So why do people like Bloodlines so much?

[SignOfZeta]

I don't know why people hesitate to call a "good game" good.

I hear people trash Donkey Kong Country, Contra 3, Castlevania 4....now the victim is Castlevania bloodlines.

DKC is so so so f*cking lame. Its a technical trick that has long outlived what was impressive about it at the time. You run right and occasionally jump while collecting about a trillion bananas. Its basically a slower Sonic, but with blocky low-end CG. Its a shame there are so many of these f*cking things. They could have spent that money on...a sequel to Uniracers, for example.

The game just feels great. In other words, the controls are spot on!

The levels have a strong "Gothic" horror feel and atmosphere.

The music is mint, and the bosses are sweet!

Come on man, it's old school Castlevania done right! How can you go wrong with that?

 

Well, it isn't. That's the problem. The controls aren't bad or anything, they just aren't...right. Everything moves too f*cking fast, but in the same way they moved in the regular speed games. It honestly feels like its over clocked or some shit.

Old School Castlevania Done Right would be Dracula X or the X68k game. This is just some bastard creation that doesn't fit with the FC era games, or the Metroid-Vania era games.

Also, the graphics really aren't very good. The color choices are just terrible, and there is a great deal of nothing in many places.

[nectarsis]

DKC is so so so f*cking lame. Its a technical trick that has long outlived what was impressive about it at the time. You run right and occasionally jump while collecting about a trillion bananas. Its basically a slower Sonic, but with blocky low-end CG. Its a shame there are so many of these f*cking things. They could have spent that money on...a sequel to Uniracers, for example.

 

[ddd1234]

DKC is so so so f*cking lame. Its a technical trick that has long outlived what was impressive about it at the time. You run right and occasionally jump while collecting about a trillion bananas.

How can you say something like that? In my opinion, the DCK series is a labor of love.
I mean you gotta appropriate the variety here, therefore by saying that it's just another "collect and jump" sorta game is you being ignorant.
There are too many examples to list. But if you played part 2 and 3, you'll be amazed at the varied number of challenges in each level.
This is the part people tend to overlook in these games. I never seen developers switch up the gameplay in many platform games, even in Sonic, Mario and Bonk.

Also, I prefer the speed of Castlevania Bloodlines over Dracula X, because Richter moves like a snail. No offence!

[Mathius]

I thoroughly enjoyed DKC.

[Raizen1984]

There's nothing wrong with Donkey Kong Country.

I love this little snippet, though:

You run right and occasionally jump while collecting about a trillion bananas.

I guess it's supposed to be a complaint against the design, but it basically sums up the design philosophy of every platformer ever from the 8 and 16-bit era's (just replace banana's with coins/rings/etc.)

[Joe Redifer]

I was never very impressed by the digitized graphics of Donkey Kong Country.  I became bored with the first game and the second was just dreadful.  Didn't bother with the third.

[esteban]

I was never very impressed by the digitized graphics of Donkey Kong Country.  I became bored with the first game and the second was just dreadful.  Didn't bother with the third.

I don't think it has aged well (aesthetically). Back in the day, there certainly was a "novelty factor" to the graphics, but now...

As far as gameplay, I thought it was a bit tedious (especially the cannon stuff...how goddamn boring it got!).

Sorry

[SignOfZeta]

There's nothing wrong with Donkey Kong Country.

I love this little snippet, though:

You run right and occasionally jump while collecting about a trillion bananas.

I guess it's supposed to be a complaint against the design, but it basically sums up the design philosophy of every platformer ever from the 8 and 16-bit era's (just replace banana's with coins/rings/etc.)

Have you actually played platform games? There is usually more to do than just that stuff.

This is why I mentioned Sonic, which was unique in the way it was so smooth and straightforward. Very few bottomless pits, spikes, climbing, all enemies died easy (or could just be ignored outright), there were a bunch of rings to collect but they could easily be ignored, etc.

DKC is just like that...except slower, less flexible, and WAY less stylish. Sonic stripped away the shooting and the back tracking and the climbing and the tanuki suits and the brick breaking and the shops and the key collecting and all that stuff that normally makes a platform game so it could present its ultra cool vibe to you in a pure fashion. DKC sorta tried to do the same thing, but it doesn't f*cking have a vibe, cool or otherwise so you just have some low end mid-90s CG shite. The whole experience is like a extended dance remix of a song you hate with a 2 minute breakdown in the middle where absolutely nothing of interest goes on.

Games like Yoshi's Island, Metal Slug, Rayman or Sonic look every bit as cool as they did when they came out. DKC was dated looking by the time DKC 2 came out, and now they just look like cancelled Jaguar games.

