If you wanna hear another one of my hot takes on a Castlevania game, I actually think Castlevania The Adventure is a pretty solid game: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/od2EibSW16zNlHk.html

Both are fantastic games, and I love em both for different reasons!

Bloodlines is definitely my favorite of the 16-bit era. Deserves so much more praise than it gets.

19:52 it makes me sad how people can't appreciate the amount of great tracks that Castlevania IV has, Forest of monsters, rotating castle, chalendiers, treasury room, etc

Now this is some good fucking content! Personally, Castlevania 4 is my favorite of the series, second being Rondo and at a close third Bloodlines. SC4 just has an atmosphere when the lights are out like no other. You definitely brought up points that I was thinking about while playing Bloodlines. I rarely comment but this series is so underrated and I'm so happy seeing videos like this picking these games apart. Keep it up, you got yourself a sub.

The Whip in Castlevania 4 randomly going limp seems to me like a you problem, I've never had that happen to me.

I'm so happy to hear someone put my feelings on Castlevania 4 into words. For the longest time I couldn't see what everyone else sees about it and had no idea why everyone liked it so much. When I played Bloodlines on the Anniversary collection I found that game was so much fun and I had such a great time with it.

I was playing Bloodlines a few days ago for the first time and i found it very accesible, i kinda suck at challenging games and never before played a Castelvania game, now i´m kinda encourage to master this game...

One of the things I absolutely love about this game is that its story mixes real world events AND the OG Stoker novel with Castlevania lore. Makes the lore feel even more like it spans years and years, and Dracula's reach didn't extend only to the Belmonts

Maybe you forgot or maybe you didn't know, but Eric can spin around his spear to destroy homing projectiles from any direction( press attack, and while keeping the attack button pushed alternate by pressing left and right : if you are heading right, begin with the left input, and vice versa ), you can keep spinning indifenitely. With that and the poledance ejection move Eric was a gust of fresh air in the Castlevania series at the time Pretty awesome game and homage video indeed, have a late like

That's a courageous title!

So glad other people have this take and can articulate for me lol. So many people online praise Castlevania 4 while scoffing at or ignoring bloodlines and it felt absurd to me since bloodlines felt like such a smoother and better experience to me.

After playing Castlevania 3. I was let down by 4 not because of it’s Gfx or music. (Which was master class for its time) but it’s difficulty. I bought it as a kid and beat it in almost a day. You have any idea how hard it was to make money as a kid? Hehe. I played bloodlines years later and I think it’s the more rounded and better Castlevania. But man those tunes on 4 are still nuts.

You get a like, a comment, and a subscribe. Excellent video! As many others have said, this video perfectly articulates the thoughts I've had about this comparison. This is why I search KZfaq every couple of months for the same topic, you never know when a legendary video like this will appear.

I always liked both. I enjoyed bloodlines trying some new things with different characters/weapons, etc, but I always seemed to have more fun with SC4 and found myself playing it more often. Can’t really put my finger on why. Maybe level design? I dunno…

I definitely agree with your take. I've always seen the classic side of Castlevania as something of an action-focused puzzle game series. The fun of trying to figure out how to use your uncontrollable jump, heavily limited whip and vital sub-weapons to get out of a tight situation is the thing that sets these games apart from the competition. SC4 is exceptionally fun and polished, but it just doesn't deliver what I want from a Classicvania entry. One of the neat gameplay differences between the two games is that SC4's graphical showcases (such as the spinning drum or rotating room) had no real effect on gameplay, while Bloodlines' faux-3D bosses, leaning tower and screwy illusory rooms were completely weaved into the game's challenge. Of course, SC4 came out first, so it's not exactly a fair comparison, but it's neat to see how the devs improved upon prior entries. I don't even mind the limited continues since they incentivize the player to not just beat a level, but to replay it over and over until they can beat it with as few deaths as possible in order to get a password that won't cause them to run out of lives later down the road. It pleases the perfectionist in me.

Super clean video, great editing and narrating.

Is impressive how BLOODBORNE is the perfect 3D castelvania.... Konami should take notice and ask From Software to make them a Castelvania game

Watched a couple of your videos, great job! 👍

Wowww I knew I'd like this video for agreeing with me ;D, but I didn't expect to learn so much! The music trick, the hitbox on John's swing, changing orientation mid-jump--time to play this again!

