In the last battle, Castlevania 1 and Castlevania II: Simons Quest duked it out in a very close match, with CV1 winning only by lasting out the 3 days with a lead. Now, it is time for round two, and its Christopher's two games battling for superiority, and a spot in Round Two against CV1.
The rules are the same, with a single modification. I'll list off a brief summary and my personal takes on the game, and you lot can all vote for your favorite. Feel free to post opinions as you wish, or to rebuttle opinions, or whatever. Just keep it clean. After this is over, I think I'll also host a Symphony of the Trite (title credit to the Bonus Level video)
First game to get 7 votes wins, or which ever one has the most votes after 3 days wins
I'll be doing this in (almost) chronological order, skipping Haunted Castle, Vampire Killer, Order of Shadows and NitM. Some games have been moved around slightly to have fan favorites duking it out.
Match 1: CV1 Vs CV2: SQ WINNER: CV1
Match 2: CV:A Vs CV2:BR Surprise entrant: Legends
Match 3: CV4 Vs CV3:DC
Match 4: CV: RoB Vs CV X68000 (for the purpose of this, Chronicles)
Match 5: CV: Bloodlines Vs CV: SotN
Match 6: CV: L Vs CV: 64
Match 7: CV: LoD Vs CV: CotM
Match 8: CV: HoD Vs CV: AoS
Match 9: CV: LoI Vs CV: DoS
Match 10: CV: CoD Vs CV: PoR
Match 11: CV: DXC (For the purpose of this, only the remake of RoB counts. Ignore SotN and original RoB) Vs CV: OoE
The rest of the match will go fairly obviously, Winner Vs Winner
Now, on with the show.
In the Blue Corner, we have...The Castlevania Adventure
The Facts: CV1 is renown for its extreme difficulty. Not only does the main hero, Chistopher, move with the might of a stoned sloth, but he is without subweapons at all. His only advantage, the fireball whip, can only be obtained by upgrading the whip twice, however, the whip is automatically downgraded when he recieves damage. With faster moving enemies, difficult bosses and pixel perfect jumps, this is not a game for amatures.
IMO: I hate this game. I really do. I don't mind a challenge, in fact I love it, but CV:A just seems to go overboard. Chris is restrained, slow, easy to kill and ugly. The game lacks any awesome details, and most of the soundtrack was rather forgettable. The first level actually managed to kill me several times thanks to several very difficult jumps that made me leave the game and not return for a month, finally managing to beat it. Overall, a very unbalanced, unpolished and, well, bad game.
And in the Red Corner, we have...Castlevania II: Belmonts Revenge
The Facts: This, while being no masterpiece, is more what CV:A should have been. Chris, though still slow as a sloth (but a sober one, at least), the game recieves major and needed gameplay fixes. For starters, the Axe and Holy Water arrive as much needed subweapons (in the japanese, Axe is lost in favor of Cross), and chris not only keeps his fireball whip, but only certain few enemies can downgrade. Bosses are still difficult, and there are some hard jumps, but with much improved level design and awesome music, along with a few creative points in the game, its a much better recieved game.
IMO: Much, much better. Although I'm not a huge fan of the game itself, I find it better in almost every way. It isn't nearly as hard and frustrating to play, and it looks/sounds better than before. The story included is rather interesting as well, and leaves a very nice opening for a future sequel. Overall, although its far, far from perfect, its a great little game.
And in the suddenly spawning Green Corner, we have...Castlevania: Legends
The Facts: It is generally considered in the same catagory as Adventures, ie, bad. Meant to give a back story to Alucard and the series in general, it features the first female Protagonist, Sonia. She has Christophers fireball attack, and instead of using the standard subweapons, she can use various "souls", giving her various powers (damaging everything on screen, stopping time, etc). She can also use burning mode, a total invincibility until the timer runs out. Its known to not have particularly good level design or visuals, although it does have its share of followers. Its known for causing extreme controversy, including heavily implying that Alucard is Trevors father, thus making the Belmonts part vampire. IGA removed this game because it directly contradicted CV3, and for having a story that he considers bad. He also intitially said that women couldn't be the main characters, but has since changed his stance.
IMO: horrible, horrible game. Although the gameplay isn't the worst I've ever seen (to be sure, its a step up from Adventure), but its a step down from Belmonts Revenge, which is odd. To be honest, Legends was produced as a quick money maker, to ride off the popularity of Alucard. Its got a fan-fic plot, bad gameplay elements and...well, I just didn't find it fun. I just think it should never have been made. Period.
Their fate is now in your hands.
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