Your Favorite Castlevania

[Lian]

This is out of US chronology, not including GB and the recent PS2 release, Lament of Innocence.

[Eleat]

Circle of the Moon, followed by Aria of Sorrow and Symphony of the Night.

[Devil Wet His Pants]

When it comes to Castlevanias, this is my opinion. Oh, and you should add Rondo of Blood (I still can't remember what it's called!) to that list. Anyone who's played it knows why.

Best Castlevanias-
SotN (No explanation needed)
Castlevania 3 (Nice good challenge, with branching paths and good secondary characters)
Super Castlevania 4 (Just plain fun to play)
Rondo of Blood (Or whatever it's called...too bad it's almost impossible to get w/o emulation)

Great Castlevanias-
Castlevania 1 (Yay! Go originals!)
Aria of Sorrow (aka. SotN Lite)

Good Castlevanias-
Castlevania Chronicles (Yay! Go ninja maids!)
Lament of Innocence (Could've been so much more...Curse DMC for putting the 3D action game bar too high! Curse it I say!)
Circle of the Moon (Let's hear it for not being able to see those damned medusa heads!)
Castlevania: Bloodlines (It's all about the spear man)

Average Castlevanias-
Harmony of Dissonance (Good game, but felt too...blah)
Castlevania X (I wasn't feeling it...)
Castlevania 2 (Bosses too easy, but loved the town interface)

...The Rest-
N64 ones
Old GB ones
That...arcade one...

Please note this is just my opinion, and probably doesn't reflect yours. And yeah, SotN is probably going to win the poll...

[Lian]

Because of system constraints, I can only post 10 Castlevanias, so I went the cheap way out and posted only the US releases (disincluding those mentioned, Castlevania: Chronicles, and the N64 Castlevania w/remake). I would have put them ALL in if I had the space, but that was just not the case.

[Devil Wet His Pants]

Dang system constraints...you should probably just drop Harmony of Dissonance then. Nobody's gonna vote for that.

[Lian]

We-e-e-e-ell it's a little late now. I don't know how to jimmy my poll. If I could, I would, but I didn't want to be discriminatory in the first place.

The full list would have looked something like this:

Castlevania
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
The Castlevania Adventure
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Super Castlevania IV
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
Dracula X: The Rondo of Blood
(That Castlevania that got remade for Chronicles)
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Castlevania: Dracula X
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Legends
Castlevania 64
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

And that about ties it up.

[Devil Wet His Pants]

Well, despite that Chronicles was actually a remake of another obscure system title (which was itself a remake of the original Castlevaina), kudos to the list. I likes me some Castlevania.

[Lian]

A remake, but an extremely difficult remake from what I hear.

[Devil Wet His Pants]

You have NO idea. :mad:
Original mode is like trying to remove a knife embedded in a brick wall...with your teeth.
Damn medusa heads...

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

Uh....SotN?

Yeah....SotN.

And there's more Castlevanias then is on your list. There's 23 Castlevania games (22 if you count ne is called 'Vampire Killer' without the subtitle 'Dracula' or 'Castlevania' in front of it).

[In Hindsight]

When it comes to Castlevanias, this is my opinion. Oh, and you should add Rondo of Blood (I still can't remember what it's called!)

Dracula X: Chi No Rondo

Which is up there with SotN and CV3 for my picks for the best of the series.

However, since this is only the US chronology, we have to substitute it for the SNES hack-job. While it wasn't necessarily a bad game, per se, comparitively speaking it just doesn't cut it.

[Lian]

Uh....SotN?

Yeah....SotN.

And there's more Castlevanias then is on your list. There's 23 Castlevania games (22 if you count ne is called 'Vampire Killer' without the subtitle 'Dracula' or 'Castlevania' in front of it).

Then list them. I see 22 on the list provided by The CastleVania Dungeon (discounting Resurrection, which was never released). I considered Vampire Killer, Castlevania and Haunted Castle to be the same game, did the same thing with the PSX and Saturn SOTN, as well as the X68000 Castlevania with its PSX remake. Heck; I probably could have condensed both C64s, but I didn't. That brings the list down from 22 to 18. If you can find these missing 4 games, please post, 'cause I haven't heard ANYTHING about them.

