Current Events > Let's talk about the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. I've never played!

(+) Yeah! (+)

After reading articles online, I came to a conclusion that the underlined games are the standout gems. The others are decent but could be skipped.

Castlevania
Castlevania II Simon's Quest
Castlevania III Dracula's Curse
Super Castlevania IV
Castlevania The Adventure
Castlevania II Belmont's Revenge
Castlevania Bloodlines
Kid Dracula (never released in English before)
History of Castlevania - Book of the Crescent Moon

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I can't play games as unforgiving as the original trilogy anymore. I like super hard modern games. But 8-16 bit games where you gotta attempt the same exact approach over and over again except actually pull it off, nope. And you can lose literally all your progress, can't you?

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bloodlines is the best classic vania and everyone should play it

Rondo of Blood totally kicked my ass and that's all I've played of the older Castlevanias

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Super jumping spear man!

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Simons quest is legit good if you know what to do.

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Youve got it.

Stick with one sub weapon when youre playing, and eventually youll find II and III ups that let you have multiple instances on the screen at once.

The cross is super OP when you can throw 3 at a time. And in the first game, having 3 holy waters is downright game-breaking. (Monsters dont hurt you if theyre on fire, so you can walk right through them. Also you can stun-lock bosses)

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Pick up Rondo of Blood if you can (though I'm pretty sure it's just on PS4 atm). I love that one. Pretty sure it's among the easiest classic Castlevania game though.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

I can't play games as unforgiving as the original trilogy anymore. I like super hard modern games. But 8-16 bit games where you gotta attempt the same exact approach over and over again except actually pull it off, nope. And you can lose literally all your progress, can't you?

IIRC a game over in the NES games just sent you back to the start of a level

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I got the Rondo/SotN pack on PS4 and loved both games. Rondo had an excellent soundtrack and the gameplay was fun/satisfying as well. Symphony I probably liked slightly less than Rondo but it was still great. Those weren't my first Castlevanias, I had played and beat Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow years previously.

I picked up the Anniversary collection after but I've just tried Bloodlines so far. It's alright but not as good as Rondo to me.

There are save states in the collection, so the difficulty can just be considered a nuisance if you use them. I'm playing them right now. I had a hell of a time with the last two levels of Castlevania despite the save states, though.

Simon's Quest is actually a pretty chill game by NES standards, I'm halfway through it. Though I am following a guide because it can be a bit obtuse.

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Castlevania 3 is my favorite from that collection by far. its also the most unforgiving and for some reason back then they decided to make the US version harder for us. definitely use the savestates

M-Watcher posted...

There are save states in the collection, so the difficulty can just be considered a nuisance if you use them. I'm playing them right now. I had a hell of a time with the last two levels of Castlevania despite the save states, though.

Simon's Quest is actually a pretty chill game by NES standards, I'm halfway through it. Though I am following a guide because it can be a bit obtuse.

Considering IGA has outright said the NPC's are lying to you.

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Castlevania I
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Castlevania: The Adventure
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
Super Castlevania IV
Castlevania: Dracula X
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

off the top of my head these are the only CV games I've played

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DarthDemented posted...

Considering IGA has outright said the NPC's are lying to you.

The NPCs actually do say solutions to quite a few puzzles accurately. It could be feasible to find out most of the obtuse situations just by remembering (and interpreting) what NPCs and those hint books you find in dungeons were saying.

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So I played an hour's worth of Castlevania last night. A bit underwhelmed but I will carry onward.

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I've been playing this too lately. I played through Simon's Quest for the hell for the first time for the hell of it and actually enjoyed it even if I needed a guide. I tried playing 3, but got stuck after so far. Now I'm trying the Japanese version of and on because it's easier. The soundtrack is so awesome.

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Azardea posted...

Pick up Rondo of Blood if you can (though I'm pretty sure it's just on PS4 atm). I love that one. Pretty sure it's among the easiest classic Castlevania game though.

The Castlevania Requiem pack has Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood.

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So I reached the purple grim reaper boss. I am using save states and I am amazed at how cheap these old NES games are lol. Granted, I was raised on early Mega Man games, but damn, some of this stuff is cheap and I just have laugh to myself.

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The cheapness in these games make me feel less bad for using the save states.

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you kids will never know how hard castlevania was back in the day. in this collection you can literally save whenever you want to get by a tough level. try starting over -_-

SauI_Goodman posted...

you kids will never know how hard castlevania was back in the day. in this collection you can literally save whenever you want to get by a tough level. try starting over -_-

For the first half, up until about Frankenstein, I was saving only after each new main level. I did well but then was like: "if I am able to clear a section without a hit, proving my mastery of that section, why not just save there?"

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SauI_Goodman posted...

you kids will never know how hard castlevania was back in the day. in this collection you can literally save whenever you want to get by a tough level. try starting over -_-

Nah I'm good. I like having fun when playing video games. I played plenty of very hard and cheap old school games both back in the day and now and I just don't have the time or will anymore to make myself play something over and over and over that can screw you in a cheap way and make you have to do it all over again.

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Southernfatman posted...

Nah I'm good. I like having fun when playing video games. I played plenty of very hard and cheap old school games both back in the day and now and I just don't have the time or will anymore to make myself play something over and over and over that can screw you in a cheap way and make you have to do it all over again.

I'm with you. Back in the day it was no problem. I'm sure if I tried playing those games now it isn't going to happen.

Castlevania and The first Ninja Gaiden are the hardest onea I remembee from my childhood. The second ninja gaiden game is so much easier with the ability to climb up and down the walls.

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Simon's Quest is awesome, it's like a sidescrolling proto-open world game, but has some really obtuse puzzles

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I am at the final boss fight of Castlevania. Should I skip II and go to III?

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Last night I finally beat the original Castlevania.

I will give it a modest, but fair, 7 out of 10.

I think Mega Man completely destroys it on the NES! Really not even close.

I will now venture to Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse.

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