Castlevania

[NINJA_Ryu]

Well, I just want to know, how do you guys feel about castlevania? I have just started to play aria of sorrow, and it just reminds me a good deal of metroid, where certain areas arent available / certain items arent reached until you have a certain item/ability. Its also pretty confusing chronology wise, but other than that, its pretty sweet.

Thoughts?

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Well, I just want to know, how do you guys feel about castlevania?

It's definitely one of my favorite game franchises. It's up there with Zelda, Metroid, and Metal Gear.

I have just started to play aria of sorrow, and it just reminds me a good deal of metroid, where certain areas arent available / certain items arent reached until you have a certain item/ability.

The series didn't start to crib ideas from Metroid until Symphony of the Night, in 1997. If you play any of the games made before that, you'll find them to be much more about traditional left-to-right platforming action than non-linear exploration. Both types have their merits, of course.

Its also pretty confusing chronology wise, but other than that, its pretty sweet.

The chronology makes an increasing amount of sense as you play more games in the series, since all those names and dates change from being just words to being tangible experiences that you can recall and to which you can relate.

[Jowy]

Every time a new Metroidvania game is released, an angel gets it's wings.

I've been a fan since I played the original back in the NES days. Symphony of the Night completely revolutionized the series, and every preceding game seems to improve on that formula of perfection.

[Dreddz]

The series is overrated, I own Dawn of Sorrow for the DS and was pretty disappointed. Also, people seem to blindly ignore the fact that the series has already been butchered with its 3D outings, which were awful.

[Jowy]

I'm not going to lie and say the 3D games are good. Lament of Innocence and Castlevania 64 were terrible.

[escobert]

Simons Quest rox0rs.

[RiseToFall]

I love the series, but because I never owned a handheld, I had to miss quite a few of them.

[Roto13]

I don't like the Castleroid games. I can appreciate their quality, but they're just not the type of game I enjoy. I haven't had much experience with the old-style platforming Castlevanias.

[Yamaneko]

SotN and all the 2D Castlevanias after deserve all the praise they get. The games are just fun. They change enough from game to game to keep it fresh, but they don't change drastically so you know it's still Castelvania.

As for the old school Castlevanias, Rondo of Blood is the pinnacle. After SotN it's my favorite game in the series.

[Rostum]

The last Castlevania game I played was Super Castlevania IV for SNES. So that was a very long time ago, but I did like it, even though I couldn't get that far into it.

The new ones look pretty good too, they are a lot more expensive than other DS games here, for some reason. Otherwise I'd pick them up.

[Rase]

The "latest" of the old-school ones I played was Super Castlevania IV, and while I wasn't that good I found it to be fun. I hope to be able to try Rondo of Blood on the Wii Virtual Console somedaqy, as I've heard it's great. However, ever since I played Aria of Sorrow for the GBA, I've really dug the newer, non-linear ones. Portrait of Ruin looks to be one of the many reasons this winter will rock.