This is top! I love the Castlevania series so much, it combines many of my favourite things: spooky vibes, great music, mindless action. You're totally right about having to learn the layouts and get into a groove with the first game. It's one of those NES titles that is like learning to play a musical instrument and once you get a certain section down, it feels magical.
Thanks Josh, that's great to hear man. I really love Castlevania too, for the same reasons. Keep tuned as I'm going to cover them all in the next few weeks (hopefully).
The Vampire Killer part starting at 6:57 is masterfully edited. I love that every time a new rendition plays, it starts exactly where the previous one ended.
The orginal Castlevania is such a tight game. Absolutely one of the best games of all time. Every aspect of that game was so expertly crafted. I never seen any footage of the other versions. That was really interesting to see! Great video, Matt!
Thanks mate! That is the perfect way to describe the first Castlevania. It's very very cleanly designed, nothing extraneous or flabby. I've played it enough now that I can get pretty far on one life. One day I might be able to do the game in one sitting!
man you have the midas' touch , whichever franchise you pick you create its best retrospective , i didn't know half of the games that you refrenced in this video
Matt, thanks so much! Vampire Killer is an absolute smash. The whole soundtrack to that first game is all killer, no filler! Same goes for Simon's Quest too, it might even be better 😱
A whip 'em up, huh? Sign me up Castlevania is a huge blindspot for me in video games, but I love hearing about the early stages of these important franchises, love it!
I think Castlevania is a tough one for many, because of a couple of games that attracted massive negative attention. There are some belting games in the series. The belly parts obviously are the choicest cuts. If you wanted to give them a go, I'd say start with Super IV as you can experience a lot of Castlevania in a short period of time, then see if it's for you :)
Have you played the original Castlevania series on the NES? I was legitimately surprised by how close the Netflix show follows the plot of Castlevania III.
Of course it doesn’t really matter what other people think set against someone’s own opinions but after all the bashing I’ve seen Cv2 get it’s nice to see some appreciation for it. It’s probably my favourite along with scv4 HoD and LoD (the order varies month to month). The set up and story for Cv2 are excellent, the artwork and tone are excellent and I think the game design has a lot of potential for expansion (some Cv2 hacks and randomisers can make it a very interesting play though) but on the base game it’s still a lot of fun and a nice change of pace. Simon’s character development, such as it is, I really like. It’s more developed in expanded material but it definitely started here - Simon has much more of a ‘relationship’ (if that’s the right word) with the monsters and screwed up crap he does (like carting Dracula’s body parts around in bags). He must seem bloody weird to other people. He talks to a ghost lady in this game runs around in armour that is basically keeping his decaying body together and carries bags of body parts around. This kind of thing does run into the rest of his original series appearances save for HC (scv4 and some Japanese expanded material. He’s also ironically more relaxed and less head strong in the sequel (again according to guides and expanded material). Well less relaxed and more accepting I suppose but there are some interesting ideas there which makes it a little annoying that modern portrayals of Simon are so bland and ‘generic hero’. The generic hero guy was Trevor (no disrespect to him but in cv3 it’s true) and Christopher too. In fact the modern Simon design (based on the x68k look but introduced in his single sprite cameo in PoR) looks like Christopher. It just does, and nothing like Simon. Aside from the box art (and I think that was just like in some older comics where red hair is drawn as this reddish blonde but can’t prove that) HC and captain N, Simon pretty consistently has shorter hair than the rest of the Belmonts, which was a ginger/red (it looks black in Cv2 but is clearly orange in the ending and brown/orange in the guide) and he had a smaller frame than Trevor or Christopher. Funny how things change I guess though I wish they’d just let Simon look like Simon again - MoF got his look write I think personally. Side note Carmilla would have been just 18 and recently turned into a vampire in 1698, the year 1698 is also taken from her original story.
I'm glad to hear your take on Simon's Quest as I love that game, it was the first one of the three NES Castlevania games I was able to beat. It was so ahead of its time but sadly it was marred by its limitations. It had tremendous influence on SotN (aside from Metroid, of course), and it is a shame it is so neglected and criticized.
SotN is the next game I'm covering. Simon's Quest is a really fun time. It has some annoying bits, but I've played games that came out within the last five years that still have odd obtuse decisions in them. It's unfair that the rant crowd have made Castlevania II into a bit of a joke.
Fantastic video, mate! I looooooved the original game in particular, I still have the Nes cart kicking around somewhere. Any chance of a blooper reel? Surely there must have been many, many deaths while you were recording this footage ;)
Thanks mate, I'm glad you liked it. I know you're a fan of Castlevania yourself :-) If there was a blooper reel, it would probably be about ten hours long and feature a very colourful voice over!