I came across this when I was looking for a side by side comparison of the colour hack and you have gained a new sub, hope you keep up the good work. Especially your comix zone outro saying ;)

8:20 Imagine beating the game for like 50th time and you just play the game this way and never get hurt

I could not get into Super Castlevania IV for a lot of the reasons you mention. I think I'll give Bloodlines a shot after seeing this.

This video did a really great job at putting my love of Bloodlines into words. I got into Castlevania last year and while my first game was 4, Bloodlines was the one that really sold me on the series and still is my second favorite game in the series, behind Aria of Sorrow. There's just something special about how Bloodlines is balanced so that you inherently can't just tank hits and call it a day.

Based on a recent playthrough, the whip in IV can go "limb" even when a normal attack has already hit, which leads to only doing the "limb" damage. Noticed this when even bats would survive the whiplash. Anyway, I think the cause is always pressing the attack button down for too long.

This is such a great video, and I agree with your position completely. Looking forward to your Rondo video

I had a great time when playing these games back to back, the nice thing is I don’t have nostalgia pulling me either way. I definitely could feel the intentional balances to not overpower your character... when playing through them, I definitely could hear, see, and feel reasons why somebody could favor one or the other. I ended up loving them both a whole lot. I think it’s absolutely astonishing what they were able to come out with with SC4 in ‘91, that’s just shocking. Bloodlines did benefit from being able to observe all these other castlevania titles, it was 3 years later, and it was 5 years after the Genesis came out... I totally agree about the padding too, that is just ruthless but part of what was normal at the time, at least they had passwords (otherwise omg). It’s insane all that they were able to accomplish with that ‘91 release, like what it looks, sounds, and feels like compared to the NES castlevania titles is absolutely crazy. But when playing through Bloodlines, there were those reoccurring moments where I could continue to understand why a lot of people can prefer it. Nice robust conversation 👍 good sight pointing out the turning away in mid-air, definitely important... also very important in another spooky, challenging series with GnG! I think it’s too absolute to be like “this game is better” because what’s important to one player may not be the same to another, but it’s definitely fair to say “this is how the gameplay became more balanced” because that’s 100% fact. I never understood why people try to act like the original on the NES is so similar to the one on the SNES, there are MOUNTAINS of new levels, bosses, music, settings etc that have nothing to do with the original at all.

4:06 - yes, happened to me many times, and by the time I got to Dracula, I came to resent the mechanic. People say you can't go back to old school whipping after experiencing IV, but I did and never looked back. I tell you what was hard to go back to after playing Rondo and X: losing the sub-weapon you like all the time because you whipped the wrong candle. So many points I agree with in this video, like the art, I don't like the pixel art in IV, it looks muddied-up, messy, I don't like it at all, much prefer Dracula X's style (which is fairer to compare to, as both are on the SNES, rather than comparing it to Rondo). In fact, I don't care if it's a watered-down version of Rondo, I liked Dracula X much more. The map theme is awesome too. And although Rondo is better, of course, I still think that the first stage looks better in Dracula X, the fire effects are so cool. I loved that game. Also, yes, IV was too easy for a CV entry, especially the bosses. We don't need Dark Demon level of craziness, but nothing more satisfactory than beating a hard boss. That doesn't mean I thought that SCIV was bad, I liked it, but I didn't love it. I haven't played Bloodlines yet, but as I progress through every entry of the series, this one is the next one in line. I was already looking forward to it, but after watching this video, I just can't wait. Oh, and with the advent of flashcarts, save states are no longer confined to emulation, you can now use them on real hardware just the same, which is great for speedrunners and you know, not having to keep your console on forever just because real life called you, putting up with ridiculously long passwords, or passwords in general.

While I love Castlevania Bloodlines, I feel like it and 4 play so surprisingly differently that they're hard for me to compare

Awesome review. I started off with symphony of the night, so naturally steal is my choice over the whip and eric is a choice character for me. Just started playing this game a few days ago after getting that mini genesis for my son, but by the looks of it you'd think I got it for me because I'm hooked.

I enjoy both games but a lot of the challenge was removed from IV. I wouldn't consider it a bad thing just a distinct difference from what I remember.

