Castlevania SOTN, COTM, HOD and AOS

[AndrewTS 0]

Researched the 2 in 1 thing...

 

Apparently it's based on this: http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/259693.asp

 

Coincidentally (?) Japan is getting re-released copies of AoS and HoD (Konami the Best versions):

 

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-19-37-406617...astlevania.html

 

So, assuming EBGames isn't full of it (and remember this is the same EB games that posted a preorder page for XB Soul Calibur 3 and took a month or so to update their scheduled ship date for KH2), I guess HoD and AoS will be getting the multicart treatment.

 

Since CVII and III haven't appeared on GBA yet (either separately or compiled), and have yet to be released as Famicom Minis in Japan, if it's real it'll be HoD and AoS.

[AndrewTS 0]

No official titles/platforms have been announced, but Iga's stated that there are more CVs on the way, and will continue to be post-1999 on the handheld version(s?), and pre-1999 on console.

 

If anyone here can nab the Jampack, post your thoughts on the Curse demo, plz.

[AndrewTS 0]

Okay, snapped up the new Jampack...going to at least be able to play the Curse of Darkness demo.

 

...and...it's much better than LoI. Controllable camera thanks to the right analog, better level design from what I can see (needed an Innocent Devil to glide over a gap, for instance) but nothing ground-breaking thus far. You can choose different weapons for combat, such as the standard broadsword, and a spear I was cutting down tons of enemies with.

 

You can level up just like the Castletroids, and apparently there's tons of ability upgrades available down the line.

 

Okay, gonna have to give this game a chance when the full version is available.

[AndrewTS 0]

Hammer is such a sleazebag. Okay, so he's charging an arm and a leg...that hasn't changed. However, whenever I visit him he usually wants to gossip about whether or not Yoko and/or Mina are available. He's 17 years Mina's senior and 10 for Yoko, geez. Of course, he's younger than Julius or Aluc--Arikardo.

 

Julius is a tough old geezer, though.

 

I still got a ways to go to finish. After beating the zombie T-Rex I've been stuck trying to figure out where to go.

[Guest ABOBO]

Playing SOTN first time in a while due to this thread and noticed an in-joke I had missed before. I usually shut off the relics that have names and damage appear on the screen for a cleaner experience, but left them on this time. Came across the enemy that throws exploding barrels at you and looked at the name of the creature, "skeleton ape". An undead Donkey Kong. Can't believe I hadn't noticed that before.

[AndrewTS 0]

Yeah, without the helpful name indicator, I can see how you might not get the joke.

 

Other cool injokes - the Simon Belmont enemy in HoD (pretty sure he's a skeletonin Simon's clothes), the Kamen Rider skeleton (Kicker Skeleton) in AoS, and the Lilith/Morrigan style succubi in Aria.

 

But the kung fu maid rules, as does the chainsaw-wielding Frankenstein monster and motorcycle riding skeletons in the 64 Castlevanias.

 

DoS needs to work hard to beat the zombie T-rex, since that's the coolest boss so far. Capcom needs to do a Dino Crisis game with zombie dinosaurs.

 

...that sounds like an idea Anya might come up with.

[AndrewTS 0]

Curse of Darkness is out--and pretty darn good, much better than LoI.

 

Stupid little flash animation:

 

http://www.ozero.ca/oz-castlevania.swf

[AndrewTS 0]

It's out, I've played a good bit of it and probably will purchase it.

 

However, the lack of real platforming hurts it. So you've got this great battle system, the cool use of the Innocent Devils, the addition of many SotN elements to 3D, great music, excellent controls, and unfortunately dull/repetitive level designs.

 

So, despite some camera/control issues, I still like Legacy of Darkness more, but it's still a fine game well worth picking up.

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

I've played the 3 GBA Castlevanias, and I have to say I really enjoyed them. But for me, despite all the great gameplay from them, they don't compare to Super Castlevania IV for the SNES. That is one of my top 5 favorite games of all time. Recently found my SNES, and I just got down to playing it today since I found some time. Like putting on a glove. Great music, great enemies, great gameplay... ya can't go wrong with the game.

