X wasn't bad but it's sad it gets shit on because it's "not muh Rondo". I swear if it was a different Belmont entirely (ie, a new sprite) people would love the game a lot more and wouldn't be making this comparison.

I played it again a month ago and it's okay, but that one spear guard standing at the top of the ladder in the clock tower while bats zig zag at you is pure bullshit. Without extreme luck you're going to eat some damage, and they upped the amount of defense spear guards have. They take 5 hits now, and I think in RoB I'm pretty sure it was 4. It's not much more, but they seem to take forever to down, especially with how frequently this game throws them at you.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 16:54:07 2015 No.2170160 >>2168707 I like how he's almost giving us the finger

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 16:58:21 2015 No.2170167 >>2169043 >The last boss really isn't THAT hard. Agreed. Like in the good old NES Castlevanias, the right sub weapon is the key to success.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 16:58:52 2015 No.2170169 This has bothered me for years. But what the fuck does a rondo have to do with blood?

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 17:06:20 2015 No.2170187
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>>2168707
>Is it weird that I had much more fun with that game than with Super Castlevania IV?
No, the game's all-around better, although not a masterpiece by a long shot either.
>Why is it so unpopular?
Two reasons.

1) SCV4 was the SNES's Gears of War. It's a grimdark, serious business next-gen remake of the original game (the IV is only there in the Western release; it's actually a straight-on remake). Many people were impressed by it when they were young and are very uncritical of their early experiences. It's an OK game, but is one of the weaker classic Castlevanias.

2) The SNES version of Dracula X was seen as a denial of Chi no Rondo for the Western fans. Rondo used to be the holy grail of Castlevania up until PCE emulation became commonplace in early 2000s - many people claimed that it was the true pinnacle of the series, which, albeit a decent game, it decidedly wasn't. Since Dracula X (SNES) was seen as a kind of an un-Rondo, a sub-Rondo that people had been fed instead of the supposedly brilliant original, it ended up being hated.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 17:11:58 2015 No.2170198 >>2170169 Dance of Blood sounds too pedestrian. Rondo suggests an elegant slaughter.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 17:16:23 2015 No.2170215 >>2170169 "Chi no Rondo" is "Bloody rondo". Mass-murder, perhaps.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 17:29:49 2015 No.2170242 >>2170215 血のロンド literally means "Rondo of Blood".

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 17:31:48 2015 No.2170246 >>2170198 But Rondo has nothing to do with dancing.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 17:39:37 2015 No.2170257 >>2170242 Iliad also literally means Trojan [poem]. Don't be literal when translating, though. Languages don't directly correspond like that in most cases.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 17:40:40 2015 No.2170260 >>2170246 Except for being the most common form in popular music, including dance music, to this day, of course.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 17:42:32 2015 No.2170265 >>2170246 No, it's a musical piece. You'll notice that every subsequent Castlevania for a large number of years used the same naming convention.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 17:49:55 2015 No.2170279 >>2170257 Point is, it fits in this case. No need to change it.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 18:40:52 2015 No.2170371 >>2169125 Look out, fellas, we've got ourselves a tough guy here.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 18:45:33 2015 No.2170382 >>2170265 >You'll notice that every subsequent Castlevania for a large number of years used the same naming convention No?

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 18:59:42 2015 No.2170402 >>2170382 >Rondo of Blood >Symphony of the Night >Aria of Sorrow >Harmony of Dissonance Yeah you're right, its basically only the 3. Everything else just has a longish 3 part name or so.

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 19:29:14 2015 No.2170450

>>2170371
>implying he's at all wrong

There were multiple rooms in SC4 that only existed to show off and cock-suck the SNES's abilities. The rotating room was useless from a design standpoint, but was always hit up as a highlight of the game in mags because of how the NES couldn't have done it. Whether it could or not, that's not even the point, it didn't NEED to be done since it only slows the pace of the game.

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 19:39:53 2015 No.2170475

>>2170450
Not who you're replying to, but I liked that room.
I still do. It's not useless, it gives you a feel of hanging on for dear life. Then the medusa heads --- daaamn.
You must be one of those boring technical people who look more into the technical things in games rather than enjoying the game for what it is. I'm no Nintendo fanboy and i'm not going to defend them obviously showing off mode 7 in a lot of games, but for the most part it was used very well in Castlevania 4. It was a great design choice, if even today, holding onto that damn hook with the whip makes some feel anxious. The only part that slows the pace of the game is when you had to sit there holding on, waiting for the fucking blocks to appear one by one. Now that was just silly, it should've been much faster. If there's any design flaw, that was it. Maybe they intended it that way, to leave you "hanging", wondering wtf is going on. But shit, it feels like it takes forever lol

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 20:44:05 2015 No.2170570 Honestly I just liked the multi-directional whip in SC4.

