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Peklo

Oh! Create!
(they/them, she/her)
The curational aspect of the Anniversary Collection to me seems like it's shaped by both the development realities of the compilation (already emulating four systems across eight games; M2 probably not chomping at the bit to add to that workload in one stretched-thin project) as well as keeping it strictly within the '86 to '94 timeframe for the represented picks to enforce a "classic" outlook. The outliers make sense to me within that context, and some of the inclusions too: The Adventure is the most maligned game among the set (except by me, as I love it), but considering M2 conjured up The Adventure ReBirth for their series tribute, clearly there's fondness at work there too.
 

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
I just wish they'd included Kid Dracula for Game Boy. That's the one that puzzles me that it wasn't included. I'm happy they included the Famicom game, though.
 

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
Not quite. There are some similarities, but the Game Boy version has some unique stages (or at least changes in them) as well. I guess it's best thought of as a remix or reimagining for Game Boy.
 
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Kishi

Little Waves
(They/Them)
Staff member
Moderator
The Game Boy version is a much better game than the Famicom one, which kind of coasts on the joke of its own existence (though there is some value in playing both, just to appreciate the differences). But it's likely someone high up just looked at the surface level and said, "Same title, same thing, no need for both."
 

Ludendorkk

(he/him)
It's a shame X86000 ain't included because it's both difficult to come by and, as someone playing Castlevania Chronicles for the first time right now, a complete delight. They should have at least shoved it in the Rondo/SOTN collection if doing PS1 emulation was the problem
 

Peklo

Oh! Create!
(they/them, she/her)
The Requiem double pack of the Dracula X games isn't doing PS1 emulation on PS4 to my understanding, at least directly--instead it's using the Dracula X Chronicles PSP compilation as a base, running those versions in a Sony-provided PSP emulation wrapper. It's likely that proprietary nature of it why it won't show up on any other platform, and why it's just those two games, as they'd been collected previously in near-identical circumstances, on related hardware.

If anyone enjoys atrocious scanline filters (and I sincerely do the ones that look good to me), Requiem has the worst I've ever seen. It's a full-screen static filter that extends over the frames in addition to the game picture, and doesn't even line up with the pixel rows. It's something to behold. If you don't enable any of the thrown-together visual options, then both Rondo and Symphony scale pretty nicely on modern displays through the release, so I still consider it a decent option. It has Japanese voice language options too for those allergic to the PSP English dub, though the revised script remains.
 

LBD_Nytetrayn

..and his little cat, too
(He/him)
The Requiem double pack of the Dracula X games isn't doing PS1 emulation on PS4 to my understanding, at least directly--instead it's using the Dracula X Chronicles PSP compilation as a base, running those versions in a Sony-provided PSP emulation wrapper. It's likely that proprietary nature of it why it won't show up on any other platform, and why it's just those two games, as they'd been collected previously in near-identical circumstances, on related hardware.
If that was the case, I wish they'd have released the 3D game, too.
 

Peklo

Oh! Create!
(they/them, she/her)
If they still had a handheld to release it on, I'm sure they would have considered it. Presenting a PSP-resolution 3D game to be played on the gigantic TVs of today would've been met by a deluge of criticism about outdated visuals, even from the ostensible audience for this sort of thing, in ways that pixel art is not as susceptible to (and especially not these two games that command a reputation for aesthetic excellence even in a series commonly known for such). Nothing about Requiem indicates that they had much of any resources to work with--as is something of a recurring situation with the series--and so it remains a barebones repackaging of a prior compilation, with less material to go around.
 

madhair60

Video games
It's a shame X86000 ain't included because it's both difficult to come by and, as someone playing Castlevania Chronicles for the first time right now, a complete delight. They should have at least shoved it in the Rondo/SOTN collection if doing PS1 emulation was the problem
I agree it should have been on PS4, but I wouldn't personally class it difficult to come by when you can buy it for like, eight quid tops on a PS3. Unless PS3s really are that obsolete now :(
 

Peklo

Oh! Create!
(they/them, she/her)
I think a PS3 would classify as a retro console by now, and recently they've made efforts to make purchasing things on its (for now, extant) storefront cumbersome through the deprecation of the web browser store, and the disabling of debit cards and other direct payment methods, leaving the topping off of the related PSN account's wallet through other avenues as the only option. Chronicles itself never even got a digital PAL release as a PS1 Classic, so it's not available globally.
 

madhair60

Video games
Oh right, I never realised that I'd got it on my US account. I must have got confused because my original PS1 copy was PAL back in the day

They should definitely make that game available again as it is brilliant.
 
