Topic: Which Castlevania(s) do you feel is/are the most underrated?

[justin312]

because its a bad game, the critics they say its good because they like rare games that play bad and confuse players of nonsense advise, you can look at it, see the old graphics, all the poeple is equal, all the boss levels are equal, all the marsh, they hash the game, not only, is the truth.

It's a game that hasn't held up as well as some other games from that time. That doesn't mean it's a bad game. If you judge a game based solely on how primitive the graphics are, that would mean Castlevania III is a bad game too, right? I don't think you'll find a soul on this board other than you who thinks Mirror of Fate with its pretty 2013 graphics is a better game than CV3.

[Skycaptain Steampunk]

No you miss the point, castlevania 2 is bad, it give the player the advise of the nonsense, like arrodilate in a mountain and wait for a tornado, they never say it, you have to be gueser to know this, but castlevania 3 is great game for the time of come out. Now is sure the graphics is old and the game look bad, they need remakes, just look at my other themes of days before, i say castlevania 3 is great, but never greatest what mirror of fate, you comparing the graphics, mirror of fate os the best, comparing the music, mirror of fate is the best, comparing the gameplay is the more fun of all games, castlevania 3 is fun but is the equal of many games of equal, you see? is because tecnology of today help of make the best games of the history, and the talent of a spanish peoples of mercurysteam. But castlevania 3 is always old great game.

[Gaawa-chan]

No you miss the point, castlevania 2 is bad, it give the player the advise of the nonsense, like arrodilate in a mountain and wait for a tornado, they never say it, you have to be gueser to know this,

This is why I said that:
"Simon's Quest was ... reliant in great part on the gaming culture of the times"

Back in the day, gaming was very social on a local level.  Gamers would share tips and tricks they found, and if you were really lucky, one of your friends would have a subscription to Nintendo Power, which was pretty much the Gamefaqs of the time.

Simon's Quest could get away with being confusing because instead of getting all upset over it, you would turn it into a social experience with you and all your friends trying to figure out what to do and then helping each other out.  The Legend of Zelda for the NES relied upon the same culture of the times EVEN MORE than Simon's Quest, which is why it's very annoying for someone who has never played it to pick it up today.  To this day, people still laud The Legend of Zelda for pretty much creating/popularizing a genre.  They are games of their times, of their culture.  That doesn't make them bad.

Way back when?  My parents used to make their own game maps on graph paper.  It wasn't a chore, it wasn't bad design; it was fun.  And it's why Simon's Quest got very good reviews when it came out; people liked it.  It was a completely different time, a different experience from today's gaming scene.

graphics, mirror of fate os the best, comparing the music

Already went over this.  Graphics are irrelevant so long as the game manages to convey itself properly, music is a matter of personal tastes and there is no objective 'best.'

comparing the gameplay

Level design and gameplay mechanics were far better in CV3.  There is far more thought and understanding put into CV3's design.  The way they managed the difficulty, the way they were able to put in characters that could climb the walls an fly without ruining the game's challenge, the fact that there WAS challenge.  More replay value, better enemy selection, surprisingly nuanced combat (again, goes into balance with both character abilities and sub-weapons), superior bosses (though could be less repetitive in some spots), and I could go on and on... with the exception of two rooms (melting/falling blocks, blegh), CV3 offers a tight, rewarding experience.

tecnology of today help of make the best games of the history,

I think that technology today has the POTENTIAL to make the best games of history, but as of right now I do not think there is a single game from the latest generation of gaming that even comes close to hitting my top ten.

[Pfil]

Simon's Quest always was, still is and always will be an excellent game.
I've always wished they make another game like that. Dracula's Shadow (an indie re-imagining of Castlevania II) is one of my Top 10 favourite games of all time.

About the technology, I agree that it has the potential of making the best games ever. Most of the time they don't succeed, but there are some exceptions that can make a new game climb onto my Top 10 or 20. From recent years, I have amongst my favourites (aside from recent Castlevania titles like the games for NDS or PS2), Radiata Stories, Star Ocean 4, Valkyria Chronicles, Eternal Sonata, Riviera: The Promised Land...
Yes, I have a thing for JRPG's!

Ni No Kuni and Toki To Towa look like candidates to join my list of all-time favourites, but we'll see...

