[Shapermc]

Castlevania is a series which has been discussed on these forums (including its previous installments at Insert Credit) ad infinitum. Some people have even said Eric-Jon’s Harmony of Dissonance feature is one of the best on the site. Needless to say, we like the game a lot.

The series, by many accounts, has gone downhill since the current curator, Koji Igarashi, took over the franchise with the Gameboy Advance title, Harmony of Dissonance. The same fools continue to buy game after game of the series which won’t die. Sometimes it’s because we’re spurred on by bonus items (such as the extravagant coffin box with Portrait of Ruin, which included a soundtrack CD, art book, timeline, DS game holder, and stylus all within gorgeous packaging). Other times because there’s just not much else on that particular system (Dawn of Sorrow). What ever the reason we keep doing it.

Like last year, in Japan, game publisher Hamster released a Playstation 2 port of the arcade game Haunted Castle. This is the only original Castlevania game that had yet to be ported to a home console. Hamster was loving enough to not only include the game, but also a soundtrack, and “super-play” where the person playing is not really super, and even dies halfway through the game. I think we should ignore the fact that the port is also fairly poor in terms of speed and reproduction.

Also, announced last year, Symphony of the Night will be coming out for the Xbox 360’s Live Arcade. More recently it was stated that the game will break the XBLA space requirement for download size (which was in place to make sure games could fit on a memory card). As a sign of good faith many people will be re-buying this game come February who have already purchased it at least once or twice for the Playstation 1, and many of which still own it. Let’s let alone the fact that this could have been a much greater game release by including the added elements and playable character of the Saturn version, which has never seen the light of day outside Japan, and just be happy that we can buy a game we’ve played to death again, in HD.

Konami and Nintendo must know something about Castlevania fans and how much they can’t restrain themselves from re-buying Castlevania games. This past christmas Nintendo lovingly wrapped up and delivered us all fodder for our most compulsive of instincts. Super Castlevania IV was released for the Virtual Console in wonderful 480p, and against all attempts to restrain ourselves, the cumulative internet frantically scrounged up enough Wii Points in order to re-buy, and re-play, Castlevania before we all go and do it again next month. Luckily there were enough component cables going around by this time.

Looking into my crystal ball by grabbing my most recent issue of EGM (number 212, yes the one with the infantile interview about Zelda: Twilight Princess) and finding the side bar titled “Second Symphony” next to an interview with Koji Igarashi (trust me, there’s nothing good in the interview except him saying that people in his office got standing ovations for clearing PoR in hard mode). If you hadn’t guessed what the rumor is to be based on the title of the side bar, here’s a quote:

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

Ok, while this was to be a light-hearted entry in general I see you're obviously going to take this way too personally and seriously in general.

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

Seriously, the rock band option seems most logical. You will have to exchange enemy souls to buy weapons instruments. For combat, think DMC3 guitar here.
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The bad sleep well at The Gamer's Quarter

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

The thing that pissed me off about the map was that if you accidentally found a new area, but it wasn't what you were looking for, then went and completed the area you were looking for it wouldn't save where the area was that you stumbled across.

I ... actually forgot about how bad the map was. I guess that's a testament for how good the other stuff is?
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The bad sleep well at The Gamer's Quarter

[Shapermc]

Looks like it's Rondo on PSP (original and 3D version) and SotN in "full-screen" what ever that means.
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The bad sleep well at The Gamer's Quarter

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

You know what my largest complaint about the remake is? Richter's voice actor.

Yes, that's it.

Seriously, the people complaining the most are just trying to justify that the PSP isn't worth it. It's not. One can only hope that the PSP has a version 2.0 by then.

Also, how the hell was that Rondo of Blood PCE version captured? It has such a low frame rate it makes my stomach hurt. Dessgeega captured a pretty good run through her VHS tape which captures the feel a bit better of the game if you want a comparison.

And! What's with the guy playing the remade version? He sucks! Did they remove the ability to land on the stairs from jumping? Also, was the fleaman hive replaced with meat, or is that a memory failure? Another thing, the beast that chases you through the castle.... I didn't see him until the end, I hope they make it more impending-doom-like.
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The bad sleep well at The Gamer's Quarter

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

That's an excellent point. It seems like good points can only be applied to well established things like golf though.
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The bad sleep well at The Gamer's Quarter

[Shapermc]

hey guys, 1up said the game was going to be out today.

where is it?
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The bad sleep well at The Gamer's Quarter

[Shapermc]

So, it seems like even with the story breaking early from 1up not EGM, there is a little bit left to be found in the Magazine Edition of the Rondo of Blood (Dracula X Chronicles) release for the PSP. All info stolen from EGM issue 213.