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 20:58:54 2015 No.2170593
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It was my first Castlevania game and it is a damn good classicvania title. I find it weird how many people bash it as a "bad rondo port" when it's actually a different game.
Even the first stage, has drastically different layout, enemies and even a different boss at the end (Dragon/sea serpent on Rondo, Cerberos in Dracula X, which is a boss that doesn't even appear on Rondo of Blood).

It is indeed one of the most underrated or underappreciated titles on the franchise. The whole "backgrounds look bland" argument can be easily countered by the MANY bland backgrounds on the original Rondo of Blood (plain brick walls, anyone?).
Dracula X is one of the most challenging games on the series, people who liked CV1 and 3 should enjoy Dracula X.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 21:23:55 2015 No.2170636 >>2170570 Why did they never do that ever again? Okay yeah sure it was back in a very limited way in Bloodlines, but other than that it's extinct. 8-way whipping was the best thing to come out of the game and it was the one thing that most got ignored.

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 21:30:08 2015 No.2170656
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>>2170636

When you play Ritcher in SOTN, he can swing the whip while he stands if you press square and move the dpad, but no actual 8 direction whipping.

I don't know why it wasn't implemented again. The guy who came up with that idea and coded it was Mitsuru Yaida (known for his other masterpieces with creative control inputs like Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers, Bangai-O, etc). I don't think he worked on any other CV title other than IV, so maybe that's why.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 21:30:11 2015 No.2170657 I wish it wasn't so short.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 22:01:58 2015 No.2170712 >>2170656 >that pic I'm still stunned Nintendo allowed a fully topless Medusa in the US release, especially when they re-drew the sprite to make her a man in CV3.

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 22:26:58 2015 No.2170742

>>2170450
To a new player, it was a unique experience in that you didn't see that coming. You expect monsters and spikes and pits, but you didn't expect the room itself to literally turn on you. Yes, it was a tech demo, but it was also something that threw you for a loop the first time through, adding to the notion that Dracula's castle is an entity itself.

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 22:50:35 2015 No.2170771

>>2168725
>It is unpopular because it is the worst 16bit Castlevania

Except that honor belongs to 4. People only praise it because it was on the SNES and made by the people who would go on to form Treasure and as we all no Treasure can never EVER do anything wrong.

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 22:53:31 2015 No.2170774

>>2170771

>implying there is a "worst" 16 bit Castlevania.

Even the "worst" of the 16 bit Castlevanias would rank among the best on the series, so who cares

>muh contrarianism, SCV IV sucks because it's popular!

Also, very few people knew about the Treasure ties until recently.

Anonymous Fri Jan 9 23:01:40 2015 No.2170783

>>2170771
>People only praise it because it was on the SNES and made by the people who would go on to form Treasure

Are you seriously positing that it's popularity is due to being made by eventual Treasure staff? Do you really think that reason is at the fore of people's minds--or common knowledge at all? Please.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 9 23:01:56 2015 No.2170784 >>2170742 >threw you for a loop the first time It sure did. I must've died like 10 times trying to jump off that platform, not knowing I just had to endure the medusas and wait it out.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 00:09:15 2015 No.2170884 >>2168707 is it weird that I don't like any castlevania games? They're just too damn slow for an action game

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 00:51:21 2015 No.2170936 >>2170884 It's almost more like puzzle solving than action. Knowing where to stand, where your enemies will come from, etc.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 00:56:46 2015 No.2170946 >>2170936 This. Not every 2D platformer is Sonic. No need to go fast all the time.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 04:15:48 2015 No.2171202 >>2169084 None of the shit was mentioned in it The whole video was about how the 8 way whip and non fixed jumping made sub weapons useless

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 04:20:41 2015 No.2171207 File: 52 KB, 399x553, jbox-cv3a.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] I was always a huge fan of Akumajou Densetsu

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 04:21:11 2015 No.2171208 >>2170656 Why do manuals always spoil the game by listing all the bosses and/or levels?

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 04:25:04 2015 No.2171213 >>2170884 >They're just too damn slow for an action game Nigga they were meant to be horror games Slow movement and fixed jumping make you feel vulnerable

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 04:47:34 2015 No.2171236 File: 115 KB, 640x911, 21305_front.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] And please tell me I am not the only one here that prefers Bloodlines to SC4

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 05:15:04 2015 No.2171253 >>2171202 >sub-weapons >useless Triple or at least souble cross is mandatory for speedrunning the game.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 06:09:35 2015 No.2171307 My biggest problem with Super Castlevania IV is the large number of shitty boss fights.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 06:13:13 2015 No.2171309 >>2171236 You're not, either Bloodlines or Rondo is my absolute favorite

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 06:19:02 2015 No.2171317 >>2171253 he wasn't speedrunning it

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 06:33:46 2015 No.2171334 >>2171236 New Generation and Rondo of Blood are both better than IV, but Rondo is better than New Generation.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 06:40:07 2015 No.2171339 >>2171202 the only subweapon made obsolete by the 8 way whip was the axe and even then it still covers twice as much screen space as the whip

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 06:52:57 2015 No.2171352 >>2171334 Yeah I would agree

