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Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth (WiiWare) - Now up on NA Wiiware, 1000 Points

jman2050

Member
Yeah I don't get this. Contra Rebirth is very much capable of kicking your ass much like any other Contra games. And infinite continues don't really help you at all on Nightmare difficulty.
 
CO_Andy said:
Contra and Gradius Rebirth are only easy games if you play them on easy difficulty.

I refuse to play them on 'easy'. That's not what Contra is all about, to me. You're supposed to want to be punished.

And anyway, I don't know why anybody would play them on 'easy' and then complain that the games are too easy.

That's a bit silly.
 

Tain

Member
Haven't played Contra yet, but Gradius on Normal is way easier than the other Gradius games on Normal. I could mess with difficulty levels, but I'm sure it's just the typical loop bump where enemies shoot more bullets and nothing else. Obviously makes it harder, but way less cool than the game naturally being designed at a given difficulty in the first place.
 
firex said:
I can't say for certain about these Rebirth games since I don't really want them that much, but I know at least in my experience, playing a game and recording it in fraps, encoding the video so youtube will take it, and watching it on youtube, there is significant quality lost in each step. One of the reasons I don't really like to watch games I haven't played before on youtube, really. Even with HD options and widescreen and stuff, they just don't look right.

The only reason that stuff happens is because 80% of the people who post game footage to Youtube don't know what they're doing. As much as I've expressed my opinion over the years regarding how much I loathe graphics whores and audiophiles for being obsessed with excessive quality, I've become rather affixed these last few months on squeezing every droplet of quality out of my $20 USB capture card as possible. Getting the right codecs, making sure the saturation/contrast/brightness is configured correctly, etc. I think I've finally reached the ceiling with how clear standard-def video capture can get.

But that says nothing about how it feels to watch a game rather than have it in your hands. I'm sure it's possible appropriately identify bad level design through video by watching how the person in the video reacts to the environment, but even then, there may be nuances in how the character moves that you aren't going to understand very well through video alone, and sometimes, little stuff like that can make all the difference.
 

Dave Long

Banned
Tain said:
Haven't played Contra yet, but Gradius on Normal is way easier than the other Gradius games on Normal. I could mess with difficulty levels, but I'm sure it's just the typical loop bump where enemies shoot more bullets and nothing else. Obviously makes it harder, but way less cool than the game naturally being designed at a given difficulty in the first place.
Yeah, and I think that's the main reason these games are not really for the "hardcore" in the first place. They know that the level of difficulty we require would seriously hamper the game's appeal beyond us, and as a "Rebirth" you don't really want to go and turn off those new customers.

A lot of people may only have played Contra for the first time on Virtual Console or this WiiWare game. It's not like you can walk into any old arcade and play it. It makes sense to sort of start over from zero again.

Finally, there just aren't that many people in the 30-somethings that still have their old skills either. Lots of them have atrophied beyond repair. (Thankfully I'm not in that category yet!) So often when people say something is "hard" nowadays I just don't believe them. It's more often that you've grown "soft". ;)
 
beelzebozo said:
i would seriously shit myself. literally.

LITERALLY.

If only they'd speed up the recoil of Mikey's yo-yo though. I much preferred kicking with him in the original Goonies, even if it was at point blank.

evilromero said:
I don't have a lot of faith in this being on par with CIV or even Bloodlines. Of course I'd prefer they ape the controls and level design of IV but I know that isn't going to happen. I'm sure the art direction will suck balls as well like it does in Contra Rebirth. If only they could get Wayforward to do these instead.

The controls in SCV4 took away the finesse factor and still felt slow. I'd hope for a Rondo-looking experience, but that probably wouldn't feel retro enough, since many of the enemy sprites have been reused by Symphony of the Night and every game onward.
 

Wizpig

Member
Stumpokapow said:
okay but either you aren't reading people's posts or you're reading them and just being obstinate because they're not complaining that the games look snes-style, they're complaining that (in their opinion) the games don't look good.
Yup.

If i look at older Contra games, those graphics, those backgrounds and... everything looks better to me.
This, because those were retail AAA games and this is a... WiiWare; MB limits and [i think] low budgets don't help.
Oh yeah, and of course the problem isn't WiiWare per se... some XBLA games are pretty ugly too, especially when they put filters for the HD... i prefer MegaMan 9 on the Wii, for example [one case of a SD game that looks better compared to the HD version, imo].

