The Super Castlevania IV appreciation thread

[Zack]

great game. my fav 2 tracks are:

[Dj Jimmi Zero]

Super Castlevania IV is one of my favorites in the series along with Kid Dracula, Order of Ecclesia, Symphony of the Night, Bloodlines and Rondo of Blood. But aside from the honorable mention, I enjoy the other titles I've listed much more. The real outstanding part of Super Castlevania IV is definitely the music, the only game that comes close is the Rondo of Blood.

[eastx]

Originally Posted by Drunken Savior

Who are you agreeing with? No one here says Symphony of the Night sucks...

The crack pipe has not been kind to old Loemtotemplotem.

I too feel that Super Castlevania IV is perfect (other than the mild censorship of the US version). Konami should seriously remake it or at least release it as-is on XBLA and PSN.

[Kiuju2k]

They should go back to stages.

[javi]

Originally Posted by loempiavreter

But I agree Symphony of the Night sucks

We never agreed that SOTN sucked. We are just saying just how awesome SC4 is compared to SOTN. Not that I'm saying that I have a problem with SOTN, because I like that game too. I just like part 4 better.

[Icarus4578]

Joe, by 'perfect art' I'm talking about the overall dark & morbid design which is great. It's a given that an 8-meg SNES game isn't going to have the cleanest visuals and animation.

Vic, I watched that Halloween episode of Game Sack. Good stuff. The masks kinda scared me though. Contra III FTW!

SOTN is a good game, as DS pointed out. Just because Konami has overdone the Metroidvania formula doesn't detract from its greatness. Nevertheless, I wish they'd go back to stages, as Kiuju2k said. I wouldn't even mind if they tried something new for a change, like maybe an arcade-style beat-'em-up similar to their X-Men/TMNT cabinets, or how 'bout an RPG? Something to break the mold.

eastx, as for the idea of a remake, I'm all for it. Imagine SCVIV redone with hi-res art and a remixed soundtrack. My question is, does Konami currently have what it takes to get the job done right or would they just outsource it like they did with that recent online Contra?

javi, agreed 100%.

BTW, Zack and DJ Jimmi Zero, thanks for posting your favorite tracks. My picks would be Trick Manor & Treasure Room, but the entire soundtrack is just phenomenal all the way through. It's one of those soundtracks that every serious gamer & music lover should own.

[Joe Redifer]

Originally Posted by Icarus4578

does Konami currently have what it takes to get the job done right or would they just outsource it like they did with that recent online Contra?

Konami can't do shit any more. Everything must be outsourced. If they outsourced it to Arc like they did with Contra, it could turn out pretty awesome. But more than likely it would end up like Rocket Knight which is an embarrassment to mankind and looks worse than an 8-bit game because someone would insist that it use polygons because they are just too lazy to animate and draw.

[George Foreman]

Originally Posted by Joe Redifer

Konami can't do shit any more. Everything must be outsourced. If they outsourced it to Arc like they did with Contra, it could turn out pretty awesome. But more than likely it would end up like Rocket Knight which is an embarrassment to mankind and looks worse than an 8-bit game because someone would insist that it use polygons because they are just too lazy to animate and draw.

I haven't played Arc's Contra game, but Wayforward's Contra IV was damn near perfection (if not for the bullshit offscreen bullets). And with Konami working with them on the Vita Silent Hill I wouldn't be surprised if they got a crack at the 2D Castlevania series if the game sells pretty well.

[eastx]

Originally Posted by George Foreman

I haven't played Arc's Contra game, but Wayforward's Contra IV was damn near perfection (if not for the bullshit offscreen bullets). And with Konami working with them on the Vita Silent Hill I wouldn't be surprised if they got a crack at the 2D Castlevania series if the game sells pretty well.

I thought Hard Corps Uprising was way better than Contra IV, but then again I wasn't able to get very far into Contra IV due to the crazy and inappropriate for a portable game difficulty.

[George Foreman]

Originally Posted by eastx

I thought Hard Corps Uprising was way better than Contra IV, but then again I wasn't able to get very far into Contra IV due to the crazy and inappropriate for a portable game difficulty.

What did you think was inappropriate for a portable game (difficulty wise), besides the bullets coming from the other screen?

I actually thought that other than the last boss (which took me five or so tries), and the time I spent getting used to the flow of the game, that it was fairly average in difficulty (or at least what I would have called average coming off of playing Henry Hatsworth, Game Center CX, and Big Bang Mini on the DS).

[Joe Redifer]

The problem with Contra IV on the DS (as I said and showed in an episode of Game Sack) is that you need to keep looking at both screens all of the time. However this is completely unnatural as human vision does not see "tall", it sees "wide". So therefore you need to keep looking up and down and up and down and it is quite the distraction. A fast action game like Contra should not be like this. Just imagine going to a movie theater and the screen was super tall and skinny. It would really make viewing the movie a pain in the ass. It's the same thing with Contra IV. Plus the GIANT area between the screens blocks a lot of the action so that right there is a HUGE flaw. It just wasn't a good idea from the get-go, but they did it because they thought it would be "cool". Only "tate" games are appropriate for the "taller than wide" game arrangement, but it is all a single screen and it isn't ridiculously taller than it is wide like the DS is.

Hard Corps Uprising DESTROYS Contra IV.

[Kiuju2k]

Hard corps uprising is the fuckin truth man. Contra IV awesome too though.

[Icarus4578]

And yet Super Castlevania IV blows both of them out of the water.

[Sinful Sam]

This thread is making me want to play Super Castlevania again!!

[Icarus4578]

That would be a most wise decision. Treasure, err... Konami was at their peak back in those days. It seemed like everything they released had the midas touch. Super Castlevania IV has ZERO flaws. It may be easier than previous installments but the game design is so good and the music just so perfect that it doesn't even matter. That would be like me complaining that Strider is too easy or Space Harrier is too short. So what? Both of those games rock regardless. The pacing is important, very important. You will always see something new around every corner. Indeed, you get more variety within ten minutes of play than practically every FPS game exhibits in their entirety. There's just no substitute for great old-school gaming.