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Castlevania (original)


mbd30

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The unforgiving jumping controls take some getting used to when you haven't played this in awhile. It made me wonder how I was so good at this game as a kid. It's annoying when you jump from a platform and you're not quite far enough to the right and you miss and die. That kept happening to me on the second stage. Or you accidentally fall down the stairs. Or a a Medusa head knocks you off a small platform (thank goodness for that shortcut in the second stage where you can use a Medusa head to bump you up) or a damn fishman or bat knocks you off a platform.. The control isn't as polished as other NES games which adds to the challenge.

 

With some practice I made it to the last stage before Dracula's castle without a game over, and then I burned through a bunch of continues trying to remember how to get past the bats and then the hunchbacks (use the clock). Dracula himself isn't that bad once you get the hang of jumping over his fireballs and whipping his head. Then just toss holy water at his second form to slow him down.

 

 

 

 

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Nice!! I enjoy the original Castlevania. I've played it since 1990 when I was 9. And I played it so much I have became accustomed to everything and even complete it without losing a single life. When I first played it, the stages that gave me the hardest times were.

 

Stage 5- All of the floating Medusa heads while navigating pits to jump over. One hit and yup the dreaded fall back into a hole cheap shot.

 

Stage 10- That is a toughie at first. Navigating the catacombs of the castle and timing jumps on the moving platforms with bats and fishmen interfering every move.

 

Stage 15- That one gave me hell for quite some time. Mainly in the hallway before reaching Death. Axe knights and Medusa heads left and right. But triple shot holy water solves the problem.

 

Stage 16 and 17- The stopwatch nuff said!

 

I wonder if anyone has ever conquered the game without using a sub weapon and only the whip? That is one of the ultimate tasks and accomplishments.

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I wonder if anyone has ever conquered the game without using a sub weapon and only the whip? That is one of the ultimate tasks and accomplishments.

 

Figured there would be someone... found a vid on the Youtube. It's on an emulator though, so I don't know if he used save states or whatever. The music sounds a tad slower I think...

 

 

Here's one that may be real hardware... looks like he's using an NES controller in the window in the upper right of the video and the music sounds right.

 

Edited by Eltigro
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I've never been past Frank and his hunchback in all these years. :(

 

It's sad I suck at this game so much, because it's one of the very few NES games I absolutely love.

Just stock up on holy water, get lots of hearts, and pummel it away at enemies and you will quickly earn double then triple shots. And keep it. It is your best friend in that game.

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I never played Castlevania back in the day.

 

I remember finding it funny that the AVGN hated Simons Quest so much

After discovering these games through emulation in 98/99 , Simon's Quest was my favorite. Granted I never beat it and his video explained why! BUT...

 

The controls were a bit fucked at times, but the password feature and the building yourself up over time... a sort of pseudo level-up system made it worth it to keep trying... Parts 1 and 3 just didn't do it for me.... It was like playing SMB but having to work like a cunt to get a Mushroom/Fire Flower; or like a shoot-em-up, in that if you died at a certain spot, you were NOT advancing any further NOW without the powerups you just lost because you died.

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Simon's Quest is an amazing game but yeah good luck with it if you don't know where to go. The music is awesome, the controls are fluid, and the RPG elements are a blast. It's definitely my favorite of the three NES games.

 

Castlevania I is one of the few "hard" NES games that I've beaten legit. A buddy of mine and I bought all three games on his Wii once Halloween and we just sat around all night trading off and playing them. It was a lot of fun. I've since beaten it on my NES as well. This is a game I never owned as a kid but of course knew about because of it being on Captain N.

 

mbd stream yourself playing second round on Twitch. I'd watch the hell out of that.

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The translation in Simon's Quest makes it borderline unplayable.

 

It was a huge letdown back in the day.

 

I'm really glad I discovered the Simon's Quest Redacted rom hack.

 

It has better translation, so the clues actually make sense, and the day to night transition animation is sped up. I bought a cart copy of it, and it has a battery save to it as well.

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Castlevania II is my favorite as well. Apart from figuring out where to go, though (which is no big deal with a walkthrough and/or after you've played through it a few times), it's too easy. The boss fights--all three of them :roll:--are WAY too easy and anticlimactic. But I love the exploratory nature of it, the whip upgrades (even it some are pointless--who even bothers with the Thorn Whip, or doesn't get the Flame upgrade within 2 minutes of buying the Morningstar?), and even the day/night cycle.

