Your Daily Dose of Gaming.

[Mathius]

Been on a real Castlevania binge lately. Playing:

Dracula X (very close to finally clearing this one)
Bloodlines
Super Castlevania IV
Aria of Sorrow (just bought this one)
Castlevania x68000 (Chronicles version)
Symphony of the Night (Started playing this one from the beginning just to listen to the music and got all the way to the 2nd castle. My only gripe with the game is the music tracks repeat once you've made it that far.)
Castlevania III

[DragonmasterDan]

Been on a real Castlevania binge lately. Playing:

Dracula X (very close to finally clearing this one)
Bloodlines
Super Castlevania IV
Aria of Sorrow (just bought this one)
Castlevania x68000 (Chronicles version)
Symphony of the Night (Started playing this one from the beginning just to listen to the music and got all the way to the 2nd castle. My only gripe with the game is the music tracks repeat once you've made it that far.)
Castlevania III

Which version of Dracula X?

Did you get Aria of Sorrow on GBA or Cell phone?

[Mathius]

Been on a real Castlevania binge lately. Playing:

Dracula X (very close to finally clearing this one)
Bloodlines
Super Castlevania IV
Aria of Sorrow (just bought this one)
Castlevania x68000 (Chronicles version)
Symphony of the Night (Started playing this one from the beginning just to listen to the music and got all the way to the 2nd castle. My only gripe with the game is the music tracks repeat once you've made it that far.)
Castlevania III

Which version of Dracula X?

Did you get Aria of Sorrow on GBA or Cell phone?

Sorry, Rondo of Blood.   I don't have the SNES Dracula X yet.

I am playing the GBA version of AoS on my GameBoy Player. Playing with a Hori Pad makes it feel like I am enjoying a long lost SNES title.

[thrush]

I am playing the GBA version of AoS on my GameBoy Player. Playing with a Hori Pad makes it feel like I am enjoying a long lost SNES title.

Awesome.  I think Aria of Sorrow is the best of the latter-day Castlevanias.

[DragonmasterDan]

Awesome.  I think Aria of Sorrow is the best of the latter-day Castlevanias.

I have Aria and Dawn of Sorrow on about equal terms. I like both of those games more than Symphony of the Night strangely enough.

[DragonmasterDan]

I am playing the GBA version of AoS on my GameBoy Player. Playing with a Hori Pad makes it feel like I am enjoying a long lost SNES title.

Also, I have the Pelican 2D pad for GameCube. http://www.capngames.com/images/videogames/gc-pelican-retro-pad.jpg It works pretty well, if you wanted to 100% get the SNES experience out of it you could always use one of those SNES to GameCube port adapters http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=31

[Mathius]

I am playing the GBA version of AoS on my GameBoy Player. Playing with a Hori Pad makes it feel like I am enjoying a long lost SNES title.

Also, I have the Pelican 2D pad for GameCube. http://www.capngames.com/images/videogames/gc-pelican-retro-pad.jpg It works pretty well, if you wanted to 100% get the SNES experience out of it you could always use one of those SNES to GameCube port adapters http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=31

I actually enjoy the Hori Pad more than the classic SNES pad. It's one of the most comfortable controllers I have ever used.

[thrush]

I have Aria and Dawn of Sorrow on about equal terms. I like both of those games more than Symphony of the Night strangely enough.

I think the main thing (totally subjective) that prompts me to place Aria of Sorrow above Dawn of Sorrow is that I enjoy the characters & story in Aria more.  A minor point for that kind of game, but it still makes a difference for me.  What makes you like these games more the Symphony of the Night, if I may ask?  ^^

Also, I have the Pelican 2D pad for GameCube. http://www.capngames.com/images/videogames/gc-pelican-retro-pad.jpg

I really like the look of that one!  It doesn't have analog sticks hiding on there somewhere, does it?  If so, I'd consider replacing the standard controller for my GC games (having a touogh time in Metroid Prime 2 right now)....

[DragonmasterDan]

I think the main thing (totally subjective) that prompts me to place Aria of Sorrow above Dawn of Sorrow is that I enjoy the characters & story in Aria more.  A minor point for that kind of game, but it still makes a difference for me.  What makes you like these games more the Symphony of the Night, if I may ask?  ^^

Symphony of the Night while a bit longer than Aria and about the same size as Dawn of Sorrow is a bit less balanced. Alucard becomes far too powerful in SoTN to present any real challenge.

Soma is a much more balanced character, he has a more interesting variety of powers without being so unstoppable towards the end. Just on a side note, the characters in Aria and Dawn are basically the same cast, so I figure the story must be your reasoning.

I also think years of doing Metroidvania CVs gave Igarashi's team a better idea of what makes a good game. There's more personality to the envirionment in the "Of Sorrow" games than Sotn.

I really like the look of that one!  It doesn't have analog sticks hiding on there somewhere, does it?  If so, I'd consider replacing the standard controller for my GC games (having a touogh time in Metroid Prime 2 right now)....

No Analog sticks, it's D-pad only. The version of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes on Metroid Prime Triology has been fixed to be not so ridiculously difficult compared to the GameCube original.

[thrush]

DragonmasterDan, you make some good points about SotN.

Regarding Aria vs Dawn, although most of the characters are the same they don't really act the same, Hammer & Yoko in particular; I also find Dario & Dmitri somewhat irritating.  Perhaps I should have said "character interaction" instead of "characters".  I think the script was more engaging in Aria even if the story is somewhat more complex in Dawn.  I agree for the most part about the years of practice making the newstyle CVs better, and I completely support Igarashi for sticking to a tried-and-true formula.  But, I think it has not been a strictly linear progression.  For example, although I quite enjoyed Order of Ecclasia I still prefer either of the Of Sorrow games.

Perhaps what I really want is a game that feels like a true successor to Castlevania 2....

In related news, I *finally* beat the darn Alpha Blogg in Metroid Prime 2 today!

[roflmao]

Just got back from vacationing in San Diego, CA.  I brought my Express and played a lot of Air Zonk (couldn't beat it but made it pretty far into the boss run), the Crush games (my 3 year old now loves these games) and the Soldier games.

While I was out there I picked up Atomic Robo Kid and Castle of Illusion for the Genesis ($4 ea). Atomic Robo Kid kicks my ass right now, but I've been digging Castle of Illusion (again, it doesn't hurt to have a 3 year old present who is a wicked Disney fan).

[Mathius]

Castle of Illusion is THE Disney game!

Beat Rondo of Blood! Well, destroyed Dracula which should last for about four years. Now I need to go through with Maria, slaughter everything, get that last alternated stage, and score 100%.

[thrush]

All the employees at my preferred local game store tell me Castle of Illusion is one of the best games on the Genesis.  I still haven't tried it....

Good work on Rondo, Mathius!  Dracula remains one of my fave game villains.

[DragonmasterDan]

All the employees at my preferred local game store tell me Castle of Illusion is one of the best games on the Genesis.  I still haven't tried it....

It's a good Genesis game, yet strangely not as good as Mickey Mouse: The Magical Quest on SNES.

[Mathius]

All the employees at my preferred local game store tell me Castle of Illusion is one of the best games on the Genesis.  I still haven't tried it....

It's a good Genesis game, yet strangely not as good as Mickey Mouse: The Magical Quest on SNES.

I never played that one. But, I heard it wasn't all that great. Key word, "Heard."