Rondo and Chronicles are on PlayStation systems
Yes but that means I have to carry around another system that I dont need to. Ring fit made has me made play video games again but not enuff to bother with a second piece of hardware.

(Yes this post is just made for pointless complaining :p )
 

Red Silvers

Pokemon Red w/ 1 Nidoran
Saw a wild copy of Chronicles in the wild today alongside SotN. I was surprised that Chronicles was the more expensive one.
 

Dracula

Plastic Vampire
(He/His)
Yeah, Chronicles was a late-release budget item on PS1 and saw a lot less copies made than SOTN. Since it's really the only way to play that game legit, and since it's from a popular series, it's become a valuable collector piece.

One popped up at a local game store a few years back, and it was priced at something like 70 or 80 bucks without the manual. But they kept dropping the price as it didn't sell, and I snatched it up when they dropped it to 30. That was totally worth it.
 

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
Chronicle is definitely one I kick myself for not picking up back in the day. I almost did at $20. If I'm honest, though, I'm not very wild about the X68000 variant of the game (too hard/unfair in spots, in my opinion), and the remixed version is too easy.
 

Ludendorkk

(he/him)

Someone has a playable beta of cancelled Dreamcast game Castlevania Resurrection, though it is unclear at this time whether or not it will be dumped
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
The fourth, and final, season of Cadtlevania airs on May 13. I thought they fired Ellis for all his crumb bum behaviour in season 3, but apparently not.

Netflix also announced they’re planning on a spinoff series with different characters, which is smart since they can’t use CV3 forever
 

SpoonyBard

Threat Rhyme
(He/Him)
On the one hand, boo Warren Ellis.

On the other, this show was more entertaining than it had any right to be so, yay Castlevania!
 

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
I did not enjoy how that last season closed out. To be honest, outside of some fun moments, the whole season was pretty blah.
 

R.R. Bigman

Coolest Guy
I hope this last season can break the series’ pattern of having the first six to eight episodes consist of nothing but a couple people trading barbs at each other, then two concluding episodes of everything happening all at once.

Considering this is likely the only Castlevania we’re liable to ever get, I’ll still watch to see how things end up. The Bloodstained games are boring as hell to me, and contain their own problematic creative elements. So this is it, I suppose!
 
I hope this last season can break the series’ pattern of having the first six to eight episodes consist of nothing but a couple people trading barbs at each other, then two concluding episodes of everything happening all at once.

Considering this is likely the only Castlevania we’re liable to ever get, I’ll still watch to see how things end up. The Bloodstained games are boring as hell to me, and contain their own problematic creative elements. So this is it, I suppose!
I've got a friend who has family that works at Powerhouse Animation, though not on Castlevania. Based on some discussions with my friend I've picked up a few things, but take them with a grain of salt as this isn't first hand knowledge and my friend doesn't want to get anyone in trouble so he kept some details vague:
  • The series director at Powerhouse Animation would like to do more with the property, and has plans to take the generational approach of JoJo (which he specifically cited as an example). So the idea would be to have another set of seasons with Simon or Richter as the central character.
  • Netflix is interested in doing more Castlevania, but any hypothetical continuation would need approval from the rights holder, Konami.
  • The forth season was well into production when the stuff with Warren Ellis hit critical mass; my friend isn't sure how involved he was after that point, but they are no current plans to bring him back for any potential follow-on shows. That could change I guess, but any new series is still very hypothetical at this point.
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
Maybe just tangentially related to this thread but Konami is releasing a new GetsuFumaDen game:

But beware since this is a roguelite. (And maybe borrowed some ideas from Curse of the Moon?) It's in Early Access until next month but apparently there is / will be a deluxe version which contains different stuff including the original Famicom version of GetsuFumaDen.
 
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