AVGN: Castlevania conclusion
November 19, 2009
In the 4th and final part of the Nerd’s Castlevania-a-thon, we take a look at the Non-NES Castlevania games. Check it out
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Oh yeah! I love these and always look forward to them. My favorite net show along with the Critic- whom I’m so glad you introduced me too. Good luck with the Mashable Awards, James!!!!
Another great episode James. Can’t wait to see the next one. Heard it was going to be a really bad game.
Please review the bad Contra series now!
funny how the castlevania series and all their remakes/new games nowadays makes it seem like how the Street Fighter and Mega Man series were overdone and the amount of games just diluted the gameplay.
James…Continue doing what you do. I really appreciate it.
great review. i’ve never played 4, but SOTN is awesome! there’s just alot you can find and discover throughout the game. cant wait for the next vid. peace
Wow, what a left turn from the last 2 episodes! This played like an AVGN after school special.
I mean, the episodes don’t all have to be alike, but this was just like his non-Nerd reviews.
Maybe since I never played SOTN… but I didn’t play the N64 ones either, but that video still played for me. Oh well.
Well,
I see people already griping about it not being angry enough or some other bullshit. Actually, I think these reviews were done very good. Nice job, James!
Great review, I hate how in the newer games the male characters all have a feminine look to them. I also miss the dark fanasty look the older games had (especially the box art). One game James missed was Castlevania Adventure for the Game Boy. Hands down the WORST Castlevania game. Next to his Batman reviews, and his consoles reviews, his Castlevania reviews are going to be one of my favorites.
Great review !!
You’re my idol, I wannaa be like You
ooh. that last minute got a little touchy-feely.
fantastic review though.
When i think of it. The games kinda reminds me of Devil May Cry 1. i liked that one, but too bad dmc2, 3 and 4 got corney and wired. and no more drakness like in the first game.
Such an epic conclusion. Great review.
What an appropriate ending for this series of videos. I thought it was a nice touch about canon/cannons; you definitely mix it up in terms of your jokes.
Castlevania Bloodlines is near and dear to me, but that’s mostly because I had the cartridge back in the day, and I do agree that Castlevania IV is superior. When it came out, my best friend owned it(I didn’t own an SNES yet) and man, we were blown away. We could hardly believe all those graphics and effects were available to us on a home system(as we called them).
I loved these reviews. Brilliantly done the whole way through. The ending of the first vid is my personal fave moment of the series. Also thanks for brining my attention to the N64 versions. I don’t know how I missed those. I especially like how you touched on the newer games and how they are roaming the realm of being a different game altogether. I still love Aria/Dawn of Sorrow, but its not the same as the classic Castlevania games. Keep up the fantastic work. THIS is why I watch you.
Now that’s epic. We should just call it “Simon climbed a stairway”. One of the greatest ending so far. Thanks for the memories James!
Jacob -
I bet you were directing it at me. I’m not griping about not enough scatological humor, or whatever, it just seemed mellow. After school special, like I said.
My all time favorite Nerd moment is “We got this! We got this by the ass!” line he quoted during the Power Glove review, and he’s not “angry” at that point.
What I liked:
Cannon/Canon
Dracula+Godzilla
Load Time Beer Drinking Game
I love James, the AVGN character, and all that, I just felt this was a weak episode. I usually don’t comment but thought that I should from now on since I really love his work.
I think for most people they watch all the episodes or many episodes at once (catching up) – and the strenghths of a bunch of episodes can overcome the weaker parts or parts they didn’t like as much. And the releases they see in realtime fall short because their expectations are high. That’s not me, I’ve been watching in realtime since the first YouTube videos.
What I thought would be funny:
Make a chart of the crazy plot lines
Comment on the feminine box art
More quirks in the game
Show us parts people LOVE about SOTN, but James/Nerd dislikes.
In the end, these episodes have to have a special tone because Jame’s love of horror, adventure, and these games in particular. So I expect different, but I thought the direction just really turned on this one. Obviously it played well for many, and it will, it just didn’t play well for me. And that’s fine. Nothing ever plays well for everyone.
Contra series!! I second that!
~
Great review James..!
I also felt the same way too about Castlevania 4. While everybody else loved SOTN I liked the ‘old school’ style. I always appreciated that type of “challenge”. I remember playing 4 for the first time and the scene of the rotating room blew my mind when I was a kid.
Thanks for the great reviews.
Gagarin –
I disagree. Being a fan (and I have no doubt you are) since the very begining, I also like the AVGN going apeshit doing angry-crazy stuff and all kind of special effects. But as James being a complete film director, he also must like making “serious” feely-touchy editing, and every fans should apreciate every flavours of his work imho. Again, that video was epic editing.
PSX load times were the worst.
Thanks for the vidvania. I needed a pickup after suffering the depressing disaster which is Spore.
Awesome mini-series, and great final episode. I agree with all your points on SC4 vs SOTN, and the Castlevania series in general. Nice to know someone else shares my opinion.
The Nerd is not just angry. He is also, very seriously, a video game nerd.
The Castlevania series is a set of landmarks throughout the history of gaming. Homage probably couldn’t be properly paid through the Nerd’s typical crazy ass antics. Sure, certain games in the series had moments where controllers were thrown by all of us, but beyond that, it’s a series you just can’t stay mad at.
I enjoyed the calm approach. Well done, James and crew.
I’m having trouble sleeping lately. So I turn my computer on again and what do I see?…
Goes watch the new video!
You’re getting soft Nerd! Great presentation, brought back so many memories. Personally, I loved those extra variables in SOTN. That sense of accomplishment and growth was an awesome evolution in today’s games. I also loved how you played as Alucard and possessed similar powers as the Lord and Master. I always loved those games where you can play as the monsters and wreak havoc or obtain their specific characteristics. Like ‘Destroy All Humans!’ or ‘Stubbs The Zombie’. Again, terrific series and you really nailed the head in the coffin!
Quit Stealing the Dead from ME!