First, let’s get some quotes from Iga: “We were inspired by all the fans that have been asking for a title with 3D graphics and 2D gameplay for so long. Since Rondo of Blood never received a proper release outside of Japan, we decided it would be a perfect candidate for a remake.”

At this point I question why Iga didn’t point out that he said he wanted to bring this game out since the original Chronicles release 6 years ago in an interview on the PS1 disc. It seems more likely that if he was playing to the fans, as he claims, that he would have said something more akin to “See guys! I live up to my promises.” Though, I’m sure he probably didn’t want to remind us Americans (and Brits!) about our failure to purchase that game. But, back to Iga:

“Even though we are remaking Rondo in 3D, our goal is to retain the look and feel of the original 2D game. The first stage is especially faithful so gamers can easily transition to our new look if they were familiar with our original game.”

Is this some kind of backhanded statement about how “we know it doesn’t look as awesome, but hopefully we lower your expectations enough that you’ll find things looking good later in the game to be good enough”? The world can only wait in patient antici

Pation. But that’s not all! Igarashi can’t leave the original game alone: “We’ve changed some of the original stages so that more experienced players could still enjoy the exploration and surprise of playing it for the first time. Plus, we’re making drastic changes to one level [ed: Oh noes!] and adding some light collection elements to the overall game [ed: gouging eyes out with spoons here], but the basic gameplay will still be pretty faithful.”

Pretty faithful? Hmm. Anyways, reading down a bit I noticed that Shane Bettenhausen slipped a mickey into my drink. “[H]e does know that the original TurboDuo version of Rondo will be unlockable on the disc.” Crap. Well, there goes any chance of ignoring the remake.

Though, honestly, I guess I didn’t expect anything else. I even joked around with a friend about the addition of collectable elements to the game. Oh that Igarashi! As we have come to know this is a release called “Dracula X Chronicles” as in, both games in the DracX series, so Symphony of the Night will also be included on the disc (UMD). With the release of SotN right around the corner (and outside the timeframe of FKW) it seems a bit odd to port the game twice in one year… but wait!

EGM claims that the game is getting reprogrammed so that it is going to fit the widescreen format of the PSP. I don’t know if this is actually amazing or horrible. On one hand, this is the first time that I can recall a game that’s getting converted to widescreen not just involve a stretched format, or a cropped format (or even the in-a-box format), but actually reprogrammed so that you can see additional items which were originally outside the viewing area. On the other hand, this is a travesty for the XBLA release which is going to be in the original 4:3 aspect ration. It’s a bit unfair that a system which is going to be widely ignored by fans of this type of genre (if past sales of both Chronicles and PSP fixed plane platformers are any indication), and yet a console that is on my damn TV which is connected to a system who’s prime feature is widescreen High Definition isn’t getting this kind of attention. As I swallow my tears I shall digress.

Aside from that there will be some minor background tweak, and audio tweaks for SotN, but they’ll “only be making changes to the parts I’m not satisfied with,” states Iga. Bettenhausen claims that this is going to be for the voice acting, but I have a feeling it will be more than just that.

As any “would-be Belmont” knows, the PS1 version of SotN wasn’t the only one released. Recently the Saturn version of the game was lambasted on the 1up Retro Show by Jeremy Parish and crew. But we all know that you’ve been dieing to see these things added to an official version of SotN without the drawbacks of the Saturn hardware. Two new areas, selectable playable characters from the start, and a whole new character, Maria (who I’m told plays a bit like Mega Man, and is possibly the only reason to try the Saturn version). But what does Igarashi have to say when asked about these things getting put on the Chronicles collection?

“Good question, but I’m afraid that’s a secret for now. All I can say is that we’re planning to incorporate new content that is going to be really enjoyable for anyone who is a fan of the game.”

For as negative as this may sound, I’m actually pretty happy about most of this news. Let’s hope that Iga has the sense not to completely deface the games that got him where he is today.
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The bad sleep well at The Gamer's Quarter

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

You should be playing these on a GB Micro.

Also, yeah, If I had to ... rank the GBA CV games I would do this:

HoD>CotM>AoS

And... like, I completly understand that I'm crazy.
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The bad sleep well at The Gamer's Quarter