I think the thing with the designs is not that they’re that crazy for castlevania, they’re not that far off ayami kojimas beloved art style, but just that if you’re playing a crossover party fighting game where all you’re favourites show up, you want them to look how you remember them.

To be even more nerd-y about this game, the Time Reaper was sent by Galamoth 10000 years in the future. This is a reference to Kid Dracula of all the Castlevania related things, which really adds to the whole timeline crossover aspect of the game.

Soma was gonna be in the game but when Obada told him he was going to redesign his jacket, he backed out.

Glad to see you cover this one, it’s always been one of the most fascinating games in the series lol. While Judgment is certainly not perfect & has with SO MANY bizarre elements it’s one that I’ve found more and more interesting as time goes on, especially because of what made it so controversial back then making it extremely fascinating today. Castlevania has SO MUCH potential as a fighting game… it’s very unlikely but I hope to see Castlevania return to the format in a more traditional style one day in the future.

4:37. Hey man Zatch Bell is a great game. Fun Fact the American and Japanese versions have different rosters because the dub wasnt far along enough. So the American version doesnt have the movie villain and Ponygon doesnt have a partner. So to make up for this, fan favorite Barry was given a character slot for the American version. The Dev really is top tier.

There's a common misunderstanding about Simon's design, he was always a bishounen redhead, but at some point they decided to go for the goofier conan the barbarian design. Later they went back to his redhead self in the 2000s, and recently they went back to the Conan the Barbarian design again.

You should definitely talk about the Bloody roar series one day. Def a underrated series. More People should play and know about it!

Today's Eighting was originally two companies, Eighting and Raizing, both born from the shambles of two other companies, Toaplan and Compile, and before starting the Bloody Roar series and moving full time to fighting games the mostly made shoot 'em ups like Sorcer Striker and Battle Garegga. In fact, these days they're better known for their shmup output than they are for fighting games.

Man, this channel's not only pumping out quality FG content but it's also making me nostalgic for the exact same issue of Nintendo Power that I first ever read and became a subscriber for as a kid, getting me into retro stuff. Though I admittedly don't remember much about it, and think I've lost the copy I had... I sure don't remember buff, sexy Death Note vampire hunters being in it, but time flies! Edit: Holy water being broken in a Castlevania game? Gosh I never heard of that one before, Holy Water has NEVER been the strongest subweapon in any Castlevania game, it truly shocks me that out of all weapons that HOLY WATER is the broken one, man imagine. (But seriously has it ever been bad in a Castlevania game?)

An overhated banger from 8ing. I'm one of those 8ing fans you mentioned and even I didn't realize how good it was until somewhat recently.

You deserve way more subs these niche fighting game topics that don't get talked about too much are amazing

You're the only KZfaqrs I think of for making a 4:3 aspect ratio video and I love it

Back in 2007 I managed to save enough money for a Wii, my mom put in some of her money to help me get enough although she didn't have much. I didn't have enough money to get many games, so I have to be selective. This one strikes me with the cover art, I was a huge fan of Bloody Roar back in the days as well, but I didn't know that it was the same developers. Gotta say I play tf out of it, it was my first castlevania game despite being a spinoff. It's my favorite game up to this day. My mom is gone, my Wii died, but I still have this game on my drive, I play it on occasion and it reminds me of how much fun and simple life was back then.

takeshi obata's art goes SO hard

Don't have much to say honestly. Good video, so here's a comment for the algorithm my dude. As a Castlevania fan, I think that the concept of a Castlevania fighting game should still be revisited and improved upon, and even if not, this game is still pretty decent!

A sequel for this game has so much potential if done correctly. Great vid btw

This game holds a special place in my heart. Not only did I get it day 1, being a Castlevania fan and fighting game nut, but I was dominating the game's online leaderboards as Dracula during the period of time the game was active (he's actually quite good once you realize he plays by completely unique rules/mechanics). My score was so much higher at the time it actually put me off from playing Ranked, since, due to the rubber banding of the score system, one loss cost me as many points as about ten or so wins. That's largely why I stopped playing.