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 06:55:52 2015 No.2171356 >>2170884 i want to love them but i cant stand attacking with the whip. so sotn & aos were my favorites

Anonymous Sat Jan 10 13:40:50 2015 No.2171767

>>2171208
a) That's not the manual. You clearly didn't read any of the words on the page. Some key clues would be the title "Retro Gamer" at the bottom and references to games made in the future. Most game manuals in 1991 didn't feature interviews with the Japanese game staff.

b) Back in the day, kids weren't pussies about "OMG you fight Zapf Bat? You fucking ruined the game with your spoiler!! :("

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 13:50:07 2015 No.2171778 Dracula X has the most bland level design I've seen in a Castlevania. Most of the levels are just flat hallways with zero environmental obstacles, full of repetitive damage-sponge enemies that take forever to kill.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 14:38:09 2015 No.2171831 >>2171778 So you're more into jumping than fighting?

>>	NESfag Sat Jan 10 14:47:44 2015 No.2171842 >>2168707 I like Rondo better than IV too. Rondo is classic CV, IV is very unique, different, in gameplay and atmosphere compared to the rest of the series.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 14:51:38 2015 No.2171847 >>2171767 It was actually more like ""OMG you fight Zapf Bat? Awesome!".

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 14:53:30 2015 No.2171849 I am afraid of playing it again because of the last boss. It's just so much bullshit. Why the fuck did they have to put pillars in the last stage. It literally doesn't let you get a fucking hit...

Anonymous Sat Jan 10 14:55:58 2015 No.2171851

>>2170936
so an action game? This goes for most arcade games

>>2170946
shoot em ups, run n guns.. those entire genres are pretty fast paced. not a sonic fan

>>2171356
I've tried getting into castlevania games multiple times as well, I want to like them, but they're really just not fun at all. Too slow and easy, then they'll throw some cheesy death at you only to have to redo the whole slow section again.

as for sotn, action-adventure / metroidvania are probably my most disliked genre other than straight up adventure

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 15:47:50 2015 No.2171925 >>2169084 Egoraptor can suck a fucking dick, such a poser >lol confusing Trevor with Simon and not knowing III is a prequel.

Anonymous Sat Jan 10 15:54:35 2015 No.2171932

>>2171202
Lots of the sub weapons are already useless.

>knife
No one uses the knife. You only use the knife if you are completely desperate and have no other option.

>stopwatch
Useful in a few very select scenarios or if you're trying to pull of some speedrun tricks. Usually the stopwatch is not worth the extra hearts when you could just kill the enemies with other subweapons for fewer.

>holy water
Good in the original Castlevania (dare I say mandatory) especially for the last two bosses, but in every later game it was horrid. I forget which game where once it hit the ground it actually traveled a little distance, which was nice, but most of them it just makes a poof of flame where it hits, stays there, and causes little damage. You're better just using the cross.

I'm not even going to get into all that weird stuff like the dust powder from SotN which was just dumb.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 17:40:36 2015 No.2172060 >>2171253 >Triple or at least souble cross is mandatory for speedrunning the game. 90 percent of the people playing aren't speedrunners

Anonymous Sat Jan 10 17:59:20 2015 No.2172083

>>2172060
My point is that they are not useless. IV is the most whip-centered game in the series (and that's not a bad thing), so you can rely less on sub weapons, but they are definitely not useless. I don't speedrun it, but damn, cross comes in handy at almost all times.
The fact you can't change the sub weapon once you get a new one makes it kind of challenging to keep consistently with a triple cross or a triple anything. You need to remember the exact locations of the SW locations, or be extra careful breaking candles and shit.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 18:30:09 2015 No.2172124 >>2169125 I got Super Castlevania IV when it came out for my birthday. I played SEGA and arcades at the time and that game blew me the fuck away. So yeah, fuck you.

Anonymous Sat Jan 10 18:39:48 2015 No.2172126

I played SC4 again recently for the first time in about 10 years. I wasn't terribly impressed. The multi-whipping was smooth and great, but the game dragged on way too long. It wasn't challenging enough to keep my interest, the pace was too slow, and the music was really muted and dull. Aside from Simon's Theme there were no songs to get you pumped up like the NES Castlevanias. I can see it being cool for 1991 standards, but overall as a Castlevania title it ranks pretty low.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 20:03:32 2015 No.2172282 >>2169084 obvious troll attempt, but points for effort

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 20:21:09 2015 No.2172301 >>2172126 >Theme there were no songs to get you pumped up like the NES Castlevanias U wot m8, the last 2 stages are full of remixes of the best tracks from the NES games.

Anonymous Sat Jan 10 20:38:16 2015 No.2172321

>>2171849
The 1st stage is actually more difficult on the PC Engine. The pillars actually allow you to dodge Dracula's attacks and jump over his fireballs, which is impossible on the PCE where you have to be incredibly precise with your whip and your timing.