[VeritasHertz]

SotN just makes me giggle like a little school girl. When I pull out my vorpal sword+ (can't remember the name of the special vorpal sword but it was so hard to get, ****ing shmoos!!!) and hack into that vampire flesh it makes me cry a single tear of joy.

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

SotN just makes me giggle like a little school girl. When I pull out my vorpal sword+ (can't remember the name of the special vorpal sword but it was so hard to get, ****ing shmoos!!!) and hack into that vampire flesh it makes me cry a single tear of joy.

The Chissagram? (spelled it wrong). Pretty good sword, but I like the magril. its like the Fireblade x100 on crack! Wish they had one of those for the Icebrand.

And if you've gone on Castlevania Dungeon then you know what I'm talking about because you saw them.....-_-. If you want to list them you can.

[Lian]

Wait, wait wait.

You're talking about that little list of five games on the bottom. The Related (Parody) games.

Konami Wai Wai World
Wai Wai World 2: SOS! Parsley Castle
Kid Dracula
Kid Dracula (GB)
Wai Wai Racing

I thought it would be fairly evident why I didn't count those in. Guess not. :p

But, just in case you didn't know, Simon shows up as a character in the first two, the second two are parodies of Castlevania, and I have no idea about Wai Wai Racing. Maybe Simon is a driver. Maybe he rides a coffin.

[KefkaTaran]

I voted Symphony of the Night. Rock. \\m//

[Dante Reborn]

Being a player of only two of them, one of which I haven't finished, I'd say Symphony of the Night. It's pretty awesome, from what little I've played.

[musicalmechanic]

Call me oldschool, but I gotta go with Castlevania 3 for regular NES. I can remember spending a good 35% of my childhood on that game (includes times when I'm asleep), and then, of cousre, SoTN

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

Call me oldschool, but I gotta go with Castlevania 3 for regular NES. I can remember spending a good 35% of my childhood on that game (includes times when I'm asleep), and then, of cousre, SoTN

Nothing wrong with that. I spent a good 20-25% of my time playing my old NES on that game. But then again another 25% went to Mario I, about 20% for Kirby's Adventure and 25% for Zelda I. The rest of my 37 games fits in the remaining 5-10% somewhere....mostly Bugs Bunny's Birthday Bash. -_-

[Misocainea]

Anyone else have to sit for 5 or 10 mintes and try to decide which one if your actualy favorite?

I voted for SOTN but I have to say that #2 and 3 are basically it's equal.

[In Hindsight]

Anyone else have to sit for 5 or 10 mintes and try to decide which one if your actualy favorite?

I voted for SOTN but I have to say that #2 and 3 are basically it's equal.

I can honestly say that I do not have an absolute favorite; Overall, I enjoy the series as an entirety. It's an excellent run of games, and I really do have a hard time putting any one over another. However, within the series, The Rondo of Blood, CV3 and Symphony of the Night are certainly exceptional. This is not to say that the rest of the series pales in comparison, but rather these are three shining examples from a series that was top-notch to begin with.

For example, one cannot really completely appreciate SotN without first acknowledging it's true predecessor, CV2. Yes, I know that it was aesthetically more akin to Super Metroid, but I think that CV2 really laid the groundwork for that type of game to begin with.

CV3 was an amazing game mainly because it offered a somewhat nonlinear progression through the game while maintaining the basic formula behind the original. Couple that with arguably one of the best scores the series has seen, and you've got yourself one kickass game.

The Rondo of Blood was excellent as well, as it managed to combine aspects from the entire series into one well-executed game. It had a great soundtrack, multiple level paths and an alternate character (that you really had to work for to gain access to). While ultimately the gameplay formula was essentially a refined version of the original, it managed to combine everything else into the game to make it a very fresh and unique experience all around.