Wow, I had no idea people didn't like the Obata art, I thought it was rad as hell. I always thought his stuff was a fun balance of camp and cool, and that's what I think of when it comes to the Castlevania series as a whole I guess, so it seemed like a fun fit. To be fair, I never played Judgement so I can't say if the game itself influenced what people thought of the art, but it seemed fine to have different art for a spinoff, like you pointed out, that's not new for the series. That being said, I very much appreciate this dive into this, it's nice to see this forgotten stuff checked out, especially the weirdness that was Wii fighters!

I think the devs at 8ing are fans of putting high execution barrier behind their games to truly uncover how broken they are (and fun as a consequence)

RIP Golem too pure for this timeline

Can't believe this guy just admitted to be "waggling his wiimote"

Good to see you finally cover this one. I remember discovering this game on Ye Ol' KZfaq in like 2009 or late 2008 from a compilation of all the characters' supers. I always wanted to know more about the game but could never find any good footage of it. Always liked the style of it and the care that was put into it; Aeon gets a unique voiceline for every character during his super, including his mirror match! Love that. Also never got the hate for Simon's Judgement design as you point out, but I loath Grant's redesign. I remember not caring for his characterization in this either, hell I don't think he even shows up in that Netflix series. He always got the short end of the stick from Castlevania III gang.

So glad you mentioned the grant infinite hahah. Love that good old 8ing buffer exploit

Okay, you are a man after my heart, giving Castlevania 64 propps and shitting on LoD1 and LoD2. Bless you, GuileWinQuote.

Good work as always. Enjoy seeing you make new content, especially since i can feel the passion in the video.

I'll never forget this game it blew my mind when i was a kid and I listen to the ost all the time

I never actually picked this game up to play but I used to listen to it's soundtrack all the time, it's so awesome.

I've been waiting for this. Love this series and love your content.

I really enjoyed my time playing this when I found out about it a few years ago so it's cool to see a video on it after all this time

Dude, that was one of my favorite WII games! Thanks for covering it.

Just started watching and haven't watched the video yet, but I just wanted to say I appreciate you making a video about this. Your research and knowledge being applied to a game that's very significant to me is a very nice treat! Also, I highly recommend Ragnarrox's video about Castlevania if you ever get the chance to check it out.

I genuinely like this game and had a lot of fun with it. I still play it sometimes too

Hearing someone have some pretty nice things about Judgement feels nice. I had so much fun with this game back when, and all I can remember was video after comment, after message board trash talking the game. It's not perfect, but I remember having some fun weekend nights playing this one.

Excellent video! I especially love how its in 4:3, KZfaq needs more modern videos like that.

This video made me get into Judgement and i love it now. Ive only been able to do single player stuff and labbing holy water combos since i dont have many people irl to play with and online isnt an option for me but i would LOVE to run tournaments for this game someday.

I love these videos not only for discovering cool stuff, but for the fair approach and great production. Little things like the description boxes in the character section (plus the gif at 10:27) show the effort that goes into each video. Not a CV fan, so i don't have much to say about this game, but I can see why the artstyle was/is so divisive. Which is a shame, because in motion the game looks fantastic for a Wii title, and there's a good game here. It's not for me, but I hope it gets more fans. Also, in a bit of a tangent: when you mentioned the over-designed bondage style being common back then, I instantly remembered the atrocity that was Bomberman: Act Zero. That one was a real case of bad 2000s edge.

I ended up picking up the game earlier this year and having quite fun with it. I pray this game gets something of a competitive scene also THOSE ARE A SACRED GIFT is such a quote

this game means a lot to me since me and my friends play this game whenever we get together we all think its shit but it dosent matter just mashing and swinging is so much fun i love it horrible art style and all

No one forgot about Judgement, we simply do not wish to remember it exists or talk about it

Man I love your videos! Would love to see you talking about Death Cargo, even though you focus mostly on the technical aspects of the games

Omg the "DEATH NOTE ARTIST" I was wondering why the art style has something familiar about it

What a blast from the past. I remember unlocking the boss medals in order of ecclesia to link my ds to the wii and get new accessories and costumes.

4:47 Thought we would forget about Tatsunoko vs. Capcom huh?

Yo! I have this game! Played it back in the day and when I was looking up info or tech for this there was surprisingly almost nothing, glad to have seen this video, hope you are doing well!

The art style still is why I want to check this game out! Like, that artist knows how to make anything look insanely cool.

Honestly holy water sounds like a very cool way to balance a game. From what i see is that it's the best item in the game so you want it. So what if the best characters can't start with it but the low-tiers have access to it no problem.