[Skycaptain Steampunk]

castlevania 2 always be a bad game of nonsense advises to the player, in the past, and now, and in the future, you repeat is good it not become the true, is bad, equal to other they say lords of shadows is bad, they repeat it but is not a true, good castlevania game of the past is castlevania 3, good for it time of come out, not castlevania 2, overrated.

[Pfil]

Of course, everything you don't like is overrated, and everything you like is underrated.
Whatever... 

[silvaring]

He's saying that Simon's Quest uses obtuse design to mask its difficulty, and this makes it a poorly designed game. To all those comparing Simons Quest to Zelda I don't think thats fair. In TLOZ the obtuse design (such as bombing specific walls and bushes) only came very late in the game, and most of the game is pretty well highlighted (such as raft launching points, special items in each dungeon, and a general overworld map). The only snag I can think of is maybe giving meat to the monster? Even so, can you compare those to oddities to finding one of the many dead ends on a game map, equipping a red crystal, and kneeling for a few seconds? This (any most puzzle games) use these kind of design tricks. Are they good, bad, or neither? I'm not sure, but what I do know is that the frustration games like Fez can bring is even greater than a really difficult section in a physically demanding action game with complex patterns. For example, no matter how many times you faced Death in the original CV at least there was room for trying different strategies and weapons, and having that drama unfold. You always knew that if you could just take that health bar down to 0 then you could progress to the next area. In a puzzle game though you often have no such feedback on your strategical attempts, and there might be no payoff in sight through all of your hard effort. This is why obtuse can be 'more' frustrating.

[Simonbelmondo12]

Dracula X Cronicles
It is a collection of all the best games but no one mentions it.

[KaZudra]

I'd have to say Legacy of Darkness and Harmony of Dissonance

[Simonbelmondo12]

Lords of Shadow
Harmony of Dissonance
Legacy of Darkness
Simon's Quest
Portrait of Ruins
The Original
Dracula X Chronicles

[adelcs]

I'd say Harmony of Dissonance but even though it's a game I like a lot (it's one of my favorites, actually), I feel like most of the criticism it gets is founded. Some of the spritework is just plain bad, and the music is embarrassing for being on a GBA. I do think it had a lot of interesting ideas that don't get recognized, though, like the dashing system. In fact, HoD's movement in general was really good, especially when you were playing as Maxim. Speeding through the castle like a ninja was pretty damn cool.

[Morning star]

Dracula x and Simons quest. I liked the fact that the whip action went back to the style on the nes in Dracula x. And all the arguments made for why Simons quest is great are spot on!

[GuyStarwind]

It's been mentioned but I'll add my two cents to the mix

But that's the 64 games. Sure they have issues but who cares they're fun. Personally I think they're some of the most Castlevaniaish games out there. Only thing I would change is make crystals hearts, make Reinhardt's last name Belmont, and add in some more CV tunes. I'm sure I've ranted about this before but I think they do a good job in the CV world. The story isn't over the top, the characters are all interesting, it keeps it's items simple, it has cool things like being bit by a vampire for example. Seriously what a cool feature! Why haven't they added that back in(being able to get bit and turning into a vampire thus resulting in a game over) any of the other games? Anywho I could keep rambling but they're cool games which I think new CV games could learn some things from.

[Anglachel]

I would vote for Harmony of Dissonance.
Dissonance was my very first Castlevania game, and Juste is probably my favorite Belmont of the old timeline. It's weird how looking back I actually really like the story. I like how Death is more prominent in the story and the relationship between the two castles. (Nice twist, how one castle is really Maxim's castle.) Although, the music quality is bad (the beats are good, but the instruments need improvement.) and also the Dracula Wraith was way, way too easy. In fact, pretty much all the bosses are too easy. (Pazuzu did give me trouble as a kid, though.)

I noticed some voted for Circle of the Moon. I actually remember as a kid hating Circle of the Moon at first for one reason: the main character was not a Belmont. I soon got over that, though, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very challenging and rewarding, too.

[Morning star]

Seriously what a cool feature! Why haven't they added that back in(being able to get bit and turning into a vampire thus resulting in a game over) in any of the other games?

This for the win! I agree, that would be beyond awesome!