My quest to beat Castlevania

[toptenmaterial]

I'm at the rising water level. Alucard is ace for hitting the bats and fish men. I drowned on top of the orb after the second dragon fight.

 

This game is brilliant.

[Austin]

Hate it when that happens, haha.

[toptenmaterial]

The game is a bitch but it's also to be studied. 1 was condensed- since I can play through the whole thing I see that now. 3 is much larger in scope and you get ground down gradually. I'm making progress, though cautiously and with save states.

[StanJr]

Passwords should negate the need for save states in this game. Just grab the password every time you get the chance. Save states are great, but tackling the levels as a whole can sometimes be more helpful than breaking it down to smaller segments.

 

But you're moving along well! Just stay out of that sunken city!!!

[Austin]

The game is a bitch but it's also to be studied. 1 was condensed- since I can play through the whole thing I see that now. 3 is much larger in scope and you get ground down gradually. I'm making progress, though cautiously and with save states.

 

Yes, it's larger in scope. You can still focus on a single path though and tackle it like it's the first game. Then, branch out when you can finish it one way.

[toptenmaterial]

I'm back at the tower that slam scrolls up. It's tough, there is one jump that I'm getting hung up on. No Grant either but Syfa annihilates the pikemen with one hit which is helpful.

[toptenmaterial]

I gave the second loop of CV 1 a try today. I made it to the fleamen forest before losing all my lives. The bats definitely kept me on my toes. I thought also that the second world (with the medusa/crusher combo) was more difficult than the third which largely has medusa heads anyway.

[StanJr]

Yeah, the additional medusa heads make that climb to the cathedral a real beast. I have to adjust my play pattern to account for their presence. I lose way more lives there than I do in the upper levels.

[toptenmaterial]

In 3, I'm able to pass the red slam scroll tower pretty easily, I just have to take care not to bump into the knights that spawn. I'm taking hits on the bone pillars (timing, timing, timing) and especially those awful gargoyles who bob in an asymmetrical pattern. I made it to Frank who I figured out was cake but was too depleted by then to beat him- I only had one hit left. I'll get it down.

[Austin]

Remember to whack walls to find partial health refills. I believe there's one just before (or maybe at) Frank.

[StanJr]

Yeah, there's a pork chop in the blocks on the left in Frank's room. He's easy, just stay near the center, dodge the blocks that cave-in (almost always a gap) and the ones he throws. Should be a short battle.

[toptenmaterial]

I'm at the 2 headed sea dragon boss on the next level. The sudden appearance of the thing plus the change in music gave me such a jump scare that I jumped into the drink!

[toptenmaterial]

The dragon requires a lot of patience. One whip as they descend and I took them out. I am in the castle now, and it is my opinion that Belmonts are not the best jumpers.

[toptenmaterial]

I'm at what I believe is the first truly difficult level in the game, 10 something, which contains a set of stairs with bone pillars and gargoyles followed by the vertical scrolling slam screen. This one is a bitch.

[Austin]

Wait until you get to the doppleganger.

 

*starts to prepare popcorn*

[7800fan]

Wait until you discover Game genie

[toptenmaterial]

Wait until you discover Game genie

Nah! I could go that route if I wished. I'm redoing the whole thing, getting levels down.

[toptenmaterial]

The issue was the save states. I never got the hang of it, so I'm using them sparingly. I am concentrating solely on Sypha's path now. I can get through the ghost ship with barely taking a hit and the red tower is a pain in the butt but no major problem. The difficulty is a steady climb after that. Stan suggested starting from scratch after each game over and that has helped build experience. It's a wonderful game, but hard as nails and a Belmont is still a Belmont....

[toptenmaterial]

Castlevania's 30th birthday is on May 1. I know that there was a Japanese release and some computer ports but I'd say 1987 was the beginning for all intents and purposes. I hope you guys do something special!

[Austin]

Topten, not to sound too spammy, but if you are around tomorrow night (3/30), I will be doing a live stream of Castlevania III on YouTube. I plan on running all routes with and finishing the game with each character. So, if you need to see some tips live on the spot, feel free to tune in. Starts at 9PM EST (link is here). I will probably go until just after midnight, maybe later.

Castlevania's 30th birthday is on May 1. I know that there was a Japanese release and some computer ports but I'd say 1987 was the beginning for all intents and purposes. I hope you guys do something special!

Yeah, I believe it was '86 in Japan, so technically the anniversary would have been last year. However, you are right that it was '87 for North America.

 

30 or 31, who cares? Every year is a good year to celebrate Castlevania.

[toptenmaterial]

Topten, not to sound too spammy, but if you are around tomorrow night (3/30), I will be doing a live stream of Castlevania III on YouTube. I plan on running all routes with and finishing the game with each character. So, if you need to see some tips live on the spot, feel free to tune in. Starts at 9PM EST (link is here). I will probably go until just after midnight, maybe later.

 

 

Yeah, I believe it was '86 in Japan, so technically the anniversary would have been last year. However, you are right that it was '87 for North America.

 

30 or 31, who cares? Every year is a good year to celebrate Castlevania.

Downloading the app now bro

[Austin]

Downloading the app now bro

 

Dude, it was awesome having you live on the spot! Hope you enjoyed it.

 

(On a side note, after you left I ended up completing the game a couple of more times... and then people talked me into doing Battletoads, Ninja Gaiden, and Adventure Island II afterwards! Nine hours later... Haha).

[toptenmaterial]

Nice. I had taken a sleeping pill and was very loopy. I wanted to stay awake to see how you tackled that awful tower and the doppelgänger. So you were up all night? Wow!!!!

 

A couple of random questions for you, Stan and the gentleman who does the Gaiden runs (can't recall his name):

 

What do you guys think of Kid Icarus? I played it yesterday and it reminded me of an old DOS game. Seems hard.

 

Also, opinion of Castlevania Rebirth? Seems awesome!

 

And Austin, why do you dislike Harmony of Dissonance?

[StanJr]

Kid Icarus I really enjoy. It can be hard as nails and unforgiving, but I really like the quirkiness of the game play. For me at least, there is a HUGE learning curve in figuring out exactly how to be successful, but still lots of fun. Kid Icarus II for the Game Boy is even better.

 

If you are talking about the WiiWare game, Rebirth, I thought it was pretty good, but my Wii bricked before I could get too far into it. It was better than Castlevania Adventure, which it was based on.

 

And yeah, Austin, what the hell? HoD is pretty solid. I mean, its SotN again, but it's fun.

[toptenmaterial]

Austin's live stream was a lot of fun by the way, I've got to check those out more often.