I can't really stand flames on GAF, so that's the last thing i want in this thread.
Hopefully this Castlevania will have graphics similar to Super Castlevania IV.
 
Wizpig said:
Yup.

If i look at older Contra games, those graphics, those backgrounds and... everything looks better to me.
This, because those were retail AAA games and this is a... WiiWare; MB limits and [i think] low budgets don't help.
Oh yeah, and of course the problem isn't WiiWare per se... some XBLA games are pretty ugly too, especially when they put filters for the HD... i prefer MegaMan 9 on the Wii, for example [one case of a SD game that looks better compared to the HD version, imo].

I can't really stand flames on GAF, so that's the last thing i want in this thread.
Hopefully this Castlevania will have graphics similar to Super Castlevania IV.
You were a lot more sensible when you had that Apollo Justice avatar.
 

radcliff

Member
beelzebozo said:
i would seriously shit myself. literally.

LITERALLY.

There was a Konami trademark earlier this year for a game called Goonies Wannabes. Haven't heard anything about it since, though.
 
Wizpig said:
This, because those were retail AAA games and this is a... WiiWare; MB limits and [i think] low budgets don't help.

MB limits shouldn't matter. The maximum filesize on Wiiware is 20 times the size of Contra 3.
 
I just youtubed Contra Rebirth and my youtube review is... it looks awesome.

Contra never was about the art. III and Hard Corps are ugly as hell both from a pixel art standpoint and general art style standpoint. Whether the two main dudes look like 80's muscle men or cartoon network rejects, it is of little consequence. The shooting action is INTENSE, the bosses big and interesting, and the levels well designed (from the video, all of that seems intact). At the end of the day that's what matters in Contra.


Castlevania, on the other hand, the art is very important to me. That's why I loved Rondo Remix but was meh about the GBA and DS versions. I thought Rondo Remix nailed the SOTNish, dark cool art form but with a modern touch. I absolutely despise the anime look of the DS games, but as long as the gameplay is there, I can live with it.

So with all that being said, I would expect this new Castlevania to look like a DS game art wise (yuck) and play like an NES/SNES game (FUCK YES). I can live with that.
 

Amalthea

Banned
That's likely because the game was listed for a Q3 '09 release and last monday was the last day to fall in that timeframe.

I think they'll release the game closer to Halloween.
 

OnPoint

Member
stone128 said:
IGN says it's out now... have any of you downloaded it yet?

stone128
uses IGN for release dates
(Today, 01:13 PM)
Reply | Quote

Seriously, why wouldn't you look elsewhere first?
 

CamHostage

Member
stone128 said:
IGN says it's out now... have any of you downloaded it yet?

IGN's game page says "Q3", which is what Konami said, but it's still a fuck-up since it's showing up in the Out Now section now by its calendar date.
 
It seems that 1up said on Twitter "We're revealing a new Konami retro revival in Monday's 1UP Cover", and GameSpite said something similar. It'll likely be Castlevania: The Adventure: Rebirth. If so, I wonder if, on Monday, it'll be released, or if there will just be information.

Found out the info at banned site Nopretendo here: http://_________.com/viewstory.php?id=99195 I'm not familiar with Twitter so I don't know how to link to the sources...

Assuming the game does come out Monday before any media is released, it will be a no-brainer purchase for me, and I'm sure many others. It's amazing how much a brand name can give a person faith.
 

duckroll

Member
Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth is DEFINITELY related in some way to the GB game. It can't be just a US naming quirk, because Famitsu lists the Japanese title as Dracula Densetsu Rebirth. Dracula Densetsu is the exact JP title of the first GB game. It's too specific to be a coincidence.
 
This has probably been mentioned but according to Wiki the original was released on the 27th of Oct 89 in Japan and December 89 in the US...
 

Aru

Member
duckroll said:
Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth is DEFINITELY related in some way to the GB game. It can't be just a US naming quirk, because Famitsu lists the Japanese title as Dracula Densetsu Rebirth. Dracula Densetsu is the exact JP title of the first GB game. It's too specific to be a coincidence.

Is the game still planned for this quarter (outside of Europe) ?

I may be interested in playing an old style CV game. I never played the original on GB.
In fact, the only platformer CV I ever finished was Dracula X Chronicles.
 

duckroll

Member
Okay, I saw the scan. It's a full remake of the first Gameboy Castlevania. Graphics are brand new, giving the stages a more gothic feel. There are changes and tweaks to the gameplay as well, with new enemies, new traps, and other improvements in each stage. There will also be new arrangements to classic Castlevania tracks.

