To this day I still feel that both N 64 titles are the best representation of what Castlevania games at their best should be: Immersive, atmospheric, detailed, mysterious, creepy, and nonstop fun. I can still play CV 64 over and over again (something about the retooled camera and controls of LoD makes it somewhat less enjoyable for me) and not get tired of it, just like Super Castlevania IV and Dracula X. But where this game always shines for me is being the first game to actually deliver a winning and memorable story. Never mind the more recent 3D titles that tried to squeeze emotional pathos from dry, uninteresting characters and shaky plotlines. The N 64 games introduced the best damn storyline and dialogue that a CV title has ever seen, enhanced considerably by the most evocative and emotionally charged musical score in the series.
Yes, Castlevania has rarely been about story continuity or character development. All the more reason why Reinhardt, Carrie, Rosa, Malus, Cornell, and every other player in the Legacy/Apocalypse family shines. Everything else is what haters of these titles care to mention. - Lame 3D, crappy layout, poor platforming, technical glitches, blah blah blatherskite-bullshit. There are things we don't like present in virtually any game out there. Too many fans with a deeply committed sense of what something "should be" are never going to be satisfied no matter how hard one tries to cater to them, and in the end will keep defending their damning consesus of their most beloved passtime to the grave. Thankfully, the rest of us couldn't care less. After all, being able to recognize merit where and when it's due is not the responsibility of the fans, but the privilege of the player. And it makes for much more enjoyable gaming experiences as far as I'm concerned.
...However, there is one small thing I will call the naysayers on where the N 64 titles are concerned. Anybody, including all video game developers who may have stated publically that these games do not fit in to the established timeline are quite wrong. It is one simple line spoken by Dracula in the original N 64 game that ever contradicts the timeline when once fully regenerated he remarks upon the wasted years since his last rebirth. I'm no professional logician, but I do feel that anyone with half an imagination could have managed to get around this moment of in-game melodrama. At least several games in the official series have defied the 100 year resurrection cycle by way of intricit plotting. Could they not just as easily have solved the nagging problem of the lord of darkness running his mouth off? Apparently, much like the most passionate of players who just love to hate the N 64 outings, the current regime in charge of the series preferred to just deny the existence of what I consider to be rare gems in the Castlevania legacy.