“Death, on the other hand, I cannot beat straight up.” Truer words have never been spoken.

I love that you say it's not "overly tutorialized". I feel like that describes game design I enjoy overall. Your videos are soothing and really fun to watch!

Man, if Castlevania isn't "great", then I don't know what is. Always cool though to see someone else's take on this game. Good video!

More Castlevania commentary please. This is great. I'd love to see something similar for Rondo and SotN.

All this talking about horror themed, hardcore 8-bit games with unlimited continues REALLY makes me want a Ghosts'n Goblins review... Fantastic video as always!

I'm a huge fan and adore all of your videos, first and foremost. That being said, I'm not sure I agree with your assertion that not being able to tell which blocks are breakable is a bad thing, and it's been handled better since. I would argue that if you can identify a destructible block visually, there is no meaningful difference between that and the candles: the game is very clearly saying "open this mystery box". To me, one of the most egregious examples of this is showing cracked walls in Zelda games - you might as well have a door, there's no significant difference. It's basically a locked door that uses keys that look like bombs.

What can I say? Great content, great script, great person... Thanks for all your good energy and time... Never change and continue with this wonderful job... you are just amazing!! Greetings from Colombia...

Yes Kris! I've been waiting til I had the time to watch your Castlevania series in one long sitting, i just love how you explain and breakdown video games. Its always in a way that's easy for anyone to understand without dumbing anything down. Your observations are frank but very honest and i love that. PS. Bring back the podcast!!!

Drinking Game: Take a shot each time he says "1986"

That 1986 intro. That was perfect. This review was pretty damn great, I have to say!

When I found out about that game overs in some games merely send you at the beginning of a stage was when I gained such an appreciation for difficult games like this one

despite not being a hardcore Castlevania fan, this game in particular is so good that it's been a favorite of mine and among my friends since the old days. And despite keeping up with the series, it wasn't until SotN that I felt the series moved forward in such a dramatic fashion that I was really wowed by Castlevania again. Can't wait to hear you talk about that one!

This and your CV3 review are both excellent, highlighting a lot of the subtle intricacies of game design. I always thought Castlevania was the peak of action platformers, and its nice to see someone highlight what these games do well, as well as their missteps, in a constructive and thoughtful manner.

Kris, this is what I’ve been waiting for. My favorite series.

Most series peaked on SNES, but Castlevania was great from the get-go. I was replaying this game lately and I am in awe how good and refined it is!

Castlevania is a classic series, for sure. Just wait until you get to _Symphony of the Night,_ the _other_ famous and widely acclaimed codifier for the "Metroidvania" subgenre. This will be interesting. I also think it'd be rather interesting to see you review the first few games in the Mega Man series someday.

I loved playing this game and staying up late to beat it. Such fun!

One of my favorites of all of your reviews. Really well done. Wonderful storytelling!

Someday I'll beat the original Castlevania. Someday

This is a really great video highlighting good and bad game design. Deserves a lot more views

In Japan, this game had essentially two versions. The first one came out on the Famicom Disk System (FDS), which only had the difficulty that we all know. Additionally, there was also the Famicom version that was released years later after the original version. It had a normal mode, and an easy mode. Normal: Identical to the original game's difficulty. Easy: 30 hearts, more lives, no knockback, being able to take more damage, and weaker enemies, the stopwatch requires 3 hearts instead of 5, and changing your sub-weapon doesn't eliminate either the double shot or the triple shot. If you're going to review Castlevania 3, keep the differences in difficulty in mind. (Cough cough those bats on the last level can rot in hell cough).

It is a classic. One of the top ten NES games of all time..

Castlevania's saving grace is indeed the unlimited continues, and I don't just speak of the original game but all of them. I LOVE this series, but if it had limited continues I'm uncertain if I'd feel the same way. I've beaten Castlevania, Castlevania: Dracula X and the DLC for Lords of Shadow amongst other titles in the franchise, and what ultimately helped me through was the fact that a Game Over never meant having to play any of these games all over again (I too grew up with the games from the 80's and 90's that had limited continues and I disliked the concept as a child and dislike it even today).