I was waiting for one last gutshot at Simon’s Quest, but none the less I am left satisfied
Awesome job James. Just replayed Super Castlevania today. Used the cross the whole way through, almost all of the bosses were easy with it
You never cease to amaze. The nostalgia just keeps me engrossed and I am constantly impressed with your ability to whip these things out. You have a true fan in me James. You really do great thing for your fans and you do not comprimise. Thanks for making my evening with yet another AVGN video.
In the last bit you did a good job at showing how much this series mean to you. It was really cool. I too have that same feeling for many games that I remember playing for countless hours as a kid. And for some reason no matter how much I play newer games, they never seem to create the kind of memories that the classics gave me. None of the newer games have that certain charm. Perhaps its because the games nowadays can look so realistic that it take away the use of imagination and the creation of wonder that goes through your mind when youre looking at 8 bit or 16 bit graphics. Thank you James and everyone at Cinemassacre for making these videos that remind me why I keep going back to the games that were made 20 years ago.
Great conclusion, James.
I loved this little miniseries. Looking forward to the BAD game, whatever horrific title you’ve chosen this time…
Epic. Totally Epic.
Yeah Keeto787…it truly did hold something more….because if you could create enough intregue with that kind of poor technology…enough so to keep people engaged…that was talent. Now its just super sturated with so many flashy games…and so many templates…cookie cutter game play styles if you will, that its hard to get caught up. I miss it. And I suppose that is why the AVGN works on me so good. You really had to memorize the game…become very intimate with everything that happened at every moment. And….get really pissed off in the process!!! Throwing controllers….making up new ways to curse the game..it was great! My mom would come in and say, “why do you keep laying it if it makes you so mad?” Well…how short sighted that was. The real thing about it was…when you do finally beat that mother fucking game…..you are on top of the world. And at that time..there was no internet to tell you that you weren’t the most baddest assed player of the game…you were fuckin king man!! Cheers to the champions…whooo!!
Damn, there’s already so many fun reviews to watch from you James. Sometime its all about being funny, action or other things but this time this took the cake, the video itself was entertaining to watch but the final part left such a strong impression in my opinion. Hearing the ending theme of Super Castlevania IV, seeing the introduction and the seeing Simon & others going up the stairs gave a feeling of nostalgia like I rarely seen.
I completely agree about Castlevania IV, the controls are awesome but to me, it always the phenomenal soundtrack, especially every themes in stage three, the remade versions of the classic Castlevania musics and of course, the ending theme. This is by far my favorite video game review, ever.
Someone seriously needs to buy you a copy of Order of Ecclesia. You are missing out. The end of the game is the only part that takes place in the castle.
This is the reason James is my Idol, Not just because of his work on AVGN (which is Epic) but because of everything he has done also. James, I know you read these, don’t stop doing what you do, Please. Your one of the few people that helped me decide what I want to do in life. Thank you.
Ya never underestimate the playstation and ya do the bad contra series
James seemed pretty depressed in this video. The way it opened up with the blatant “Life sucks. And so does this game.” and the lack of whackiness and jokes, plus the quiet retrospective at the end. I hope he cheers up.
Hey Hey! Give James a break, he is just probably doing a lot of stuff and just stressed out. I think the reason why i think the nerd got soft in this one is because everyone requested for SOTN (including me) and it was a great game (one of my faves and still listening to the soundtrack) too great that it had so less flaws and less things to joke about. he was originally gonna make the castlevania series through what he encountered on the past. so i think his script got fucked up and he was like oh shit they want symphony of the night gotta review this game.
As times change games are now perfected before they are published, so yeah you won’t see anymore shitty games on the PS3 or the Xbox-fuckin’-360 or the wii. so give James a break. he is did this review for you fuckers.
Oh for crying out loud… James isn’t depressed. In fact, he’s probably happier than most. Why? Because he’s a completely self-actualized person. He knows what he wants to do and he does it. He’s got good friends, a wife, respect and adoration from countless fans, and who knows what else-that unless he shares with us, we have no right to know.
The Angry Video Game Nerd is a character. Period.
As long as I’m here I gotta say that I Game Genie’d the crap out of Castlevania Dracula X for the SNES just to wipe that grin off of Drac’s pasty white face. (I usually don’t cheat, but if you’ve ever fought that boss, you’ll understand) It’s no wonder James exaggerated when he had the nerd say it impossible..because for most people, it is.
Was curious to know if you’ve heard about the new classic-style Castlevania sidescroller that’s coming out for Wiiware, called Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth. I don’t think it’s out in the US yet, but from what little I’ve played, it’s quite worth looking forward to. Still nothing as good as Super Castlevania 4, but it’s nice to see that between this and the remake of Dracula X on PSP, they’re at least acknowledging the series’ linear, action-based roots.
I will never understand, what’s so hard about the last Boss in Castlevania – Dracula X. Last Week I tried to get a highscore on this game and I had 7 lives or somethin like that when I arrived in draculas room. And with the 7 lives, I killed him 6 times without using the extra energy you can get from the left candle. And when I beat the game for the first time about 12 years ago, I was very disappointed that there isn’t a third form of dracula like in Castlevania 3. In my opinion, it’s one of the easiest endbosses in the Castlevania-history.
Hey James Loved the ending made me sad and happy at the same time like damn i almost forgot that games made me happy and games of the past made me happy the most. Those were great memories when nintendo was big. Today games are just not as good as before. But thanks again.
Those criticizing James for this episode all i say try doing what he does and if you can’t do better then shut the fuck up
Great ending, thank you James!
Will you make the retrospective of Ninja Gaiden?
Its not the first time i cry becose of a videogame, thanks you james!
“You played the most important role in this video, thanks for watching”???!!! that’s the most cheesy-ass thing I’ve ever heard! great vid though James despite me taking the piss outta the ending, good to see a conclusion on the games that took me through my childhood.
damn james, the ending was just epic. i feel just the way you do, the snes brings back endless memories, and that’s why i almost cried. you are great man, just great.
oh and btw i own castlevania 4 but i never played it, dunno why. but i’m going to take my snes back from my holiday mountain house (even if nothing beats playing SF2 or super ghouls ‘n’ ghosts in front of the fireplace) and play till I drop senseless.
in the end, thank you for those good memories.
