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[Fady K]

I'm a big Castlevania fan who has been playing some of the older games for the first time recently. Finished the very first one and Simon's Quest (which was a very strange CV title though still good).

Now Dracula's Curse, on the other hand, played the best from the first three. I made it to the middle of the 5th stage before I gave up, I'm sad to admit. The game is unbelievably hard for me. I loved what they did with Simon's Quest where you can continue right from where you were killed off, whereas in CV3 it is much farther than that...i really wanted to enjoy my time with it as it played amazingly well. It was very frustrating..

Awesome gift!

Spoiler

Got the NES Advantage that same Christmas!

What a fantastic photo

 

[Davey Cakes]

Castlevania 3 is challenging for sure. It's one of the games I'd deem as "perfect" in this area. The first quest, anyway. The second quest has some imbalanced parts (the subterranean path is BRUTAL) but I think the initial quest is more in line with classic Mega Man games than, say, Contra. It's a good balance that rewards getting better and memorizing boss patterns and also effectively utilizing the "partner" characters.

 

[Pinky]

Easily the best game of the NES trilogy. SotN is my all-time favorite Castlevania, but I would definitely put 3 in the #2 spot.

 

[Kodaman]

Favourite Castlevania. RIght there with Mario 3 in the top of the NES catalogue.

 

[Nocturnowl]

I made this thread back in 2012? time flies as swiftly as those accursed crows.

I'm a big Castlevania fan who has been playing some of the older games for the first time recently. Finished the very first one and Simon's Quest (which was a very strange CV title though still good).

Now Dracula's Curse, on the other hand, played the best from the first three. I made it to the middle of the 5th stage before I gave up, I'm sad to admit. The game is unbelievably hard for me. I loved what they did with Simon's Quest where you can continue right from where you were killed off, whereas in CV3 it is much farther than that...i really wanted to enjoy my time with it as it played amazingly well. It was very frustrating..

Having played the first game since I made this thread it definitely showed me that while that game is tricky in places it's not nearly as much of an endurance test as CV3.
I think I'd probably prefer playing its JPN version, better music and less of the soul shattering challenge if I'm not mistaken.

 

[butman]

The true Castlevania II

 

[Fady K]

I made this thread back in 2012? time flies as swiftly as those accursed crows.


Having played the first game since I made this thread it definitely showed me that while that game is tricky in places it's not nearly as much of an endurance test as CV3.
I think I'd probably prefer playing its JPN version, better music and less of the soul shattering challenge if I'm not mistaken.

It was a pleasure reading your thread, always lovely to see a thread have a long and healthy life with great discussions and shared memories

Ah really? The English version is harder? I could have sworn I haven't played a more punishing and difficult Castlevania than the 3rd one -_-

The true Castlevania II

I beat CVII recently and it was so.....weird? No way would I have been able to beat it without a guide back then. I did appreciate one thing though, it was very forgiving with checkpoints.

 

[Boogiepop]

I actually played through this myself for the first time last year, and holy crap is it ever hard! Took the full south route, and starting with that rising water stage things got ridiculous. Like, that one stage may have been hours, it was crazy hard! That falling block stage into Dracula's castle was the one that "broke" me, though, in that it has soooo much slow repetition. Once I had the stage up to the boss pretty much perfected I said f€#% it and created a save point, as it was just a huge pain in the butt and hours of pointless repetition, going through the loooooong paces just for a chance at the boss. I believe I did the same for that insane stage of eagles dropping fleamen into the staircase climb from hell or whatever, so I didn't beat it "fairly" technically, but it was still hella hard. Funny thing is that Dracula's final form isn't actually that bad.

 

[Fady K]

Glad to see i'm not the only one who thought it was brutally hard :/!

 

[whiterabbit]

I just use save states to get through hard NES games. I played through Castlevania 1 last month and used save states to beat the last two stages. It's freaking hard! It doesn't help that it plays kind of stiff.

I'm not sure if I want to get Castlevania 3 on my 3DS. But I guess it's probably worth $5 even if it is kind of hard.

 

[Fady K]

I just use save states to get through hard NES games. I played through Castlevania 1 last month and used save states to beat the last two stages. It's freaking hard! It doesn't help that it plays kind of stiff.

