Super Castlevania IV appreciation thread

SantaC

SantaC

Member
Even though Castlevania Symphony of the night is according to many the best game in the series, CV4 is no doubt the best action based game of them all.

I remember when I got this in the begining of the 90s, and how cool the new Mode7 effect was implemented. The spinning hallways, the rotating rooms etc. The bosses were huge, and the music was another masterpiece.

Cool thing about CV4 was how the game progressed. You started out in the woods, moving your way forward through fields of water, caves etc before you finally made it to the castle and started to work your way up to dracula. Good stuff.


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funny thing is right before i saw this topic, i had both castlevania 4 and X (PCEngine and SNES) soundtracks playing :lol
 
I remember Super Castlevania IV... It was my third PAL Super NES game, first ones being SMW and F-Zero. I ordered it from Special Reserve from an ad in Mean Machines magazine. When the release date came, I biked every lunch break from school to home to see if it had arrived.

Finally, one August / September 1992 day it had arrived. I quickly opened the silver colored box (all Konami boxes were silver back then). The athmosphere in the game was great, especially the music. I could really immerse myself into it. I remember feeling that now I was playing a new generation machine.
 
I wholeheartedly agree... bring back Jun Furano/Masahiro Ueno! Screw IGA!

The game was censored; JPN ed have the logo dripping blood, holy symbols and nude statues. Medusa's boobs slipped through however :P
 
Great great game! I was so shocked when I got it for my birthday...I don't know how my Dad knew to get that game, but i'm glad he did. 8-way whip kicks ass....amazing soundtrack, great mood, II and III shot cross-rang :)
 
I agree, no more of this IGA nonsense. Metroidvania is not Castlevania!

WHIP + STAGES + JUMPING INTO PITS AND DYING >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Stupid level up crap!
 
imo dracula x wasn't better. It had sluggish control and slowdowns. I also remember the game as shorter. (might be wrong)
 
Why HAVE they tried to make the Castlevania games more like the Metroid games? I mean, do the same people work on them nowadays as did on the older ones?

And why are the main characters homopansies nowadays? They used to be badasses.
 
SantaCruZer said:
imo dracula x wasn't better. It had sluggish control and slowdowns. I also remember the game as shorter. (might be wrong)
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Yeah, but Dracula X has that bitchin' intro with the mangled German and shit.

DFS.
 
I used to play that game all the way through with my buddy every Halloween. It was a ritual for about 5 years in a row. Castlevanina is king.
 
WarPig said:
Yeah, but Dracula X has that bitchin' intro with the mangled German and shit.
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my exact reason why!

and please point out a pre-SOTN Castlevania without sluggish controls. maybe Bloodlines?
 
This brings back fond memories:) Super Castlevania 4 iz a great game, and it still iz today.

The recent Csvs hav all been about exploration, and it worked for a while, the lot of us just want to go back to the series' roots.

Anybody here played the SNES Dracula X?
 
*applauds thread*

My close 2nd favorite CV after SotN.

Yeah, the mood and feel is SO what I envision as what Castlevania should be. The whole 'Room of Close Associates' section at the end, with Slogra, Gaibon, and Death, plus the music there- just spectacular, even to this day.

The soundtrack-I actually rate above SotN and LoI, just barely. But NOTHING came close to it back then, and I remember the mood and emotions the tunes conjured up in this at the time 16 year old. It was intense stuff.
(runs home to play through again)
 
The credits theme song at the end of the game owns all. Accompanied with clips of each level/boss through the game...gets me everytime
 
oh yes, that's right! I remember that, I remember that tune and for some reason the shot of Simon and the Orphic Vipers, and the fram freezing in a cool action moment. The whole ending credits made you want to start the game over again...
:)
-CV fanboy
 
The music for the dungeon level and the level right before you enter the castle (the one without the boss) is awesome. Great boss fights too. I remember being amazed at the level where it seemed like you were in the middle of a spinning barrel. And the cave level, 16-bit graphic whore's heaven!!
 
radcliff said:
I remember being amazed at the level where it seemed like you were in the middle of a spinning barrel.
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My friend threw up all over my living room floor when he watched me play that level. :lol He doesn't play many video games these days due to sickness when playing/watching.
 
montanha said:
*
The soundtrack-I actually rate above SotN and LoI, just barely. But NOTHING came close to it back then, and I remember the mood and emotions the tunes conjured up in this at the time 16 year old. It was intense stuff.
(runs home to play through again)
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I agree. SCV4 had one of the best soundtracks ever. Ever. It still holds up to this day-- a very eclectic soundtrack. Seriously, I hum some of those tracks in my head even now, all these years later. Great stuff, and great game, too. Could've stood to be a tad more difficult, though, but I loved the mechanics and creativity of the game.
 
Preach On.

I'll walk by the National Cathedral and catch myself humming....