The 2nd stage is harder on the SNES though.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 20:49:54 2015 No.2172338 >>2172301 Exactly, it was just remixes. I give credit to the original NES games for that, not SC4. On its own SC4 had very bad original music. It was mostly just quiet ambient stuff.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 21:03:40 2015 No.2172359 >>2172338 Ok, but that's not what you said before. You said there were no songs to get you pumped up when obviously there were. By the way, the remixes are better than the original versions.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 21:12:22 2015 No.2172372 >>2172338 >SC4 had very bad original music Yeah, no, you can sit down now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVN8CA-Ufkk

Anonymous Sat Jan 10 21:13:32 2015 No.2172375

>>2172321

>The 1st stage is actually more difficult on the PC Engine.

I haven't played Dracula X in a while, but I remember there being medusa heads on the first stage, and a segment where the big bull-like beast chases you and you have to make some risky jumps, like on the 2nd stage in Rondo, but they mixed things a bit on DX.
I've played RoB a lot of times and to me Stage 1 is a walk in the park, barely anything challenging at all.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 21:14:32 2015 No.2172379 >>2172338 Anon, it's time to stop posting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cTjcGCjluQ

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 22:57:41 2015 No.2172550 >>2172375 I mean stages of the Dracula fight.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jan 10 23:19:56 2015 No.2172606 >>2170636 Because it made some of the subweapons useless and the overall game too easy.

Anonymous Sat Jan 10 23:33:03 2015 No.2172637

I'll get around to playing Rondo one of these days. As it stands, though, in terms of how much I enjoy playing them, I'd say it goes 3 > Bloodlines > 1 > X > 4 > Symphony. If it matters, I never played any castelvania games before the 2000s, despite having an SNES as a kid. First one I played was Symphony. All are well above average games, though, so that doesn't really mean much.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 00:25:49 2015 No.2172723 >>2172606 Then to make it worthwhile you design the game differently to compensate, obv.

Anonymous Sun Jan 11 00:39:43 2015 No.2172748

>>2172606
>made the overall game too easy

To me that just says they need to get more creative with the environments and enemy patterns to make up for the new freedom the whip gives. The CV's that let you control your movement ended up not being any easier because of it because they took that into account when designing the stages.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 00:56:08 2015 No.2172763 File: 3.69 MB, 3096x4128, 20150110_175611.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>2169037 Yeah!

Anonymous Sun Jan 11 01:16:53 2015 No.2172812

>>2172606
It's not an easy game, it's just easier compared to other Classicvanias. The knockback from enemies resulting in instant death is still there, as well as many environmental objects that touching also results in your immediate death. This is part of the reason the game is the most difficult to speedrun.

If you want an easy game then look no further than SOTN, which has way too many items that just completely and utterly break the game.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 01:22:50 2015 No.2172818 >>2170257 No, it literally says "Rondo" in Japanese. You are dumb.

Anonymous Sun Jan 11 01:35:27 2015 No.2172834

>>2172812
>points out flaw in most hyped CV game that isn't Rondo
Prepare your anus, they about to straight rape you.

I agree with you though, SotN is so easy it's hilarious. Still fun.

I also agree that IV isn't exactly easy. People tend to forget about the Treasury and Clock Tower or haven't even played that far and just hop on this bandwangon that all the cool kids are riding around on.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 01:43:57 2015 No.2172847 >>2172834 Beloved as SOTN is, I don't think even most fans would argue the notion that it's an easy game.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 03:29:24 2015 No.2173028 >>2172550 Oh, OK. I have actually never reached Dracula on Dracula X... but Drac in Rondo of Blood is probably one of the easiest Draculas in the entire franchise.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 03:31:21 2015 No.2173032 >>2168707 Should I play this or Rondo first?

Anonymous Sun Jan 11 03:35:04 2015 No.2173039

>>2173032
Rondo's one of the best in the series, and I think no matter how much anyone likes Drac X most will agree it does pale in comparison. Just the fact Maria is no longer playable cuts out a lot of replay value. The stages are all different, so it's good to play both, but DX does have fewer stages overall.

It probably doesn't matter what you play first, just don't try to compare them. Treat them as separate games with their own merits and you should be able to enjoy both.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 03:40:07 2015 No.2173048 >>2173039 I think I would play X first, I have the snes9x installed and the game is a bit shorter than Rondo, as you say. Could you also suggest a good PC Engine CD emulator?

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 03:40:17 2015 No.2173049 >>2173028 PSP Rondo of Blood's dracula is easier than the PC Engine version. He takes twice as much damage from your whip and has a larger hitbox. I believe you also get slightly longer to react to his attacks.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 03:42:12 2015 No.2173050 >>2173049 But he has a brutal 3rd form to make up for it though.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 03:47:23 2015 No.2173067 >>2173039 >Just the fact Maria is no longer playable cuts out a lot of replay value. She adds almost no replay value. Unless you feel like replaying a stage in super easymodo, you're better off sticking with Richter whenever it's possible.

