Video Review - Castlevania Chronicle: Akumajou Dracula

[xan1242]

I have the North American version of the game which has the sound module screen enabled.Odd.

[JBHutto]

How would you rank the 16-bit Castlevanias(SNES, Turbo Duo, Genesis, X68000)?

[elbryan42]

Man, that's tough. I guess I'd go SNES, Duo, Genesis, X68000. They're all pretty darn close though. I guess it all depends on the day. It was a great few years for Castlevania. Those were the days.

[gamecollect101]

Good review, I'm a big purist myself, so any ports that are not accurate to the original simply would annoy the crap outta me. Ironically that's exactly what got me into game collecting in the first place. I NEED THE ORIGINALS, NEEEED ORIGINALS, GIVE ME THE ORIGINALS PLEASE. LOL. Very good and descriptive vid.

[herugrim666]

They changed one aspect and you went on claiming they changed the entire gameplay. As you said it was even a minor gameplay gripe but you still carried on saying they ruined the game by doing it.Moreso the interview as you say is in the north american version only but it doesn't count because you don't like the guy. A decent review but the quality is ruined on your clearly biased opinions.

[elbryan42]

It wasn't only the subweapons. Plastering Castlevania all over the game (when it wasn't in the original), taking out the japanese voices, disabling the sound menu, and disabling subweapons breaking blocks change the game from it's source material.

It's not authentic. I personally feel that authenticity is VERY important in games.

I personally hate that most reviewers don't nitpick and leave viewers in the dark simply because they don't think it's important enough to mention.

[elbryan42]

I didn't say that the interview didn't count because I didn't like IGA. Yes, I think he's ruining the series, but I feel an extra interview you watch once or twice has no bearing on the gameplay. Sorry I didn't clarify. I'm still not used to getting my point across, as I easily get sidetracked when I play the games.

When there's two versions of the same game, and one's clearly better than the other, I feel the need to mention it.

Adding an interview doesn't make up for taking stuff out.

[Sindrom11]

Lastly are you fortunate enough to have played 'Akumajo Dracula X or Rondo of Blood' for the PC Engine? It's claimed to be the pinnacle of the Classic Castlevania's featuring alternative paths and secret levels, brillantly extending the game through replayability. Secondly upon rescueing 'Maria' the player is given the option to select her as a playable character! The game also restricts the player to whipping in classic two directions rather than Simon who can whip in all eight in SCIV.

[elbryan42]

Yup, I have Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP, which includes Rondo. Some localization was done (new voices, title screen), but no gameplay changes from the original that I can see.

Maybe someday I'll get a Turbo Duo with Rondo, or if it actually gets released outside of Japan for the Wii's Virtual Console.

[Sindrom11]

A perculiar choice as it shows the designers discarded any rationality in theme by doing so. Secondly the statues on Stage VI 'Main Hall' were partially nude whilst in the West they were fully clothed. I'd have to say Super Castlevania IV is my favourite of the classic series, for one I believe it has one of the most atmospheric soundtracks and secondly the level design successfully captures the essence of addiction, and unlike previous games here Simon ventures out into the dark world.

[Sindrom11]

Interesting! I was falsely led to believe the 'Original Mode' was a replica of the Sharp X16000 version, shame on you Konami! I'd have to agree that this is indeed the hardest of the classic linear Castlevania games, mainly due to the large damage allocation Simon takes upon being striked. Speaking of censorship, they did the very same for 'Super Castlevania IV' notably Stage VIII 'The Dungeon's' originally had blood in the background which was replaced by slime in the European version.

[Gamester81]

Great review. It's too bad that they took a lot of things out of the US version.

[8BitROB]

This is a really nice review. Hope you do more reviews. 5 Stars!

[Matsute]

Nice review, I love that game. I'm really bad at it though.

Have you played Haunted Castle before? Probably one of the absolute hardest Castlevania games in my opinion (getting hit by a skeleton drains half your energy bar!). Awesome music though.

[elbryan42]

Thanks. Yup, played Haunted Castle. Both in the arcade and emulated. Too bad it was only ported to the PS2 in Japan. My PSX is modded to play imports, my PS2 isn't. Maybe someday I'll purchase it and be able to play it.

[Archvile78]

I liked the review Rob, i like how you stay natural and don't add over the top effect to make your review fun. (not dissing any reviewers out there) glad that you took my idea in consideration. :)

Hopefully you'll do more review in the future. :D

[elbryan42]

Thanks. :)

[RaionBot]

Love Castlevania, always been wanting to play Symphony of the Night, apparently that's the best. I've only really played the first 2 DS versions, personally I think Portrait of Ruin is fantastic.

[Matsute]

What?

You NEED to play SotN! You'll love it.