Why a whip? That's something I've always wondered. Indiana Jones? Is there some Japanese mythology or pop culture hero with a whip? Is it somehow technically easier to represent that other weapons? I never got that, and I think about it too much, lol.
I nearly had a section in the script about this. But yeah, it's basically that they wanted something original, the NES had games which represented most other weapons. And Indiana Jones had had two films and everyone agreed whips are cool!
@@MattyStoked I think also that it has the reach of a spear (necessary in the game), but doesn't need to be visible on the character sprite when not attacking...Unlike a spear, which they'd have to animate him holding/walking with, jumping with, etc. A whip has the luxury (from an animation standpoint) of just vanishing when not in use.
You probably called Grant a pirate because the American Castlevania 3 manual actually says he's a "ghost pirate". It also says a lot of other nonsense though, so it shouldn't be taken seriously.
You forgot 1 minor link and 1 huge link for the 1st Castlevania game : _ the Fairy tale and Fantasy trope of the Vanishing Village/Castle _ the sucessfull (in Japan) animation movie, Lupin III : The Castle of Cagliostro. Each level of the game is linked to a scene of the movie, the japanese title, and some ennemies. Others games of the Castlevania frachise will continue, such as Symphony of the Night with the quest/puzzle of the two rings.
This is pure Kino
This is top! I love the Castlevania series so much, it combines many of my favourite things: spooky vibes, great music, mindless action. You're totally right about having to learn the layouts and get into a groove with the first game. It's one of those NES titles that is like learning to play a musical instrument and once you get a certain section down, it feels magical.
Thanks Josh, that's great to hear man. I really love Castlevania too, for the same reasons. Keep tuned as I'm going to cover them all in the next few weeks (hopefully).
The Vampire Killer part starting at 6:57 is masterfully edited. I love that every time a new rendition plays, it starts exactly where the previous one ended.
That took a long time to sync up properly! I'm glad that you noticed and that the effort was appreciated ☺️
The orginal Castlevania is such a tight game. Absolutely one of the best games of all time. Every aspect of that game was so expertly crafted. I never seen any footage of the other versions. That was really interesting to see! Great video, Matt!
Thanks mate! That is the perfect way to describe the first Castlevania. It's very very cleanly designed, nothing extraneous or flabby. I've played it enough now that I can get pretty far on one life. One day I might be able to do the game in one sitting!
man you have the midas' touch , whichever franchise you pick you create its best retrospective , i didn't know half of the games that you refrenced in this video
Thank you so much. That's so kind of you to say!
Loved this video! And "Vampire Killer" is one of the best video game tracks EVER.
Matt, thanks so much! Vampire Killer is an absolute smash. The whole soundtrack to that first game is all killer, no filler! Same goes for Simon's Quest too, it might even be better 😱
Really liking these videos man, Thanks.
Thank you! :-D
𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕲𝖆𝖒𝖊 𝕾𝖍𝖔𝖜 𝖛𝖎𝖉 𝖍𝖆𝖘 𝖛𝖆𝖓𝖖𝖚𝖎𝖘𝖍𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖍𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙.
Great to see you back! Hope you liked it ✌️
ive been binging your castlevania video and the production quality is great man you deserve more subs
Thank you very much. Let's hope the channel continues to grow 🙂
This video is so damn good. Been in a huge Castlevania mood lately.
Hell yeah, brother. Castlevania bros unite!
Terrific stuff as always matty x
Thanks mate! x
Ah yes... how could I forget how the day was saved immediately after whipping Drac´s head off? Not traumatizing at all. Loved that bit XD
A whip 'em up, huh? Sign me up
Castlevania is a huge blindspot for me in video games, but I love hearing about the early stages of these important franchises, love it!
I think Castlevania is a tough one for many, because of a couple of games that attracted massive negative attention. There are some belting games in the series. The belly parts obviously are the choicest cuts. If you wanted to give them a go, I'd say start with Super IV as you can experience a lot of Castlevania in a short period of time, then see if it's for you :)
Have you played the original Castlevania series on the NES? I was legitimately surprised by how close the Netflix show follows the plot of Castlevania III.
Well, i sunk my teeth into this video and it was a very enjoyable watch!
