Rate the series - Home consoles

[pook99]

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.

[marurun]

This is a difficult topic. Castlevania is a little easier to rate than most longer series, because of the relative dearth of ports for other systems (I noticed you excluded Haunted Castle from your list).

As an example, I have pretty strong opinions about the Double Dragon series, but there are lots of ports of some of those games, most of which I haven't played. I guess we could do somewhat incomplete listings, which we may have to. I will take a shot at Double Dragon rating at some point, but I'm not ready, yet.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Good idea for a thread. I recommend updating the title periodically so people know what series we’re currently ranking.

.....

My Castlevania series ranking:

Castlevania Rondo of Blood (PCCD) - Almost perfect. Everything about it is great.

Castlevania III (NES) - A close second. Really great design that improves significantly on its predecessors. Tons of content. Varied gameplay that’s deeper than the ocean.

Super Castlevania 4 (SNES) - Awesome game. Still looks and plays great.

Castlevania (NES) - The original still rules. I beat it about once a year.

Castlevania Chronicles (X68000/PS1) - Solid reimagining of Castlevania. I really enjoyed it.

Castlevania Dracula X (SNES) - Solid, drastically underrated entry in the series. Would have benefitted from additional content.

Castlevania Adventure II (GB) - Really Solid portable entry that is a DRASTIC improvement on its predecessor. (pook...you should give this one another shot sometime.)

Castlevania Bloodlines (GEN) - Intellectually, I recognize this is a pretty great game. It never really clicked with me, though. If it did, I’d probably rank it higher.

Kid Dracula (GB) - Really good Mega Man clone that improves on its Famicom predecessor in every way.

Castlevania Adventure ReBirth (Wii) - Good game that I need to spend some more time playing. Doesn’t evolve the series much though; a throwback in every sense of the word with ho-hum level design. Needs a password system.

Kid Dracula (Famicom) - Very easy game with great graphics that ultimately isn’t that fun or challenging.

Vampire Killer (MSX) - At least as linear as Castlevania III (NES) or Rondo of Blood (PCCD). It is kind of a remake of Castlevania (NES) that also functions as a bridge to Castlevania II (NES). It isn’t as good as either, however, and it’s insanely hard.

Haunted Castle (Arcade) - A pretty “meh” arcade game with wonky controls and ugly graphics.

Castlevania Legends (GB) - Not good. Easy and boring. Beating it is a chore.

Castlevania Adventure (GB) - The worst, despite a pretty thrilling third level.

.....

I italicized the games I’ve played, but not yet beaten.

The only linear Castlevania games I haven’t played at all are Dracula Peke (PCCD), Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles (PSP), and Castlevania: Order of Shadows (Mobile). Accordingly, they aren’t on my list. I also haven’t played Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon yet, but that’s OK because it’s not a “real” Castlevania game.

[pierrot]

There've been a lot of these conversations over the regular course of probably 1000 or more threads. If it weren't so much work, it would be kind of cool to see them compiled into a thread like this.

I love classicvanias. I'd probably have to rank them:

1. Rondo of Blood (PCE)
2. Akumajou Densetsu (ie CV III-J) (FC)
3. Bloodlines (GEN)
4. Akumajou Dracula (X68k/PS1)
5. Castlevania Adventure Rebirth (WiiWare)
6. Castlevania (NES)
7. Akumajou Dracula (ie CV IV) (SFC)

The middle is all kind of a jumbled mass of excellent, though. The only ones I'm really set on are Rondo at the top, and CV IV at the bottom. I really hated CV IV: Janky whip, too easy, dumb bosses, Slogra, crappy tech demo set pieces and terrible ledge detection everywhere. I wouldn't even really give it marks for presentation either. The treasure room is about the only interesting area, to me, and some of the music is neat, but feels kind of out of place for the series. They made up for their mistakes with the X68k "remake" of the first game, though.

[Gunstar Green]

Whew, I'll have to sit out on Castlevania. That's a tough one and it's been a long time since I've put any serious thought into it.

[pook99]

@prfsnl_gamer: how do I update the thread title, I think updating it is a really good idea

I think based on the results of this thread I need to replay castlevania adventure 2, in fairness to that game I have not played it in years and may be unfairly lumping it in with adv 1 and legends both of which are terrible and both of which I have played in the last year or two.

[marurun]

Edit you first post and change the title. That should do it.

[prfsnl_gmr]

@prfsnl_gamer: how do I update the thread title, I think updating it is a really good idea

I think based on the results of this thread I need to replay castlevania adventure 2, in fairness to that game I have not played it in years and may be unfairly lumping it in with adv 1 and legends both of which are terrible and both of which I have played in the last year or two.

Yes. Just edit the first post in the thread. It’s super easy.

Here’s my review of CV Adventure II from earlier this year:

While it doesn’t offer the white-knuckle thrills found in level 3 of Castlevania: The Adventure (GB), Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge (GB) is otherwise the superior game in (almost) every other way. It looks better; its difficulty curve is more gradual; it has more content; it has more complex mechanics; it’s more fun; and it controls way, way better. (IMO, the music isn’t quite as good, though.) It is a solid game through-and-through, and a worthy entry in the series. I recommend it to anyone looking for a new challenge after playing through all the classic Castlevania games on the NES, Genesis, and SNES.

[pierrot]

Kid Dracula (Famicom) - Very easy game with great graphics that ultimately isn’t that fun or challenging.

Oh, we did not play the same game. I agree that it's not very fun, but I don't know how anyone goes into this one blind, and comes out of stage 9 without a serious case of the rage shakes.

[ElkinFencer10]

I'm still a relative neophyte with Castlevania, but I'll rank the games in the series that I have played!

1. Super Castlevania IV
2. Castlevania III
3. Castlevania Rebirth
4. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
5. Castlevania
6. Castlevania Adventure

As you can see, there are still a number of beloved classic Castlevania games that I've yet to play.