Why does this video have just 2.4k views? Dude this is a masterpiece.

I downloaded the Anniversary Collection recently - with all due sadness as they'd left Rondo of Blood out (and since my start to the series was "Symphony of the Night", I'd have sooner had its forerunner than any other game in the series). Still, of the two 16-bit they did include, I've definitely gotten along better with "Bloodlines" so far. "Castlevania IV" starts beautifully and feels nice and smooth until that damn vertical scroll section, then things start to get mightily frustrating. Also, it does have rather a muddy palette. Not that I'm finding "Bloodlines" a cakewalk, but I agree with all those points on balance: the powerful sub-weapons and special attacks make a big difference, and it's a welcome touch that the environment can also hurt the enemies. Not to mention it's just way more vibrant and prettier to look at. The lighting effects in the Versailles stage are almost worthy of "Symphony".

oh i didnt notice the whole thing about becoming a hitbox when swinging from ceilings! things like this make it undeniable that the bloodlines team really focused on solving all the issues from previous games that were anxiety-inducing from their finicky-ness alone! awesome vid :)

That game was a treasure, for me, back in my Genesis days. Amazing soundtrack too.

The most important issue here, Bloodlines it's another new Castlevania Game, and another different story. While in CV4, they tried on to make an a Remake from the first title ( Konami decided on tried again on to make another Remakes from their first title ever, after instead of this ) but still; CV4 felt to me like another CV title instead of a Remake from the first one. Both games are great in every way. But i'm still prefer Bloodlines. It feels different, and it's not inside on a Nintendo console. And thats made the differences, you know what i mean.

Bloodlines is tied in my no.3 slot with SCIV with 3 and rondo of blood 1 or 2 depending on what side of bed I get up that day. Honestly the only 2 things that hold this classic back are some horrible sound effects and the brutal 2 continue limit. The ‘boss rush’ gauntlet never really bothered me as much as I know it has bothered some. Although if you are a first time player, I could see how that could be an exercise in frustration. Well thought out and constructive opinions here. You sir have earned my subscription.

Woah... I’ve played since it came out and never even tried that down thrust before

Very good video. Didn't think I would actually be convinced.

Spot on. What annoys me most about IV is that while combat is way too easy and unbalanced for all the reasons you explained, the platforming on the other hand is extremely frustrating: almost every time I died, it was because of death spikes or cheap pixel perfect jumps. I'm actually surprised when people say it's one of the easiest Castlevania, that Waterfall level alone was crazy frustrating. I find IV to be the most overrated game in the entire series.

i really enjoyed your video, thanks :)

Great video, good points. Keep up the good work. I’m going out to buy Cv4 and bloodlines right now

There's something else both Bloodlines and SCIV does perfectly: subweapon is R in SCIV, C in Bloodlines. I recently got Castlevania Requiem, you can map your controls in Rondo Of Blood, so on a PS4 controller subweapon is R1. Making subweapon anything but Up + Attack, makes stairs much less an issue.

The section on the setting of each game is an important one. I think it's interesting to compare Bloodlines (or "New Generation" in the UK) to the DS game Portrait of Ruin, where you meet the Bloodlines hero John Morris's ghost. Bloodlines is set in 1917, and the visit to the German munitions factory shows an awareness of being in the middle of the Great War. Portrait of Ruin is okay in itself, but it completely fails to make use of its setting. The opening text says it's 1944 - right as the bloodiest and most destructive war in history, the Second World War, is reaching its final catastrophic chapters, and moreover you're in Translyvania, i.e. on the Eastern Front just as the Soviet juggernaut is beating down the door. That sort of setting would seem absolutely ripe for total demonic chaos, but bar vague allusions in one or two of the level names (e.g. "Nation of Fools") the game could be set in literally any century of the Castlevania storyline, a big wasted opportunity.

And how it doesn't: Visuals, graphical tricks, music, gameplay, a proper cinematic look and atmosphere, etc. But it does have some graphical tricks of it's own and two players to choose from.

Much appreciate this video. You raise lots of good points. Yes the sub weapons in Super Castlevania seemed bleak and often times useless. With only the boomerang/cross being the more useful but even then only situational. I played Bloodlines yesterday and it feels satisfying. So much is going on and the game doesn't feel old.