[Black Lushus 0]

I've played the 3 GBA Castlevanias, and I have to say I really enjoyed them.  But for me, despite all the great gameplay from them, they don't compare to Super Castlevania IV for the SNES.  That is one of my top 5 favorite games of all time.  Recently found my SNES, and I just got down to playing it today since I found some time.  Like putting on a glove.  Great music, great enemies, great gameplay... ya can't go wrong with the game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Muggy, I don't know if it's the BEST, but it is a damn great game, for sure...the music for Dracula as well as the 3 bosses prior to him is phenomenal...

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

I've played the 3 GBA Castlevanias, and I have to say I really enjoyed them.  But for me, despite all the great gameplay from them, they don't compare to Super Castlevania IV for the SNES.  That is one of my top 5 favorite games of all time.  Recently found my SNES, and I just got down to playing it today since I found some time.  Like putting on a glove.  Great music, great enemies, great gameplay... ya can't go wrong with the game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Muggy, I don't know if it's the BEST, but it is a damn great game, for sure...the music for Dracula as well as the 3 bosses prior to him is phenomenal...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yeah, that music with the 3 bosses before Dracula was just awesome. vgmusic.com has pretty much all the music from the game and has a whole lotta other music from other places. Only midis, but not to bad.

 

And as for me saying it's the best... well that may be the nostalgia factor. It was the first Castlevania I played, and at the time, it was my favorite game I had ever played up to that point. A year later, I got SMB 3, and that changed.

[AndrewTS 0]

My first CV was Bloodlines, so that probably has something to do with my liking it so much, but it's still a great game.

 

SCV4 is very cool as well, though. It added a lot to the series, with the multi-direction whipping, great graphics, special effects like the mode 7, swinging from platform to platform with the whip, and it wasn't as crazy hard as CV1 or as tedious as 2.

 

I bought Curse of Darkness and it's really growing on me. Its flaws are many and are well documented, but so far I've been building up a nice little arsenal of weapons, have a few Innocent Devil companies that are fun to use, hacked a bunch of enemies up (and robbed them, stocking up for gold), and fought...Wyvern...

 

Only one chance to steal from it (to get a relatively worthless item, but hey, I got it!)--when its head gets stuck on the ground, you get a chanch to jump on its back...when you do it, flies hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh up into the air, and have to wait for the proper chance to strike.

 

Lots of hacking, skillful dodging of tail swipes and flame spews, and help from my molten rock ID (who I named Metlar) later, and I managed to cut him down permanently. I still haven't fought Trevor, either, so looking forward to that as well.

 

It's a step in the right direction, but the decision to replace a well-placed fixed camera (a la DMC) with a problematic 3rd person camera is a bit annoying. Main gripe is that its still very weak on platforming at this point.

 

If you're a total CV geek--buy it, you'll love it. If not, rent first. I got a sampler CD too with it!

 

Oh, have I adequately pounded it into people's heads that LEGACY OF DARKNESS ON N64 IS ACTUALLY A GOOD GAME?! GIVE IT A CHANCE!!

[Black Lushus 0]

is there an up to date Castlevania timeline somewhere? I get confused with all this shit...

[Anya 0]

I liked Lament of Innosense. Will I like this new one?

[AndrewTS 0]

is there an up to date Castlevania timeline somewhere?  I get confused with all this shit...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

http://www.classicgaming.com/castlevania/storyline.html

 

That's about as good as you'll get. Iga has struck Circle of the Moon, Legends, and both N64 games from canon, contributing to the opinion among many of his detractors that he's an arrogant ass.

 

I liked Lament of Innosense. Will I like this new one?

 

I have a couple friends that really liked Lament, despite its flaws, and they say it's no contest--this one is way better. The only thing I feel may be inferior is the camera due to occasional bugs with using the lock on (Z-targeting it ain't). Hector's way more versatile than Leon was. You also get to play as Trevor after beating the game (and he has unique cutscenes too!).

 

However, its up against some stiff competition in the genre already, like God of War.

[AndrewTS 0]

Okay, I popped Lament of Innocence in, picking up where I left off....

 

This is a lot better than I remember, actually. Camera angles aren't as much as issue as Curse because the camera is fixed. You earn more skills later on to vary up the combat. The real time window, while sometimes a bit annoying to use (like for the tickets, or attempting to get the right healing item), helped put you on edge much more than opening the pause menu to heal--and reminds me of how you would need to heal in SotN. Plus, as a fan of Kingdom Hearts, the RTW is cool with me.