Could the next “Bad” review possibly be Bad Dudes for the NES? Keeping my fingers crossed! Great vid as always!
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Another thing for those who attempts to complain to this episode, just remember the first lyrics of the theme song
He’s gonna take you back to the past, to play these SHITTY games that SUCK ASS!
Symphony of the night is not a SHITTY game that SUCK ASS period castlevania on Nintendo 64 was SHITTY and SUCKED ASS Period and castlevania is one of his favorite franchise so yeah
Wait a minute… That whole “castle inside a solar eclipse” thing was in “Aria of Sorrow”, not “Dawn of Sorrow”. And “Dawn of Sorrow” begins in a village and some adjacent locations, so it’s not entirely in the castle.
Thanks so much for this one, James! AVGN always makes my day
Question unrelated to his AVGN episode: what are you going to do once you have reviewed every game out there that sucked? lulz
http://www.livingwithanerd.com
@Sicboypeachy:
James put that line in there: “You played the most important role in this video, thanks for watching”, because SCV IV ends with the line: “You played the most important role in this GAME, thanks for PLAYING.”
He’s not being cheesy, that’s just how the game ended and he’s just referencing it.
and cheesy? …not really at all, ’cause for a lot of us its just about great memories of great games we loved playing.
I feel the same way James does about SCV IV and SOTN…and look forward to introducing my infant son to these classics when he’s older.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
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Greetings, James!
I want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed each part of this Castlevania-thon. In fact, I’ve encouraged every Castlevania fan I know to check out your work, and the response has been very positive! Thank you for taking the time to give us something so special.
I have to confess that I’m still curious about your opinion of two major Castlevania games: the original Dracula X on the PC Engine CD, and the re-remake of the original Castlevania on the X68000 home computer. The latter was released on PSX as Castlevania Chronicles, and after CV4, it’s my favorite in the series.
Should you ever feel inclined to even just write a related opinion on a front-page update, I would encourage you to do so! Regardless, thank you once again for all your work. I’m looking forward to whatever you’ve got in store for us next!
awesome, james.
Very interesting review, but I was wondering what your views on Circle of the Moon for the GBA are if you have played it. Personally its my favorate as its a good hybrid of the new and old formula creating a very nice game with a good difficultly level.
Well said, James. I never played SotN or Bloodlines, but I do agree that CV4 is still the last great game in the series. I have nothing but good things to say about these reviews. You’ve taken the Castlevania franchise and done it as much justice as these classic games deserve.
Thank you, James. We’re looking forward to see what you come up with next!
hey,
again a nice review…it’s funny that the only catslevania game I played was castlevania 4 on the SNES and it seems like it’s the best one of the series…
and yes the end of this review made me feel very nostalgic, djeez I’m afraid one of the next movies/reviews will make me cry like whiny little baby…
take care!
that was awesome ^_^
Excellent review James! I enjoyed every part of your Castlevania-thon and I can see how much the series means to you. I only experienced afew of the Castlevania games when I was little but in the past 3 or so years I’ve been getting more and more into the series and I can see why people hold in such high regard. I’m one of them now and for me at the moment, I love Castlevania 4. I also love Rondo of Blood and to me they are among the greatest in the series. The NES Trilogy is also epic and definetly a challenge for any gamer. Once again, great work and am looking foward to the next one!
Take care man!
YES! You did SOTN
. Much appreciated. I am ashamed to admit I never got my hands on Castlevania 4 on the SNES but I will make it my next PSP on the toilet adventure . You always do an incredible job at identifying the aspects of games which pissed me off the most and the SOTN Game Over issue was horrendous. I can remember sitting there thinking “oh fuck, when is the last time I saved?”. Anyway James thanks a lot for doing this Castlevania compilation I really enjoyed it.
God, I love your vids. Aren’t we due for another Board James soon?
Cheesy ending aside, another good review and a fitting end to what was clearly an important series for you. Now you’ve got it out of your system, however, I’ll be pleased to get back to the regular shit games. I know it’s useless since you will have recorded your next several videos months in advance, but I’ll nominate a few ideas anyway for future reference.
GARFIELD – a terrible NES game, and later one of the worst PS2 games ever made, and I bet there’s more to choose from as well.
ACTION 52 – an obvious choice, but you wouldn’t even have to buy it if you didn’t want to. It’s easy enough to find a ROM, and nothing’s been changed from it so it would still be the same product.
Bomberman Act Zero – another one I’m sure you’re fed up of hearing about, but maybe if you found a few less-than-stellar Bomberman games from before it (e.g. Bomberman 64, which is very flawed) then you could just call the video ‘Bomberman’.
SONIC – the one brilliant series that continues to get worse.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a new Castlevania game return to the linear roots as a reminder of what the series was.
I always feel a little guilty, when i watch and love James Nerd-Videos and pretty much all his other stuff, but so far skip his “serious” work as a Director, like for example his 30 outtakes of his movies. The Nerd-Videos are only a way to promote his serious stuff. Well, i think i’ll have a look into those too today.
Admittedly I STILL have to play SOTN. Always tempting.
What happened to the intro music?
Great job, James! The ending credits were really well done!
so if you like the old style why didn’t you even mention the X86000 version of Castlevania? It came out in the USA on playstation as “CastleVania Chronicles” AFTER Symphony of the Night! Its exactley the same style of gameplay as the NES/Genesis games only with way better graphics and sound
Nice ending of the Castlevaniathon. I agree on prefering Castlevania IV over SOTN. They are both great games, but the metroidvanias just lack some of the Castlevania-feeling. Maybe if they made a Simon’s Quest-like game with the controls from Castlevania IV…I don’t know…
Great that the next video will be a good old shitty game again. While I enjoy these more nostalgic videos, I like it even better when there is shit involved
Thank you for this wonderful review, James. I believe that never before have you been able to convey your feelings towards a franchise so well like in this trilogy. Towards the end of the video I really started to become nostalgic, and I have only played Aria of Sorrow so far!
