Rate the series - Home consoles
Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:26 pm
I got this idea from a post I made in another thread, I think it might be fun to pick a series and then rate the series in order from greatest to worst, feel free to post your ratings and explain your answers if you feel it necessary to do so. If you have not played certain games in the series feel free to leave them out of the rating. I will randomnly update the thread and pick a new series for us to rate when we are done talking about whatever series we are talking about.
For the first series of the thread we will rate classic linear castlevanias, so no metroidvanias and no simons quest. The games that fall into this category are:
Castlevania 1
Castlevania 3
Super Castlevania 4
Castlevania Bloodlines
Castlevania rondo of blood (pccd)
Castlevania Dracula X (snes)
Castlevania Chronicles (ps1)
Castlevania adventure (gb)
CV adv 2 (gb)
CV legends (gb)
CV adventure rebirth (wii)
Bloodstained Curse of the moon (yes, I think it counts)
Kid Dracula (nes)
Kid Dracula (game boy)
My ratings are as follows (note, I am leaving out the kid dracula games, I played them once, enjoyed them but am not familiar enough to rate them in the hierarchy of games
1) Super CV 4
2) Castlevania 3
3) Bloodstained: curse of the moon
4) X and Rondo of blood (tie)
5) 1
/6) Chronicles
7) Adv rebirth
Bloodlines
9) adv 2
10) legends
11) adv
Some notes:
CV 4 will always be king for me, the soundtrack is amazing, I love the mechanics, the set pieces, the mode 7, it is the perfect castlevania game, its one flaw is that is a little on the easy side, probably the easiest on this list, especially the bosses which you can generally beat by just mashing whip, despite that it is just so much fun and feels perfect, I doubt we will ever get another game like it.
CV 3 is special to because it added so much to an already classic game, the multiple characters, branching paths and ballls to the wall difficulty make this game stand out as one of the GOAT
Bloodtained COTM is essentially CV 3-2, it takes the already amazing CV 3 formula and expands on it with more characters, quicker switching between characters, and several different play modes with lots of endings and different ways to enjoy the experience. The game is amazing and is literally the definition of a modern classic, but after playing this and 3 back to back I just felt 3 edged it out for its visceral level of challenge.
Rondo and X I feel both of these games are the natural progression of CV 1, this is classic castlevania perfected, no gimmicky characters are overpowered whips, just solid level design, beautiful graphics, and hard as nails challenge. I know I am in the minority opinion by putting these on the same level but I feel they both achieve what they set out to achieve.
CV 1 and chronicles, truth be told chronicles is probably the better game but nostalgia for the original puts it a notch higher for me, both amazing games and both are games that I replay annually
bloodlines, a great game in its own right but definitely my least favorite of the good CV games, I know many think this is the best game and some even out it above 4 but there is just a lot about this game that I don't enjoy compared to the other games. The sound effects are horrific and the whip is just not satisfying to use like it is in every other game on this list, the game is shorter, and it is both easier and harder at the same time. Easier because the levels tend to be easier, harder bc they arbritrarily put in limited coninutes which you can easily cheat around by using the password feature. Some of the levels are just dumb, the last level is probably my least favorite in the series, and the death fight, usually a high point in any CV game, is just horrifically boring. It sounds like I hate this game, I don't, but I definitely dont love it the way I love every game above it on this list.
GB games: all 3 are terrible, they are just varying degrees of terrible, I have played each one, would never play any of them again, they are slow, boring, sluggish, and not worth your time.
For the first series of the thread we will rate classic linear castlevanias, so no metroidvanias and no simons quest. The games that fall into this category are:
Castlevania 1
Castlevania 3
Super Castlevania 4
Castlevania Bloodlines
Castlevania rondo of blood (pccd)
Castlevania Dracula X (snes)
Castlevania Chronicles (ps1)
Castlevania adventure (gb)
CV adv 2 (gb)
CV legends (gb)
CV adventure rebirth (wii)
Bloodstained Curse of the moon (yes, I think it counts)
Kid Dracula (nes)
Kid Dracula (game boy)
My ratings are as follows (note, I am leaving out the kid dracula games, I played them once, enjoyed them but am not familiar enough to rate them in the hierarchy of games
1) Super CV 4
2) Castlevania 3
3) Bloodstained: curse of the moon
4) X and Rondo of blood (tie)
5) 1
/6) Chronicles
7) Adv rebirth
Bloodlines
9) adv 2
10) legends
11) adv
Some notes:
CV 4 will always be king for me, the soundtrack is amazing, I love the mechanics, the set pieces, the mode 7, it is the perfect castlevania game, its one flaw is that is a little on the easy side, probably the easiest on this list, especially the bosses which you can generally beat by just mashing whip, despite that it is just so much fun and feels perfect, I doubt we will ever get another game like it.
CV 3 is special to because it added so much to an already classic game, the multiple characters, branching paths and ballls to the wall difficulty make this game stand out as one of the GOAT
Bloodtained COTM is essentially CV 3-2, it takes the already amazing CV 3 formula and expands on it with more characters, quicker switching between characters, and several different play modes with lots of endings and different ways to enjoy the experience. The game is amazing and is literally the definition of a modern classic, but after playing this and 3 back to back I just felt 3 edged it out for its visceral level of challenge.
Rondo and X I feel both of these games are the natural progression of CV 1, this is classic castlevania perfected, no gimmicky characters are overpowered whips, just solid level design, beautiful graphics, and hard as nails challenge. I know I am in the minority opinion by putting these on the same level but I feel they both achieve what they set out to achieve.
CV 1 and chronicles, truth be told chronicles is probably the better game but nostalgia for the original puts it a notch higher for me, both amazing games and both are games that I replay annually
bloodlines, a great game in its own right but definitely my least favorite of the good CV games, I know many think this is the best game and some even out it above 4 but there is just a lot about this game that I don't enjoy compared to the other games. The sound effects are horrific and the whip is just not satisfying to use like it is in every other game on this list, the game is shorter, and it is both easier and harder at the same time. Easier because the levels tend to be easier, harder bc they arbritrarily put in limited coninutes which you can easily cheat around by using the password feature. Some of the levels are just dumb, the last level is probably my least favorite in the series, and the death fight, usually a high point in any CV game, is just horrifically boring. It sounds like I hate this game, I don't, but I definitely dont love it the way I love every game above it on this list.
GB games: all 3 are terrible, they are just varying degrees of terrible, I have played each one, would never play any of them again, they are slow, boring, sluggish, and not worth your time.