Topic: Difficulty

[Belmont legacy]

Just a curious kinda question what in your guys' opinion was the hardest Castlevania game of all time? Mine is a tie between Castlevania 1 and 3. I have finished 1 but it took me 3 years. lol! To this day I can't beat Castlevania 3. XDXDXD

[X]

It's a little up in the air with CV1 and CV3. Both games have certain areas that are notoriously hard in their own right. But if you want 'hard' then go play the original gameboy title Castlevania: The Adventure. That game will make both CV1 and CV3 seem easier.

[Nagumo]

I recommend Akumajo Dracula for Sharp X68000 if you're looking for punishment.

Castlevania: The Adventure is very doable if you developed a proper strategy for each obtacle the game throws at you. It's a game that requires strategic thinking, which is an aspect of the design I appreciate. I'm currently in loop 5 (where one hit kills you) but I think CV3, specifically the later levels, and X68000 can be more frustrating on regular playthroughs.       

[Lelygax]

Haunted Castle and Vampire Killer. If you want something with Castlevania in the name, Castlevania Dracula X for SNES and Castlevania Chronicles (X68000 for PSX). If you want to die in one hit, use NOMIS as your name.

[Ratty]

It's also worth noting when talking about these things that in some cases games were significantly harder in the English localization than the original Japanese release to discourage people just renting the games instead of buying them. (While iirc the Japanese market didn't have to worry about this because renting games is/was illegal there.) This was a common practice in the 80s and 90s and resulted in crazyhard game changes like the original US release of Resident Evil not having auto-aim(!!) but in the Castlevania series mainly manifested itself in regular enemies doing more damage in the later stages I think.
I haven't beaten Castlevania 3 yet due to one of these changes. Unlike the Japanese original you start at the beginning of the final stage instead of at Dracula when you continue in the English version. (You start halfway through the stage when you lose a regular life to Dracula.) Not that the final stage is very hard or long once you get used to it/know where the power-ups are, quite the opposite actually, it's just annoying and time consuming having to make your way all the way back to Drac for a few seconds of practice against him until he kills you.

[son_the_vampire]

i personally believe Albus mode in OOE to be the hardest... i just cant mix that whole contra element into an already difficult Igavania. I havent played every single game but that damn sure was the hardest for me. The second hardest was CotM for me. I think it may have been because my first playthrough, i didnt have a GBA SP, just a regular one, so i kept missing jumps and it made it that much harder. 

[Lelygax]

He is talking about games with the classic gameplay pal, otherwise that would be the first on my list too, if you play it in Hard Mode.

It's also worth noting when talking about these things that in some cases games were significantly harder in the English localization than the original Japanese release to discourage people just renting the games instead of buying them. (While iirc the Japanese market didn't have to worry about this because renting games is/was illegal there.) This was a common practice in the 80s and 90s and resulted in crazyhard game changes like the original US release of Resident Evil not having auto-aim(!!) but in the Castlevania series mainly manifested itself in regular enemies doing more damage in the later stages I think.
I haven't beaten Castlevania 3 yet due to one of these changes. Unlike the Japanese original you start at the beginning of the final stage instead of at Dracula when you continue in the English version. (You start halfway through the stage when you lose a regular life to Dracula.) Not that the final stage is very hard or long once you get used to it/know where the power-ups are, quite the opposite actually, it's just annoying and time consuming having to make your way all the way back to Drac for a few seconds of practice against him until he kills you.

 You have sure? I think Auto-aim doesnt existed in RE1, they introducedd it in Director's Cut (that isnt the same as RE1 JP version ). Also CV is one of the only franchises that are harder in US than in JP that I can remember right now, can you say some others please? I want a excuse to return playing games. xD

 I remember that Megaman 2 have a easier mode option only in US and SMB2 doesnt even have been released in US because of being "too difficult to the occident".

[Gaawa-chan]

i personally believe Albus mode in OOE to be the hardest... i just cant mix that whole contra element into an already difficult Igavania. I havent played every single game but that damn sure was the hardest for me. The second hardest was CotM for me. I think it may have been because my first playthrough, i didnt have a GBA SP, just a regular one, so i kept missing jumps and it made it that much harder.

I tried to play Level 1 Albus Mode... it didn't go so well. 

[Lelygax]

I need to try again sometime, Im stuck at the "giant armored pony" boss. If I kill it I will gain acess to Dracula's area, since I've already killed the other bosses.

[VladCT]

"It's no use!" "You can't hit me!"
A teensy bit hard to do in the middle of boss battles when you're on an emulator.

[Lelygax]

I do it, I've already destroyed all his crossbows and climbed him. But dying in 2-3 hits is a little harsh.

[Ratty]

You have sure? I think Auto-aim doesnt existed in RE1, they introducedd it in Director's Cut (that isnt the same as RE1 JP version ). Also CV is one of the only franchises that are harder in US than in JP that I can remember right now, can you say some others please? I want a excuse to return playing games. xD

 I remember that Megaman 2 have a easier mode option only in US and SMB2 doesnt even have been released in US because of being "too difficult to the occident".

I'm pretty sure auto-aim existed in the original Japanese release of RE1, was taken out of the initial US release then put back in for the director's cut, though I could be wrong. Also you probably don't want to play the harder US releases of a lot of games because as I understand it was usually just done in cheap ways. A few that come to mind as having been artificially made harder for the western than the Japanese market are Bayou Billy and Battletoads, and Ninja Gaiden 3.

[son_the_vampire]

He is talking about games with the classic gameplay pal, otherwise that would be the first on my list too, if you play it in Hard Mode.

well you're in luck as he stated "hardest cv game of all time" 

[Phoenix7786]

Are we talking hard for the right reasons or hard for the wrong reasons?

[Rudolph LagnaGaisaer]

Are we talking hard for the right reasons or hard for the wrong reasons?

the two i think. but the wrong reasons is what  make the hard modes on games more interesting in my opinion.but i still prefer the intelligent hard mode that IGA used in his Castlevania Games on my own.

Plan a path, Discover the strategies,kill the wimps in the room without dying.
when i discovered this PoR and OoE hard lvl modes turned ridiculously(highly ridiculous) easy.

also why IGA never put a impossible mode in SoTN ?