And don’t mind all the whining and bitching, I enjoyed these videos as much as I enjoy those about the “shitty” ones.
Speaking of Metroid-vania, how about an AVGN Metroid retrospective? I know Gametrailers did one already, but a AVGN version would be good!
You make me wish I was around for those games when they first came out. I fucking love Castlevania but you are making realize I missed out on some of the best of the series. I have only played the hand-held games but they blew me away when I first played them at 13-14 years old. They were everything I wanted out of a game. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is what started my crazed love for this series and I’m a little sad you didn’t review it along with Aria of Sorrow.
Now thats what I call epic.
Castlevania is my all time favorite game series.
SOTN is probobly one of the best games ever but I still rank Castlevania IV equal good or almost better. You made a really good point why Castle IV was the best.
And when Simon climbs the final stairs in Caslte 1 & 3 that is the best grafical moment of the NES history. Its just so amazing cool with the Moon and the old stair. Wonderful. love it.
wish I could watch this, but for some reason non the ads will buffer. I even click on the the add to go to the site to see if that would work, but it doesn’t
working. If someone gets the same problem as me the way I got it working was to switch to Internet Explorer.
James – what a great motif at the end. It seems to summarize not only the castlevania epoch, but the different eras in which this franchise spans.
I appreciate all your efforts and this Castlevania marathon was a real treat – stepping away from “shitty games” (aside from the wonderful N64 releases…shudder), and showing appreciation for an incredible series of games in its youth.
Circle of the Moon was where I finally called it quits, but it’s not uncommon for me to fire up the first triology on the NES, or even Super Castlevania on virtual console. Keep up the good work and we’ll come back watching, all the time!
While I really enjoyed your Castlevania-thon, all of the parts, I have to agree with Udsha and say you missed out on Order of Ecclesia. You have the sceneries you mentionned. I don’t recall a big cemetary, though, but you still have a deserted prison, a manor, a hunted house kinda place, forests, misty mountain…
I have yet to play all the Castlevania games, but in my opinion so far, Order of Ecclesia is the best(or at least my favorite). It’s not your classic style Castlevania(no whip, metroid style exploration), but it has decent graphics for the DS, a good soundtrack, great gameplay and different creepy-ish scenes(as mentioned above). On top of that, I just love Shanoa.
I’m almost tempted to buy and send you a copy so you could(hopefully) enjoy it as much as I do. But anyway, great videos as always! Keep up the good work!
james, you should really try Dracula X Chronicles on PSP. that’s one of the best remakes of an old-school game I’ve played to this day. Rondo of Blood in 2,5D works just as good as the original back in the day and it’s certainly better than the SNES version. Shame you haven’t even touched it in the reviews. Especially that you are the one who made my mind about guying it. Best 16,99€ spent on a video game in quite a while. Really.
I don’t know, if somebody already mentioned it, but ANGRY Video Game Nerd doesn’t fit to good games.
You’re too mach the Happy Video Game Nerd at those ones.
Many of the last episodes this year has been soft. What ruins it for me is that he actually likes a lot of the games he reviews, not to mention bugs bunny crazy castle which is more a cheap fight than a game review.
And why not review one game at the time? When his videos is just about one game it seems more like there’s really something wrong with the game. Hard to explain but anyway…
It’s games like Milon’s secret castle and Plumbers don’t wear ties I wanna see. I hope the next review of the, “really bad game” is going to be with the old angry nerd. It’s the nerd from Silver surfer, dragons lair, deadly towers and superman 64 I want to see.
You can do it james!
He’s gonna take you back to the past.. to play these Happy games that kick ass?
Well if you want a “yippie kay yay moterfucker” nerd your gonna have to wait and that wait will be worth it.
well i still love the Dr. Jekkyl and mr Hyde, Ghost busters (I really felt his childhood has been a total waste)and all console reviews and i still laugh my ass off but give the nerd time to play all the shitty games that suck ass.
As a fan of SOTN, hardcore fan. I’m kinda disappointed in the given estimate.
I actually have a copy of Castlevania IV, no joke. Thats terrible, I’ve never played it, and we got it at some toys r us, sale. A few years ago, scary right? They were selling stock they never sold in a lonnnng time. They had built up.
Anyway, SOTN, is my personal favorite, it was challenging, it was time consuming, it had you looking all over, I know the linear style kept it straightforward, having you go in one direction, unable to go backwards, but this is what made SOTN so great. You needed to find those secret rooms, and all that. SOTN, it is surely a long game, but greatly enjoyable.
It is also possible to skip the GameOver screen by hitting some buttons. Are you sure you tried? In any case. I rarely died in the game, except against the occasional boss. Even when I died, I took the time to plot out some strategy, I usually did so during battles most of the time.
Cheers, nice review anyway.
James you have my utter respect man. You moved me to tears at the end of this. The end credit theme from Castelvania IV fit so perfectly it was a great feeling of nostalgia and I salute you sir!
PS.. I also found out recently there is a Castelvania for the gameboy featuring the ONLY female protaganist. I believe its Castelvania Legends????
Watched the whole series, and all I can say is, “Well done sir”. That was incredible.
A very nice way to end a great series. I very nearly shed a manly tear at that final credit montage.
You raise an interesting point about pretty much every game since SOTN being stuck in the castle itself (or some weird facsimile of it, at least). The nearest I’ve seen to returning to the old-school level progression is the most recent release, Order of Ecclesia, which had a series of more-or-less-linear levels with the big castle at the end. That’s a game I’d personally recommend, not just for diversifying the locations somewhat, but it also ups the challenge considerably from the other “Metroidvanias” (the bosses inparticular can DESTROY you if you’re not careful). However, I think we’ll have to wait for The Adventure Rebirth on WiiWare before we see an old-style Castlevania game again.
I came to the series late, coming in with the Saturn version of SOTN, but I’ve had a lot of fun replaying the older games through the Virtual Console. Super Castlevania IV has become a firm favourite now.