[Ambassador]

Based solely on replayability, first impressions, and me just not wanting to fit into the mold of society, I had to go with Castlevania 2. I almost clicked on SotN out of impulse, but once you've beaten the game once and discovered the little trick with the shield rod and Alucard shield, the game gets to be so incredibly easy and almost cheap. It turns into a treasure hunt, just wandering around slaughtering the same enemies repeatedly, trying to find out what each enemy randomly drops. Aside from that, it's still one of my all-time favorite games.
This latest rendition, Lament of Innocence, isn't half bad, but it just doesn't grip me like the old ones did. By the old ones, I mean the 2D ones. The games that came out for N64 weren't bad, per say, but they weren't good, either. I think it's kinda like the Final Fantasy movie that came out a few years ago. If Square had released that movie under a different title, it wouldn't have disappointed so many folks. It was good, but it didn't live up to the hype everyone created in their own minds (see also: Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions, the N64 itself, etc.) Likewise with the 3D Castlevania games.

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

I can honestly say that I do not have an absolute favorite; Overall, I enjoy the series as an entirety. It's an excellent run of games, and I really do have a hard time putting any one over another. However, within the series, The Rondo of Blood, CV3 and Symphony of the Night are certainly exceptional. This is not to say that the rest of the series pales in comparison, but rather these are three shining examples from a series that was top-notch to begin with.

For example, one cannot really completely appreciate SotN without first acknowledging it's true predecessor, CV2. Yes, I know that it was aesthetically more akin to Super Metroid, but I think that CV2 really laid the groundwork for that type of game to begin with.

CV3 was an amazing game mainly because it offered a somewhat nonlinear progression through the game while maintaining the basic formula behind the original. Couple that with arguably one of the best scores the series has seen, and you've got yourself one kickass game.

The Rondo of Blood was excellent as well, as it managed to combine aspects from the entire series into one well-executed game. It had a great soundtrack, multiple level paths and an alternate character (that you really had to work for to gain access to). While ultimately the gameplay formula was essentially a refined version of the original, it managed to combine everything else into the game to make it a very fresh and unique experience all around.

Well, you could say what you want because its youe opinion. I came to my viw of SotN because of all it offered mixed with its advanced story line, connection to CV3 (my favorite up to that time) and just how it had almost everything the old game had with ALL this new modes of play and things to do.

Plus, for me, its one of the 5 best games I have ever played. Don't worry, CV3 is my second favorite, but SotN takes the top of the list.

[Lian]

Maybe I should give SOTN a 10-point handicap. :rolleyes:

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

Maybe I should give SOTN a 10-point handicap. :rolleyes:

Maybe it would be a good consolation for you to know the director (and ultamitly creator and head of design) for SotN, HoD, AoS and LoI thinks CV3 is his favorite Castlevania (pending he isn't chosing one of his own I assume).

[Lian]

I was more directing my point towards SOTN's now 13-point lead over all the other CVs.

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

I was more directing my point towards SOTN's now 13-point lead over all the other CVs.

Well, its an amazing game. :p

No, but I was directing that comment to everyone, just hitting the reply button because I was too lazy to scroll down.

[Lian]

I'm still surprised COTM got a vote. Then again, I probably shouldn't be.

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

Circle of the Moon is good. Its my second favorite of the GBA series. I think it would have been even better if the guy from SotN and all its sequels did it with the ideas they put into place. And the card idea beats the hell out of the spel books in HoD.

[Lian]

COTM would be my "first" Castlevania. I played the original a long time ago, but I didn't play it that much, so COTM wins out.

[Atma]

What the...? Where's Legacy of Darkness? That's the only Castlevania I ever really liked.

[MasterZero]

I liked Aria of Sorrow cause I had this complex where I would want to kill the creatures just so I could say "I will eat your soul!!!!"

[Lost in Time]

Oh that pissed me off, I accedentidly voted for HoD when I was going for AoS. And don't yell at me, but the reason I didn't vote for SotN because I have never played it. So that one vote for HoD goes for AoS.