Late to the Party: Castlevania (Series)

maximumzero

So here's the deal, outside of Final Fantasy & Metal Gear Solid, the Castlevania series is one that I've pretty much missed out on over the years. I was way into the Marios, the Zeldas, Megamans, whathaveyou, but Castlevania always seemed to fly above or below my radar.

I owned Castlevania III for my NES at one point, and I don't remember what happened to it that I don't have it anymore, but other than it, I've missed out on the entire series with the exception of three:

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA)
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)
Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)

I bought Circle of the Moon about a year into my GBA's ownership when I found it for $20 at Wal-Mart, and I did the same for Dawn of Sorrow, when Konami switched the box art to box art within box art and sold it for $10.

And then over the weekend I picked up Dracula X Chronicles at Gamestop for $8 new in the bargain bin.

It gets worse: Out of those three, I haven't finished any of them. Yep, I've had Circle of the Moon for almost 7 years and I've never finished it. I have the same issue with Dawn of Sorrow: I always get to a certain point, get lost of frustrated, but it back on the shelf, and I never finish it. But this summer I'm working on the backlog so I'm gonna try to remedy that.

Well anywho, what have I missed since Castlevania III? (Anything I should grab on the Virtual Console?)

If you want to make it easier, what have I missed since Circle of the Moon?

Timestones

I'd definitely recommend Super Castlevania 4 for the SNES (which is also available on Virtual Console I believe). It's one of my particular favorites and one of the best of the old platformer style Castlevanias (I'd rank it just below Rondo of Blood/Dracula X). Also check out Symphony of the Night, which conveniently is part of the Dracula X Chronicles.

Brian

maximumzero wrote: »

So here's the deal, outside of Final Fantasy & Metal Gear Solid, the Castlevania series is one that I've pretty much missed out on over the years. I was way into the Marios, the Zeldas, Megamans, whathaveyou, but Castlevania always seemed to fly above or below my radar.

I owned Castlevania III for my NES at one point, and I don't remember what happened to it that I don't have it anymore, but other than it, I've missed out on the entire series with the exception of three:

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA)
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)
Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)

I bought Circle of the Moon about a year into my GBA's ownership when I found it for $20 at Wal-Mart, and I did the same for Dawn of Sorrow, when Konami switched the box art to box art within box art and sold it for $10.

And then over the weekend I picked up Dracula X Chronicles at Gamestop for $8 new in the bargain bin.

It gets worse: Out of those three, I haven't finished any of them. Yep, I've had Circle of the Moon for almost 7 years and I've never finished it. I have the same issue with Dawn of Sorrow: I always get to a certain point, get lost of frustrated, but it back on the shelf, and I never finish it. But this summer I'm working on the backlog so I'm gonna try to remedy that.

Well anywho, what have I missed since Castlevania III? (Anything I should grab on the Virtual Console?)

If you want to make it easier, what have I missed since Circle of the Moon?

Castlevania came out the same year I was born so I have a special link with the series. Get them all. ALL. Well you can skip the new one Judgement because it is a fighter but the soundtrack is good for it.

Note that there is a distinction between certain games, the classic style (Dracula X, Bloodlines etc.) and the Castleroid or Metrovania (Symphony of the Night and all of the gameboys) and then the recent Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness which control more like Devil May Cry, though not near as fluid (Some call them flawed but they are Castlevanias so I like them nonetheless.

There is also an NES Classic for the GBA for the original Castlevania as well.
No need to buy Symphony as you have it already on the Dracula X which also covers the best IMO of the classic styles with a 2.5d remake and the original.
Portrait of Ruin(DS)
Aria of Sorrow(GBA)
Harmony of Dissonance(GBA)
Order of Ecclesia(DS)
Lament of Innocence(PS2)
Curse of Darkness(PS2 or Xbox)
Bloodlines(Genesis)

Anymore than that and it gets into repetition of the classic style and whatever you do, avoid Castlevania 2.

What a terrible night for a curse.

RainbowDespair

Castlevania III is a really good old school platformer/action game if you can handle the 8-bitness of it all (i.e. limited controls). Way better than any of the other NES Castlevanias.

Super Castlevania (SNES) is a more modern take on the series: the controls are much more fluid and it's great fun just to mess around with your whip. It can and should be gotten via the Wii's VC.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is where the series really switched over into being the gothic Metroid-esque series that people love today (admittedly, Castlevania 2 had also experimented with this style, but Symphony of the Night is when it got it right). You already have this game; it's an unlockable in Dracula X Chronicles.

All of the DS games are fun, but IMO, Order of Ecclessia is the best.

Dehumanized

You've unlocked and played through all of Symphony of the Night on Dracula X Chronicles, right? Because that's pretty much the best Castlevania. All of their subsequent attempts on the GBA (and Nintendo DS) have been building on the basics of that game, and can all be great fun in their own rights-- but I don't feel that any of them are quite as great as it is. Alucard has a certain fluidity of motion that seems lacking in the other games and the equipment is done so right.

Gilder

If you have Dawn of Sorrow then get Aria of Sorrow. DoS is a sequel with the same main character. You can skip Harmony of Dissonance though. It's nothing special.

Castlevania Chronicles is a remake of the first Castlevania for PS1, but it's a remake of the version that was on a more capable system. It's pretty good, but unfortunately it's kind of hard to find if you don't have a PS3. If you do you're in luck because it's up as a PSOne Classic.

CSeraph

I don't understand why people hate on Harmony. It is the first Castlevania I finished, and markedly better than the other two GBAs IMO (I know, hang me).

It *does* have one of the most confusing maps, though, so print out that Gamefaq Map now.