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Suburban Renewal

Blip blip blip blip blip blip blip blip
(he/him)
This thread is making me wish there was an SMB35/Castlevania hybrid where you could grab a star (from whipping a candle, naturally) and mow down rows of Draculas others have dumped on you.
 

Beta Metroid

At peace
(he/him)
I beat Drac in Castlevania: Bloodlines. I often forget how short that game is compared to the other 16-bit entries.

Yeah, Bloodlines' stages are perhaps the longest and most involved of the 8 or 16-bit Vanias, and it's the only one to have at least one mid-boss in every stage, but with only six of them, it does wrap up a lot quicker than the others.
 

Kishi

Little Waves
(They/Them)
Staff member
Moderator
The funny thing is—due mostly to all the boss fights—the final stage by itself constitutes about a third of the game in a speed run.
 

muteKi

Geno Cidecity
That boss rush at the end is almost certainly due to the game length being shortened heavily due to a lot of content being cut.
 

Kishi

Little Waves
(They/Them)
Staff member
Moderator
That would make sense. Death and Bathory could each have led their own stages. Then again, Super Castlevania IV isn't hurting for content at all and still has a similar boss rush in its final stage.

By the way, if anyone ever figures out why Tokuma Shoten Intermedia has a copyright in the game's credits, let me know. I know they published guides for the series, but I've never seen any clarification on what role they played in the development of Bloodlines specifically.
 

frogbeastegg

Mostly, I read
(she, her)
One Dracula defeated in Castlevania: The Adventure.

I’d heard mostly negative things about this game but went into it hoping to find something positive. Nope. There aren’t many games which I’d call bad; this is one. I’d have bailed if not for wanting a full set of achievements on the Anniversary Collection. The fact people have finished this thing without save states is flabbergasting - the controls are so sludgy and unresponsive, so many situations and jumps are plain mean. With Castlevania 1 and others I can see how it’s possible to win the Western modes fairly, and I aspire to reach that skill level one day. This game just feels like all of my worst PAL port experiences dialled up to 11 in some inventive type of gamer hell. I didn’t even like the music! In a Castlevania!
 

Peklo

Oh! Create!
(they/them, she/her)
I love The Adventure a lot but I don't expect others to feel the same; it's ruthless in ways most probably don't find thrilling and that's often the largest impression it leaves one with. A well-earned Dracula, in that vein--Christopher always had to tangle with particularly vicious incarnations.
 

MetManMas

Me and My Bestie
(He, him)
I found some of the gimmicks to be pretty neat when I powered through it a while back; previously I did not realize just how much of Belmont's Revenge was a refinement of things first introduced in this game.

That said, while I did grow to appreciate Castlevania: The Adventure a bit more, I doubt I will ever play through it all the way again. The pace is a little too slow and the back half of the game is way too unforgiving (especially if you want to attempt it legit instead of save stating every few steps) and I have more fun playing basically any of the NES Castlevanias or Belmont's Revenge.

It's interesting as a window into what early Game Boy game design was like (janky but innovative), but there's over a dozen Castlevania games I'd rather play over it and if I really want to experience Christopher's tale again I have the more forgiving WiiWare remake.

Sure would be nice if Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth made it to anything else though. So many games died with the Wii Shop.
 

frogbeastegg

Mostly, I read
(she, her)
I’m happy to hear that the game has at least one fan. While no game is for everyone, I do like to think that every game is for at least someone. So much goes into creating even the most borked of titles. I have a soft spot for the N64 duo, as they were my introduction to the series. I’ve not played them in [mumble] years.

I’ve been kicking myself for not buying Adventure Rebirth for what feels like a very long time. I could easily spring for more Castlevania Collections if Konami put them out.
 

ShakeWell

Slam Master
(he, etc.)
I didn’t even like the music! In a Castlevania!

That's the only good thing about it! Wait, no... the commercial rules pretty hard, too.


I’ve been kicking myself for not buying Adventure Rebirth for what feels like a very long time. I could easily spring for more Castlevania Collections if Konami put them out.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: If Konami put the three ReBirths on one Switch cart, I would buy it day one.
 

Dracula

Plastic Vampire
(He/His)
Honestly I'm just happy to hear someone got some enjoyment out of Adventure. I'm an All Games Are Good type of fella myself, but I've had difficulty getting into it. Just a little too slow and exacting. It's a rough experience, for sure. Belmont's Revenge is a much easier sell and feels like it took what was weak in Adventure and makes it strong. If we needed an Adventure to get a Belmont's Revenge, then it was all worth it.
 

Tomm Guycot

(he/him)
Question for Mr. Alucard-backwards...

I spend my times at work killing a Dracula in pursuit of making The Perfect Dracula.

Do these kills count? Does me creating a Dracula mean I am stealing points?

Also, WayForward's Bloodrayne might have more Draculas than it knows what to do with.
 

Beta Metroid

At peace
(he/him)
Rondo of Blood Dracula down, Maria-style. The first four stages went smoothly, then I got repeatedly wrecked by a flail dude at the start of the ship stage. Then archers got me, Shaft took me out with a sliver of health left, and the Sword Lord corridor was my final death. Six deaths in all. Drac, of course, was no match for birds and baby dragons.
 

muteKi

Geno Cidecity
Adventure is so close to being pretty good, at least for its time and platform, but they had to have picked one of laggy and unresponsive controls vs. extremely precise platforming challenges, not both.
 