This was a lovely series, James. I enjoyed it immensely, and I look forward to seeing what the Nerd’s got cooked up for the last month of 2009.
I loved this series James, it doesn’t always have to be bad games you review.
Looking into your past and the games you loved as a kid was very fun to witness.
Poor Nerd!!
You miss creepy backgrounds? well play Splatterhouse on SEGA GENESIS, it kiks ass!
You should get commission, I’m thinking of buying Castlevania IV (VC) now…
Awesome as always, thanks
Amazing work on the last 4 videos man. I really like your take on the series and enjoy these types of videos. Probably enjoyed these the most out of all of your videos. Sure I’m also nostalgic to it because I grew up playing the same games, etc. but the reviews are well done, take the smaller details into account, and are just flat entertaining.
Its refreshing to see you get out of just reviewing shit games and have some reviews of games that are good. Hope to see more like these.
that was an awesome review
A great set of videos about a great set of games. Well done, James.
I hooked up the old NES recently, and have been looking into expanding my games collection. The only NES Castlevania game I have is Simon’s Quest (which I think is actually quite decent). After seeing these videos, I am tempted to get at least one of the other games in the series…even though they are quite expensive around here (44 USD for Castlevania 3 – just the cartridge).
Great review. I felt the same way about Symphony Of The Night. I am surprised you didn’t do a little more indepth on that particular video though. Like the dead body ball, the Frankenstein monster that uses a hammer & looks like Frankenstein Jr. in that one video game you reviewed a while back. Oh and how that the demon that shot lighting at the top right corner of the upside down castle was extremely hard to beat and how Dracula & Shaft were easy to beat. Other than that, great 4 part series to a great library of videos, James. Hope that you will be doing this for many more years to come.
James is awesome. The whole mini series was awesome. I actually like it when James reviews good games as well even though he’s usually supposed to be ANGRY. Sometimes AVGN needs a break. Playing bad games is hard work.
Kay, have you checked ebay, I see Castlevania 3 for a lot less than what you’re seeing.
He’s probably not very angry in this one because he knows SotN is such a good game, and because of it being that good there will probably never be another castlevania 4.
Personally CV4 was the first one I ever played, but I still like the newer versions more.
Sweet new nerd!
Great vid James. I’m really glad you did Symphony of the Night. Speaking of SOTN one word…. Crissaegrim. Once obtained you literally just walk through everything and everyone including Dracula. I personally find Super Castlevania 4 to be the easiest one though.
Anyway keep up the great videos on everything. Can’t wait to see what crap game you do next.
i rember ownig SOTN it was one of the hardest games i played in my childhood years, never beat it but finally saw the last boss in this review. I like the review felt the ending was cool cause it brought back cause it brought back memories!!!!! CAN’T WAIT FOR THE NEW VIDEO!!!!!!!!! KEEP THEM COMING!!!!!!!!
That conclusion was just beautiful. I have fond memories of the Castlevania series as well, and I also like the 2D platforming Classic Castlevania games more than the Metroidvanias, so I can relate with this video. Makes me very sentimental. Your work makes many people happy, James.
Totally agree with CastlevaniaIV being the best, then HoD is a close second. It does getting tiring that all you do is stay in a castle kill X enemy X amount of times get X item/soul/exp. I do hope the next DS/PSP title is a straight platform, with no exp to make you way to strong for the game to longer be a challenge.
Though the next 3-D title does look good, its just going to be a God of War clone Engine…WHY?_?
This was great. You did a great job ending this. But how did you beat the N64 one?
Loved the review, and I love SotN. Alucard is by far one of the hottest game heroes ever (and yes, I actually find the feminine look attractive, SUE ME!). I also think Bloodlines is an awesome Castlevania game, and definitely a must-have for any Genesis gamer.
I love when your reviews differ from the norm and take on a more mellow and touchy side, I think we are actually entitled to see that side of the nerd more often, no matter how much I love it when things go completely out of control.
Can’t wait for the next review, and I hope the next one is going to be a real shitbomb.
Wow, what a great series. I agree completely that Castlevania has long since abandoned it’s old stlye of games, but I still like the new games. But no game will ever have the same impact on me that Castlevania 4 did. I grew up sitting on a couch playing that game with my dad (and by playing, I mean giving him the controller on all the hard parts), so nothing is ever going to top that.
It would be awesome if they made a new Castlevania game in the old style, like they did with Megaman 9, except using the SNES style stuff instead of NES. In fact, they could do that with a lot of games.
[...] Tweets about this great post on TwittLink.com [...]
I must confess the end of this episode feels nostalgic somehow, I was even moved by the final line “You played the greatest role in this video. Thanks for watching”. James, even when you’re not talking shit and ass, you still manage to amaze us. I think it is a sign the AVGN stood the test of time!
This episode didn’t feel like an episode. It should of been stuck at the end of part 3.
Good Job James.
I know you were rather the Couch+TV Guy then the Handheld Guy, but only on Nintendo Hendhelds (GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, Nintendo DS) were nearly as much Castlevania games as for NES and its followers. I think you could have mentioned or reviewed them a little bit more.
But no bad words on your 4 Episode long work, its just great und reminds me at the good old times. Thank you!
Regards, Grimba
FUCKIN EPIC YOU ROCK JAMES! TOOK ME BACK TO MEMORY LANE
Castlevania Order of Ecclesia (DS) is a game that you, James Rolfe, should play whenever you get a chance.
I miss the whip too. Bring it back Konami, but bring it back Circle of the Moon style.
Castlevania Adventure Rebirth is coming out for the Wii, if you’re looking for a new classic-style Castlevania. It’s already out in Japan, and I’m going insane waiting for a US release date.
Great reviews, but I’m going to have to disagree with the idea that the new games don’t have the Castlevania feel. They don’t have the same gameplay of course, but IGA really goes out of his way to connect all the games. Portrait Of Ruin and Order Of Ecclesia were even attempts to fuse the old and new styles.
Anyway, I love CV3, SCV4, and SotN all equally (maybe PoR too). I think I may love CV3 most, but it really depends on my mood, haha.