Anonymous Sun Jan 11 03:57:19 2015 No.2173075
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>>2173049

I've played both versions (as I own the DXC on PSP and unlocked the original Rondo, I probably have played the original way more than the remake) and I think the original Rondo's Dracula is the easiest Dracula ever. I think I never lost to him. His 2nd form is ridiculously easy.

As >>2173050 said, the remake added his 3rd form which is actually very challenging to make up for his 2 easy first forms.

>>2173039
>>2173067
I agree, Maria is fun to play as, but she's easy mode.
By the way, Dracula X on SNES, besides being a totally different game, still has decent lenght. Levels are usually longer (and harder) than on Rondo, there's even secret levels (Stages 4' and 5').

Doesn't matter which one you play first, both tell the same story but the games themselves are different.
For the record, I think Stage 1's visuals and music is better on Dracula X, but the rest is so different that it's hard to compare, gotta play both of them.

Anonymous Sun Jan 11 04:23:01 2015 No.2173105

>>2173075
>I've played both versions (as I own the DXC on PSP and unlocked the original Rondo, I probably have played the original way more than the remake) and I think the original Rondo's Dracula is the easiest Dracula ever. I think I never lost to him. His 2nd form is ridiculously easy.

I said his 2nd form is easy, but in the case of his 1st form I have to disagree. I also think your claim is dubious since you need to know within the space of a few frames exactly when to jump, when to duck and where to stand.

I have him harder than SOTN, IV, II, Bloodlines, SNES X and on par with X68000 Dracula.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 06:52:55 2015 No.2173246 >>2173032 > Should I play this or Rondo first? "No." By that I mean: there isn't one you "should" play first.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 06:54:50 2015 No.2173248 >>2173048 Magic Engine and Ootake are PCE emulators I've been happy with. (Magic Engine is a commercial product though, if that bothers you)

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 06:56:25 2015 No.2173249 >>2172818 What or who are you arguing with? I never said anything to the contrary.

Anonymous Sun Jan 11 07:05:51 2015 No.2173257

>>2172321
>on the PCE where you have to be incredibly precise with your whip and your timing.

The problem with the PCE version is it takes at most a minute to get the timing down and then Dracula becomes one of the most piss easy battles in the series.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 15:52:34 2015 No.2173893 >>2173067 Why would you be "better off" sticking with Richter? Just because he's more limited? What's wrong with having fun just tearing through the game with Maria?

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 16:00:02 2015 No.2173909 >>2173893 Playing Maria is fun, but the game is too easy that way.

Anonymous Sun Jan 11 16:01:24 2015 No.2173914

>>2173893
she's too flexible, I guess. Her doves in rapidfire cause too much damage
they tried balancing things out by making her recoil further when getting hit and giving her less health but the level design was simply built with richter in mind, not her.
no one's stopping you from playing as her, of course

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 16:33:20 2015 No.2173985 >>2172763 Congrats, I'm jealous,

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 17:02:02 2015 No.2174020 >>2173893 >What's wrong with having fun just tearing through the game with Maria? Playing as her isn't very fun. The game is already easy when you play as Richter, so playing as Maria takes all of the excitement out of it.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 11 19:29:49 2015 No.2174207 >>2174020 It doesn't always need 'excitement'. I just like plowing through enemies and feeling like a god. CV doesn't let you do that very often.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 12 14:39:55 2015 No.2175560 File: 702 KB, 1024x768, RetroArch-0607-173520.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] I consider Chronicles as better than both Rondo of Blood and SCV.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 12 15:38:02 2015 No.2175642 >>2175560 It is great but it is balls fucking hard.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 12 15:48:26 2015 No.2175658 File: 1.47 MB, 320x240, cheers.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>2175642 >balls fucking hard That's how I prefer my Castlevania.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 12 15:52:00 2015 No.2175667 >>2175560 >>2175642 >>2175658 I used to call Chronicles "Castlevania : So Fucking Hard" when it came out. Felt like a god damn pimp when I beat that game the first time.

Anonymous Mon Jan 12 15:59:27 2015 No.2175679

>>2175658

So you like Dracula X too?

It's one of the most challenging Castlevanias, I don't get why it gets so much hate. Rondo is fairly easy in comparision (even without using Maria). Still love Rondo, but if I feel like playing REAL Castlevania, I prefer Dracula X. Chronicles is also pretty ace.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 12 16:02:44 2015 No.2175687 >>2175679 >So you like Dracula X too? I do. Was a pretty awesome feeling after I beat it. Though I only got the worst ending so I guess I have to replay it soon.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 12 16:29:24 2015 No.2175723 >>2170475 not that fag, but I hate that room. It looks like shit. And does nothing but piss me off.