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
Adventure is so close to being pretty good, at least for its time and platform, but they had to have picked one of laggy and unresponsive controls vs. extremely precise platforming challenges, not both.
This may be one of the best descriptions of the game. I want to like it! The engine is just not up to the tasks they ask of it.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
For some reason I was afraid that Castlevania II was going to be a chore but so far I'm really enjoying it. Definitely easier than the first game (so far) and I'm doing a bit of grinding for hearts.

Question: in one town the thorn whip is 100 hearts and the other its 150. Can I assume the price is the only difference?
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
If it's a Thron Whip, yes. But the Thorn Whip is also a ripoff since the Chain Whip is a bigger upgrade, not much more money, and available shortly after
 

Beta Metroid

At peace
(he/him)
Yeah, Simon's Quest is actually quite breezy; it's just a few puzzling moments that can trip up your progress if you're going in completely blind. I forget exactly which whips have duplicates for sale in different towns, but if the whips have the same name, they offer the same functionality.
 

Dracula

Plastic Vampire
(He/His)
Question for Mr. Alucard-backwards...

I spend my times at work killing a Dracula in pursuit of making The Perfect Dracula.

Do these kills count? Does me creating a Dracula mean I am stealing points?

You're tampering in God's domain, my friend. In your pursuit of crafting a perfect Dracula, you only increase my power. Too much of this and we may experience Point Inflation.

For some reason I was afraid that Castlevania II was going to be a chore but so far I'm really enjoying it. Definitely easier than the first game (so far) and I'm doing a bit of grinding for hearts.

Love me some Simon's Quest. Even the grinding is nice because you get to listen to Bloody Tears during a lot of it.

Now, for the numbers: the tally stands at 21.5 Dracula Points and we have a little more than half a month left to stop me.

Oh, and Jedah/Dimitri are both perfectly valid Bonus Draculas, so the clearing of Vampire Saviour was worth 1 Dracula Point.
 

Beta Metroid

At peace
(he/him)
Oh man, we gotta pick up the pace! I dropped by Godhome in Hollow Knight and took out Grimm and Nightmare King Grimm (Attuned difficulty, four deaths in the process, all on NKG). I feel a bit dirty not going through a fresh file to reach them like in the Castlevania games I've played so far, but I submit these pieces of empirical evidence when assessing these Bonus Draculae: 1) The sidequest to unlock them is a little annoying 2) Nightmare King Grimm is really hard.
 

ShakeWell

Slam Master
(he, etc.)
For some reason I was afraid that Castlevania II was going to be a chore but so far I'm really enjoying it. Definitely easier than the first game (so far) and I'm doing a bit of grinding for hearts.

Question: in one town the thorn whip is 100 hearts and the other its 150. Can I assume the price is the only difference?

Agree with the folks saying to just skip the Thorn Whip. And yeah, Simon's Quest's difficulty comes entirely from figuring out where the fuck you're supposed to go next, not the enemies and certainly not the bosses. Like I said last spring when I last played it: good for atmosphere (also has my favorite NES Belmont sprite), but not much good for anything else, if you ask me.

Oh, and Jedah/Dimitri are both perfectly valid Bonus Draculas, so the clearing of Vampire Saviour was worth 1 Dracula Point.

Good, good.

Speaking of Bonus Draculas, I have reason to believe a certain COUNT ORLOX may soon lay dead at my feet, does this Count count?
 

Dracula

Plastic Vampire
(He/His)
Olrox is a special case, given that he is based on Count Orlock, who himself was based directly on Count Dracula, but redesigned and renamed in a way intended to (unsuccessfully) avoid copyright infringement on the Stoker estate. Because of this direct blood lineage to Vlad, I easily determine that a defeat of Count Olrox, or any vampire taking the name or format of the count from the film Nosferatu, is worth a Bonus Dracula.
 

Beta Metroid

At peace
(he/him)
Wow, SOTN is rife with Draculae! What's the ruling on a doppelganger imitating a Bonus Dracula? 0.25 Dracula points?

(EDIT: I'm not entirely serious about this one, but for clarity, I'm referring to the two doppelgangers that assume Alucard's form in SOTN, as well as the one in CV3 that can imitate Alucard if you're currently playing as him).
 

Mr. Sensible

Pitch and Putt Duffer
For whatever reason this thread is making me want to replay Portrait of Ruin. Is it safe to say PoR is the black sheep of the Castlevania DS trilogy? I remember enjoying it back when it released, but I haven't touched it since.
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
Depends whom you ask. I think all three DS games are brilliant, but plenty of people are sour on OoE, and there are enough people out there who think DoS is lacking in comparison to AoS. Jonathon! Charlotte! Jonathon! Charlotte!
 

Beta Metroid

At peace
(he/him)
Yeah, "AoS is pretty cool" seems to be the only thing approaching a consensus for the six GBA/DS Metroidvanias. Maybe "Harmony is not great," as well, but I feel like I've seen a lot of Harmony defenders.
 
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