Doot do Dooo Doo Doo Dot Dooo Doo Doo Doot Do Doooooo
 
I love Dracula X (PCE) due to its large levels with many branches and hidden paths, its great bosses, its awesome graphics, and its wonderful references, but I just find Super Castlevania IV to be more fun.
 
This was the first game I ever played on my SNES. I couldn't believe the visuals and the music quality of it... and some of the new tricks of the time (mode 7, scaling, rotation, etc.) were used quite interestingly and effectively. Same with Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts.

SCIV was also the first game to make me hook my SNES up to my stereo. I had to hear the kickass soundtrack through some decent output.
 
I remember watching the Gamepro TV show back in 91 or so, and they had their award show. When Castlevania 4 won for best music, it was my first time seeing the game and I flipped out. I just about lost it back then when I saw the rotating room in level 4.
 
That room was incredible the first time I saw it. Even though it had ridiculous slowdown, it didn't bother me as mucha s it did impress me. Just the section prior to that rotating so you could ascend the tower was such a great concept. I really dug the levels where you jumped from chandilier to chandilier and the treasury stage with all the chingy-changy chests. Those were some moments I'll always remember.
 
SantaCruZer said:
imo dracula x wasn't better. It had sluggish control and slowdowns. I also remember the game as shorter. (might be wrong)
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Are you talking about Dracula X on the PC Engine CD or the SNES Dracula X?
I have always heard that the PC Engine CD Dracula X was better game.
But yes castlevania 4 was great. some of the best music on the SNES.
 
My favorite pure action Castlevania. Although Iga was the best thing to happen to Castlevania. I would hate to see the series de-evolve back to this far too simple gameplay. I sure as hell would not pay full price for a old style Castlevania that I would finish in a couple hours.
 
I'll qualify my statement a bit: Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (PCE) is wonderfully polished, and nearly every part of it is better than CV4. CV4 is fun, and the music is lovel (many may like that style better than the synthpop in Rondo), but so much about it just seems like an aberration in the series to me. The graphical style is weird and underdeveloped, the sound effects are poor, and the levels are mostly uninspired past the first 2-3 (nostalgia-triggering mode 7 wankery notwithstanding). Even the dangly-whip mechanic proved to be mostly useless except as a shield, and it mystified me when reviewers would criticise later CVs for not having the feature.

Rondo, on the other hand, represents the culmination of the entire series up to that point and brought a ton of new ideas, new art, and new (gimmick-free) gameplay to the table. It's plain to see that Symphony of the Night is a sequel to Rondo, simply because of how many enemy/background resources, gameplay ideas, and environment interactions were lifted nigh-directly from Rondo. It's really too bad that the game that became the central point of the series is mostly a black hole for gamers outside Japan.

Oh, and SNES Dracula X is pretty much irrelevant. If you haven't played the PCE game, you owe it to yourself to do so - no matter how you go about it.
 
CV4 is awesome and has some of the best video game music EVAR(as most Castlevanias do). I like CV3 more, though.
 
Wario64 said:
BEST CASTLEVANIA GAME. SCREW THE METROID-FREE ROAMING GAMEPLAY!
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I Agree.
Not only it had the best ambience till the moment but also has the best music and gameplay ! SOTN has better aspects but I thing that vania 4 is a better game as a whole.
 
I'm worn out of the Castle-troid map style. Aria was a nice return to form but the Harmony map was horrid. The dual castle crap made the save spots and the teleporting so cumbersome. I think it would be refreshing to see the next 2D Castlevania do something semi-linear again. Maybe somewhat like CVII or CVIII. Branching or small chunks of Metroid-style maps interwoven with linear segments.
 
I'd rate SOTN, AOS, and LOI higher. But Super IV would come right behind those 3, and it's an extremely close race.

Super IV has some of the best videogame music of all time though. No other Castlevania even comes remotely close. Heck, I can't think of a soundtrack that can touch it at the moment. The theme after the bridge rises; when you're going downhill through that stream; the library; the gold vault; the Death fight. All of the tunes were and still are so fucking awesome.
 
I'm not a huge fan of traditional Castlevania, BUT this thread has given me a few fuzzy retro tingles, so thanks for that. I was such a happy gamer back then.
 
RE4 vs. SH4 said:
Super IV has some of the best videogame music of all time though. No other Castlevania even comes remotely close. Heck, I can't think of a soundtrack that can touch it at the moment. The theme after the bridge rises; when you're going downhill through that stream; the library; the gold vault; the Death fight. All of the tunes were and still are so fucking awesome.
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Yes. God, yes.


(Yes, I know I raved about the music earlier, but it bears repeating :D)
 
One of the my early game purchases with my own saved up money (though not the first at all). I still remember reading the back of the box in the car on the way home.

"Dad? what does grave in "grave adventure" mean?" :D
 
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