Top 5: Castlevania Games

by Kaes Delgrego { Oct 20th 2008 at 2:36PM }

This week marks the release of the highly anticipated Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Poised to be more than the usual Metroidvania-romp, Ecclesia's glyph system coupled with great diversity in environments and level layout (we're apparently not stuck inside the castle anymore) has all of us whip-enthusiasts drooling with anticipation. To be honest, Konami could slap the word "Castlevania" on a box of assorted animal feces and we'd still pre-order. Here's the part where I'm supposed take a cheap shot at Castlevania Judgment, but admit it: no matter how many times we all spit on the brawler, we never seem to stop checking out movies or screenshots. Castlevania has us whipped; pardon the hideous pun.

Assuming I haven't lost all credibility after the Mega Man list, here's another stab at ranking the best of a legendary franchise. Unlike most other Top 5's, this list is not necessarily Nintendo-specific. Take a gander, and try to pretend that you don't know what number one is.

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The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.

Tags: alucard, castlevania, castlevania-3, castlevania-dracula-x-chronicles, castlevania-iii, castlevania-judgment, castlevania-order-of-ecclesia, iga, igarashi, joystiqfeatures, koji-igarashi, order-of-ecclesia, rondo-of-blood, sotn, super-castlevania-iv, symphony-of-the-night, top-5, virtual-console, virtualconsole, wiiware

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Randy @ Oct 20th 2008 3:08PM

What I don't understand is why Konami doesn't re-release some the games. Like, take "Rondo" for instance, the game is on a dead system. Seeing the popularity of this game, you'd think that Konami would get a clue and see about porting it to one or more of the current consoles or at least as part of Compilation.

Why hasn't this happened yet?

Kaes Delgrego @ Oct 20th 2008 7:04PM

As I said in the column and you're likely aware, it is available in Japan on the VC. The reason that it hasn't been exported can be for any number of reasons. Perhaps Konami is saving it to be released as assistance in promoting another Castlevania game (Judgment?), or maybe they want to save it as an ace up their sleeve, or maybe they don't want it to interfere with sales of the PSP remake, or perhaps it's a licensing / legal issue.

Who knows, but what's certain is that we won't ever find out why. I do have faith that it will one day be available outside Japan. Perhaps I'm just an optimist! :)

Brinstar @ Oct 20th 2008 3:11PM

There's an error in your post, in the section on Rondo of Blood. It's Koji Igarashi, not Igarami.

David Hinkle @ Oct 20th 2008 3:15PM

Thanks, Brinstar. I fixed it.

Kaes Delgrego @ Oct 20th 2008 7:05PM

me = dummy.

Thanks, Brinstar & David!

SegaPleaseMakePanzerDragoonWii! @ Oct 20th 2008 3:21PM

What, no Castlevania 2 love on the top five? Just because 95% of Castlevania fans hate it? Oh well, at least I love that game (it's actually my second favorite, believe it or not), even if I am the only one. Good list otherwise. SOTN was a no brainer for #1.

Kaes Delgrego @ Oct 20th 2008 7:07PM

You know, I agree. Castlevania 2 isn't in the top 5, but it's definitely a great, fun game and way over-bashed. It's going to be hard to compete with other games in the series when talking about a legendary franchise such as Castlevania.

Covarr @ Oct 20th 2008 3:26PM

Except SotN isn't as good as Dawn of Sorrow. Sure, it was more innovative as it was the FIRST to do the Metroidvania thing, but Dawn of Sorrow had tighter controls, better level design, better graphics, and a complete lack of that terrible voice acting. The only thing SotN has on Dawn of Sorrow is that it came first, making it easier to reminisce over.

Kaes Delgrego @ Oct 20th 2008 7:10PM

You make an excellent argument with good points. One of the main things I try to do when labeling and ranking games is to try my best to remove the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia. As much as I do enjoy Dawn of Sorrow, I still think that SotN is the better game. But you could certainly be right! :)

ed @ Oct 21st 2008 12:45PM

No you are right. I've approached the CS series from a different angle than most. Aria was my first CS game, followed by CotM and that other GBA one, then Dawn THEN SoTN on the PSP.
And I just can't get into SoTN. Sure it's nice seeing where all the enemies came from but bloody hell. it's lacking so much usability compared to the DS game, who's only fault was the naff touchscreen bits. SoTN is just lacking that end-user touch. It's great for some gamers (probably) but with the nostalgia glasses off DoS is certainly the better made and more fun game.

Probably because they ripped a little bit off that stupidly well selling game - Pokemon.