I think Castlevania SOTN very different from the original series, that why it was called “dracula X” on japan.It´s one of the BEST castlevania ever WITH super castlevania 4.
Both are the best games : Super castlevania and SOTN,but no one surpasses the other
has anyone listened the disc:
Perfect Selection Dracula Battle I & II ?
They are awesome!, you must take a look
Sorry to say it, but this was
the weakest video of the Castlevania series.
dear james
your reviews on the castlevania series brought a tear to my eye its been so long since i played that series . i grew up playing this game, so far i have played everyone and i agree super castlevania 4 is the best. you reminded me how amazing the series was and i thank you. now i think its time to go dust off my nes to play so good games.
your fan Chris R.
your reviews on the castlevania series brought a tear to my eye its been so long since i played that series . i grew up playing this game, so far i have played everyone and i agree super castlevania 4 is the best. you reminded me how amazing the series was and i thank you. now i think its time to go dust off my nes to play some good games.
your fan Chris R
ps. sorry for double posting i didnt type a word right
Thank you so much for bringing us this beautiful 4-part series, James!
While my personal experience with the Castlevania series is limited to the Metroidvania style games on the GBA and the DS, I think your review may well inspire me to try out all the older Castlevania games on the Virtual Console (and for that matter, more non-Nintendo-console games in general; just like you, I’ve been pretty much stuck to Nintendo consoles throughout my gaming life, so there are quite a few good games on the other retro 8- and 16-bit consoles that I’ve missed out on in general). I strongly doubt that I’ll finish them though–like I do with the Metroidvania-style games if I do enough level grinding–considering that I wasn’t that good of a gamer when I was little, and I doubt that my gaming skills will improve with age.
So keep up the great work–I’ll be looking forward to your next shitty game review!
Wow. This is a sad conclusion. Sad mainly because the game you loved so much has changed from what you grew up with to something completely different.
BRAVO BRAVO
wut a way to end ur first 4 parter videos
i been waiting since before halloween for this
cant wait wut ull be cooking up next
Honestly, I comletely agree with you on the series (though I didn’t think Castlevania 64 was as bad as you did, unless you were just exaggerating). Castlevania was great, but Simon’s Quest fell into that early sequel category where developers felt it necessary to make it almost completely different from the original. Then they got back to what made it good (and Super Castlevania IV was my favorite of the series as well). I lost touch with the series after the N64 title, but did have a chance to check out Symphony of the Night years after its initial release. Like you I thought it was good, but it didn’t have that classic Castlevania feel. Maybe Konami will make a new downloadable Castlevania one day that has that old feel.
Anyone want to suffer insufferable pain? Play Solomon’s Key.
Great series Mr. Rolfe.
coming soon to a store near you!
Castlevania the Trading Card Game!
I was always one to admit that “symphony of the night” was not the greatest ‘memorable’ experience I’ve had with Castlevania. I loved the game when it was fresh but after those 100+ hours to find and uncover everything, I had very little reason to replay the game.
“Symphony” is quite memorable and to me a worth successor to Castlevania IV, but I agree with James, the Castlevania IV is the [b]most[/b] memorable and I am with him in that it’s my favorite as well.
the x8 directional whip, the fluid control, the atmosphere and music all coinciding; nothing comes close to matching it.
Don’t get me wrong I loved Symphony when I was playing it, but now it’s just another game I may rarely play, but I will play castlevania IV just about any day I have free time and someone asks “you want to play it?”
Castlevania IV is timeless. I remember commenting that I didn’t like any DS or Gameboy advance Castlevania games because they were just recycling the “syphony engine” (as I like to call it).
So as we conclude, the most powerful Belomont had to be “Simon Belmont”, because Castlevania IV is a remake of Castlevania and thus features Simon once again… Alright maybe not the most powerful, because Richtor has some impressive moves that Simon didn’t have, but Simon was just more of a whip master and could dance. ^-^
James,
I do not know if this has been brought to your attention or not, but there is a new castlevania game coming for the Wii Ware download game service called Castlevania Re-Birth, as part of the Konami Re-Birth games (Gradius and Contra being the first ones released) and Contra Re-Birth follows the old style, linear gameplay. There are gameplay videos of it out there, and it looks great. Not sure if it has the 8 direction whip or not but still old school style. As a Castlevania fan myself, i would recommend checking it out.
These four AVGN episodes as a whole has to be amongst the best you’ve made I think.
Thank you for this awesomeness.
Never thought you’d think #4 was the best as well. These reviews have been astounding and although not as comedic; A huge step forward! A fantastic ending included as well. Thanks so much James. I am looking forward to the next!
One of the best episodes, definitely. I could really feel how much the games mean to you. The ending of the episode was epic. It really leaves you with an awesome feeling, even though I haven’t played the games myself.
I could totally relate with your feelings towards the Castlevania franchise, since I feel the same with the Metroid series. Although, at least you got Symphony of the Night, Metroid has never gotten a true successor to Super Metroid.
Well, I think the episode was maybe a bit too short, but that’s all.
Keep up the good work!
Great Review as always James LOL at the skeletons XD!!!!
@neoWhite
Well, I usually prefer buying these things locally (Norway in my case), due to postage costs and region locks. But perhaps you are right in this case. I’ll see if I can find a PAL cartridge abroad instead. Thanks!
Kay
Non-NES? You mean Non-Nintendo…
Nice review, but i disagree on Castlevania IV being the greater game. I grew up playing SNES games and later moved on to PS when it came out. I loved Castlevania IV when i had my SNES, but when i got to play SOTN, it just blew me away. I think i loved it so much cause it took the same approach as Simon’s Quest but perfected it. Ive always disliked a bit the standarized castlevania formula of the old games (1,3,4) and instead prefer the “metroid” style, wich for me, was highly more entretaining. So personally, yeah for me SOTN is the greatest Castlevania game.
@Scary German Guy
I did not know that thanks for info
But its still cheesy you have to admit that! Don’t get me wrong I love a bit of cheese and I’m sure James knew what he was doing and I have fond cheesy memory’s of the Castlevainia brand myself.