 

However, the platforming sections in LoI really kind of suck, and when those areas pop up in Curse (while rare), the camera is much more useful in those cases.

[AndrewTS 0]

Another take on the Castlevania storyline, different from the Japanese-rooted chronology of the Dungeon:

 

http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/davros/57/ctime1.html

[AndrewTS 0]

This game (Curse of Darkness) manages to be incredibly cool in some aspects, and horribly lame in plenty of others.

 

I just kicked Trevor's ass...and took his curry.

 

Then he cuts himself and bleeds so I can continue my quest.

 

...no, I'm not kidding.

 

Castlevania Adventure on Game Boy makes me appreciate the controls of NES Castlevania much more.

[Anya 0]

Is Adventure the GB one where you played as the girl?

 

2 for NES was always frustrating as a kid. I never knew what to do.

[AndrewTS 0]

There were 3 regular GB CV games. Castlevania Legends, Adventure, and (Adventure) II: Belmont's Revenge.

 

You're thinking of Castlevania Legends, the one starring Sonia Belmont. It was actually released after SotN, but struck from canon by Iga. She was originally supposed to be the first Drac-battling Belmont. Instead of subweapons Sonia has magic spells...that aren't terribly useful.

 

It's not awful but it's not that good either. It's pretty much just a game to get if you're a CV nut.

 

Castlevania Adventure and Castlevania II Belmont's Revenge both star Christopher Belmont (CV2's title is misleading tho). The 2nd game is still pretty good for an old school CV game, though.

 

"2 for NES was always frustrating as a kid. I never knew what to do."

 

Those damn villagers can really confuse the hell out anyone.

[Anya 0]

There are too many Belmonts.

[AndrewTS 0]

There's only 2, maybe 3 that anyone remembers, though.

 

Ayami Kojima keeps screwing with their hair colors.

[AndrewTS 0]

The the Castlevania Double Pack will indeed be released, and it will indeed be Harmony of Dissonance + Aria of Sorrow.

 

I was in a Gamestop today that had it on a poster.

Edited January 1, 2006 by AndrewTS

[AndrewTS 0]

Bumping for the lamely awesome richter v. drac intro from SotN.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IorWvXDQfOI

 

"Dracula! THREE DEE!"

 

 

(Legacy of Darkness was a good game, though).

[AndrewTS 0]

Afterthoughts from Iga on Curse:

http://gonintendo.com/?p=3128

 

 

Iga talks Castlevania on Wii once again

 

Play: We need a 2D Castlevania on next-gen console.

 

Iga: I’ve been thinking, trying to simulate various forms of Castlevania on next generation. I do understand that fans love 2D. I’ve worked on 3D platforms twice already, but i’m not really happy about my work. And as you know, i don’t want to lose. I want to be challenged. But no matter what platform it is, i will tell you that i will always continue to work on 2D games.

 

Play: I can see why you haven’t been that thrilled with the 3D games so far; they have been a lot more battlebased than platforming. And with Symphony and the earlier Bloodlines games, there was more platforming and swinging with the whip and stuff like that. Are those the types of things you might incorporate more into a next-gen 3D Castlevania?

 

Iga: Yeah, you’re right. I’ve been facing a dilemma over 3D game platforming… obviously i’ve done two projects already and i know something is wrong. I have certain ideas in my head, but we’re not up to the stage of expressing that in the game. That’s something i’m not happy with and really want to meet the challenge.

 

Play: Has your team been experimenting with the Wii controller?

 

Iga: I actually have, and from that experience i’ve noticed that Castlevania might not fit the controller. Wii is targeting some short gameplay, whereas Castlevania is a longer game. Once you get into the game you’ve been playing for so many hours it doesn’t really fit with Wii.

 

For those who haven't played Curse of Darkness, it is a game with a lot of great ideas (the innocent devils are kind of like the familiars from SotN but better), but it still suffers from major camera issues, repetitive level design (lots of big empty rooms), and it's really a glorifed dungeon crawler than a platformer.

 

However it does have one of the best soundtracks ever, great boss fights and awesome cinemas. If it weren't for that major obstacle with gameplay...