Anonymous Mon Jan 12 16:35:48 2015 No.2175729

>>2175723

I noticed the spinning room has this kind of DOS PC game look to it. It's hard to explain, but I feel the sort of graphics used there are different than on the rest of the game. They look simpler, but more shiny. I'm talking about the one you have to wait hanging, not the other one. I like it, but I can see why you don't like the graphics, they feel disjointed with the rest of the game. Why does it piss you off though? It's just hang, wait, hang again. Playing with the whip swinging while waiting is always a fun stress free moment, and then I don't mind waiting especially on stage 4 because it has the best music in the entire game, so there's that.
I think both rotating rooms were cool, it's true they're more like tech demos. Anyway they're very short passages, so I don't get why you're complaining. They're like an intermission between blocks 1 and 2 of stage 4.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 12 16:38:06 2015 No.2175736 >>2172338 I almost agree. But the Forest of Doom, whatever the fuck is my shit.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 12 16:53:17 2015 No.2175757 >>2175679 X is pretty easy tbh, except for the last boss and a couple parts in the previous stage. The majority of it's a cakewalk.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 12 17:36:21 2015 No.2175794 >>2175757 you must be really good at castlevania. can I suck your e-peen?

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 12 17:42:11 2015 No.2175805 >>2175794 Didn't mean it like that, only it's about the same difficulty as RoB until the very end. Which is no surprise since it's the same guy with the same controls and moveset.

Anonymous Mon Jan 12 17:49:13 2015 No.2175817
File: 879 KB, 986x1279, DXpromo.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>2175805

I haven't played X in a while, but I seem to remember you can't control air direction mid jump in Dracula X, like in the old CV titles, but you can in Rondo. Overall Richter in Dracula X feels a lot more like Simon, he's swifter in Rondo of Blood. The design is also totally different from Rondo of Blood. I remember levels 1 and 2 being pretty hard, dying a lot. Rondo's first 2 levels are pretty easy. It gets a bit harder on stage 3 of Rondo, but Dracula X gets even harder. The only stage I find as challenging as anything on Dracula X in Rondo is stage 5b.

Anonymous Mon Jan 12 17:56:57 2015 No.2175829

>>2175817
You can control your jumps same as in RoB, you just have to hit jump again in mid-air or just hold it down, plus the direction button. It's the most awkward thing to get used to in both games but I played them back to back a while ago and it's the same.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 01:47:39 2015 No.2178583 bumpa x

Anonymous Wed Jan 14 06:50:38 2015 No.2178864

>>2175829

I still remember the controls in Dracula X being more similar to the NES Castlevania games. Not that big of a difference, but I remember when I played Rondo for the first time, I felt Richter was swifter, and I felt like I could control him easier.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 08:29:53 2015 No.2178974 >>2173028 To get to Dracula on Dracula X, input a password where all you do is place a single axe in the lower right corner (this also gives you the best ending.)

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 17:23:55 2015 No.2179565 If I haven't played many Castlevania games, which ones are essential?

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 17:26:44 2015 No.2179568 >>2179565 Pretty much all of them except the game boy ones and the N64 ones.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 17:29:44 2015 No.2179574 >>2179568 Although GBA isn't considered retro, be sure not to lump those in with the "don't play the Game Boy titles." The GBA Castlevanias are great.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 17:33:20 2015 No.2179580 >>2179574 except harmony of dissonance please skip harmony of dissonance

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 17:44:04 2015 No.2179592 >>2179580 HoD is far better than any of the GB titles. It's the weakest of the GBA trio but perfectly playable.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 18:06:22 2015 No.2179614 File: 3.58 MB, 447x245, xyrK76V.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>2179568 fuck man dont say something like that. CV2 belmont's revenge is awesome, had some amazing music too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6mftPOyQX0

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 18:24:57 2015 No.2179634 >>2179592 no it's not none of the GBA metroid crap is better than Castlevania Adventure 2, you casuals were the death of the series.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 18:27:48 2015 No.2179642 File: 37 KB, 255x398, interdasting.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>2179634 >liking a different style (but not necessarily disliking the other) >"casual"

Anonymous Wed Jan 14 18:28:03 2015 No.2179643

>>2179565
All of them up to (but not including) SoTN, then just skip to CV Chronicles and Adventure Rebirth. All the 8 years of SoTN handheld clones aren't worth your time since they're a different genre altogether and barely even recognizable as true Castlevania anymore.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 18:29:51 2015 No.2179647 >>2179643 Play both. Both are fun. Both are worthwhile. Both are Castlevania. If the handhelds are SOTN clones, then every "true" Castlevania after the first is a clone, too.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 18:32:29 2015 No.2179650 >>2179642 I like both of them but I will take hardcore platforming over piss easy adventure game anyday. CV, CV3, X68000 best

Anonymous Wed Jan 14 18:34:43 2015 No.2179654

>>2179650
They're the best, great. I don't have a problem with enjoying another game because it's less than "the best." I don't feel the need to pick one or the other. I'm not afraid that liking one or the other will affect the way other people perceive me either, tough guy.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 18:38:40 2015 No.2179660 >>2179654 well you were the one who originally wrote off the gameboy games, proclaiming all GBA crap better than the awesome belmont's revenge.

