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My quest to beat Castlevania


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There are lots of places to fall out on Castlevania 3. The ghost ship is horrible about this.

 

 

If it makes you feel any better, I gave Castlevania a run on my GBA tonight, and got my ass handed to me in the clock tower, never even made it to Drac. I'm going to try again at home on the NES tomorrow. I have a hard time playing on my tiny SP with it's tiny screen.

 

I almost beat Frankenstein with the dagger tonight. I went in weak after taking some hits from the dragons and then ground Frank all the way down, but the hunchback's projectile got me from beyond the grave. For the timing of Dracula, what works for me is getting all up in his business, maybe one brick away, then only looking at the cape to see whether or not it opens. Most of the time I get distracted by something and the blue birdman eats me, but if I'm on my game he drops a two and then it's curtains for that mofo. It's a fun game to play continuously, though my performance varies. I'm hardly that good at it but I love playing it.

 

I also noticed that I can do some grinding for points if I pick up a holy water in the first world. Groups of zombies drop a ton of points. I was never an arcade kid but it's kind of fun. It's also interesting that NES games often have point counters, it's a bridge between the old and the new.

 

When I started this thread, I was playing on a GBA SP. Right now I'm playing on a 2DS and the cropped area may be smaller. The "feel" is good but it does have its disadvantages. My PSP battery shit the bed, otherwise I'd play with that.

Edited by toptenmaterial
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Castlevania III is awesome. However, the difficulty ceiling is even higher than the first one. When you get really good at it though, the experience is sublime.

It's rad, no doubt. It's just that the mechanic with the stairs (embarking or disembarking) is weird and I die all on my own. It's like if I were to beat up a street gang at the mall and then break my hip getting off the escalator.

 

Austin (and everyone), is Simon's Quest fun? I beat it as a kid with the Nintendo Power code like everyone else in my school because I had no idea what the f I was doing. What's it like today?

Edited by toptenmaterial
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It's rad, no doubt. It's just that the mechanic with the stairs (embarking or disembarking) is weird and I die all on my own. It's like if I were to beat up a street gang at the mall and then break my hip getting off the escalator.

 

Austin (and everyone), is Simon's Quest fun? I beat it as a kid with the Nintendo Power code like everyone else in my school because I had no idea what the f I was doing. What's it like today?

I'm not sure I follow.. the stair mechanic isn't any different in III versus the original. Sounds more like user error to me.

 

Simon's Quest--I enjoy it. Like Eltigro said, it's a bit obtuse. I'd recommend having a walkthrough by you as you play. As long as you know where to go, it's enjoyable.

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See I find CV3 to be much easier than the original. So many paths to victory and the ability to switch to other characters opens it up a lot. I beat it long before I was able to beat Castlevania.

 

Simon's Quest is a lot of fun, but you really have to know the game inside and out to beat it. I beat it back in the day with some help from advanced passwords and eventually a friend walked me through it so I could beat it legit, but it's very, very different from the first and third installments. Now that I know how to beat it, I have more fun exploring the world and seeing everything, than I do just running to Drac's castle and beating him. It's certainly the easiest of the three from an arcade challenge standpoint. All of the boss fights are super easy, with Drac being the easiest. It's more fun to try and get all the different endings and just check out the really awesome world they built. Would be in the top tier had the clues made a lick of sense. I do like the idea of using Drac's rib as a shield.

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See I find CV3 to be much easier than the original. So many paths to victory and the ability to switch to other characters opens it up a lot. I beat it long before I was able to beat Castlevania.

 

I actually finished Part 3 before the first one as well. However, I think it was more due to the fact I didn't have access to the original as frequently as a kid. Both are challenging but I feel Part 3 has more points in the game where it's easy to mess up and have instant death occur. The difficulty also ramps up much higher in the late parts of the game than the first one does, whereas the earlier stages in Part 3 I feel are easier than the earlier stages in the first game.

 

If you want an extended challenge, I do recommend attempting to tackle the second loop of Castlevania III. It's easily one of, if not the most difficult in the series, on the second loop.

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I'm not overly impressed with either of the PS2 offerings. They are very on rails and don't have the depth of game play that the originals or even the Game Boy "Metroidvania" provide. There are some neat things to find and do, but overall, in my opinion, I'd rather play the N64 Castlevania games.

