Topic: Something I just noticed

[Crying Freeman]

The menu music in HOD is the save screen for CV1 on FDS.

[X]

That it is. And it's not the first time CV has reused music for other games. CotM actually reused Rondo's menu theme for it's own menu theme as well.

[Crying Freeman]

That it is. And it's not the first time CV has reused music for other games. CotM actually reused Rondo's menu theme for it's own menu theme as well.

Oh yeah I caught that, I'm sure we all did. The FDS save is just a bit more obscure to us outside of Japan. COTM also reused CV4's game over music, which I liked a lot (and let's not forget it used Clockwork mansion as well)

[Lumi Kløvstad]

About 85% of COTM's soundtrack is new arrangements of old tunes.

[Crying Freeman]

About 85% of COTM's soundtrack is new arrangements of old tunes.

Something I liked in the game 

[theANdROId]

Me too.

[zangetsu468]

Something I liked in the game 

Love that they re-used "Art Tower" from LOD, my favourite tune from it - side by side with the theme that plays before entering the throne room. (God that game was boss)

[Crying Freeman]

Love that they re-used "Art Tower" from LOD, my favourite tune from it - side by side with the theme that plays before entering the throne room. (God that game was boss)

Also like that they have the CV64 boss music! I played 4, 64 and COTM was my third, so hearing tunes like that and the game over song hit me (never got far enoigh back then to hear clockwork mansion sadly)

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Honestly, I love COTM's soundtrack, and the reuse of old stuff (some of it quite obscure, like the stuff from the N64 games) is a heavy factor. It's one of the most fanservicey games in the franchise, and the soundtrack is a big part of that. In addition, the few original compositions are some of the best music in the series. Proof of Blood is one of the best Dracula fight themes in the franchise, HANDS DOWN FULL GODDAMN STOP.

It's probably the only Castleroid to seriously feel like a Classicvania too, so that's something too.
I could write pages about how much I love COTM, but I won't.
Not here, at any rate.

[zangetsu468]

It's probably the only Castleroid to seriously feel like a Classicvania too, so that's something too.
I could write pages about how much I love COTM, but I won't.
Not here, at any rate.

I loved Cotm when it came out, still think it is a solid entry. However, the scores it was given by gaming sites at the time puzzle me. IGN for example scored it higher than Sotn, which I don't really understand. I have got much love for it but it's overrated to me.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

I loved Cotm when it came out, still think it is a solid entry. However, the scores it was given by gaming sites at the time puzzle me. IGN for example scored it higher than Sotn, which I don't really understand. I have got much love for it but it's overrated to me.

Review scores rarely reflect actual quality, so there's that.

COTM is a rare highlight of the series in my opinion. It doesn't set its expectations too high, but looks at the errors of the Gameboy Castlevanias and says "let's avoid those" and then looked at Symphony and said "what can we realistically include from this with the hardware we have?".

Remember that the Gameboy Castlevanias were finicky, odd to control, and didn't really have a great feel to them. Of the three, Belmont's Revenge is probably the best, but that's like saying that canned spinach is better than moldy spinach and overcooked canned spinach. Of course it's better, but that doesn't make it something you want to have all the time, and you'll easily spring for something else almost as soon as it becomes available.

Circle of the Moon, as the first GBA Castlevania, was effectively charged with redeeming the series portable legacy single-handedly, and I think it managed to do exactly that very appreciably.

It also gave IGA a lot to go on when he made Harmony and Aria, and neither game would have been as good had COTM not come along first to show how a handheld Castlevania could be done well.

In essence, just as SOTN redefined the series on consoles, COTM redefined the series on handhelds.

In that sense, it's not overrated at all. If anything, it's underrated as many people forget it even happened today.

[zangetsu468]

Review scores rarely reflect actual quality, so there's that.

True but back then IGN was more niche and their reviews didn't all get "7.5 or "8.7" (why? I dunno)
Granted it's an opinion.

COTM is a rare highlight of the series in my opinion. It doesn't set its expectations too high, but looks at the errors of the Gameboy Castlevanias and says "let's avoid those" and then looked at Symphony and said "what can we realistically include from this with the hardware we have?".

It's very solid, I always looked at it with the gameplay, music etc and saw it ass an amalgamation of the previous games on a handheld. It actually reminds me a lot of Dracula X for some reason in Castleroid form, perhaps due to the level of difficulty and a few of the bosses (Cerberus, Necromancer, etc)

Remember that the Gameboy Castlevanias were finicky, odd to control, and didn't really have a great feel to them. Of the three, Belmont's Revenge is probably the best, but that's like saying that canned spinach is better than moldy spinach and overcooked canned spinach. Of course it's better, but that doesn't make it something you want to have all the time, and you'll easily spring for something else almost as soon as it becomes available.

I never bothered with the GB titles, this is why I bought AR when it was released. The GB titles just felt too archaic to me by the time I picked them up.

Circle of the Moon, as the first GBA Castlevania, was effectively charged with redeeming the series portable legacy single-handedly, and I think it managed to do exactly that very appreciably.

Yes given the past track record it was a breath of fresh air.

It also gave IGA a lot to go on when he made Harmony and Aria, and neither game would have been as good had COTM not come along first to show how a handheld Castlevania could be done well.

True, I understand this philosophy and I understand credit where credit is due. But I still have to see each entry for what it is, otherwise I'd be liking Zelda OOT>MM, which is the same scenario where you wouldn't have gotten one without the other. In fact a better example to me would be Metroid Prime, I actually don't love the first entry and Prime 2 is vastly improved to me. So I don't like the first game for its context in gaming revolution, but I appreciate its importance in gaming history.

In essence, just as SOTN redefined the series on consoles, COTM redefined the series on handhelds.

Good point. Agreed.

In that sense, it's not overrated at all. If anything, it's underrated as many people forget it even happened today.

I remember it like it was yesterday

[Lumi Kløvstad]

I'm amazed you didn't write a witty response to my brilliant spinach metaphor.
Glad to see we mostly agree though.

[zangetsu468]

I'm amazed you didn't write a witty response to my brilliant spinach metaphor.

Haha! Me too actually, sometime I suprise myself... After a work binge of 12 days and working about 12-15 hours each day, all my brain could muster was "...Spinach... Popeye.. Peeping eye.. *inaudible noise*" therefore I left it alone.

Got a good one though, why do they call him Popeye? Probably relates to the 3rd eye; the brown one. ("poop eye"?)
Eating spinach makes me want to "pop-eye" too.