Castlevania Dungeon Forums
The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Classic Castlevania Threads => Topic started by: Pfil on September 09, 2013, 11:05:46 PM
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In this case, as opposed to my favourite between RoB and DXC, I will go for the newer one.
The original game is a game I like, but it's not flawless, while the new one uses a music selection that applies better to my tastes, has better stage design, branching paths and secrets, better balanced challenge that can also be adjusted in several ways, and it is the first ClassicVania we received in years, while the older game was in middle of the ClassicVania era (though I wasn't playing during that times, but I can imagine it wasn't so fundamental for fans as Rebirth was).
That said, I still like the original, and I reckon the remake is more of a reimagining, because there's little left of the original. But I just wanted to ask fellow dungeonites: what Adventure do you prefer, and why?
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I realize I'm likely in the minority here, but the Gameboy one. Despite its speed resembling that of a slug, it had the spirit of the first NES game but with its own uniquenesses - the ropes, the giant exploding eyeballs, the new style of bats, the fireball whip, etc. It had a lot of charm and personality if one gave it a chance. ReBirth feels generic, rushed, and more like a Castlevania than a Castlevania Adventure. It's an alright game on its own merits (and obviously has a great soundtrack), but the level designs hardly hold my interest and most of the Adventure-exclusive traits and enemies are missing. It actually feels more to me like a cheap Bloodlines revamp than an Adventure rebirth.
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I'm also with that minority. I'd prefer CV: The Adventure over Adventure ReBirth. My reasons for that is because adventure rebirth feels somewhat cheap and lazy in the design. It had more stages then the original, but it did not resemble the original game in any way. Almost none of the original music made it to rebirth and that was a huge disappointment for me. The cheapness came from the reusing of sprites from some of IGA's other titles such as AoS. The music arrangements from bloodlines and Belmont's revenge felt like a step backward harking back to the Genesis era rather then being something much more. Some here like those arrangements but they aren't really in my personal taste. Also the intro graphics and ending sequences looked flat. As in they vectored 2D graphics to make the castle stand out in certain angles and that didn't look good from a visual or a designer standpoint. Plus Dracula's castle looked nothing like it's gameboy counterpart when I personally think it should have. It was a very unique design and suited the early game very well. And personally the four original stages should have been retained in the game but adding more stages along side them to make the game longer would have been nice. But because it was a rebirth title and not a remake/upgrade title it just wasn't in the cards. It is fun to play from time to time but by no means is it CV: The Adventure.
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I understand your points of view. It seems I'm the one in the minority :P
I can see how it applies even to why I liked the game from what you both explained. It's exactly those things that made it special. I liked the fact that it looked and sounded like a Genesis title, kind of a Bloodlines 2, but I always knew that the only thing from Adventure is the title and little more.
One of the things that made me like it so much was the fact of the very hard classic mode gameplay. It's at par with Castlevania 3 in challenge, but not a rushed and chaotic challenge. You can take your time to think and advance very slowly, learning every stage part by part. I really enjoy that kind of challenge (while the more frenetic challenge just makes me angry because most of times I don't have reflexes to improvise; I'm more of trial and error, learning and repeating the pattern, rather than improvising and doing things differently in every life).
But I still like Adventure on the GB. Only once I could defeat Dracula, though. And I don't remember how many times I could beat the spikes auto-scroll level, but not many times.
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I'd have to go with the GB title, only because ReBirth was a huge letdown in spirit.
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I have to agree with the prevailing consensus that the Game Boy original, maligned as it tends to be for its clunky gameplay, is in fact the better game. Now don't get me wrong- CVA Rebirth is an enjoyable way to kill an hour, and it is more than anything just a nostalgia trip that happens to use CVA's hero rather than making the game around one of the series' more popular characters. And I genuinely like the music remixes, with one exception- why did they remix Battle of the Holy and NOT put it in game? Instead, for the final level we got a remix of Vampire Killer, a song that's been remixed to death.