Matthew Dickinson @ Oct 20th 2008 3:39PM

Symphony of the Night is boring. It has snooze-inducing music, boring background art. About all it has going for it is the well-animated characters and the amusing voice overs. Other than that it was too easy. Until you beat it perfectly and get to play as Richter, that's only when it gets hard. I don't like Kogi Igarashi's style. My favorite games in the series are Castlevania NES, part 4 for SNES, Bloodlines, and maybe Circle of the Moon or Haunted Castle. They should make more like that! (Bloodlines is easy though) Rondo of Blood was good too but didn't really like the music. They still use sprites from that game, I think, in every Castlevania that's come out since. Seriously... some of those enemies go all the way back to that Turbografix game.

matthew dickinson @ Oct 20th 2008 3:43PM

Actually wait... I forgot about one. Castlevania 64!!! on the nintendo 64. That one looks good. I was watching youtube videos of it, this guy playing all the way through. I had heard so many bad things about it too but it seemed good. (better than the playstation2 ones probably)

Kaes Delgrego @ Oct 20th 2008 7:14PM

Haunted Castle! My hat's off to you ... I can hardly get anywhere in that game, it's supremely difficult.

For the record, I did consider the 3D Castlevanias. They're not abominations, but while the first NES Castlevania and Portrait of Ruin have a similar "pulse," the 3D Castlevanias felt instinctively different (despite the third dimension).

TJF588 @ Oct 20th 2008 3:53PM

PSX =/= PS1

*goes on to #4*

Kaes Delgrego @ Oct 20th 2008 7:17PM

I think that "PSX" is still an acceptable nickname for the original PlayStation. But perhaps it is outdated, especially since they released the DVR-enabled system explicitly named "PSX." I'll adjust to the times. :)

Xoviet chiK - Gyiyg Strikes Back @ Oct 20th 2008 3:59PM

My all time favorite series, and not a bad list you've put together. I'd personally go-

5- Bloodlines
4- 血の輪廻
3- Symphony of the Night
2- Harmony of Dissonance
1- Dracula's Curse

Xoviet chiK - Gyiyg Strikes Back @ Oct 20th 2008 4:03PM

Also, you totally regained your credibility (and then some)

*Seriously, that was taken a bit out of context... My apologies either way though :P*

Kaes Delgrego @ Oct 20th 2008 7:18PM

Thanks, Xoviet chiK! I'll begin working on losing it again. :P

Daryl @ Oct 20th 2008 4:25PM

Circle of the moon was my favorite. And it was made by a different creator than the one who made the gba and ds versions.

Matt @ Oct 20th 2008 4:41PM

Nice to see someone who loves Super Castlevania IV as much as I do. One of the first games we got for the SNES. I remember hooking the SNES up to my cassette deck to make a tape of the BGM from their little debug menu. Still adore that music.

Kaes Delgrego @ Oct 20th 2008 7:19PM

Agreed! That music is wonderfully (and appropriately) haunting.

phinn @ Oct 20th 2008 11:22PM

Symphony of the Night is amazing. I've popped the disk into my PS3 several times to go through the first half again. And FYI, for those that don't have the disk anymore the full game is only $10 on PSN.

muguggun @ Oct 24th 2008 7:28AM

It's hard to place some of these newer games on the top if they don't even star a Belmont, and that's why Super Castlevania 4 or Harmony of Dissonance would have to be number 1. It's hard to say really, both are so easy to pick up and play, but Super Castlevania 4 retains the casual pickup and play which makes it peak to the top.

Rondo of Blood hits 3 for me, then I'm going by either Aria of Sorrow or Symphony of the night, another close one. Giving that Aria introduced great innovations like quieter music in the save room instead of STOPPING/repeating the music, and chosen teleport locations, amazing cutscene music as well as narrow-minded mystery novel drama, Aria of Sorrow wins hands down. The fact that Soma Cruz is a total ripoff of Eike Kusch of Shadow of Destiny, I guess it's okay since Curry the Kid says it's okay.

Castlevania 3's got too much dead space I think, unnecessarily long levels so I've omitted it despite its innovations.

Harmony of Dissonance would get number one, since he walks just like the guy from Totally rad, you can literally ZOOM through levels at ease with l/r controls, which i think shoulda been the norm, a really cool blue glow around him for complaints about the gba being too dark (before backlights). Glowingly bright levels, oh... and INTERIOR DESIGN sidequest, and I'll leave it at that so not to spoil anything else.

Ghaleon @ Nov 7th 2008 10:50AM

Glad you didn't let bias stop SoTN -- CV4 is a really important game but not nearly as good as SoTN. I'd argue Drac X is a much better CV too, but yeah, accurate list.

Picking between the handheld games must've been tough. I would have went with Aria prob.

Harmony was garbage.

Kaes Delgrego @ Nov 7th 2008 10:59AM

Thanks, Ghaleon! It was very difficult, but we often have to recognize that there is a distinct difference between the best games, the most important/innovative games, and one's own favorite games. For example, when talking about 2D Mario, the original Super Mario Bros is the most important, Super Mario World is the best game, and personally, Super Mario Bros 3 is my favorite.

Yeah, Harmony is not bad as a stand-alone game, but it definitely doesn't match up with most of the other portable Castlevanias. The dual-castle thing was kind of strange, especially since the two didn't always look different enough ... maybe if it had been more distinguishable (i.e. Link to the Past), the game could have been better. Oh well.