Yay! I enjoyed your metroid series, so I'm excited for this! CV is my fav franchise. :3

One of the best games ever. Your tribute is better than mine...

0:20 Probably had the continues because the japanese version let you save, disk system and all that .

Another game wonderfully and meticulously analyzed. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on my personal favorite in the series: Dracula's Curse!

I'm playing Rondo of Blood right now, and I noticed a lot of the things you said about Castlevania's level design apply to it as well. It's pretty frustrating at times, but most of the time the levels have a flow to them that I probably wouldn't be able to appreciate if it wasn't for the game's clunky controls, which might be why some people love the classic Castlevania games imo.

Great video, honestly, you seem to be very fair and critical in your reviews and I absolutely love that. I agree with all of your points, however I'd still call Castlevania a great game, excellent even, because the negatives never really were that severe for me

Yet another great review. While you dont go as in depth as say someone like Retropolis zone you make some damn fine good reviews that aren't delusional about the game's quality unlike others might be. Im glad I subscribed, keep it up^^

"Hardcorest of the hardcore." . . . dude, this isn't Holy Diver.

2:47 When you stop time at the wrong time... o___O Excellent video Kris! I don't have much to say in the way of complaints, though you're better at discussing the quality of a soundtrack than you give yourself credit for. Castlevania is a game I've never been able to beat, but with enough persistence, I could certainly see to it one of these days. Hyped to see Castlevania representation on this channel! All bow down to the almighty Belmonts.

I like your reviews, but I very much dislike that you seem to imply that game music is any lesser than any other form of music. It's a newer medium, but that doesn't mean the composers work any less hard than in any other field. I can assure you of this, as a game composer myself.

Dude, awesome! Can’t wait to watch this video. I’ve always been interested in Castlevania; the only knowledge I had about the series were various magazine ads in the 90s. I’ve started playing this and a few other games in the classic series and it’s so good! Good luck on any other castlevania videos you might do.

Really glad you decided to do this series

Another great video. Some of the best game reviews on YT.

Your points about the jumping mechanics are exactly what I used to tell my friends. They love mega man, I love castlevania. We agree to disagree

I know Castlevania 2 gets a bad rap but it’s my favorite or the NES Castlevania games specifically because of its non-linearity. Especially the mod of it; Simons Quest: Redacted. That game fixes all the clues to make them make sense and makes the game way better.

I was waiting for this day, Castlevania one of my favorite if not my favorite franchise in the entire gaming world altough i've beated this game until 2017 i was more of the Metroidvania entries like Symphony of the Night, Aria and Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, etc. Yeah the game has its cheap moments and i'm aware of that.....but yeah at least they aren't many of them unlike future entries huh i didn't expected you to not speak about the damage boost the enemies get every 2 levels from 2 to 4 bars of damage. I adore games that aren't over tutorialized i like to find out what this does or what this other thing does. The stiff jump is one of my favorite things to make fun of its so iconic that it became somewhat of a meme like the knockback.....and yeah the medusa heads are the best example of giving me war flashbacks with pits involved. The soundtrack is one of the best things that the game has i adore it so much. And oh yeah Death's fight can make the game crash in early copies of the game. Yeah the holy water is broken as all hell in this game but yeah Death cheats so i cheat him i don't care. Dracula is the best boss no contest but he is easy too unlike his other incarnations. Overall yeah Castlevania is still a good game and one of my favorites of all time. Great video Kris keep up the good work man ;)

I really enjoyed your review. Great job in breaking it down in a fair and open minded manner.

Brings back great memories. Great game to me... Great music too! Konami needs to remake these classic killer games!!!!!!