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Grant is nice for movement, but not as useful for boss fights in the North American version. There are varying different routes in the game and most aren't really dependent on the characters you get. I'm trying to think off the top of my head, and after playing through all the routes multiple times recently myself, I don't really think there's a single easiest one. Just experiment around. I do find having Syfa makes combat easier due to her strong and useful spells, but if sections trouble you, you can always try to skip them with Alucard's bat form. Grant can take some shortcuts as well due to his wall running ability and higher jump height.

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I beat the first four games recently (the first time for most of them), playing them in order. CV3 was certainly the hardest, but it did feel the most rewarding. I picked Grant then Alucard, which after reading I realized might not have been the "optimal" way to do it, but it helped in certain places. Make sure you get your passwords, because each of those later levels feels like an achievement.

 

I probably spent the most (read: not much) time dinking around in Simon's Quest when I was a kid, and now that's my favorite way to play it. It's so obtuse I don't feel guilty using a guide to tell me what to do, but I just love the music and flavor of it so much, it's like having some magical spirit guide lead you through this world and you can just soak up the ambience and see some stuff and still get to whip and blow up enemies like a classic Castlevania, too.

 

Have fun on your quest -- I'd recommend any of those first four games to anyone, anytime. There's lots of fun to be had in there.

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I beat the first four games recently (the first time for most of them), playing them in order. CV3 was certainly the hardest, but it did feel the most rewarding. I picked Grant then Alucard, which after reading I realized might not have been the "optimal" way to do it, but it helped in certain places. Make sure you get your passwords, because each of those later levels feels like an achievement.

 

I probably spent the most (read: not much) time dinking around in Simon's Quest when I was a kid, and now that's my favorite way to play it. It's so obtuse I don't feel guilty using a guide to tell me what to do, but I just love the music and flavor of it so much, it's like having some magical spirit guide lead you through this world and you can just soak up the ambience and see some stuff and still get to whip and blow up enemies like a classic Castlevania, too.

 

Have fun on your quest -- I'd recommend any of those first four games to anyone, anytime. There's lots of fun to be had in there.

How did you feel about Super CV IV? I haven't played that one in a minute.

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I prefer to take Grant. Syfa is super powerful, but her jumps are miserable and you have to seek out her spell books (and be able to keep them) in order for her to be good. I will say I love her "freeze the water" abilities in the fountain level. Makes that MUCH easier. I have never like Alucard. While I love his bat form and how it allows me avoid tedious levels like the slowly, and I mean slowly, building tower, I find his attack to also be very weak, even leveled up, and I tend to spend all my time as Trevor unless I need to fly. I also think he looks like a tool.

 

I played some tonight, (I'm so rusty I got slaughtered in the level after Alucard) and I went to the clocktower to get Grant, then avoided Syfa and went south. I always avoid the sunken city because it's a TOTAL sidetrack and just gives you more chances to get killed. From there it's a pretty straight shot to the end. I hate that I have to miss the boat, so sometimes I take the Syfa route and just turn down her offer.

 

Those later levels are achievements all on their own. Looks like I need to get back into the swing of things.

 

Also, I played Castlevania and got to Drac, but couldn't beat him, so I need to get back into shape on that one as well.

 

#oldpeopleproblems

 

 

LOVE Super Castlevania. Great fun! But if you want a REAL challenge, try Dracula X. That thing is brutally hard from the first level on.

 

:spidey:

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I prefer to take Grant. Syfa is super powerful, but her jumps are miserable and you have to seek out her spell books (and be able to keep them) in order for her to be good. I will say I love her "freeze the water" abilities in the fountain level. Makes that MUCH easier. I have never like Alucard. While I love his bat form and how it allows me avoid tedious levels like the slowly, and I mean slowly, building tower, I find his attack to also be very weak, even leveled up, and I tend to spend all my time as Trevor unless I need to fly. I also think he looks like a tool.

 

I played some tonight, (I'm so rusty I got slaughtered in the level after Alucard) and I went to the clocktower to get Grant, then avoided Syfa and went south. I always avoid the sunken city because it's a TOTAL sidetrack and just gives you more chances to get killed. From there it's a pretty straight shot to the end. I hate that I have to miss the boat, so sometimes I take the Syfa route and just turn down her offer.

