Topic: Your favorite Castlevania period?

[Nagumo]

When looking back at your past years of being a Castlevania fan, which period do you have the most fond memories of ?

Personally, my favorite time of being a fan was roughly from when Order of Ecclesia was announced until the end of    that year, but especially the summer months and October. Which would be 2008. I was already acquainted with the series for about three years, but back then I was more of a casual fan, only reading things about on fan websites and playing Harmony of Dissonance from time to time.

Around that time I first began joining forums which always keeps one up to date about the latest news. A lot of Castlevania related things were announced back then, which is very excited for someone who just got into a series, and a lot of the times it were things I did not expect and pleasantly suprised me : a Castlevania fighting game, a radio drama sequel to Symphony of the Night, a Castlevania arcade game, Cornell announced to be in Judgment, etc.

I remember also first beginning to play through Castlevania 3 for the first time and I was delighted how creepy and intense the atmosphere of that game was. That was in June or July. The summer is still my favorite time to play this game, especially during the evening.

On top of that I remembered that during that summer it was really nice weather in my country and I often went out to fantasise about the new announcements that were made or think how to get past a difficult part in Castlevania 3.

Unfortunately Lords of Shadow was announced to be a Castlevania game the very next year. I really hope to relive such a period again.                           

[A-Yty]

The beginning, I guess. Unwrapping the first NES game, playing it for hours and slowly discovering the little tricks and treasures - like being able to skip the second stage's second portion's door-to-door area by jumping on a Medusa Head. Waking up an hour or so earlier before school to play the game. And then making it to Drac and..losing

Moral of the story? Now I think I could probably make it through the game with a maximum of three lives. Even though I haven't played CV in about five years.

[Ahasverus]

Uhm... I think some years ago, sometime before the OOE leak (good days) I was just obssessed with the saga, playing all the backlog, then hoping for Ecclesia to be the best thing ever (and it was arguably the best Cv to date when it launched) and oh, playing COD... I loved the time, COD was just released, I was playing it rediscovering CV in 7 years.. great, it was the best game for me at the time, exploring my memories in 3D, god I loved COD.
Then LoS, perhaps, before the launch I wasn't that thrilled, but when I played it like 3 weeks after release with my friends.. I never came back.

God I just love CV 

[A-Yty]

Also, when I stumbled upon the site I work for and thought: "man, Castlevania is pretty good" and then set my sights on getting SotN. That was when I started being a Vaniac.

[X]

My favorite period would be during the time when the NES was at it's height and CVIII had come out maybe a year prior. During the weekends I'd go over to my friend's house (very early in the morning) and we would play games till the sun came up. I didn't have a NES during that time so it was a very memorable experience for me. Of course we didn't just play games. We'd also watch super Mario Bros 3 on TV 

[Dremn]

When they were making Castlevania games and not focusing all their efforts on more stupid Metal Gear and Love Plus games.

[beingthehero]

I guess the GBA games. All three were consistently interesting in both their graphical presentations, music, artwork, and sheer atmosphere. While the DS games, especially DoS and PoR, were too 'similar' for my liking, CotM, HoD, and AoS were all highly different from each other. Each had their own charm and nuances that makes each playthrough rather fresh in comparison to their forefather that is SotN.

[Munchy]

I'd say mine was the sort of "dry spell" when LoD was announced, and Resurrection wasn't quite cancelled. Sure, there was a dry spell, but at the time I was picking up all of the old games (NES and GB trilogies) and having a blast playing the shit out of them, even though I usually got my ass kicked.

[Dracula9]

stupid Metal Gear and Love Plus games.

Urge to start massive quality-control debate rising!

My favorite CV has got to be SCVIV, without a doubt. While I'll always have feelings for the original and new gems alike, SCVIV just had this overwhelmingly deep atmosphere to it that leaked through the fourth wall before Psycho Mantis performed his now-legendary controller trick. I remember the Castle Entryway stage, with all the creepy shifting plants and all the flying goblins and harpies, and the haunting, yet almost-silent music. God, the music. I could go on and on about SCVIV's music fitting every environment it's played in, but the Entryway deserves special mention for me, since the first time I played that stage was in the dark at about 10:30 at night, and I kept getting the feeling I was going to turn around and see skeleton with a chain. It was very surreal, and VERY creepy, and little things like that are what makes SCVIV the best for me.

[crimsonmist]

the 16-bit era.it gave us super cv4, rondo of blood, bloodlines, all with qualities i have always valued
super cv4 - cheers for whip lashes in all 8 common directions! cheers for swinging with your whip! cheers for great boss music and better controls overall!
rondo of blood, real cutscenes at last! thanks to the pc engine super cdrom2's voice/music/graphics capabilities! also hooray for introducing maria and her animal friends (especially her cat subweapon!)
bloodlines - it gave us navigation all over europe, swinging from john's whip below any ceiling, eric lecarde, "reincarnated soul," "iron blue intention"

[JR]

Actually, I think the past year or so, up to right now, have been the most memorable for me. I don't think I've ever been more immersed in the series than I am now. Keeping on mind that it's not reflective of the series' current direction necessarily (I prefer the classic games more than anything else),  but I have more interest in the series now than I ever have.

[GuyStarwind]

I would say Lament of Innocence is my favorite period. I'm not sure if I could get bored of it.

[Fofa]

Well, as a late comer to the Castlevania series, Portrait of Ruin was my first game, and the only other games I have the other DS titles. I do have a soft spot for PoR, even though it's short, easy, has repeated backgrounds in the final part and the tag team aspect could've been better utilized.

[Abnormal Freak]

Three periods:

- When Super Castlevania IV first came out and my cousin had it. I played the heck out of that game.

- When my brother got Symphony of the Night (like a year after release)—mind.blown.

- When I bought a GXTV, N64, and Castlevania 64. Somehow, it was my love for the '64 game (and, well, having a job and being able to buy stuff more regularly) which spurred me to pick up the rest of the old ones, which I'd never played aside from a short bit of Simon's Quest when I was 5 or something. Imagine my excitement when Legacy of Darkness came out and I bought it. I'm serious—I love that game, and was so thrilled to bring this "special edition" home. Remember the day well, the store I bought it, the beautiful route my mom took on the ride back...

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Well, as a late comer to the Castlevania series, Portrait of Ruin was my first game, and the only other games I have the other DS titles. I do have a soft spot for PoR, even though it's short, easy, has repeated backgrounds in the final part and the tag team aspect could've been better utilized.

If you like the DS games, I recommend the GBA games. As any of us would. Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow especially.