12:13 I bet Simon felt that last fireball

The moving platform bat in stage 4 can actually be avoided pretty easily by jumping forward

Sorry I'm a bit late to these. I don't have much experience with this series. The only ones I've played are this one and 4. I'm always impressed by the scale of this game, especially considering it's release timing. It's definitely solid for the NES, though there are some cases where I feel like the level design can be a bit cheap. Still one of my favorites from the NES library, but not as good as my personal favorite Kirby's Adventure.

30 years later, I finally beat this game. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Gotta remember Castlevania had a arcade cabinet called Haunted Castle. Time and score made sense at the time.

Committed jump arcs are only a problem if a game is not thought around them. Castlevania is so well designed in this aspect that not only this type of jump isn't a problem, but I would even say it's what makes this game so good, since it turns being careful with your movements a requirement to beat the game. On the soundtrack, although it clearly sounds like an early NES game, not exploiting it's sound capabilities as much as later games (Silver Surfer, Journey to Silius, The Smurfs), it's notable not only for how memorable it is, but also for it's musical fusion of classical, baroque and rock music. "Heart of Gold" it's a particularly notorious example, with the intro and A sections having a clearly rock-ish style, and the B section directly being a fragment from Bach's Tocatta and Fugur in D Minor. However, there are also less obvious instances of Baroque-ish chord progressions being used on mostly rock-inspired sections. 8-bit music theory has a really good video on the music of Castlevania if you want to check it out, although you need to have some insight on music theory to understand it.

Love this So glad I finally can sit down and watch!

Great video.

Just beat it today. Superb game for it's time

15 hits with a sub weapon gets you a multiplier. The hits can be candles or enemies. They give you a boomerang at the check point before the Grim Reaper and enough enemies and candles to get a 3x multiplier before the fight.

I never finished the first level in this game because I was a dumb kid who was scared. Also didn't know how items worked.

I know a lot of people think 3, 4, and Symphony are better, but to me honestly, while I do prefer Rondo overall as my number one pick the original Castlevania is straight lightning in a bottle where all the elements just come together in just the right way and it's easily my number 2 pick for best entry in the entire series.

Man, I'm so happy you decided to talk about Castlevania and not Mega Man. I just had an intelectual orgasm (if such a thing exists) in hearing you say "Lots of games are iconic and influental. That doesn't mean they are well designed." I will quote you on that! You spoke out my unconcious thoughts. I only disagree with your conclusion. I think Castlevania is great. The flaws just don't bother me much. It is generally a matter of how much impact the not-so-well-designed parts have on you. For me that means that I think Castlevania is great and for example that OoT still is the best game ever, while others think it's "outdated". Vice versa I just can't get into some iconic games like Final Fantasy 7. Anyway, I love how you get to your conclusion over the first 16 minutes or so. You wrapped up the game perfectly!

You could have perfectly avoided that bat in the cave section by jumping, you didn't have to use the whip. If anything, that footage proves that this game DOES punish sloppy play and that it ISN'T unfair. Similarly, you didn't choose the best footage to prove your point about the stopwatch not requiring high heart costs. In a game largely about planning and timing, stopping time at any lower heart cost would pulverize any and all challenge. That section with the knights and Medusa heads is the best example of that in fact, since it becomes FAR easier with the item. On the contrary, I don't find the holy water bottle to be game breaking, since the dagger's wider range, as well as the axe and cross's trajectory and damage balance the weapon roster beautifully in my opinion. All of them feel useful, something which other games of the time(cough cough Megaman 2), and even today struggle to achieve. Your criticisms of the double/triple shots and rng are pretty fair tho, and I 100% agree with them... though I only find the random item drops to be a minor issue, since they're fairly rare and the game is expertly thought around the whip anyways. All things considered, this is a fantastic title, on the level of SMB 1 and 3 if i do say so myself. It's near flawless difficulty balancing focuses on a slow, methodical approach to enemies and platforming that is rare for this kind of action games, making it a pretty unique experience that I kinda wish there was more of. Every single enemy and block is thoughtfully placed, making challenge fair and rewarding. It HAS withstood the test of time, while somehow also feeling like the type of game that could've only come out in this era. I must state though, and as expected, this was a GREAT video all around! Your in-depth and meticulous design analysis is something that's quite frankly lacking in online game reviews, or well, game reviews in general. I just wish your content would come back man, I friggin ADORE it. Nonetheless, I found some things I disagreed with in here and felt the need to point 'em out. Kudos!

great review

Awesome video! I love this franchise so much. I just discovered your channel and now i'm subscribing. Keep the good work sir! Greetings from Chile.

