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Retro Gaming With Castlevania and Friends 31

Posted by Zonk from the cue-vampire-killer dept.
Jeremy Parish, over at 1up, has single-handedly taken up the banner of the classic game. Today, he talks about Castlevania and other classic vampire killers. From the article: "There was recently a rather lively debate on my personal blog about how silly the whole franchise has become, considering it started off as little more than a loving tribute to classic monster movies and has somehow mutated into a rather straight-faced effort by silver-haired pretty boys to battle vampires. It's like a horrible Ann Rice/DeviantArt mash-up, based around a not-quite-menacing villain whose job is basically to serve as a MacGuffin for exploring twisty castle corridors and has occasionally been depicted as a dude in a badly-designed tuxedo."
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Retro Gaming With Castlevania and Friends

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  • ugh (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 01, 2006 @12:05PM (#15445774)
    I got as far as "There was recently a rather lively debate on my personal blog ..." and then gave myself a swirly.
    • Maybe I should post a story on my website [creimer.ws] about the little ruckus [slashdot.org] I caused on Slashdot a few days ago (19 posts! NEW RECORD!) and submit that as a story on Slashdot. Hmmm...

  • Bah (Score:2)

    by HunterZ ( 20035 )
    He only mentions a random smattering of Castlevania games, and there doesn't seem to be any point to his discussion (except maybe to mention Haunted Castle for the PS2, which he implies isn't very good). The biggest travesty is no mention of Symphony of the Night.
    • It's not a random smattering - it's games in the Castlevania series that tell the same story (Simon's first battle w/ Dracula)
      • Personally I don't really pay attention to the story. I have the DS and GBA episodes of Castlevania and mostly fly through the dialogue, only stopping if my next step appears to be outlined.

        I dunno, I'm not very interested in the plot which already is pretty derivitive and bland. All I want from the series is good old side scrolling action.

  • Castlevania memories (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MilenCent ( 219397 ) * <johnwh@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Thursday June 01, 2006 @12:29PM (#15446033) Homepage
    I've played a good bit of these games, or at least the ones that came out in the US....

    My favorite, even more than the modern Metroidvanias, is still the first game. It's just such an elegant combination of control and reflexes. The thing about the game to realize is that your character is purposely limited (you can't control how high you jump, you can't change direction in mid-air, can't jump very high, can't walk fast and climb stairs even slower) but has a powerful main weapon. None of this two-pixel-long sword crap, your whip extends like four blocks ahead of you! And once powered up, which wasn't hard at all usually, it could take out most non-boss foes in one hit.

    On the other hand, your enemies were a lot more manueverable than you, and of course it turns out that it was not Dracula who was the bane of Simon's existence but gaping pits. When a friend told me that "Dracula X" for the SNES's version of Dracula was fought over a giant hole and was made much harder as a result, I realized it: gravity is classic Castlevania's secret ultimate boss! "So, we meet again, player! I see you've met my lackey Dracula... a charming fellow, and his fangs are quite deadly, but he is as nothing next to my awesome power! Now you must fight us both at once!" (Bottomless Pit runs out and just looms underneath the fight.) "Take that!"

    Hm. Bottomless Pit. Something makes me think a lot of people are going to use that as a character nickname for the new Smash Bros....

    • Re:Castlevania memories (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Hm. Bottomless Pit. Something makes me think a lot of people are going to use that as a character nickname for the new Smash Bros....

      I sincerely hope this has nothing to do with the character's choice of attire. If so, you have already ruined the image of the game for me in advance. Thanks.

  • silly or not... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by kirt ( 630601 )
    If we're talking about Castlevania specifically, and not the knock-offs, then the series has still produced generally great games. there are a few notable exceptions (aka, any Castlevania game that occurs in a full 3-D environment), but the 2-D games on Game Boy/GBA/DS are downright awesome, and while a little short on length, excellent successors to what i still consider to be the best 2-D side-scrolling game ever made, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (for PS1). just like i didn't play the original Ca
    • Just to clarify... you aren't implying that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was the first Castlevania game, are you? Because the way that's worded it seems to imply that, but I just want to make sure I'm the one misreading it. If you think it's the first one, then maybe you should get an emulator and play the original Castlevania (which I think was for the NES, but it's been awhile since I've played the original).
  • I have the #1 entry on MARP, With one life I make it to Dracula, kill him, but his 2nd form kills me.
  • Thou shalt not "knock" thy 2-D Castlevania, or thine shal be "whipped" most umercifully.

    Say whatever you want about the 3-D crap.
  • I never got into the series' NES incarnations, but for me "Castlevania Adventure" for the original GB was a killer app that drained many charges from that fist-sized belt-clip rechargeable attachment. Jumping was a bitch to get the hang of, though I gather that's pretty much a Castlevania thing.. apart from that, it was classic.
  • ...my favorite is still Castlevania II - Simon's Quest. For it's time it was the perfect blend of Action/RPG. A huge world to explore, items to find, towns to wander through, and lots and lots of secret passages -- like Metroid, set in Transylvania.

    After that, just one castle was never enough.
    • Well said. I guess I'm just odd enough to agree with you. SOTN wins out on length, but you just can't beat the gameplay (and the music) of SQ.

      I even use "Horrible Night" as my cell phone alarm to tell me when it's time to go to work (11:30pm) ;)

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