Thanks Scott, I'm glad you liked it. The second part is one it's way too 🤓
Of course it doesn’t really matter what other people think set against someone’s own opinions but after all the bashing I’ve seen Cv2 get it’s nice to see some appreciation for it. It’s probably my favourite along with scv4 HoD and LoD (the order varies month to month). The set up and story for Cv2 are excellent, the artwork and tone are excellent and I think the game design has a lot of potential for expansion (some Cv2 hacks and randomisers can make it a very interesting play though) but on the base game it’s still a lot of fun and a nice change of pace. Simon’s character development, such as it is, I really like. It’s more developed in expanded material but it definitely started here - Simon has much more of a ‘relationship’ (if that’s the right word) with the monsters and screwed up crap he does (like carting Dracula’s body parts around in bags). He must seem bloody weird to other people. He talks to a ghost lady in this game runs around in armour that is basically keeping his decaying body together and carries bags of body parts around. This kind of thing does run into the rest of his original series appearances save for HC (scv4 and some Japanese expanded material. He’s also ironically more relaxed and less head strong in the sequel (again according to guides and expanded material). Well less relaxed and more accepting I suppose but there are some interesting ideas there which makes it a little annoying that modern portrayals of Simon are so bland and ‘generic hero’. The generic hero guy was Trevor (no disrespect to him but in cv3 it’s true) and Christopher too. In fact the modern Simon design (based on the x68k look but introduced in his single sprite cameo in PoR) looks like Christopher. It just does, and nothing like Simon. Aside from the box art (and I think that was just like in some older comics where red hair is drawn as this reddish blonde but can’t prove that) HC and captain N, Simon pretty consistently has shorter hair than the rest of the Belmonts, which was a ginger/red (it looks black in Cv2 but is clearly orange in the ending and brown/orange in the guide) and he had a smaller frame than Trevor or Christopher. Funny how things change I guess though I wish they’d just let Simon look like Simon again - MoF got his look write I think personally. Side note Carmilla would have been just 18 and recently turned into a vampire in 1698, the year 1698 is also taken from her original story.
That is a high-effort post and I love it. Thank you for that! Great to meet other passionate fans 🤠
The Game Show thanks for the great video!
I'm glad to hear your take on Simon's Quest as I love that game, it was the first one of the three NES Castlevania games I was able to beat. It was so ahead of its time but sadly it was marred by its limitations. It had tremendous influence on SotN (aside from Metroid, of course), and it is a shame it is so neglected and criticized.
SotN is the next game I'm covering. Simon's Quest is a really fun time. It has some annoying bits, but I've played games that came out within the last five years that still have odd obtuse decisions in them. It's unfair that the rant crowd have made Castlevania II into a bit of a joke.
@@MattyStoked cool, looking forward to it!
Excelente, ^^
🙏
Fantastic video, mate! I looooooved the original game in particular, I still have the Nes cart kicking around somewhere. Any chance of a blooper reel? Surely there must have been many, many deaths while you were recording this footage ;)
Thanks mate, I'm glad you liked it. I know you're a fan of Castlevania yourself :-) If there was a blooper reel, it would probably be about ten hours long and feature a very colourful voice over!
Why a whip? That's something I've always wondered. Indiana Jones? Is there some Japanese mythology or pop culture hero with a whip? Is it somehow technically easier to represent that other weapons? I never got that, and I think about it too much, lol.
I nearly had a section in the script about this. But yeah, it's basically that they wanted something original, the NES had games which represented most other weapons. And Indiana Jones had had two films and everyone agreed whips are cool!
@@MattyStoked I think also that it has the reach of a spear (necessary in the game), but doesn't need to be visible on the character sprite when not attacking...Unlike a spear, which they'd have to animate him holding/walking with, jumping with, etc. A whip has the luxury (from an animation standpoint) of just vanishing when not in use.
Vampire Hunter D was a big influence on Castlevania. I don't remember if it's Doris or Greco in the original anime but one of them uses a whip.
Hitoshi and his team got.....Shafted . 😴
Absolutely banger comment! :D
You probably called Grant a pirate because the American Castlevania 3 manual actually says he's a "ghost pirate". It also says a lot of other nonsense though, so it shouldn't be taken seriously.
You forgot 1 minor link and 1 huge link for the 1st Castlevania game :
_ the Fairy tale and Fantasy trope of the Vanishing Village/Castle
_ the sucessfull (in Japan) animation movie, Lupin III : The Castle of Cagliostro. Each level of the game is linked to a scene of the movie, the japanese title, and some ennemies. Others games of the Castlevania frachise will continue, such as Symphony of the Night with the quest/puzzle of the two rings.
Dracula XX feels more inspired by Cagliostro than the original, borrowing a lot of its visual identity from the latter.
you are underrated as hell sad :/
Don't be sad. Great comments like yours make this a wonderful hobby! Thank you very much :-)
The director of the first Castlevania was an avid fan of classic horror movies like those from Universal. Thank you!
MAN