Anytime I’ve been startled I have and always will react and sound just like Simon Belmont

Wait. What year did this game come out?

Great analysis/review.

Very nice video

Dracula’s face is in the curtain and the double and triple shot aren’t randomly given they are given bc of your use of the subweapon

If you weren’t alive when these games came out you probably don’t know what it’s like.

3:17 Whoa, a bat panther! Niceeee... :D

found someone who likes unlimited continues as much as i do those games that send you back even on the final boss and are like "ooh, tough stuff, now you gotta play the game from the beginning" is more to me like how about i not

Great review of one of the best games of all time.

I ended up late with this game, and that was ok since it followed the old formula: The second one (Simon's quest) is different, and the third one (Dracula's curse) is the same with more options. If you know how it works it's not hard and it took me a few days of casual play. (Could have done it in one day on the weekend.) Now, the golden rules are: LOOK before you pick something up and SPAWN the enemy before you jump. I was not experienced in the game so I took out death with triple shot boomerang, sometimes hitting the projectiles more than Death. I think Dracula's curse is harder and it gives more gameplay. That's not a criticism since it was a way later game. (Compare Mario 1 and 3)

It’s either this or Megaman 3 for my favorite NES soundtrack

There's a second method for beating Death that's perfectly viable. Grab the cross in the previous room and farm up a triple shot for it by whacking candles. As long as you can keep multiple crosses in the air, he'll fall fairly fast.

The original and possibly still the best IMO. It's a toss up between this and Super Castlevania IV which is basically a retelling of this game.

13 HOURS LATE SQUAD WHERE YOU??!?!!?!!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I really enjoy the sound effects it has never beat it but maybe one day..

A very nice review. I must agree that the graphics are great for NES, but wait. Bill Rizer has similar spritework and proportions to Simon. Both wear bandannas, and both resemble characters played by the Governator. This could only mean...nothing. Why did I spend time writing this?

Regarding hit detection, try those crushing spike traps in lvl 2 :) I have fun with this game up until the frankenstein's monster boss, but it is impressive for its time. Very fair and balanced review, and one of your better scripts so far!

Thankfully now, people can play the famicom version which has an easy mode. Game changer.

Yes! I'm so excited!

A great game review! A pity that you seem to think that video game music is inherently simplistic and that video game music composers from that period weren't "real artists". Much of that era's video game music is absolutely genius, especially when considering that the composers had to work around the limited capabilities of the available consoles and cartridges. Writing a "catchy" tune is as difficult and technical as composing music gets!

the biggest brain move is using holy water against dracula, and when he fires the balls use the holy water to remove all three for multipliers and kill him swiftly haha

