Dead Man Typing said:
Confession time, I've never played any Castlevania game ever. Ever.
But I've been listening to the Video Games Live CD which ends with Castlevania and I hear the way people talk about the series and I feel like I'm missing out.
So, where should I start? I figure Castlevania fans will be in here and able to offer advise, should I start with something off of the virtual console or jump to SOTN, on XBLA? I plan to do the same in the future with Metroid, I played the prime games, but never any of the 2D ones. I didn't own a NES or a SNES, so I missed the boat on a lot of these old series. But first things first, Castlevania. Thanks.
Super Castlevania IV is definitely the one that got the gameplay right where it needed to be, so that would be my first recommendation. Don't be shocked if it kicks your ass, there are parts of that can be extremely cheap, but that's kind of a hallmark of the early series.
Rondo of Blood is also highly acclaimed as the best of the series, but I can't say for sure since I haven't had a chance to play it. If you can play it, go for it. If it's even half as good as people have said it is, it's still a great game.
Emulate
Castlevania I and III for the NES. The games have pretty rigid controls by today's standards and some rather obnoxious challenges, so you'll be happy to have save states to work from. These games will basically earn you your Bachelors in Castlevania, with such courses as
Stump-Jumping 101,
Medusa Heads: Bane of your Existence and
Historical Perspectives on Controller Smashing: When Bosses were actually Hard.
Play
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest with a FAQ. It is nigh unplayable even when it was released; the game has very obscure 'puzzles', NPCs that purposely mislead you, and a lot of ground to cover. It differs greatly from the other three games I've mentioned, in that it is more adventure oriented and non-linear. It almost plays like a sidescrolling action/RPG with Survival Horror elements... all before Action/RPGs and Survival Horror were even defined. It's a decent game, vastly ahead of its time, but really really really broken. So. Save yourself some frustration and explore a pretty interesting game; use a walkthru. This is completely optional, but still rewarding. And if you're liberal with save states, you can do it in a few hours.
If you can find a way to play
Bloodlines (the only Genesis castlevania), do that as well. It has a lot of really interesting levels, great music, and is actually quite a blast. Less optional than Simon's Quest, but you could still pass on it if you didn't feel like tracking it down.
After that, move on to
Symphony of the Night, the first of the Metroidvania titles. This is my favorite game of all time, though it is not without flaws. That said, the flaws are vastly overshadowed by the awesome parts. SotN, for all intents and purposes, was a 'side story' that kind of became the 'new series'... there are lots of reasons why this may be, but I personally think it's because the SotN formula is 'proven' and IGA's creative powers only apply to different magic systems, it seems.
Many people will tell you to leap at the GBA / DS Metroidvania games (
Aria of Sorrow especially), but they're mostly retreads of SotN and I'd consider them completely optional. If you feel the need to keep playing SotN-clones, Order of Ecclesia and Aria of Sorrow are the only two that really stand out. Avoid
Harmony of Dissonance at all costs.
If you have a Wii,
Castlevania: Rebirth is also an excellent choice.
The 3-D Castlevanias are fair to middling, but completely optional and somewhat archaic given their release early in the days of 3-D games (Castlevania 64, for instance, is very rough around the edges but still playable).
If you decide to try all of the games I've bold faced, you'll pretty much have the entire series under your belt with only a few exceptions that really aren't worth your time. Castlevania is a great series with a ton of great games in it, but some of them are really not that essential to your PHD in Vampire Hunting.
Of course, that's just my opinion and some people will probably flip out that I'm forgetting the Gameboy games or treating Lament of Innocence or Curse of Darkness or the N64 games as optional... But really, these are the highlights of the series.