Wha’ts the next game gunna be? huh? huh? tell us? TELL US!!
XD
[...] | Angry Video Game Nerd: Castlevania Part IV XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii Fuente [CineMassacre] Comparte [...]
I totally agree with you.
Metroid and Castlevania were my two absolute favorite games for the NES, and they both had amazing.. AMAZING sequels for the SNES. The first game I bought for the N64 was Castlevania 64, and I thought it was the biggest piece of shit I had ever played. Metroid Prime for the Gamecube is a good game and all, but it failed to capture what I loved about Metroid.
It’s nice to know that Metroid continued in the form of Castlevania for the the Playstation. I never played SotN, but I think I will. Now I just need to find the Metroid game that carries the Castlevania torch and all will be well with the world.
The ending of this video almost made me tear up. I’m so glad that there are people out there like you james who apreciate castlevania 4 because of its linear simplicity and the fact that all you have is your whip and courage. I can’t help but feel that I have the ability to direct game developers into creating the next best castlevania game. I’ll even make it 3D and it’ll still be good to the fans. Castlevania CAN BE 3D and be good WITHOUT being like god of war which is just a blood bath game that has no moral value. Castlevania must have morals and show the true meaning of a warrior on an epic journey.
If I could help Konami make a castlevania game I would have made it for the Wii so that you could use the Wii remote as the vampire killer whip. When I first heard about the Wii’s controles I thought thats what they were going to do with castlevania, Oh well.
Besides it’s not like Konami is going to see this message anyway and even if they did it’s not like they would care about me wanting to help them.
Well enough said good review James, your reviews always seem to empress me they’er just so well put together.
One thing to note about the DS trilogy: They all didn’t take place in just Castlevania. True, Dawn did take place in a castle, but it was a replica of Castlevania as the cult was looking for a successor for Dracula. I liked how they tied the worst ending (meet Celia without having one item equipped to get this ending) to the bonus mode.
Portrait of Ruin had portraits that took you to different areas, and the first bonus mode is actually a prequel to the game. Also, they brought back a Belmont due to a plot device and if you do defeat the Belmont you unlock his bonus mode. Unfortunately, it suffers from heavy copypasta. Most of the bosses from Dawn of Sorrow as well as the fake trio boss from SotN come back in the Arena like area that was first featured in Circle.
Ecclesia does have areas outside of the castle, but get ready for a sudden upspike in difficulty. It is as hard as a classic CV in terms of damage taken. There is a couple of bonus areas that branch off of Dracula’s castle. Unfortunately, the way the story ends makes it easy for this game to be retconned out of the timeline.
On that topic, at one point, CotM and the 2 N64 games were retconned out of the timeline, but they were put back in. In fact, the werewolf playable from Legacy of Darkness is a playable character in Judgment.
To sum up the nintendo portable games: CotM was good but a bit difficult and had a bit of a bad stat system, HoD was disappointingly easy, AoS was fun but should have another game that has the backstory as the game, DoS was fun but Julius mode can get a bit unweildly, PoR could have been better with much less copypasta, and OoE is fairly difficult until you reach the 2 bonus areas.
When I mean fairly difficult, I mean it is actually difficult with out some of the bullshit some of the difficult games that AVGN has covered on this site. Also, I hate the Magic Seal system on DoS. It just feels unneccessary. Luckily, it has been done away with in PoR and OoE
Epic finish, great video !
My personnal experience has started with Castlevania on Gameboy (so hard !!!), and then all the Castlevania on handheld consoles, starting with Circle of the Moon, and epic game, the first that I really enjoyed playing.
Looking at it now, it has a bit of stiffness, but also a lot of cool things from SotN, and also some new ideas (the card system). Great music and replay value, this one is one of my favorites.
I only played the first Castlevania Games (on the NES, I have yet to try Super Castlevania 4) recently, and I found them awesome, even today.
Great series of review, great memories, fun to watch, good comments. Perfect is the word.
Hey James, I signed up because I felt I had to comment on that video – I thought it was incredibly poignant. I’ve been a long time fan, and I thought it made for a nice change for you to review some games you actually like. The ending of your video captured what video games meant to me as a child, and throughout my teens. And now I’m in my mid twenties, I feel there’s something missing in many modern games. I had a similar experience to you with the game Ico. Once I had beat it, and you have that incredible ending, your just reflecting over everything that happened.
Well done, James. You’re an inspiration to fellow film makers.
Just for your information AVGN, your amazing. i am a nerd just like you who collects the shit out of old video game shit.
Also, in your video you mention there are no titles like Castlevania 4 anymore. i have to say there is a Japaneses title called Castlevania Chronicles. it was released in the United states and it’s for the PlayStation. it has the feel of the old ones. technically, it is a remake of Castlevania one for the Nintendo
its music is fucking awesome
Man I got to say James..that was a beautiful conclusion to your castlevania reviews. I just found it symbolic and iconic with showing the belmonts climb up the stairs from the future games all the way back to the original game itself. I don’t know if you knew but they did makes a remake of the original Castlevania called Castlevania Chronicles. Originaly it was on PS1 but its cheap to download on the PSN network atm. If you’ve never played it I highly recommend it. Its a great remake.
I actually found the Metrodvania style refreshing at the time it came out. I just like the RPG style at times. lol I defently loved and appricated the port/remake of Dracula X Rondo of
Blood for PSP. I consider that one to be the true Dracula X to this day.
Also I really enjoy the Aria/Dawn of Sarrow series. I hope they do another one fromthat series..after all its not every you get to play as..well don’t want to spoil that but its still one of my favorite series.
Still to me castlevania wil indeed be like you said..a memory that will last forever! I love the games and I look forward to many more.
Thanks again James and keep up the great work.
(PS: Congrads on your nomination! You earned it! )
God James I loved that AVGN episode.
Thanks
Chronicles is the re-release of Akumojo Dracula X68000, which was only released in japan as that computer never reached stateside. There is a couple of stages that appeared from the first CV game. I want to get it on the PSN after christmas (if I get PSN cards with my PS3).