It hits WiiWare in Japan on 27th Oct 2009, for 1000 points.
 
duckroll said:
Okay, I saw the scan. It's a full remake of the first Gameboy Castlevania. Graphics are brand new, giving the stages a more gothic feel. There are changes and tweaks to the gameplay as well, with new enemies, new traps, and other improvements in each stage. There will also be new arrangements to classic Castlevania tracks.

It hits WiiWare in Japan on 27th Oct 2009, for 1000 points.

HELL YES! Will fucking buy.

Here's hoping it sells well enough to justify a remake of Belmont's Revenge.
 

Captain N

Junior Member
duckroll said:
Okay, I saw the scan. It's a full remake of the first Gameboy Castlevania. Graphics are brand new, giving the stages a more gothic feel. There are changes and tweaks to the gameplay as well, with new enemies, new traps, and other improvements in each stage. There will also be new arrangements to classic Castlevania tracks.

It hits WiiWare in Japan on 27th Oct 2009, for 1000 points.

I hope we get it in America on the 26th.
 

duckroll

Member
Captain N said:
I hope we get it in America on the 26th.

Based on what robut just said, it's possible they might hold it off until December if they really care about releasing it exactly "10 years after".
 

mclem

Member
duckroll said:
Based on what robut just said, it's possible they might hold it off until December if they really care about releasing it exactly "10 years after".

Twenty.

Anyone else feel *really* old right around now?
 

Rlan

Member
Is is drastically different from the previous Castlevania GB games though - it has stairs and Skeletons, neither which are in Castlevania GB. The only thing that really looked at all the same were the rolling eyeballs, which I don't think have been in anything recently at all.
 

GhostSeed

Member
It's going to be awesome to get to play this game again. I never beat the original GB version. It's waaaay too hard, even for a Castlevania game.
 
I need to see what this looks like. Not that it matters but a trailer or something would be nice. And that remix of Battle of the Holy better be good.

EDIT: I just found the scans myself and that does look really good. Day 1.
 
Looks like a new game to me, though the eyeballs from the GB games are a welcome sight. It looks nice, too. I would say the look is more 16-bit than 8-bit, but will probably end up looking more like 2D games for 32-bit systems.
 

SovanJedi

provides useful feedback
The scan looks nice. It looks like a typical 16-bit Castlevania sidescrolling affair. Hopefully clearer screens appear so we can properly scrutinize 'em.
 
SovanJedi said:
The scan looks nice. It looks like a typical 16-bit Castlevania sidescrolling affair. Hopefully clearer screens appear so we can properly scrutinize 'em.
Typical? CIV had a bigger Simon, which is something Konami has abandoned since then. It looks more like Bloodlines than CIV.
 
I'm just waiting for the youtube playthrough so I can review the game.

I'll more than likely buy this game though cause Castlevania is better than Contra and Gradius by default.
 
So it is a remake then? That's a bit weird considering that the other rebirth games have all been original titles.

Maybe it'll be a "remake" in the way that Super CV4 and CVChronicles PS1 were?
 

Dascu

Member
Nuclear Muffin said:
So it is a remake then? That's a bit weird considering that the other rebirth games have all been original titles.

Maybe it'll be a "remake" in the way that Super CV4 and CVChronicles PS1 were?
I'd say so. For one, the scan shows an area labelled "Stage 2", featuring indoor castle areas, whereas Stage 2 in the GameBoy original takes place entirely inside caverns.
 

TunaLover

Member
Tain said:
Haven't played Contra yet, but Gradius on Normal is way easier than the other Gradius games on Normal. I could mess with difficulty levels, but I'm sure it's just the typical loop bump where enemies shoot more bullets and nothing else. Obviously makes it harder, but way less cool than the game naturally being designed at a given difficulty in the first place.

I played Gradius ReBirth on easy and I getting hard time trying to beat the Easter Island's Moai boss =/, maybe you're too good, or I suck in horizontal sidecrollers shooters, I used to play more vertical ones, that could be my problem =/
 
The fact that you actually have subweapons is proof enough that this is a substantial change from the original.

Can anyone make out what that sub-weapon is in the screenshot with the eyeballs?
 
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