Thanks for reading & writing! :)

JASTIN @ Dec 19th 2008 6:16AM

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Gabe @ Dec 16th 2008 6:00PM

I'm sorry but Castlevania II: Simon's Quest deserves to be on this list. It's soundtrack, and RPG like qualities make it so legendary, a first for it's time. The game takes brains to beat and is fucking scary, seriously.

Chris @ Jan 14th 2009 11:24PM

Before I make any remarks, I have to let you know that my first ever Castlevania game was Castlevania I, which I downloaded on Wii back whenever it came out for the VC. Since then, I have purchased, played, and/or completed Dracula's Curse, The Castlevania Adventure, Super Castlevania IV, Aria of Sorrow, Harmony of Dissonance, Dawn of Sorrow, Order of Ecclasia, and Dracula X Chronicles (including Rondo and Symphony contained within). I think that the whole series is one of the best ever made, and I love it quite dearly. That said, I simply cannot agree with your list. Several of the games you mention are simply outdone by other Castlevania games.

Rondo of Blood is a holy grail, but I honestly feel that this is only because the game never came to America. The controls are so-so, the music is boring and uninspiring, even the remixes of the classic 8-bit tracks. Branching paths are nice, but are nothing new, having been introduced back in Castlevania III. The backflip is awkward, and while jumping off of staircases is nice, it's certainly not that great of an achievement. Looking at it's competitors for best Classic style Castlevania game, I consider Dracula's Curse to be far superior. Save for "Deja Vu," all of the songs in the game were original, and some of them are still remixed for use in today's Castlevania games. The gameplay still has the freshness and challenge of Castlevania 1, while still keeping difficulty relatively high, and never does the game feel dull or vapid, which is more than I can say for some other early 90's Castlevania games.

Speaking of early 90's, let's talk about Super Castlevania IV. Let's get something straight here: If you haven't noticed by now, I hate when companies commit obvious rehashing in their games, and I also hate when games have bad music, as music is one of the most important things in a game, at least from my perspective. Unfortunately, Super Castlevania IV disappoints on both fronts. First off, it's a retelling of Simon's story. I never saw anything wrong with the first version, so why change it? Second, the music is god-awful. Maybe I just never got to the levels with good music (Admittedly, I've yet to finish the entire game), but the levels I have played offered a hollow shell of the NES tracks, or much music at all. In addition, while not related to my previously mentioned pet peeves, the controls in Super Castlevania IV are nasty. R button for subweapon is one of the worst ideas that Konami has ever implemented in a Castlevania (right up there with having to equip healing items to use them, but I'll get there in a minute,) and whipping in eight directions ultimately proved to be for show, as I never once found myself actually using it. In my eyes, there's a good reason that such design ideas weren't featured again in a Castlevania game (to my knowledge, feel free co correct me.) As far as bad design ideas go, where else can I start but with the Castlevania title of your list least deserving of it's place?

Yes, unfortunately, I must strike the heart of Symphony of the Night. Sure, it's a great game...by 1998 standards. Since then, it has aged quite noticeably. Quite possibly the most annoying implementation I've yet seen in a Castlevania title is Symphony's item system. It's bogged down with numerous one-use items that serve no real point beyond filling up space. You have to equip healing items to use them, and some of them have to equipped, then used, and then run over in-game to obtain their benefits. Why would anyone have thought that that would be a good idea? If anything, it's just a waste of time and plain awkward to use. Another plaguing issue here is the music. Ugh. There's a small handful of great tracks, and then nominal filler songs. I have other beefs with this game, but I really feel that they're trivial enough that they aren't worth mentioning. Overall, the entire presentation is dated, and is surpassed by modern offerings. What is worth mentioning, though, is my feelings on what I consider the best Castlevania, an honor gracing a game found nowhere on your list.

One of the most perfect attack systems I've ever seen in a game, beautiful artwork and graphics, solid difficulty, and plenty of variety and replay value make Castlevania: Order of Ecclasia my number one Castlevania title. It has a great storyline for an overly basic series plot-wise (by individual games, not the entire series,) and is boosted by some of the first decent original voice acting in Castlevania history. It has music that strikes truer to the 8 bit titles, and a difficulty level that's tough, yet fair, mixed with a simple but varied weapon set. While the game admittedly has its flaws (stopping for 5 seconds to get a glyph among them,) I'm certain that Igarashi can revise these minor issues to improve the series even more than Ecclasia already has achieved.

I can only hope that you enjoyed (or are still enjoying) Ecclasia as deeply as I have, and continue to enjoy Castlevania titles as they come out as I'm sure I will for a long time.

P.S. my top 5:
1. Castlevania: Order of Ecclasia
2. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
3. Castlevania: Aria/Dawn of Sorrow (tie)
4. Castlevania
5. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

May the chain whips crack until the moon sets once more.