I play this game quite allot, and for all the other fighters I've got for my Wii, I'd have to say that this one has grabbed my attention the most! And I've never played a main line Castlevania game... But this, this sticks! and for a game that runs at 30 frames a sec, it's barely noticeable in battle and does nothing that changes the smooth flow of gameplay (just make sure to toggle on 'deflicker' in the options menu). I've always liked seeing how far the Wii could be pushed in terms of background detail and character models, and judgement really scratches that itch for me since I'm a sucker for older hardware (generally anything from PS3 and under). So uhhh, an updated version of the existing game on the same system with more characters? I'd dig that! Sure, it's never going to happen... but i can pray! but who am i kidding... Praying is something you only do in a church and I'm not a religious man who needs deep meaning in life, so this will have to do for now.

The speed at which views are coming in is a shame, but thank you for making it anyways. People gotta' learn about this game, especially me. I was more positive on it than most, and even I eventually told a friend that I didn't want to play it anymore out of boredom. Finding tech builds my respect for it.

Some ideas in this game have huge potential

I remember this game. It came out around the time I learned Fate Unlimited Codes was a thing and that 8ing made it. I don't know why, but I just presumed Judgement would play like that game but with Castlevania characters obviously. Even after the screenshots made it clear it was more of an arena fighter, I still held out hope haha. Playing around with it now though in Dolphin, you could sorta see the potential.

Underrated Channel

I always felt like this probably couldve been a fun game to just mess around in, but I couldn't get any of my friends to actually play. Everyone has the usual, "ew gross, Judgement" reaction to it, and I'm like Okay but It's still kinda fun though lol

This is my guilty pleasure fighting game. I even hosted it as a mystery game tournament in my local to good reception. People enjoyed the games jank, so it worked great as a funny side-tournament

Avoided this game for years, but you sparked my interest.

Maria in judgement: A-cup angst. Maria in rondo: D cup at age 12.

Having wanted this game as a kid but never playing it and only seeing footage, I never realized it was motion controls ngl

I loved this game and played it alot in the day

Man now this makes me imagine the roster for a new Castlevania fighting game (Which I will now compile, split based on eras) Classic Era: Trevor Belmont (Castlevania 3) Sypha Belnades (Castlevania 3) Simon Belmont (Castlevania) Post Trilogy Era: Richter Belmont (Rondo of Blood) Maria Renard (Rondo of Blood) Eric Lecarde (Bloodlines) Cornell (Legacy of Darkness) Alucard (Symphony of the Night) Mobile Era: Soma Cruz (Aria/Dawn of Sorrow) Shanoa (Order of Eclesia) Jon Morris (Portrait of Ruin) Tried to cover pretty much every major era of classic Castlevania, probably missed a few though!

I grew up playing Bloody Roar and Clash of Ninja, and didn't even realize until this video, that they're both 8ing :o Pretty sick

Fate Unlimited Codes is one I think is worth talking about

Yes, i could never forget this game, because we have amazing versions of classic castlevania themes righ there. Speakin in "8ing", you could do a video talking about "Fate: Unlimited code", for ps2. Is a amzing fighting game that don have the love that deserve.

the music is so good in this game

Babe wake up, Guile posted

I never forgot. Aeon is my favorite character. Dude is so cool.

As a non-castlevania fan, I think I might like this one. It might be my fave castlevania game

Soma not being added is specially weird cause he could be slapped right in and fit in with the art style perfectly

HOLY NUTS, I WAS JUST WONDERING WHEN THIS MONTH'S VIDEO WOULD POP UP I'm gonna have some entertainment for tonight, oh boy

Fan Service: the game. Always enjoyed this game, and a sequel would be awesome

God those designs are so fucking raw reminds me a ton of some old atlas stuff

I wasn't sure what to expect, but this is a wholesome vid man. I have this game and might not have played it since the Wii, this kinda makes me wanna revisit it. Oh yeah why is 30 FPS bad?

''not all created equal'' that sweet 8ing touch of kusoge 👌🏻👌🏻

I recently got into Sonic Riders Tournament Edition and am having a blast. I tihnk if this game got it's own Modbase, one that would fix issues like Animations, Weapon Balancing, and the lack of cool characters to play as, then this game could be taken more seriously. I want to see a true scene of this game.

