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The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Classic Castlevania Threads => Topic started by: Belmont legacy on April 03, 2013, 11:51:22 PM

Title: Difficulty
Post by: Belmont legacy on April 03, 2013, 11:51:22 PM
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
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: X on April 04, 2013, 12:20:34 AM
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.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Nagumo on April 04, 2013, 01:12:14 AM
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.       
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Lelygax on April 04, 2013, 03:11:10 AM
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.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Ratty on April 04, 2013, 05:07:14 AM
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.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: son_the_vampire on April 04, 2013, 11:47:33 AM
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. 
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Lelygax on April 04, 2013, 01:20:02 PM
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 :P). 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".
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Gaawa-chan on April 04, 2013, 09:09:17 PM
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.  :-[
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Lelygax on April 05, 2013, 07:35:12 AM
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.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: VladCT on April 05, 2013, 07:38:36 AM
"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. :-\
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Lelygax on April 05, 2013, 07:48:07 AM
I do it, I've already destroyed all his crossbows and climbed him. But dying in 2-3 hits is a little harsh.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Ratty on April 06, 2013, 10:26:54 AM
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 :P). 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.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: son_the_vampire on April 09, 2013, 11:16:08 AM
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"  :D
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Phoenix7786 on April 14, 2013, 11:14:43 AM
Are we talking hard for the right reasons or hard for the wrong reasons?
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Rudolph LagnaGaisaer on April 14, 2013, 05:44:20 PM
Quote
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 ?
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Lelygax on April 14, 2013, 05:56:37 PM
Maybe because its the first Metroidvania (Im not counting SQ because its another story) and they discovered its super easy only after lauching the game. If they are a little less lazy they could add this in the PSP port.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: GuyStarwind on April 14, 2013, 05:57:52 PM
Probably Dracula X or CV3
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Gaawa-chan on April 14, 2013, 06:00:51 PM
I rather wish you didn't have to go through regular mode to unlock hard mode in games.  I understand having to unlock story-related modes like Julius/Sisters Mode but I think it's kind of annoying for skilled players (which I would NOT count myself amongst XD) who want a challenge right off the bat.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Lelygax on April 14, 2013, 06:20:51 PM
Me too Gaawa, it seems that they force this on us as "replay factor" on purpose
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Shiroi Koumori on April 15, 2013, 01:40:59 AM
Well, developers want to brag about their game's replay factor, so they do it cheaply by unlocking hard mode after you're done with the game.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Pfil on April 17, 2013, 02:32:03 AM
I think the hardest games would be (in my personal experience) these ones...

* Haunted Castle (was able to beat it in the easy version, emulating it and saving states... otherwise it seems impossible).
* Castlevania III (beat it, but spent a lot of nights doint it).
* The Adventure (because of the character and some very difficult passages of auto-scroll in-game).
* The Adventure: Rebirth in Hard Mode (I should mention it, since that's the way I've always played it; I find the normal mode too easy for a classic game, so I always choose hard).
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: son_the_vampire on April 17, 2013, 05:27:33 AM
* Castlevania III (beat it, but spent a lot of nights doint it).
u are not alone with this qualm. my gf says she falls asleep easier while i play it or LoI. Im just going for all of the endings so its taking me a while. Luckily i have an emulator on my iPad that allows me to use my Wii remote! (poor thing was getting dusty)
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Pfil on April 18, 2013, 01:26:08 AM
u are not alone with this qualm. my gf says she falls asleep easier while i play it or LoI. Im just going for all of the endings so its taking me a while. Luckily i have an emulator on my iPad that allows me to use my Wii remote! (poor thing was getting dusty)
That sounds so cool! My poor old phone only supports Order of Shadows and the 2 Sorrow games, and I suck playing with the phone numerals.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Shiroi Koumori on April 18, 2013, 02:04:50 AM
That sounds so cool! My poor old phone only supports Order of Shadows and the 2 Sorrow games, and I suck playing with the phone numerals.

It actually depends on the phone. Based on my experience, flip phones are better for those old java games.
But the experience is still the best with handhelds or tablets if you want on the go gaming.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: Nagumo on April 18, 2013, 06:57:55 AM
I beat Adventure on the highest difficulty today.

So, that game is my bitch now.
Title: Re: Difficulty
Post by: son_the_vampire on April 18, 2013, 09:49:29 AM
I beat Adventure on the highest difficulty today.

So, that game is my bitch now.
I admire your skill, this is the only title I have played and been unable to beat, once. I haven't touched for some time but that game is as deadly as holy water is to my flesh. Excellent!