But...the girl never showed up at the river at midnight. :(

Edited by BassGuitari
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Castlevania II is my favorite as well. Apart from figuring out where to go, though (which is no big deal with a walkthrough and/or after you've played through it a few times), it's too easy. The boss fights--all three of them :roll:--are WAY too easy and anticlimactic. But I love the exploratory nature of it, the whip upgrades (even it some are pointless--who even bothers with the Thorn Whip, or doesn't get the Flame upgrade within 2 minutes of buying the Morningstar?), and even the day/night cycle.

But...the girl never showed up at the river at midnight. :(

Yeah and I have a hard time trying to hit Deborah Cliff with my head to make a hole. And what about the myth of getting a silk bag from the graveyard duck to live longer. :lol:

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Did you guys ever have issues with the game locking up? The particular stage in question is the one right after the Grim Reaper. It doesn't do it majority of the time though... seems to coincide when there are too many enemy characters on the screen at once.

For me, never.

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Never have at that one. But one I always had an issue with the game locking up is after I exit stage 11 into 12. The level with all the eagles dropping the hunchbacks. If I enter the door after aquiring the magic potion, as Simon flashes the game will lock up.

 

That same glitch happened to me with my Castlevania cart the other day.

 

I also experience a glitch where the game sometimes randomly pauses. This has occurred both on real hardware and emulation. I don't know whether it happens on all carts or only certain revisions.

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Did you guys ever have issues with the game locking up? The particular stage in question is the one right after the Grim Reaper. It doesn't do it majority of the time though... seems to coincide when there are too many enemy characters on the screen at once.

Yes, I had the same problem. You must have the early five-screw version (five screws on the back of the cartridge instead of three). That problem was fixed in the three-screw version; I got one and had no trouble with it.

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The unforgiving jumping controls take some getting used to when you haven't played this in awhile. It made me wonder how I was so good at this game as a kid. It's annoying when you jump from a platform and you're not quite far enough to the right and you miss and die. That kept happening to me on the second stage. Or you accidentally fall down the stairs. Or a a Medusa head knocks you off a small platform (thank goodness for that shortcut in the second stage where you can use a Medusa head to bump you up) or a damn fishman or bat knocks you off a platform.. The control isn't as polished as other NES games which adds to the challenge.

 

With some practice I made it to the last stage before Dracula's castle without a game over, and then I burned through a bunch of continues trying to remember how to get past the bats and then the hunchbacks (use the clock). Dracula himself isn't that bad once you get the hang of jumping over his fireballs and whipping his head. Then just toss holy water at his second form to slow him down.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm loving these games you're mentioning, gets me firing up the ol' Powerpak :D

 

May I ask your age?...your pointing out things that, when I show my younger friends these old games on the NES, how unforgiving they were. I used to gnash my teeth at the difficulty back then, but now I just laugh and enjoy them, even though they're harder than shit to beat. I've never beaten the first Castlevania, although I did defeat Frankenstein and Igor back in the day...my buddy couldn't, so I tried and got a bit lucky. The game is harder than shit, but when you beat it, then you assuredly have skills. I'm gonna go try one more time right now!

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I remember the very first time I played Castlevania. I must have been 5, and it was at my cousin's house. It was brand new at the time, too. I remember I was sick at the time, and I thought the bats were flying livers. :lolblue: But after that first time, I was hooked. I picked up Castlevania II when it came out, and I remember being shocked at how much different it was than the first one with the RPG elements, but I loved it. I later picked up the first game, and up until recently, I could never beat the game. I don't remember my copy ever glitching out, either.

 

My favorite of the three originals? Probably the 3rd one. The similarities to the first one with the innovation of new characters, plus the awesome music and graphics round out the package. And the Japanese version's music is a lot better because of the added sound chip.

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Love Castlevania Legends on GB, I can play it for hours at work. I know it's not a well loved game, but I like it.

Own and played original Castlevania on IBM (You can use a joystick, much better than the awful NES pad), also had the NES game, but enjoyed the IBM version more.

Edited by high voltage
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