ReBirth plays on our nostalgia, while Adventure is actually nostalgic. I remember that it was just cool to be playing Castlevania on a Game Boy.
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This is a bit of a tough question. The Adventure Rebirth has been the first 2D Castlevania to enthrall me since Aria of Sorrow, which says a lot. The return to a classic Castlevania was a joy, despite the fact that it clearly was a low-budget sort of endeavor meant to play with nostalgia. I give it a lot of credit, though, for not going the easiest route. It has 3 difficulty settings with differing level layouts and enemy sets/placement, it has a competent and amusing motion control mode, a classic mode for diehard players, and a stage select option to help one practice or skip to their favorite level. The multiple routes and hidden rooms a very strategically developed, which becomes clear when playing on Hard Mode, and it's cool to see this and the lock-and-key mechanic used in such an elaborate way from level to level. Honestly, I think Hard Mode's layout with the modern controls is the best way to play the game, despite the frustration it can bring. The content itself includes nice musical and visual references from a big chunk of the series, new and old, and despite some reused spritework, it has some very creative new bosses and level segments. On the whole, I think it's much better made than its cousin, Contra Rebirth, which forgot the key gameplay element of earning extra lives for destroying numerous amounts of baddies. And actually, it's not as if it totally abandons The Adventure heritage. It has a flame-shooting whip, the exploding eyeballs (including a new boss eyeball), the shooting wall pike platforms, the rolling bug enemies, the circling bird enemies, and takes music from Belmont's Revenge, the sequel to The Adventure, and its jumping knife-throwing enemies.
That said...I think the title should have been called Castlevania Rebirth. I like the nods to The Adventure, but they are very small all things considered. And so, the uniqueness, charm, and challenge of the original The Adventure probably gets the nod from me at the end of the day. But The Adventure Rebirth was a really solid entry given the circumstances it was made under. Honestly, I think it laid the groundwork for a strong return to classic Castlevania, at least one more time. I imagined how the sequel to Rebirth could bring in the unused elements of The Adventure, combining them with Belmont's Revenge and SCV-IV. (Though, in retrospect, I might tap some more bosses from Legends) SEE: http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php?topic=2620.0 (http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php?topic=2620.0)
As an aside, I plan on writing up a re-evaluation of Legends soon, as I've been playing through all the Original GB titles.
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Adventure, the game that beat you upside the head till you learned it's intricacies. Sure I liked that Rebirth went back to the original formula of CV I prefer, and was nice to hear some Haunted Castle tunes in there, but the game felt ever so slightly off.
The original Adventures wasn't perfect or polished, but that's a given considering the time it came out and the fact Konami didn't quite know how to use the GB hardware at the time. That changed quickly though as back then Konami could adapt to any system they worked on it seems, the first Gradius, known as Nemesis on the GB, showed that.
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I own both but regret to say I've only finished Rebirth. So, due to that I have to say Rebirth. I do however wish Battle of the Holy(I think that's the name?) was in Rebirth. I think it's on a soundtrack or something? I could be making stuff up
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Can please mods add a poll so we can all vote?
I didn't think of that when I made the topic.
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So, since I forgot to include a poll in the correspondent thread, I am making this new one, with poll included.
I advise everyone who posted to vote here, otherwise, I am not responsible for what harm the fairy godmother of the forest may bring upon thyselves.
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I'm on the minority here :'(
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(https://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FxdvtGoD.png&hash=b7542bdec6eaf58666fff3013530162a)
Sorry for posting this in every thread, but you need to know that you still can fix them. :P
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Topics merged. Haven't played TAR so I won't vote. But I'm betting I would prefer it over the original Adventure.
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I really can't choose, they're such different games.
I kinda wish they'd kept more of The Adventure in Rebirth but Rebirth was a fun game. It made me realize that I have a real knack for the older CV games. I can get through good portions of them on thr first try because I'm so used to how they work. I wouldn't mind having another classic title but I've only beaten Rebirth once so I should go back and try Hard mode I suppose.
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As I always recommend, hard and classic mode is the best, most old school combination.