Do Symphony Of The Night

I like these videos and the detailed analysis, but this is more how I'd imagine The Legend of Zelda review should have went. Enormous praise followed by some minor, inescapable, gripes. This is my personal favorite between those two games, and I suffered for years mastering it (no, I don't mean just beating it, I mean playing well) but I think Zelda is superior ultimately and of a more premium quality in every respect. I always saw this as a cheap but great Hammer international B-movie in the top tier of NES titles. It's without a doubt one of the best games on the system and among the best games ever made, but it's like a Roger Corman flick, eloquent but low budget. From the dirty, gritty graphics to the cheap, PC stiff game play, it's imperfection perfected. Konami even knocked the game play mechanics pointing to future corrections in dialogue from "Snatcher." Comparing it with Zelda two or Metroid is a bit far out seeing as those games needed more space because of how they function. Could they have made a game with that many different shapes, shades, textures etc that worked anything like Metroid or Zelda 2 at *that* time? Technically, probably...for the most part... yes, but not in the time restraints to stay far enough under budget to do what they were in the business to do, make products which generate profit off the popularity of video games. I love playing this game and it's among the platformers that are most comfortable and native to me, but it would blow my mind and confound me that someone would see The Legend of Zelda as a let down but Castlevania as pretty much on point. That's definitely in the mind, probably due to comparison with other "Zelda games"...I mean, there's really no such thing as a "franchise" and all this nonsense, and the "story" in these games is really kinda moot. When people do things like rank "Castlevania games" and try and talk about this and a game like "Symphony of the night" for instance? That literally makes no sense at all. This was made at the same time as another game for the MSX, and called something different in Japan, with different character names...there is no "Belmont family" there is no "franchise" it's just a bunch of video games that can be marketed under the same title...that's it. If you forget all this context you see the product more clearly, I think. I mean, Mario 2 isn't even really Mario 2...every game is a separate program with no real connection other than a delightful fantasy developers transmit to the marketing department and the media. It's a story they tell you, it's how they want you to understand the thing.

Can you look at Rain World🐌

"technically" the drops are not random. If you watch some CV speedrunners online (I think the GDQ ones) they do explain how the items drop in terms of the math. Not that that means ANYTHING to a casual player.

In your opening you make a good point about the tech, but to play devil's advocate for a moment: In 1986 in-cart enhancement chips were more available, affordable, and advanced than in the previous 2-3 years. Likewise, in those previous years, there was a chip shortage in Japan. Something a lot of American and Canuckistani gamers do not know is that our NES is a vastly superior system to the original Famicom. Other than lesser audio fidelity to the disc system, the NES was capable of greater graphics, storage, had a better hardware set up, and that's all because it was almost two full years younger than the famicom. It also went through very thorough localization design. What could be done in 86 was much improved over the 83-85 options.

The Boomerang? Otherwise, good review :)

I beat the grim reaper at age 12 without the holy water..Guess we were made of tougher stuff back then than the milksope games they have today..80s kids rule!!!

Strange you didn't mention second loop, which is harder and where you can find and collect secret treasures.

Despite (or perhaps because of) my general clumsiness with a game controller, I much prefer Castlevania to the original Super Mario Bros. The lack of momentum and fixed jump arcs that a lot of people consider too stiff are a lifesaver to me. It's embarrassing how many times I've slid into a Goomba because I lifted my thumb off the D-pad too late or fell into a pit because I accidentally turned around in midair. These problems just don't happen in Castlevania. Another plus is that while Mario is widely seen as childish and easy, Castlevania has a reputation of being hard, so I don't feel like a total moron every time I die. And yes, the unlimited continues help, too. Castlevania is by no means easy, but it's not nearly as punishing as many people believe.

0:40 what year did it come out again?

Oh hell yeah, this game rules

Bruh nice this is epic

好きです

I'm a bit disappointed you didn't mention the little differences in the original, Japanese version. In that version, since it was a Disk System release, you could save your game. The save select screen also had an extra music track completely absent from the USA release. I hope you're going to mention the Japanese differences in your future reviews of Castlevania 2 & 3. They're especially noticeable in C3 but C2 also had some strange quirks in Japan. There were additional load times which broke the game's flow even further and the music sounded absolutely dreadful! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/b5qgndaptZ2nl30.html

Maybe after the castlevania series, can you talk about the teenage mutant ninja turtles games?

Castlevania 86' should be a new meme.

How many times can you continue?

GOAT cover art.

no really - of course freezing fucking time is more broken than bloody holy water - it makes perfect sense

Quote hardcoriest of the hardcore

If you skip castlevania 2, I honestly won’t be mad at you. It introduces some really interesting ideas, but definitely a game that is only playable with the mindset of being played when it was released.

If the watch cost 1 heart, you could easily get through levels and beat any boss by virtually freezing everything repeatedly.