Really good video. My favourite is Rondo Of Blood maybe tie with the original from NES

I've played loads of the original, SC4, and Rondo but I always glanced over Bloodlines because it was a genesis game and I always had a bias against them. It frankly sounds like the perfect old-school Castlevania title. Gotta try it. That ceiling swing is the coolest shit I ever heard.

Wow, when I played Castlevania 4 I was so frustrated and didn't like it as much as everybody else, but I couldn't tell why. Thanks for this.

Having played both games, bloodlines on genesis and Castlevania four on my cousin’s SNES I like both games and it’s very hard to say which one is the best since both have their own unique qualities. If I had to choose, it would have to be bloodlines because of the look and feel of the characters and game as a whole. Plus, considering fact that, that’s the only Castlevania game to be released on the genesis. I wish there would’ve been more games like it.

Unrelated, but I've been playing Super Darius II on the PC Engine CD lately. I would love to see a video about it.

Holy, this video is great!

The *real* super most important reason Bloodlines is better is because it changed the sub weapon ammo from hearts to crystals. Now people are no longer confused why a heart let's them throw an axe.

Liking before watching for the sheer spiciness of this take on my favorite classic-vania. Justice for Bloodlines! Now to watch.

5:10 John Morris can also whip downwards while airborne, but only straight down

This is basically just Sequelitis/Egoraptor but without all the cursing. I like it

SC4 has extremely overpowered cross, when you get the multipliers. It’s how speedrunners get through levels with barely any trouble.

Both of the games are masterpieces

OMG this person gets it. I love Bloodlines simply because the game was fun. It's not frustrating it's just fun.

I think its purely a nostalgic thing. To me 4 is the best outside of SOTN. Blood lines is cool though. Im palying it now even. Theres things about it that i like for sure.

I think the original Rondo of Blood is the peak of the classic Castlevania formula but I enjoyed Bloodlines and Super Castlevania IV as well.

Michiru Yamane's first Castlevania that shot her music career into stardom and was a mainstay for most of the beloved modern and metroidvania games that came after as well as Bloodstained. The score, despite the Genesis'/Mega Drive's shortcomings, of Bloodlines is world class... and that's besides the enemy variety, colorfully unique stages with very & various special effects that go beyond the one Mode7 room of SCV4, and gore.

Hwve you fought the extra boses in expert version? Do you know about them?

I always thought that super castlevania made it easy because you could strike all around but the enemies had the usual movement. bloodlines was fun in its own way

another thing to mention about Castlevania 4 you have to use either the L and R buttons to use sub weapons unlike the original Nes hold up and push a button to throw them.

excellent breakdown

Them's fighting words.

Well, the whip was designed to whip diagonally up for the swing ability. Also, don’t forget about Eric’s epic weapon flourish

Always felt like Super Castlevania 4 felt stiff compared to the fluid gameplay of Bloodlines. Don't have any nostalgia for both games since I started playing both on emulators having only owned a famicom back when they were released.

Egoraptor did mention this in his castlevania 4 sequelitis, and I actually agree with him now. Because subweapons play an important role in rondo of blood and bloodlines. Less is more in bloodlines and all 3 are useful. In rondo you can do special attacks and in symphony of the night Richter can do the whip flick to block enemy projectiles.

Both are awesome man. It's not a competition. Both are amazing castlevania series entries

Awesome video.

Both of these Castlevania games are so damn good in different ways!!!

I have so much nostalgia for SC4 but only recently came to agree with you. Then this showed up in my recommendations. Best thing about Bloodlines is that it's basically TreasureVania

This is a great video. The observation about enemies being killed by falling chandeliers isn't belabored but it's really a super compelling bit of evidence that Bloodlines' devs were consciously trying to improve on 4. The rest of the video makes a strong case they succeeded. (The soundtrack for 4 is ultimately the more impressive one though.)

❤️ Castlevania BloodLines 👍 great video

Yeah idk bro, been playing since nes era and could never get into bloodlines, i like it but not enough to put the time in to beat it and i never had that problem with 4, rondo or symphony which i only just got around to playing a year or 2 ago. That being said ive never beaten 3 either, ive gotten up to the end a few times but always had to stop before the end and was never really motivated to smash it out where as every year at halloween i smash out 4. Still to each there own and it was good to hear all the positives about the game you brought up. Maybe ill work on my bloodlines skills a bit after this but tbh ill probably give up after a few levels and play 4 like i always do lol

Great video man. Thanks.

