Topic: So holy shit Castlevania 1 is a lot harder than I remember

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Back in high school, I used to play the GBA port of Castlevania 1 whenever I had a spare moment. I got pretty good at it too, and was generally able to ace the game over the span of a single lunch break.

Now?

My skills... may not be as sharp as once they were.

This game is hard. I've still memorized almost everything, from weapon locations, enemy placement, and where all the wall chicken is hidden. But, like Dark Souls or Bloodborne today, the game remains very exacting as to your reflexes and timing, and due to a long hiatus from this game, mine are back at almost beginner levels, and so all my knowledge isn't the advantage it once was.

Castlevania is a well tuned game that requires your knowledge, skill, and reflexes to all be top notch and in perfect sync, but it's rarely if ever cheap. Even the now legendarily infamous Medusa Head + Axe Armor hallway is a brilliant exercise in analyzing patterns, memorizing them, determining appropriate countermeasures, and then having the timing and skill to pull it all off, if not the most brilliant exercise in that craft in gaming history.

It's a strange turn of events that I am rocking Bloodborne currently and yet getting schooled by a game only a few years older than myself that I had once completely mastered.

[VladCT]

The most important thing to remember in early Classicvanias is that your attacks have a noticeable startup delay to them. I don't really remember how long exactly though, I want to say about half a second but from the perspective of someone who has basic knowledge of fighting game mechanics 30 frames (out of 60 per second) seems somewhat excessive. Maybe 15-20 frames at most?

[zangetsu468]

I love the timing of air whipping to not suffer the same stall Simon faces on the ground. The controls feels just rigid enough for me for the game to feel super-oldschool, without the same smoothness of the 16-bit era.

Let's say if NES is black label (literally with some games), SNES would be Double-Black. I still love me some straight black label.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

The most important thing to remember in early Classicvanias is that your attacks have a noticeable startup delay to them.

It always made the whip feel like it hits things like a locomotive thanks to the delay, but Egoraptor probably had the better metaphor.

Also, beating Dracula's second form without spamming holy water? Hell that made me wish I kept the Holy Water (I'd ditched it to challenge myself).

[zangetsu468]

It always made the whip feel like it hits things like a locomotive thanks to the delay, but Egoraptor probably had the better metaphor.

Also, beating Dracula's second form without spamming holy water? Hell that made me wish I kept the Holy Water (I'd ditched it to challenge myself).

Double or triple cross is easier than holy water imo

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Double or triple cross is easier than holy water imo

Triple Holy Water. He'll never get the chance to move.