castlevania's legacy
Matthew Cash
Note: This is the franchise's legacy, though it's really my opinion on almost all of the games. They're mini-reviews cause traditional reviews would be a pain in the ass to do for all of these games and, to be quite honest, most of them would be very similar.
Castlevania's 1987 release marked a bright day for videogames. Not only did it bring in the most hardcore of difficulties, it made a new idea out of old clichés. Not only was it
original, it was what games are for: fun. For that, Castlevania is my #1 retro game series of all time... up to a point. I will now recount my thoughts on every Castlevania game I've ever played and I hope you guys enjoy.
Castlevania (1987) - The beginning. The beginning of the Belmonts. The beginning of
Dracula's curse (or so people back then thought). The beginning of Castlevania. Not only was this great back then, and it is still great now. Fun, hard as balls, and instantly
recognizable. The best of the best on the NES.
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1988) - When you kill Dracula, what do you do? Bring him back to life to kill him again, of course! Apart from the stupid plot of finding his bones to kill him with the easiest boss battle ever, the game's not bad. It still has the cryptic crap, but the game format experimented with an open world RPG style, close to Zelda 2. Unfortunately, it failed and we're left with the black sheep of the NES trilogy.
Castlevania: The Adventure (1989) - This GBA CV game sucks, All fans of the series know
that. It has unbalanced difficulty, it got rid of the sub weapons and that time limit is
even more annoying than ever. Don't buy this for a penny.
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1990) - People always seem to refer to this as the best of the NES trilogy. While I disagree, it is still remarkable. 2nd best game on NES. This
brought in extra characters, extra plot (it's a prequel), and extra challenge. Hard as crap, but entertaining. If you have an NES, grabbing this is a no-brainer. Fun fun fun fun fun FTW!!
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (1991) - You're probably extremely confused right now. How is there 2 Castlevania 2's? Believe it or not, this is actually a sequel to the 1989 GBA game that sucked so hard. However, this was a good Castlevania game and beloved by fans. I'm not a big fan of GBA, so this isn't in my favorites.
Super Castlevania IV (1991) - Probably the most deserving use of the word "Super" in video game history, Super Castlevania IV remade the first game, but gave it more diverse
environments and a 16-bit makeover. Also, it was possible to whip in all 8 directions,
similar to Contra, and you were even able to moonwalk. Damn, I wonder if MI went back in
time and asked Simon Belmont to teach him. This is my favorite of my #1 game series, so,
yes, that makes this my # 1 game of all time.
Castlevania Bloodlines (1994) - Castlevania's Sega incarnation returned to the original's
format of whipping in two directions only. While this disappointment remained in every other side-scrolling Castlevania game to date, this is a damn good Castlevania games and one of the best games on the Genesis.
Castlevania Dracula X (1995) - This was evidently a butchered port of a Castlevania game
called Rondo of Blood on the PCEngine. From this SNES game, I can say that it isn't bad.
Also, I really have to mention the music. This is arguably to the best of the series and the first level's music sounds especially kick-ass.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997) - This is where the series changed. This had you
playing as Dracula's song Alucard (flip Alucard around) and you're supposed to kill your
daddy. This game is big and often refered to by fans as the best of the series. I wouldn't say that. It was a decent game, but not the best of the series. In fact, with all the RPG elements infused in here, I don't consider this or the future GBA and DS games CV games, either. However, I will mention them because they have the name stamped on the front.
Castlevania Legends (1997) This was the last GB CV game and it had you playing as a chick. It wasn't all that impressive, so next game.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (2001) - This one went deeper into Symphony of the Night's format and had you in the castle the entire game. Not bad, but still not fantastic.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (2002) - Look up one space.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2003) - Look up two spaces. Only thing that stands out with this one is the fact that it came out on my birthday in 2003 in North America. I was six.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (2010) - There's a review for this game.
After seeing the recent trend here, I flat out refuse to buy any of the newer ones on PS2 or DS. However, I do see myself getting Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (on WiiWare), which remade the original Castlevania: The Adventure, but made it good. After all of that, I find myself very happy with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and I recommend it to any action game fan (not GTA action, God of War action). This series has a long-lasting legacy like no other out there and it remains to be seen if any future game series can top it. For me, it'll always remain in my heart as the series that brought me into 8-bit gaming and side-scrolling action. There's nothing that can top that.