I should specify that there is one game in this series (kinda) that I like and that is Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. This is the GC DK platform game you play with the bongo controller originally designed for Donkey Konga. Its basically as simple as the SNES games, but the input method makes it extremely fun. Its no Donkey Kong 2 (best DK game ever!) but its really a blast. I showed this game to my girlfriend, fell asleep, and when I woke up at 6:30 in the morning she was just finishing it. I'm pretty sure the last platformer she played was SMB1 on the NES in the 80s.

[geise]

Using pre-rendered 3d sprites is always a bad idea.  It's also a really bad idea using so-so 3d sprites (for even mid 90's standards) with limited frame animation.  You are making a game that will not age well at all.  I have yet to play a game that uses pre-rendered sprites and have the game really play well.

Now with Bloodlines I have always liked it.  It's not my favorite by any means but it still feels like a CV game to me, with more of a Genesis/MD feel.  I think that's why a lot of people are kind of on the fence with this game.  Yeah I also feel it could have used a better choice for colors but the genesis doesn't really have a shit ton of colors to choose from to begin with, let alone on screen at a time.  I liked the music as well.  Again, good to me by Genesis/MD standards.  

[Necromancer]

I have yet to play a game that uses pre-rendered sprites and have the game really play well.

Haven't you played Sapphire and Silpheed?

[geise]

Yes I have.  I seriously don't think Sapphire plays all that great for a shooter.  Silpheed is kind of a different story.  The backgrounds are pre-rendered but I'm not sure about the ship and enemies.  That game doesn't play great either.  I still like both games though.  I am mainly talking about action/platform games.  Guess I should have specified.

[SignOfZeta]

I have yet to play a game that uses pre-rendered sprites and have the game really play well.

Haven't you played Sapphire and Silpheed?

Pulstar is pre-rendered, and that's one of my favorite shooters ever.

[Opethian]

and now they just look like cancelled Jaguar games.

This ^^

[Bonknuts]

How can you say something like that? In my opinion, the DCK series is a labor of love.

 In my opinion, that game is extremely boring. I while I didn't put much time into the 2nd or 3rd one, I did play the first one BITD when it first came out that week. I beat it too. I was not impressed by anything about the game. Least of all the game itself. The graphics were fine. The music was lame or forgettable (average). I guess if you never had a PC with VGA card, all those colors and poor digitized graphics might have seemed impressive, but it was nothing new for me. But they were what they were. It was the game design that really let me down. It started off ok. After the first boss, I expected the game to really pick up - like original SMW, or SMB3, or any other good platformer that paces itself. But it didn't. And it just got really boring. Extremely unexpected for a supposedly 'Nintendo' title. I'll never understand the attraction the game gets. I can only assume a few things: first impressions of BITD that carry the status along now (nostalgia), and Nintendo fans loving anything Nintendo or Rare made without question, and the odd few exceptions of gamers actually liking the game for what it is (though this wouldn't account for the popularity). Maybe the 2nd and 3rd games in the series address the issues of the first game, but from the videos I've seen - doesn't look like it. Likes like the same tedious boring stuff. And from the little I've played of them. I have no interest (currently) in giving them a second chance. I'd have to say one would actually have needed to like the first game, to appreciate the sequels. And there in lies the problem.

I mean you gotta appropriate the variety here, therefore by saying that it's just another "collect and jump" sorta game is you being ignorant. There are too many examples to list. But if you played part 2 and 3, you'll be amazed at the varied number of challenges in each level.
This is the part people tend to overlook in these games. I never seen developers switch up the gameplay in many platform games, even in Sonic, Mario and Bonk.

 Bonk went through a series of changes. Compare Bonk III to the first Bonk. They're almost nothing a like; gameplay mechanics, level design, etc. Then there's the SNES games.

Also, I prefer the speed of Castlevania Bloodlines over Dracula X, because Richter moves like a snail. No offence!

Yeah, you must be referring to the SNES Dracula X. Richter moves faster in Rondo than the SNES one.

Yeah I also feel it could have used a better choice for colors but the genesis doesn't really have a shit ton of colors to choose from to begin with, let alone on screen at a time.  I liked the music as well.  Again, good to me by Genesis/MD standards.  

 While true, they could have done a helluva lot better than what they did. I was really disappointed BITD with the colors in that game. And from a company like Konami. Sorry, you can't blame the Genesis graphics on this one.

[esteban]

We still haven't agreed that DKC gets rather tedious?! Damn it people.