 

Those later levels are achievements all on their own. Looks like I need to get back into the swing of things.

 

Also, I played Castlevania and got to Drac, but couldn't beat him, so I need to get back into shape on that one as well.

 

#oldpeopleproblems

 

 

LOVE Super Castlevania. Great fun! But if you want a REAL challenge, try Dracula X. That thing is brutally hard from the first level on.

 

:spidey:

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Stan I got my ass handed to me in original CV tonight too! Ultimately Drac was were I ended. I find that I need a concentrated run to build momentum- if I put the game down for a few minutes, something is off. My assessment is essentially this: I can get through the game with little issue provided that I don't lose my subweapon, usually the holy water. Worlds 1 and 2 are easy, 3 is challenging, 4 requires vigilance, and 5 and 6 holy fuck are they hard. I can breeze through 4 without dying once, and on occasion will make it to 6 without a death. In all fairness I also get my ass kicked in the lower levels at times, usually through careless jumps. My problems usually arise if I'm slow with the water on the reaper- then I am faced with a street fight. I haven't defeated any of what I would call the hard bosses (Frank, Reaper and Drac) without the water yet. I have taken Frank and Reaper down only to get hit with a projectile after they die. The bats and the clock tower also gave me major issues tonight. Again, it was an issue of loosing a subweapon- in the clock tower I really need the stopwatch to squeak through. I've been trying to avoid save states. Anyhow my performance varies drastically, though I am pleased that I can beat it.

 

Also I picked up a copy of Dawn of Sorrow for when I need to take a break!

 

PS I suck at Castlevania 3, truly I do. But in time I'll get that one in the bag too. 1 only took 6 years! :D

Edited by toptenmaterial
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Yeah, Castlevania definitely rewards momentum. If you can take the Holy Water with the Tripler through all the levels it makes the game MUCH easier. I usually don't encounter much resistance until those giant bats outside of Drac's room. Although last night I got greedy and mis-jumped into the water in the underground river. The bats are what got me last night. There is a pattern to get past them usually taking only 1 hit (from the second bat), but I haven't remembered it correctly yet. Frustratingly I went through the clock tower without issue. Those are two of the hardest screens in any video game I've played.

 

I had not heard about Bloodstained. Looks interesting. I have to say the mythos of the Castlevania "universe" is a large part of why I love these games, so I hope this game is good, but it won't be a "Castlevania" game for me, even if it's a "spiritual successor."

 

There are plenty of "Metroidvania" games for the handheld systems to scratch that itch, plus I can play SotN forever and ever and never get bored.

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For me, one area that causes a cheap death, and more often than the cavern area, is that bone pillar near the ledge at the end of the second part of the third world. Cavern can be a bitch but it's not the most problematic area for me (a little discloser, I wasted all lives on it once last night).

 

I am pleased about this bloodstained game coming out. I had preordered Lords of Shadow after reading the hype that it was derived from Super CV IV (spoiler alert: it wasn't). The mercury stream games seem to have nothing to do at all with Castlevania, so hopefully this IGA game is a return to form.

 

EDIT: I take the stop watch into the clock tower. I simply cannot get through it without it.

Edited by toptenmaterial
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I know that spot you are speaking of. You land, the pillar shoots you and you are knocked back into the abyss. Best to scroll the pillar on screen before you make the jump, then wait for it to shoot, knock out the shots, jump and be ready to whip again when you land. That is an ugly spot. It's like the final pillar before the Mummy room. All it takes is off timing of the medusas and you are in for losing a load of heart.

 

Yeah, the stopwatch is vital in the tower. You need at least 10 hearts too.

 

 

Got back to Drac today with greater ease, but couldn't take him down with the 3 lives I had remaining. Then I had another game where a flea man gave me the axe on the way to see Frank. That was GAME OVER. You have to be careful pushing through that area.

 

Played CV3 and lost all my lives on the pirate ship due to cheap bird deaths right after the Medusa King. I am so rusty. But I do recall the second loop now that I've been playing. It feels like every level had medusa heads added to it for added fury. I remember because if you win with Grant or Alucard, you can access candles you couldn't otherwise on the first level.

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