[dessgeega]

team folio's riah is an homage to castlevania, and not the metrovania style of castlevania that seems to have become the current template for the series, but the older model, where platforming is crucial and enemies are placed carefully to construct compelling setpieces.

don't be fooled by riah's sword - that thing extends like a whip, and she can't move while it's extended. (position and timing are important, just like in the earlier vanias.) she carries an arsenal of weapons that function rather like the belmonts' sub-weapons, which you can swap through at any time using the C key.

the sprites are stumpy and full of charm and character, and the color palette reminds me of a neogeo pocket game. the music suits the tone of the game well, but crashes it for me when it tries to loop. i guess folio hasn't worked all the bugs out yet. they have included a level editor, though!

if turn-based, randomly generated castlevania is more your speed, castlevaniarl recently upgraded to include graphic tiles and a simon's quest-style town (check it out at night!). it's buggy too, but does a good job of capturing the play style of castlevania: move right, positioning your attacks to keep enemies out of reach. and you can play as alucard if you like.

(thanks to tim w.)
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[Shapermc]

Just from that sceen shot the game looks like Son-Son mixed with Pocky and Rocky overlaid on Ghosts N Goblins arcade. Intersting.
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The bad sleep well at the Gamer's Quarter

[luvcraft]

NOT FUN. :(

Bad controls, unreasonable jumps right at the beginning, and you have to start all the way over when you die. Graphics are cute, though.

Also, why do Japanese PC games always reverse the attack and jump buttons? It's really annoying.

[ö]

You do realize you can double jump?

I find the controls rather exquisite, for what they're trying to do. Also, why didn't Castlevania ever have this much block breaking?

Yes (that is, no) on the restart thing. Hm.

[luvcraft]

[TORUMASUTA]

If you haven't, there is another Castlevania 1 and 2ish doujin game out there: Vampire.

The beginning was hard as hell when I played it; not sure if it got fixed in later versions. I wish I knew what the hell was going on; I think you can get different items that do...something?!?!?
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www.mechadamashii.com -- God Bless the Machine

[ö]

[luvcraft]

[hipkondo]

This is quite charming. There's even that little trademark old school-Castlevania recovery time after you land a jump. The level design isn't devious enough but I'll keep my eye on this for updates. And hey, the level editor is pretty fun.

[hipkondo]

I whipped up some levels in the provided editor. Download them here and place them in the directory where you installed the game (make backups of the original levels first). I tried to make them difficult without being cheap (not so sure about the latter..) You can skip ahead to another level by renaming the one you want to play as "0.mdt". Any feedback is appreciated.

Also, the blocky mess in the background of the first level is supposed to be Drac's Castle...my attempt at foreshadowing.

[Zero3K]

Recently, there was a new version made that has more levels.

[barcajunior]

I guess children will like the game. :)

250mw green laser pointers

[diamondblast]

[Koji]

[Mr. Toups]

kid tested... spambot approved!
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[Chris B]