I had to go look for this thread because a game I only played just recently has well and truly earned its place on this thread- Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. For years considered THE best of the old-school linear platformer Castlevanias, the one which caused the most people to howl "WHY NO EXPORT FOR US?" and the one the importers and emulators held up and laughed in triumph over. I just got it on Virtual Console recently and started playing with great anticipation. I'd wanted to play it ever since I played the opening stage of Symphony of the Night, where Richter was, if anything, more fun to control than Alucard. So you can imagine my excitement at finally getting to use him in a whole game designed around him.
What the hell is this crap?
Richter Belmont, supposedly one of the quintessential Castlevania badasses, can't run, can't slide, can't double-jump, can't whip in any direction except straight forward and his backflip maneuver is so limited as to be virtually useless. Hell, he can't even control his jumps in midair properly! I found the game almost unplayable until I unlocked Maria, who -get this- can double jump, control herself in midair, slide, roll backwards and forwards and gets a FAR more effective attack (she throws DOVES at enemies!) Playing as Maria the game actually becomes bearable, but a number of lousy design choices bring it down again. Both Richter and Maria have far too little health for a game where there is so much shit flying at you at once (Maria has lower defence than Richter, but Richter can't dodge attacks because he's a loser so he NEEDS the extra defence), healing items are so rare as to be almost nonexistant and I sincerely hope that whichever nitwit decided that mercy invincibility should be only about as long as damage recovery time was taken out the back and beaten with a croquet mallet. The number of times a zombie has spawned under my jump, causing me to be knocked flying back only for it to hit me again when it walks into me before I can recover...
OK, the game is technically accomplished- the graphics look pretty good, the movies are great, the sound is EXCELLENT and the level designs are quite impressive with branching paths ane everything. But I can't get over how badly it PLAYS. Super Castlevania IV was better than this!
What the hell is this crap?
Richter Belmont, supposedly one of the quintessential Castlevania badasses, can't run, can't slide, can't double-jump, can't whip in any direction except straight forward and his backflip maneuver is so limited as to be virtually useless. Hell, he can't even control his jumps in midair properly! I found the game almost unplayable until I unlocked Maria, who -get this- can double jump, control herself in midair, slide, roll backwards and forwards and gets a FAR more effective attack (she throws DOVES at enemies!) Playing as Maria the game actually becomes bearable, but a number of lousy design choices bring it down again. Both Richter and Maria have far too little health for a game where there is so much shit flying at you at once (Maria has lower defence than Richter, but Richter can't dodge attacks because he's a loser so he NEEDS the extra defence), healing items are so rare as to be almost nonexistant and I sincerely hope that whichever nitwit decided that mercy invincibility should be only about as long as damage recovery time was taken out the back and beaten with a croquet mallet. The number of times a zombie has spawned under my jump, causing me to be knocked flying back only for it to hit me again when it walks into me before I can recover...
OK, the game is technically accomplished- the graphics look pretty good, the movies are great, the sound is EXCELLENT and the level designs are quite impressive with branching paths ane everything. But I can't get over how badly it PLAYS. Super Castlevania IV was better than this!
I guess im the only one.