I still can't get over just how many belts Trevor is wearing. It's like Obata was trying to one-up Nomura in seeing how many belts one could fit on a character. I also don't understand why they invented Aeon for this game when Saint Germain was right there.

the instant 8ing is mentioned as a dev i am instantly sold on a fighting game (one day in the far off future i hope DNF Duel gets a GWQ video)

I don't know if i hate the design or love it but I'm definitely nostalgic for it. If i ever pick it up i really wanna try out Golem

2:16 he turned the Bandit into Rem from Death Note too lol

Honestly this game is great but its probably the only fighting game I know of where one of the big things holding it back was the character designs. I remember way back in 2009/2010 a lot of people in my local FGC and nearby states like Cali didn't fuck with the game at all and the character designs being mostly terrible was a commonly cited reason. Either cause they liked Castlevania and thought the new interpretations were unrecognizable or they didn't like CV and just thought they were plan awful like Simon's belt jacket. Its unfortunate, if the character designs were closer to the source material it woulda probably done a tiny bit better.

Ngl I would love for you to cover the clash of ninja/GNT games some day

I do remember this

another certified gwq banger

It was forgotten for a reason. Or a hundred.

I can’t be the only person who wants a Castlevania Warriors game?

I actually want to add this to my Wii U collection. So nice to play Wii games through hdmi.

Love your vids man and I like the Obata designs

I've had my eye on this game for a while now... just never got to play Switch or Wii games much.

I've seen multiple streamers go into this game thinking it's the worst Castlevania game, only to walk away realizing it's an absolute blast once you get past the redesigns. I think the style looks AMAZING but yeah it's hard to think of these characters as the actual Castlevania characters. That really is at the core of this games hate and it makes sense because it's a crossover game! It's all about seeing these familiar faces come together and fight, but if you redesign them then the faces aren't familiar anymore, are they? Personally I was always okay with the redesigns because I consider them better than Ayame Kojima's redesigns. She's a great artist and her own designs are great but I always felt her interpretations of older characters sucked. Mostly that's because I'm a Richter fanboy who likes him as a hotblooded anime protagonist and not as an arrogant aristocrat. I got a lot of crap for the opinion throughout the years only for those same people to hate this game for the redesigns...and WOW was the conversation around the designs broken! Like with Simon? Everyone complained that he didn't look like Conan, but NO ONE brings up the red haired design that had been used for at least 3 games by that point which is what the Judgement design is based on! THAT was Simon's canon design at the time. THEN you get to Maria. "Why did they turn Maria into a little girl!!!" because she IS a little girl? I mean yes, Saturn SotN Maria with her fighting game input moves would have been amazing but Igarashi went out of his way to de-canonize that (completely redoing her gameplay for the PSP SotN). Also I have a soft spot for bandaged and masked characters so I like what they did to Grant. I think they were going for a Jack the Ripper inspired design? Everyone always says Voldo, but the bandages remind me of Power Stone's Jack. But yeah, this is one of my favorite Arena Fighters. As a side note, Alucard and Shanoa are apparently top tier with Dracula at rock bottom.

Yo! I just heard you as a guest on Triple KO! :D Edit: Good video!

i loooooove the death note designs they look so cool

They're all unrecognizable from the pre established visual

Imagine if Hirohiko Araki had done the designs.

Love me some weird fighting games.

"I'll even defend the 3D games " I too am a man of culture.

wow, the combos in this game do look really cool! Love how you can find things to appreciate in any game. I agree I think these designs are underrated and some are really great!

They did tatsunoko vs capcom??? That game was amazing

Can you cover WakuWaku7 and Galaxy Fighters

castlevania really deserves a 2d fighter imo. i think it could work very well, sotn already had motion inputs

You aren’t missing much with Alucard as you thought, I came back to this game years ago also with Eighting in mind and he didn’t have as much interesting things to pull off with all the cancel systems. It was around that time I got into TASing Bloody Roar Primal Fury also, so I was trying to search deep.

i'm a big castlevania fan but i got this game as a gag. played it once, put it down. maybe i'll try it again

I thought you were going to talk about serio's castlevania fighter but judgement is cool too

man, i was sick with Shanoa, my favorite, also favorite castlevania from DS game title.