Note: This is the franchise's legacy, though it's really my opinion on almost all of the games. They're mini-reviews cause traditional reviews would be a pain in the ass to do for all of these games and, to be quite honest, most of them would be very similar.
Castlevania's 1987 release marked a bright day for videogames. Not only did it bring in the most hardcore of difficulties, it made a new idea out of old clichés. Not only was it
original, it was what games are for: fun. For that, Castlevania is my #1 retro game series of all time... up to a point. I will now recount my thoughts on every Castlevania game I've ever played and I hope you guys enjoy.
Castlevania (1987) - The beginning. The beginning of the Belmonts. The beginning of
Dracula's curse (or so people back then thought). The beginning of Castlevania. Not only was this great back then, and it is still great now. Fun, hard as balls, and instantly
recognizable. The best of the best on the NES.
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1988) - When you kill Dracula, what do you do? Bring him back to life to kill him again, of course! Apart from the stupid plot of finding his bones to kill him with the easiest boss battle ever, the game's not bad. It still has the cryptic crap, but the game format experimented with an open world RPG style, close to Zelda 2. Unfortunately, it failed and we're left with the black sheep of the NES trilogy.
Castlevania: The Adventure (1989) - This GBA CV game sucks, All fans of the series know
that. It has unbalanced difficulty, it got rid of the sub weapons and that time limit is
even more annoying than ever. Don't buy this for a penny.
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1990) - People always seem to refer to this as the best of the NES trilogy. While I disagree, it is still remarkable. 2nd best game on NES. This
brought in extra characters, extra plot (it's a prequel), and extra challenge. Hard as crap, but entertaining. If you have an NES, grabbing this is a no-brainer. Fun fun fun fun fun FTW!!
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (1991) - You're probably extremely confused right now. How is there 2 Castlevania 2's? Believe it or not, this is actually a sequel to the 1989 GBA game that sucked so hard. However, this was a good Castlevania game and beloved by fans. I'm not a big fan of GBA, so this isn't in my favorites.
Super Castlevania IV (1991) - Probably the most deserving use of the word "Super" in video game history, Super Castlevania IV remade the first game, but gave it more diverse
environments and a 16-bit makeover. Also, it was possible to whip in all 8 directions,
similar to Contra, and you were even able to moonwalk. Damn, I wonder if MI went back in
time and asked Simon Belmont to teach him. This is my favorite of my #1 game series, so,
yes, that makes this my # 1 game of all time.
Castlevania Bloodlines (1994) - Castlevania's Sega incarnation returned to the original's
format of whipping in two directions only. While this disappointment remained in every other side-scrolling Castlevania game to date, this is a damn good Castlevania games and one of the best games on the Genesis.
Castlevania Dracula X (1995) - This was evidently a butchered port of a Castlevania game
called Rondo of Blood on the PCEngine. From this SNES game, I can say that it isn't bad.
Also, I really have to mention the music. This is arguably to the best of the series and the first level's music sounds especially kick-ass.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997) - This is where the series changed. This had you
playing as Dracula's song Alucard (flip Alucard around) and you're supposed to kill your
daddy. This game is big and often refered to by fans as the best of the series. I wouldn't say that. It was a decent game, but not the best of the series. In fact, with all the RPG elements infused in here, I don't consider this or the future GBA and DS games CV games, either. However, I will mention them because they have the name stamped on the front.
Castlevania Legends (1997) This was the last GB CV game and it had you playing as a chick. It wasn't all that impressive, so next game.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (2001) - This one went deeper into Symphony of the Night's format and had you in the castle the entire game. Not bad, but still not fantastic.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (2002) - Look up one space.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2003) - Look up two spaces. Only thing that stands out with this one is the fact that it came out on my birthday in 2003 in North America. I was six.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (2010) - There's a review for this game.
After seeing the recent trend here, I flat out refuse to buy any of the newer ones on PS2 or DS. However, I do see myself getting Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (on WiiWare), which remade the original Castlevania: The Adventure, but made it good. After all of that, I find myself very happy with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and I recommend it to any action game fan (not GTA action, God of War action). This series has a long-lasting legacy like no other out there and it remains to be seen if any future game series can top it. For me, it'll always remain in my heart as the series that brought me into 8-bit gaming and side-scrolling action. There's nothing that can top that.