Castlevania: Bloodlines is the first game I play in my entire life

You are spitting facts, Super Castlevania IV is a great game imo, it is pretty good and all, but GOD, Bloodlines and Rondo are way better if we're speaking of 16 bit games, I do even prefer Castlevania Chronicles to IV as the reimagining of Castlevania 1, IV wasn't just too memorable to me imo, it's still a great game but I feel it is a bit overhyped, as far as classic castlevanias go, I feel IV has the least satisfying control and whip, Rondo, Bloodlines, Chronicles, 3, 1 and Adventure Rebirth all have incredibly satisfying whip controls, and in the non metroidvanias Portrait of Ruin has the best whip feeling, something IV doesn't have, this is a great video, keep it up!

19:47 "...I don't remember most of the music in Castlevania IV" - I BEG YOUR PARDON???

Been a while since I've heard someone confuse the SNES's higher color palette and sample based sound for technological superiority. Usually, I need to defend its slow performance and low resolution screens. Neither system has an advantage. They're primarily built for completely different types of games. (Alien Soldier and Super Metroid are both games that couldn't be done nearly as well on the other system.) With that said, you make a great argument for Bloodlines. I may not agree with everything you've said, but you go a lot deeper and a lot clearer than most reviews. Good show. I'm going to look at your other videos, if you do a lot of retro gaming, you've got a new subscriber.

Amazing!

Very good video, but disagrees a bit with something you say, especially regarding the sound track. I think it is positive that not everyone agrees because it evokes a commitment. There are also things that made you change my mind :) keep making great videos :D

I love this type of video

Haha! Nice Easter Egg you hid right at the beginning of the video. Will not spoil it. People should just watch the first 15 seconds. Haha!

finally someone that agrees that bloodlines is better than 4!

Ok am I the only one who noticed “stupid” in the title at 0:10?😂

THE video I was waiting for decades

I think 4 is superior for several reasons, but I appreciate your intelligent arguments to the contrary.

As a big Castlevania III fan on the NES i was a little let down by Super Castlevania IV. Castlevania IV feels a little gimmicky while i have had a blast with Bloodlines. Bloodlines could be one of the best 16bit games i have played.

As a person who was didn't grow up with Castlevania (too young I'm Gen Z lol) and discovered it through Smash, I always thought I was crazy for preferring Bloodlines over 4 lol, finally someone agrees

Bloodlines for the win, the music alone. And the gameplay is next to none

The best of the 16-bit Castlevania games? Rondo of Blood.

Yeah I totally agree with your points with but SCIV is still my favourite but bloodlines kicks ass with its difficulty

Large sprites in the 16bit era is the equivalent of Ray Tracing on modern consoles. It looks great but kills performance or inhibits gameplay.

Castlevania 4S versatility and play control are unmatched. Once I used the eight directional whip that can flick and be used as a shield and a grappling hook, and those mode 7 scaling and rotation effects..... Other Castlevania games feel clunky and average....

I will say, in defense of IV sharing a lot of similarities of the original NES game, That’s very much intentional. It was more or less designed to be a semi-remake, keeping the basic story, bosses and some stages but adding new stuff as well. The diagonal whipping was meant to be in the original NES game but was never included so it seemed an easy choice to include here. Hell, the game is just called Akumajo Dracula in Japan, same as the original game. Just like how Bloodlines is meant to be a step away from the Castlevania/Akumajo name given how it’s called Vampire Killer in Japan, IV is meant to be an embrace of the original game. Solid video, very much enjoyed seeing Bloodlines get its dues

Never played any Castlevania games, bought the anniversary collection, played them in order, and was like, “wow, every game gets better than the last. Bloodlines has to be the fan favorite title.” Boy was I wrong, I think there’s just a ton of nostalgia that comes into IV that can cloud people’s judgement. Also AVGN pretty much brushed Bloodlines aside, I don’t really think he explored the games mechanics all that much. He was just like, “no 8 directional whipping? Yeah, trash game IV better.”

Never had the issue with the flaccid whip. Your controller might be broken or sticky buttons.