I'm not sure if I want to get Castlevania 3 on my 3DS. But I guess it's probably worth $5 even if it is kind of hard.

I wish the Virtual Console on the 3DS/Wii/WiiU had save states....i'd definitely make use of them. The game is far too hard for me without it, it got far more frustrating than fun.

 

[whiterabbit]

I wish the Virtual Console on the 3DS/Wii/WiiU had save states....i'd definitely make use of them. The game is far too hard for me without it, it got far more frustrating than fun.

3DS VC has save states called "restore points". You just tap the bottom screen and you have an option to save or load one state.

 

[Ishida]

The true Castlevania II

Sometimes I feel I'm the only person in the Internet that actually liked Simon's Quest. I actually finished it again a few days back.

 

[Davey Cakes]

Sometimes I feel I'm the only person in the Internet that actually liked Simon's Quest. I actually finished it again a few days back.

Ever since I was a kid playing these games on NES, my preference was: Dracula's Curse > Simon's Quest > Castlevania.

I've always had a soft spot for Simon's Quest. I liked the atmosphere and how the game felt "big" and "cryptic."

 

[b3b0p]

Sometimes I feel I'm the only person in the Internet that actually liked Simon's Quest. I actually finished it again a few days back.

No, I love Simon's Quest.

So many great memories of trying to figure out and finding everything. Leaving the NES on for days. Writing notes down on sticky pads. Crouching and jumping Simon across screens to find those secrets. Great times.

I highly anticipated Castlevania III after Simon's Quest, but for some reason never bought it. I don't know why. Same for IV. I will have to play them now, soon.

 

[Davey Cakes]

I highly anticipated Castlevania III after Simon's Quest, but for some reason never bought it. I don't know why. Same for IV. I will have to play them now, soon.

You've NEVER played Dracula's Curse?

Dude...

If you still have the capacity to enjoy classic games, then CVIII will blow your socks off. It's easily in the top 5 NES action/platformers.

 

[Pimpbaa]

Great game. Although it's a shame they couldn't use the same memory mapper as the Japanese version (which has superior music). Castlevania 3 and Gradius 2 using Konami's VRC4 has some of the best music on the Famicom.

 

[Nocturnowl]

I wish the Virtual Console on the 3DS/Wii/WiiU had save states....i'd definitely make use of them. The game is far too hard for me without it, it got far more frustrating than fun.

Well hold up a sec, Wii U and 3DS have a single slot for a save state, the wii meanwhile only has the ability to suspend the game.

When I made this thread I was using the Wii version so I had to tough it out but when i Upgraded to the Wii U VC version I'll fully admit that I busted out the save and reload every now and then (like pre Drac fight) , I EARNED THAT RIGHT!

 

[Ziffles]

Still my favorite game soundtrack of all time, and hearing the original VRC6 soundtrack after the NES version blew my mind. Hidenori Maezawa is a wizard.

 

[Pinky]

Sometimes I feel I'm the only person in the Internet that actually liked Simon's Quest. I actually finished it again a few days back.

I like Simon's Quest as well. It was my first Castlevania game. I understand the complaints about how it's so cryptic and difficult to navigate, but after a few playthroughs it becomes familiar and burned into your brain. My only complaint with the game is the lack of boss characters. Aside from Dracula, there are only two bosses. I would've preferred if each mansion had a boss. Other than that, a good entry that gets too much hate, IMO.

No, I love Simon's Quest.

So many great memories of trying to figure out and finding everything. Leaving the NES on for days. Writing notes down on sticky pads. Crouching and jumping Simon across screens to find those secrets. Great times.

I highly anticipated Castlevania III after Simon's Quest, but for some reason never bought it. I don't know why. Same for IV. I will have to play them now, soon.

doit.gif

If you have the means to play these games, please do so immediately. III is incredible and SCIV is very good as well.

 

[Bloodporne]

My favorite of the classic Castlevania titles.

I absolutely love the background design and music in this one, very decrepit and cool atmosphere. I doubt it's on purpose but I've wondered often whether Hemwick Charnel Lane's buildings in Bloodborne were an homage to Castlevania 3's background in the first stage. Check it out and imagine it in updated 3D:

 

[whiterabbit]

I still haven't got CV3, but I fully intend to when there's nothing else I want to buy or sales going on.