Anonymous Wed Jan 14 18:45:15 2015 No.2179673

>>2179660
No. Someone else said "avoid the GB games." I responded with "but don't exclude the GBA games." Later I said "even HOD is better than the GB games." I made it clear I like the GBA games better than the GB games. I did not outright denounce the GB games. I did not use an unkind word to describe GB games at any point. In fact, I used an unkind word ("weakest") to describe a GBA game.

You, on the other hand, HAVE written off all SOTN style games, so i don't see why you feel entitled to chastising for supposedly writing off other games.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 19:06:49 2015 No.2179702 >>2168707 I like this more than Super castlevania IV too, more because of nostalgia since I only played Dracula X as a kid, but I also like it more because of the coloring.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 19:10:38 2015 No.2179708 >>2179673 okay fuck symphony of the night it ruined the series straight up.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jan 14 19:14:06 2015 No.2179714 Also, why is this the best Castlevania track ever? Shit got me pumped up a lot when I was younger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR0UjAQIX6E

>>	deleted Wed Jan 14 19:16:34 2015 No.2179716 >>2179714 Mine was already posted >>2172379

>>	Anonymous Thu Jan 15 03:06:13 2015 No.2180361 >>2170884 Cheese on as Maria in Rondo of Blood, problem solved. (Dat wallcrawling and rolling makes her almost speedrun-friendly). She is somewhat of an easy mode, however.

>>	Anonymous Thu Jan 15 06:07:50 2015 No.2180485 >>2179714 the short version played in the intro is perfect for launching the game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elhuuhKPA-Y

>>	Anonymous Thu Jan 15 09:08:19 2015 No.2180637 >>2179568 >>2179643 he asked for the essential ones >>2179565 1, 3, 4, bloodlines, rondo and sotn

Anonymous Fri Jan 16 11:44:11 2015 No.2182261

>>2172763 here.

Fit's time playing it all the way through, and the first time I've even played this version in over a decade.

It's aged far more gracefully than I would have expected, with it being a pretty decent and fairly challenging game with the classic CV formula. It has definitely aged better than Rondo in my eyes, though muh nostalgia still puts SCVIV slightly ahead.

Also FUCK DRACULA.

Anonymous Fri Jan 16 15:49:10 2015 No.2182504
File: 208 KB, 1024x768, RetroArch-0116-214045.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

I'm currently replaying CV 1 and just found out that you can easily farm for lives in stage 1 with the holy water. Maybe I'll try CV 3 after that. That's the one game I still haven't beat.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 16 18:12:30 2015 No.2182786 >>2182504 >farm for lives For what purpose? You get infinite continues anyway, you already have unlimited lives basically.

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 16 18:15:45 2015 No.2182798 >>2182504 is it under the stairs before the dungeon? where the ghouls respawn constantly? I actually rolled over the score clock there.

Anonymous Fri Jan 16 18:19:36 2015 No.2182808

>>2180637
if you play in that order you're in for such a fucking delight once you make it to rondo.

finally playing rondo after completing the first four games was like the company was personally saying thank you in the form of an awesome game.

>that ost
>that voice acting
>those bossfight death rattles

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 16 18:23:21 2015 No.2182818 >>2182798 How did you avoid getting raped by the time limit?

>>	Anonymous Fri Jan 16 18:32:41 2015 No.2182843 >>2182818 moving the screen around properly to pull out like 4 ghoul chains and get like 10000 points on each. Even if you do get the time limit you make enough ground on lives you will never ever run out.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 18 01:22:50 2015 No.2185125 Not letting a Castlevania thread die

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 18 01:35:08 2015 No.2185141 >>2172338 Ok but why do you actually hate it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z0bIidrXm0

Anonymous Sun Jan 18 12:59:59 2015 No.2185809

Bump for continued Castlevania talk.

Played IV for time today(on vitual console if that matters). Bloodlines was the only 16bit Castlevania game I have ever played b4 this and I can see why people argue over which is better.

So far(on stage 5) my impression is that that IV has the overall better looking levels and enemies. It feels like I'm playing the old skool NES Castlevania's but on crack. This game for sure has that "cozy" feel.

Bloodlines has the better overall music and waaay better bosses IMO. IV's bosses have pretty much just been "meh" when compared to Bloodlines.

Anonymous Sun Jan 18 14:12:37 2015 No.2185937

>>2185809

Both are pretty great, I prefer IV slightly over Bloodlines, but really, both are from the time Castlevania was at its peak. It's good they all feel somewhat different, while still mantaining the same 'vania feel. They don't feel copypasted games like Megaman (nothing against MM though).

IV is mostly easy up until stage 8, that's where the hard stuff begins. Bosses remain more or less easy though, but they're eye candy as fuck.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 18 14:59:31 2015 No.2186006 >>2185141 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6lXXCngULI This is one of my favourite Castlevania songs.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jan 18 15:33:14 2015 No.2186042 File: 572 KB, 1024x768, RetroArch-0118-212613.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>2182843 It works even better in Chronicles. Interesting.

Anonymous Sun Jan 18 16:28:05 2015 No.2186105

>>2185937

Yeah I see what your saying, on stage 8 right meow.