Shaft was the Dark priest that revived Dracula in (the original) Rondo of blood. Also Shaft can mean many other things than the name of the black guy in TV.
The best Castlevania game IMO is the Aria of Sorrow and not the Dawn of sorrow. The Aria of Sorrow was the one that have invented the soul system, it had better character artwork and better story. Dawn of Sorrow simply reworked on the Idea, and it had the story of an Unneeded sequel.
I feel that these Castlevania Reviews are not as good as a Castlevania review should be. You are barely touching many important games and you give the feeling that you have never actually played them.
I can agree with Aria being good as it introduced the soul system. It still exists in some form in PoR (enemies end up dropping subweapons or spells for Jonathan and Charlotte, respectively) and OoE (some enemies drop glyphs and sometimes you have to absorb the glyph before the enemy uses it themselves). Sadly, the subweapons in OoE went the way of The Castlevania Adventure. They’ve been replaced by the A button uber attack from DoS.
The most original Metroidvania systems are CotM’s DSS, and Aria’s Soul system. I can’t count HoD’s spellbook system as it is almost like LoI’s Orb system.
Also, I have all 6 GBA/DS games legally, though I had to hunt for the GBA games as I was late to the party. Also, I have the same version of DoS as James does.
I’m currently working on a text review for my livejournal for the GBA and DS trilogies. I will post the link once it’s finished.
That was awesome. It almost brought a tear to my eye.
To this day remembering SoTN gives me a chubby. One of the best games I’ve ever played even if it was too easy.
I still love all the new GBA/DS games though. I’m glad that this series of my youth still manages to be entertaining… I keep fearing it will go the way of Megaman.
meh, this video was kidna lame. i didnt laugh as much. i like how your videos are usually really funny but this one was sorta blah.
im sorry your series got ruined james, that kinda sucks
So yeah today I was on Youtube and I came across this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-KPVKIG1rQ&feature=related
and it instantly made me want to mod MY old Castlevania for the NES to have the song on the video as the backgroun theme music. Give it a listen tell me what you think.
I’m surprised he didn’t mention the battle with trevor, syfa and grant in Symphony of the Night.
That was a wonderful series on a wonderful series! Say, somebody might have mentioned this (I can’t possibly look at all the comments), but I wonder if it says anything that the 64 Castlevania, with it’s stiff control, stiff camera and stiffening physical puzzles, wasn’t made just by plain old Konami like classic SotN, but specifically “Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe.” Note how they seem to distance themselves as a company from the lesser product!
You know what else was made by the division of beef farts? Hybrid Heaven. Also on the 64. Thanks Konami. Here’s farting a beefy Kobe burrito fart at you on behalf of all Nintendo fans.
And while I can’t imagine criticizing the Nerd for all the good work he’s done, I’ll always wonder whether he’d have the balls to review Hybrid Heaven all the way through.
It’s just a thought.
ANALBAG. Haha. One of my personal favorites is BALLNANAS.
Also, I liked the 64 Castlevania games! The nitro part in the game is ridiculous, I will give you that.
You like to be in “total control of your whip”? Hmm.. maybe it’s just me having a dirty imagination..
One thing about this game that made me think of Metroid was being fully equipped at first, then lossing it all just to collect your weapons throughout the game and finish it beefed up again.
^^
Pardon my French. I must have a bad “proof read”-day.
great video, i love castlevania on the sega genesis (Mega Drive) and was wondering how a modern-day castlevania should be like.
i nearly found an answer for that in form of a game.
its called TRINE and is, in my opinion, how a 2009 castlevania should be.
it has a fairy tale-fantasy setting but i believe you can image how this could look like if it would be a castlevania-game.
its maybe i bit to easy for a castlevania-game, but you get the point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXILzS03HCo
AVGN so made up my mind about Castlevania. When I first saw it in 1993 for some reason I didn’t liked it. Haven’t even gave it a try and finish the first level. Only now have I rediscovered this game. Bought Dracula X Chronicles sfor PSP and I love it to the core. Even the old NES version is pretty nice for me now. Super Castlevania IV kicks major ass. I’ll buy Castlevania Chronicles for my PSP the day it will show up in EU PSN Store.
Okay, I’m watching the review, and all of the suddenly I hear a complaint about why the games have to take place in the castle, when some of the other games had unique places…
Hello, McFly! CASTLE-vania, not Forestvania, not Cemetaryvania, not Wherethef***arewevania. Castle-f’n-vania. The whole game doesn’t have to take place in a castle, but the vast majority of it should. That’s like bitching about the Mario Brothers series of games constantly including Mario or Metroid games constanty focusing on Samus Aran.
Thanks for bringing back the memories, I even got a little teary eyed at the end. Those were the good ol’days.
what a great ending. while i was never a huge follower of the castlevania series, there are games that mean to me what this series obviously means to you, such as super mario 3 or flashback for the genesis. that sense of wonder those old games gave me hasn’t been duplicated in years. i don’t know if games now are less imaginative, or if i’ve simply moved past the point where i can be so thrilled by games. i can still remember the first time i played bloodlines, the second level with the reflecting water. i was astounded games could look that good. thanks for the memories, and i look forward to seeing some serious shit next time.
WTF Kid – talk about missing the point. This video wasn’t supposed to be funny. If you had any grasp of perspective whatsoever you’d have realised that without ever needing to be told.
Love the Castlevania series reviews, very nice work James. Looking forward to your next review as always
.
Umm yea I love the Old scool castlevania games but there are making this new CAstlevania game for the next gen consoles I have seen gameplay and it looks really good I pray to the Belmonts that its good
check this out, I think you’ll like it – it’s a conversion of Half-Life that’s based on the original NES Castlevania – fun stuff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiZAdL2tqtA&feature=player_embedded#
Fabulous finisher. I loved Symphony, and only played C4 as a rental (thought it was awesome), but I definitely see what you mean about C4 being the best.
I especially liked the conclusion, it was actually touching. You’re the best, James!
Wow that was… the best ending to any of your game reviews, bravo!