So I beat every game on the collection (Switch version) aside 3. I was hoping to experience 3 with the upgraded music, but I assume that will only come in the form of a Japanese version. Is the Japanese version any worse or better otherwise? I only intend to finish these games once or twice so I just don't want to wait for nothing.
Anyways I figured I should post thoughts about the collection. I consider myself a fairly big Castlevania fan but I also rarely replay them due to the difficulty level. It's an effort to get through most of them once and they become a one and done experience for me, but they always leave a mark. With that said a few of these games I've never played, and others, not since I was a child. Save states made coming back a lot easier for taking on the challenge admittedly. Overall the emulation seems 90 percent spot on in each game, the aspect ratio settings seems weird and it honestly seems bizarre that M2 didn't include customization options (think being able to select Japanese difficulty or music in CV3 while still being in English) or that they didn't bother fixing the botched translation of Castlevania 2. I guess it just was beyond the budget of this collection. Overall, i'd rate the collection element of the game maybe a 7, no rewind, only one save state per game, and really no neat frills like coloring the Game Boy games or other things that would have been pretty simple to add. The extras are nice but stuff like videos and such would have been great too. It's a mid tier effort with solid emulation, the most important thing. Now for the games (aside 3), i'll just post quick snippets.
Castlevania
This game aged a lot better than I expected. Honestly it holds up great and is still very fun today, it's certainly the least feature rich of the series but there is a charm in how pure it is.
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
My opinion of this game from childhood was that it was an awful slog, as an adult I respect its design a lot more but still find it too cryptic and haphazard as a design. Using a guide made my single playthrough worth it, but really the only reason I pressed through was to say I could. Decent experimental game.
Castlevania III
Loved it as a kid, waiting for the JP version to play again but I imagine it'll be great.
Super Castlevania IV
This admittedly has been my favorite original style game in the series (as someone who has not been able to play Rondo, don't hate me). My memory of it was not quite as I recall. I think a bit less of it now than I did but not significantly so. The difficulty is a lot less even than I recall, with some of the bosses being so simple that you wonder if they were designed with the new mechanics in mind, yet many of the other boss fights (Death in particular) are SO good that is makes the other fights seem that much worse. The first half of the game feels a bit too easy with the last feeling too difficult in contrast. Some of the graphical tricks haven't aged well either. That said it's still a blast to play and the amazing music and atmosphere of the game still hold just perfectly. The lead up to the final boss is still my favorite of the series. I would still say it's my favorite, but it's closer than I used to think of it.
Castlevania Bloodlines
This was always kind of the 'lost gem' to me as I never got to play it in my childhood. I recall seeing it on store shelves and wanting it so bad but just didn't have the money. I have my own Genesis copy of it these days but enjoyed being able to experience it again here. I'd say that I see the argument for Bloodlines being as good or better than Super simply because the entire game design feels a lot more even challenge wise, and overall just more advanced. With that said the aesthetic and sound element of it, while still really cool, can't match that of Super. It also seems a good bit shorter which is probably why the difficulty is even throughout. Having two characters is great, the revamped item system is also welcome and I love knowing which candles will yield a weapon. Really this one should not be missed either way, it feels like a pure return to form as if it was a lost NES game but made more modern, also using that 3 button controller to the proper extent is appreciated :p
Castlevania: The Adventure
Game is pretty trash if i'm being honest. I understand it was tough to make GB titles work on that shit screen but dang, it's just an over challenging, slow as hell game with platforming segments that basically require you to be off the platform just to make it. Thankfully Mega Man has trained me to be great at those kind of jumps, but it feel oddly sluggish and shitty in this. Really this is easily the dud of the collection but I appreciate being able to see it just to say I did.
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
This one is actually pretty fun and has a fun soundtrack to boot. It's still too slow to stand up to the proper entries, but worth playing through if you're a fan.
Kid Dracula
I have an interesting history with this. As a collector it took me forever to find a boxed copy of the Game Boy game and it's worth a mint, I only played it a bit there and discovered that there was in fact an NES game prior, but never released here. I always had a curiosity to try it and appreciate the inclusion for sure. I would say it's a pretty fun game but kind of just feels like bootleg Mega Man without any of the nuance that comes with it, but it makes up for some of that with charm. Still worth trying really.
