11-24-2015, 04:21 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-24-2015, 04:46 AM by JadePharaoh.)
I've played some of them too. I played the X68k Castlevania game as the Castlevania Chronicles PS1 version. The actual disc is a rarity now and sells for a LOT online (just checked Amazon; best price now is $113.36), but you can download it on PSN for $6, I think. Good game, but balls-to-the-wall hard, as one would expect from Classic-vania (the first level is built like the first stage from the NES original, but trolls you by having an army of Fleamen spawn when you whip the wall where you originally got meat).
I've heard of Vampire Killer from the Castlevania Dungeon, but never actually played it as I never owned an MSX, as I'm sure most people living outside of Japan didn't.
Hunted Castle, as I mentioned before, would qualify as one of if not THE worst game in the series. The game looks and sounds amazing, but they went totally overboard with the difficulty. As it's an arcade game, you would expect that since they want you to keep feeding quarters into the machine, but all of the credits in the world only give you so much health (and you can lose HALF your health bar in just one hit!!), and when you die, you start ALL OVER AT THE BEGINNING. The game is virtually unplayable. The biggest redeeming factor is the music, which was awesome. Have a listen to the first stage theme, Crucifix Held Close, as remixed in Portrait of Ruin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrSnSdpTlQQ
Boku Dracula-kun actually did get a GameBoy release over here under the title Kid Dracula. In Japan it bears the same name as the Famicom game so I'm not sure if it's a port or a separate game.
Wow, Rusty looks and sounds pretty good. Shame the PC98 was unheard of outside Japan and never got any other ports. The game actually reminds me a lot of Valis; lots of emphasis on nicely-drawn cutscenes, scantily-clad heroines, very similar gameplay, etc... I'm starting to suspect it was made by the same developers...
Yep, I'm quite familiar with Rondo of Blood. It was originally released for the PC Engine (known here as the TurboGrafix 16) CD peripheral, but only in Japan. We got Castlevania: Dracula X for the SNES which we AT FIRST thought was gonna be a port, but was in fact a "reimagining" with the same graphics and music but vastly different level design. We wouldn't get the original game for the longest time until it was finally brought to the PSP as part of the Dracula X Chronicles, which was a 2.5D remake of Rondo, but also included the original game and Symphony of the Night (Rondo's direct sequel) as unlockables. It would later get a more direct port on the Wii Virtual Console. Overall, the game ties with Castlevania 4 as my favorite of the classic-style games.
I've played Master of Darkness as well, which I downloaded on the 3DS Virtual Console after noting it appearing to be a Castlevania clone on GameGear. Overall, it does a pretty good job for a GameGear title (which was sadly lacking in decent games in spite of being superior to the GameBoy in terms of hardware), but I got stuck in what I think is stage 6; very mazelike with one of those deals where you have to take a certain path or the game loops. Overall though, I was finding it fairly competent until then.
As for other Castlevania clones I've played, awhile back I checked out Frankenstein, released by Bandai for the NES, after seeing AVGN's review on the game. It actually looked to have a few interesting things going for it, but it does suffer from some control issues, and the fact that you only get one life and a couple of continues.
My attempt at the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCfmWhvnbmc
I've heard of Vampire Killer from the Castlevania Dungeon, but never actually played it as I never owned an MSX, as I'm sure most people living outside of Japan didn't.
Hunted Castle, as I mentioned before, would qualify as one of if not THE worst game in the series. The game looks and sounds amazing, but they went totally overboard with the difficulty. As it's an arcade game, you would expect that since they want you to keep feeding quarters into the machine, but all of the credits in the world only give you so much health (and you can lose HALF your health bar in just one hit!!), and when you die, you start ALL OVER AT THE BEGINNING. The game is virtually unplayable. The biggest redeeming factor is the music, which was awesome. Have a listen to the first stage theme, Crucifix Held Close, as remixed in Portrait of Ruin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrSnSdpTlQQ
Boku Dracula-kun actually did get a GameBoy release over here under the title Kid Dracula. In Japan it bears the same name as the Famicom game so I'm not sure if it's a port or a separate game.
Wow, Rusty looks and sounds pretty good. Shame the PC98 was unheard of outside Japan and never got any other ports. The game actually reminds me a lot of Valis; lots of emphasis on nicely-drawn cutscenes, scantily-clad heroines, very similar gameplay, etc... I'm starting to suspect it was made by the same developers...
Yep, I'm quite familiar with Rondo of Blood. It was originally released for the PC Engine (known here as the TurboGrafix 16) CD peripheral, but only in Japan. We got Castlevania: Dracula X for the SNES which we AT FIRST thought was gonna be a port, but was in fact a "reimagining" with the same graphics and music but vastly different level design. We wouldn't get the original game for the longest time until it was finally brought to the PSP as part of the Dracula X Chronicles, which was a 2.5D remake of Rondo, but also included the original game and Symphony of the Night (Rondo's direct sequel) as unlockables. It would later get a more direct port on the Wii Virtual Console. Overall, the game ties with Castlevania 4 as my favorite of the classic-style games.
I've played Master of Darkness as well, which I downloaded on the 3DS Virtual Console after noting it appearing to be a Castlevania clone on GameGear. Overall, it does a pretty good job for a GameGear title (which was sadly lacking in decent games in spite of being superior to the GameBoy in terms of hardware), but I got stuck in what I think is stage 6; very mazelike with one of those deals where you have to take a certain path or the game loops. Overall though, I was finding it fairly competent until then.
As for other Castlevania clones I've played, awhile back I checked out Frankenstein, released by Bandai for the NES, after seeing AVGN's review on the game. It actually looked to have a few interesting things going for it, but it does suffer from some control issues, and the fact that you only get one life and a couple of continues.
My attempt at the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCfmWhvnbmc