Hot damn is Castlevania IV overrated

[StarMist]

I disliked Dracula X way before I ever played Rondo. The level design is poor, the controls aren't very good, and there's a ton of cheap hits. Good graphics though.

Man, it's Castlevania, the controls aren't supposed to be any good.

[Orchid87]

Just had a Super Castlevania IV game session and man I disagree. It's the best 16-bit Castlevania period. Well, one of the best, along with Rondo, it's just me not liking Rondo's anime style.

C'mon it's not the Contra 3 case which is really overrated and too lame and short compared to Hard Corps. Super Castlevania IV has a huge amount of gameplay time and a fantastic atmosphere that no other later CV game has. IMO Super Casltevania IV is second only to Symphony.

Sorry, Bloodlines is ass-ugly and has zero atmosphere. Konami should've made it anime-style like Rondo, that would work better with Genesis.

[j_factor]

And music, really good music

Agreed, the tunes are pretty kickass. Better than both IV and Bloodlines, IMO.

Man, it's Castlevania, the controls aren't supposed to be any good.

The controls are fine in IV and Bloodlines.

Sorry, Bloodlines is ass-ugly and has zero atmosphere.

Seriously? Bloodlines was way atmospheric.

[Orchid87]

Agreed, the tunes are pretty kickass. Better than both IV and Bloodlines, IMO.

I find it funny how SNES Dracula X has better music that CD-based Rondo. I wish it had a Theme of Simon from IV remix.

[genesisguy]

I didn't grow up playing the Castlevania games. But I picked up the 1 and 3 for the NES about 3 years ago and REALLY enjoyed them. I figured I'd enjoy them in 16-bits too. My issue with Castlevania 4 was that it just felt like a prettied up version of 1 from the NES. The whip mechanic was cool for about 5 mins and the mode 7 really looks dated today. I guess the old 8-bit games should look dated as well, but for some reason, atleast to me they hold up better today. I got Bloodlines last. I liked it better than 4, but I'd probably rather play 1 or 3 for the NES.

[StarMist]

The controls are fine in IV and Bloodlines.

They are. But those aren't the classic Castlevanias.

Seriously? Bloodlines was way atmospheric.

Seriously. It's generic, with a tacky Sega watermark on top.

[j_factor]

They are. But those aren't the classic Castlevanias.

Right, they're better.

[Team Andromeda]

Castlevania IV is not only the best Castlevania game ever made, its also one of the best platform games ever made period ! .

[Kamahl]

I find it funny how SNES Dracula X has better music that CD-based Rondo. I wish it had a Theme of Simon from IV remix.

It has ONE better song. ONE.
The first stage theme, that's it.

[Orchid87]

It has ONE better song. ONE.
The first stage theme, that's it.

Bloody Tears an Beginning are better too. Vampire Killer is on par.
Also can anyone explain why Rondo graphics are considered better than SNES Dracula X graphics? It looks too 8-bit imo with all those square tiles. On SNES they dramatically improved the detail.

[Kamahl]

Bloody Tears an Beginning are better too. Vampire Killer is on par.

Bloody Tears sounds like absolute crap in Dracula X, what are you talking about?

Also can anyone explain why Rondo graphics are considered better than SNES Dracula X graphics? It looks too 8-bit imo with all those square tiles. On SNES they dramatically improved the detail.

They are? Never heard that :S, Dracula X has crazy effects and far more detailed backgrounds than Rondo. Rondo isn't even a really good looking PC Engine game, it's just "good" for what the console can do. I guess the huge amount of games with terrible graphics kinda makes the game seem better visually than it is, I don't know. It has excellent sprite animation at least, better than Dracula X by quite a bit.

[Black_Tiger]

Bloody Tears an Beginning are better too. Vampire Killer is on par.
Also can anyone explain why Rondo graphics are considered better than SNES Dracula X graphics? It looks too 8-bit imo with all those square tiles. On SNES they dramatically improved the detail.

The SNES game doesn't even try to do anything really different, it is doing the same songs the same way only with much more primitive technology. It's not like a Genesis, PCE, NES, etc soundtrack, where there's the charm of system generated sounds or anything. The songs are simply downgraded and butchered in varying degrees from the original CD tracks. The SNES game is also missing music from Rondo.

The visual style of Rondo was carried on in future SotN style games. If you're judging graphics by "square tiles", then I'm sure there's no convincing you. Rondo is styled to look extremely Castlevania-like. The SNES game is actually far less detailed overall, is full of repetitive (in comparison) and very non-Castlevania-looking background art and uses ridiculous pastel colors. Rondo is extremely animated and has massive variety, while the SNES game is barely animated in comparison and not much variety. If you think Rondo looks bad, then you must really dislike Castlevania IV, which features sections of "gibberish" tiles/artwork, just like Castlevania 1 for NES.

Why are you so biased against Rondo of Blood? Is it because of the rep it has? Is it because you don't like the PC Engine?

[Bastardcat]

Considering that Rondo of Blood is on, an albeit amped up, 8-bit machine, and never saw an international release back in the day, Super Castlevania IV stands as the best 16 bit CV, period. Bloodlines is a fantastic second place though.

[Black_Tiger]

Considering that Rondo of Blood is on, an albeit amped up, 8-bit machine, and never saw an international release back in the day, Super Castlevania IV stands as the best 16 bit CV, period. Bloodlines is a fantastic second place though.

Lol, here we go again.

It's a good thing that Konami didn't publish for the Intellivision, or else Castlevania IV might have some competition.

I don't care what anyone says, Lord of Shadows is a better 64-bit CV than Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness. Period. Harmony of Despair is a fantastic second place though.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

I think we need to take a new stance on the PC Engine here. Anyone casting it off as just an 8 bit machine should be beaten with one until they accept it as a 16 bit console.