As for CV4..... I don't know what it is, but I find it boring. all the freedom you get, with the whipping in all directions, and controlling your jumps, it just makes the game a bit too easy, so I usually get bored at around stage 4-2 or so. I mean, in Castlevania 1, I can play for like 6 hours straight, get any amount of game overs, and keep going, but with this one, I make it to stage 4 or so, have gotten only about 5-6 game overs, and I just turn it off because I'm bored. Maybe I'm missing something? The musics awesome, and it's fun at first, but... it just gets boring. But that's just my opinion, you guys feel free to love the game.
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Wait a sec.. You already have 5 or 6 game overs racked up by stage 4? That doesn't sound to me like it's easy for you! LOL. I can make well into stage 8 without even dying. I think the difficulty in CV4 is perfect because it gets harder as it goes on. It crescendos perfectly in my opinion. The only complaint I have is that Dracula is too easy. But then again, I always cheat and get the power ups from the invisible floor under the stairs right before his chamber.
I don't think that giving the player more maneuverability is the reason some parts of the game are easier in the beginning. I think it's just the difficulty that they set the enemies at. I think CV4 has the best controls of any CV ever. I'll never understand why the awesome mechanics they put in that game haven't been repeated.