This whole game is beautiful eye candy. The only parts in Bloodlines I can remember that comes close is the one where you can see your refelction in the rising water and the part where the windows break from the wolfs howl.

Definitley caught the Castlevania bug tho. Looking forward to finishing this and jumping right into Bloodlines.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 19 01:31:37 2015 No.2186860 >>2186042 >That part that has a health item in CV1 >Breaking that block in Chronicles unleashes a never-ending stream of Flea-men The devs of Chronicles were such dicks. Love the game all the same.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 19 14:49:34 2015 No.2187703 File: 577 KB, 1024x768, RetroArch-0118-213419.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>2186860 Grab the cross and those flea man can be abused to hell and back. I only had to stop because I had not enough hearts.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 19 14:55:42 2015 No.2187712 File: 2.78 MB, 446x330, 1418837801306.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>2168707 Chronicles was the best Castlevania, and that is an objective fact.

Anonymous Mon Jan 19 14:58:20 2015 No.2187714

>>2186105
The enemies in IV are all really static compared to Bloodlines, though. For example, look at the skeleton snakes in 4, then look at how they are animated in Bloodlines. They actually snake around as they move. The better animations make it feel more alive.

The stages are spookier in 4, though. Bloodlines has some very unorthodox color schemes going.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jan 19 15:01:54 2015 No.2187723 >>2187712 It's true, chronicles is the truest to the original formula whilst adding the most content. Also keeping classic castlevania difficulty.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jan 20 03:34:00 2015 No.2188983 >>2187723 But Chronicles is a port...

>>	Anonymous Tue Jan 20 04:04:42 2015 No.2189013 >>2179568 Hey. Don't talk shit about the N64 ones. They were pretty good.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jan 20 04:16:59 2015 No.2189021 >>2168745 A real bummer, because SCV IV only garnered so much appeal from critics when it first arrived because it takes a lot less thought process to use an 8-direction laser chain and softened the blow of losing a life.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jan 20 11:45:29 2015 No.2189174 >>2188983 a port with extra content. So it's better than x68000 anyway dildo

Anonymous Tue Jan 20 16:28:02 2015 No.2189502

whats the point of the upgrading the whip? I die then get my upgrades in the first couple candles I come across so it almost seems pointless to have the upgrades in it at all because I go a whole 20 seconds without it. Is it just a fuck you from konami for dying so now you have to whip some candles right away?

>>	Anonymous Tue Jan 20 18:08:36 2015 No.2189661 >>2189502 No-upgrade challenge runs I guess.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jan 20 18:24:40 2015 No.2189687 >>2189013 They were tolerable for fans like you and me craving even more Castlevania, but they were not good.

Anonymous Tue Jan 20 19:31:54 2015 No.2189832

>>2189021

Dracula X got positive reviews when it was released. Most people in the west had no idea about the japanese Rondo of Blood, so they judged Dracula X on their own. Then with the internet came more information for the fans, people learned that Dracula X was, supposedly, a "port" of Rondo of Blood (which isn't the case), and started shitting on it for it.

I don't know why you bring up IV or what nonsense are you talking about though

Anonymous Tue Jan 20 19:41:54 2015 No.2189857
File: 143 KB, 369x1515, EGM75p32.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>2189832
>Most people in the west had no idea about the japanese Rondo of Blood, so they judged Dracula X on their own.

Yeah I guess if the only magazine you read at the time was Nintendo Power which would never have dared to mention the original game.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jan 20 19:46:03 2015 No.2189863 >>2189857 "whipping is too tight", "enemies lost their roaring", "not quite castlevania" what the hell, games journalism is a joke

>>	Anonymous Tue Jan 20 20:09:30 2015 No.2189915 >>2189174 >extra content Yeah if you want to play the game on girly mode with less knockback

>>	Anonymous Tue Jan 20 20:16:38 2015 No.2189934 >>2189857 >you cannot play as the little girl

>>	Anonymous Tue Jan 20 20:17:25 2015 No.2189936 >>2189934 The man's got his priorities straight.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jan 20 20:21:46 2015 No.2189942 >>2189857 >"not quite Castlevania" I have no idea what that means. It's the quintessential Castlevania game. Everything the original NES one had, this one has, plus more. The reviewer's a moron, plain and simple.

Anonymous Tue Jan 20 22:41:18 2015 No.2190136
File: 25 KB, 256x224, castlevania-dracula-x-snes-screenshot-giant-bat-bosss.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>2189857

I don't know what Nintendo has to do with anything, Castlevania is a Konami series.

Also

>only 1 of these reviewers complained about "not muh japanese PC Engine CD game"
>The other three complain that it isn't Super Castlevania IV

>"Not quite Castlevania"

Gaming journalist was, is, and always will be a joke.

Also

>would never have dared to mention the original game.
>original game.

But Dracula X is not a port of Rondo of Blood, when will this misinformation end?

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/vr/ - Retro Games