Episode 410: Castlevania Ranking Hootenanny

Nadia did an outstanding job hosting!!

If there's another ranking podcast, I hope it uses the "make a list ranking them numerically & average the number for each title" format. I know it's a silly complaint cuz it's not the point, really, but I found the gulfs in number position and such in the Mega Man podcast were more exciting than tier differences.

closed_tanyao

If they did it would likely be the botched "SOTN/Rondo" package that was released on PS4 that's actually a port of the PSP games, so it has new voice acting. An inexcusable act.

Tim T

Great hosting, Nadia!

Nadia, fantastic job hosting. This episode was very fun to listen to. I’ve unfortunately never played SotN. Now, if they’d only release it on Switch…

Awesome job hosting Nadia! I'm liking the expansion of the hosting pool :)

I think Nadia specifically said titles like that wouldn't be in the running.

PurpleComet

Did I miss Kid Dracula?!

I love Nadia and want her to rotate as host. She’s also right about Super Castlevania IV

Matt Richenburg

Agreed with Jeremy and Kurt concerning Order of Ecclesia. I just could not get into that game, despite having tried it several times. I just didn't find it as enjoyable as Portrait of Ruin was. Great art though.

I'm with Nadia. Super Castlevania is 100% S tier

Riley Hall

Interested to see how Bloodstained would fit in. I played it on Switch and hate it.

I know this doesn't tell you where the tiers start and end but the music list in the notes acts as a rough guide to each game's ranking

Adam Gaudry

Great episode and great job hosting it Nadia. I really liked the tiers ranking and by ranking them ahead of the recording you removed some of the busywork and gave more space to the opinions and debate around the games' strengths and weaknesses. Very smart!

Adam Gaudry

If I had to guess it'd be Rondo of Blood or Chronicles, with are both indeed great games but certainly have their issues

Kevin Bunch

I didn't keep track while listening; is there a list of the, um, list?

😆

Please consider renaming this episode Bloody Tiers.

Julian

I really enjoyed this episode, despite having listened to/read quite a few times Nadia’s, Jeremy’s, and Kurt’s opinions over the years. Nadia’s decision to structure the ranking in terms of tiers is brilliant. Listening to the episode, it feels like the tiers about classic 2D Castlevania games are somewhat fixed nowadays. I guess the more interesting debate nowadays would be to rank all of the soundtracks in the series. (Spoiler: it’s obviously from this game, in which Dracula makes an appearance in an unexpected place: https://youtu.be/VrHqIzG6ai4)

David

Great episode! I had a great experience with the NES titles, barely played the SNES Castlevania, and never had a PlayStation (or a GBA). So, when I got a DS lite and picked up Dawn of Sorrow, for me it was absolutely amazing. I have since gone back to play Symphony, so I will recognize it's greatness.

Christopher Hughes

Thank you Nadia for your wisdom of putting Super Castlevania IV correctly in the S-Tier.

Paul

Since you mentioned Rush 'N Attack, maybe you would enjoy this remix of some the audio tracks in the game

private

I would love to see a ranking of “non-mainline” castlevania titles. Castlevania Judgement should be S-tier. Best fighting game on the Wii. Tatsunoko WHO??

Alexander Pero

What a fun episode! More in this vein, please, and more hosting from Nadia!

Kormakur Gardarsson

The original NES Castlevania was a seminal game for me. To this day, I remember reading the game manual at a restaurant with my parents and imagining what the game would be like. This is before Nintendo Power or any reviews so I bought it on the appeal of the box art and the good will I had for Konami after enjoying Rush'n Attack. Even though Jeremy sideswiped the cold war era action game, I see it as a dry-run for Castlevania. The six level linear design, the boss fights, the constant use of jump and a melee weapon all point to common DNA. Rush'n Attack is clearly a stepping stone to Castlevania at Konami.

Cajun Baz

Never heard Jeremy pound the table so much before.

littleterr0r

Didn't Nagoya they basically have zero time/resources to port SotN to Saturn? KCET was a beast when it came to making 2d out of technically non-2d assets (which I surmise they also did with Gradius Gaiden.) Symphony of the Night was a borderline S tier for me, but not so much because of the brokenness, as Kurt suggested as its flaw. (Metroidvanias were usually a cakewalk, and at that point I can't fault SotN for the crazy fun weapons.) It had more to do with the design, which consisted of too many long shafts and hallways for my liking. Aria and Dawn of Sorrow had less crufty castles. If Dawn makes it into a collection, here's hoping they take out the seals, because that aside, it was even more refined than Aria in many ways. Order of Ecclesia has lots of great ideas, but the rock/paper/scissor weakness system is overdone. Timespinner was an interesting homage. ETA: I remember reading Haunted Castle was originally a non-Castlevania game.

Moomoo

I found Circle of the Moon to be extremely enjoyable at the time. It was my first time playing a Castlevania game (and first extended time with a Metroidvania). It certainly had flaws. But it was unquestionably one of the stand out titles for the GBA at launch. (I do agree the boss was super hard. I didn't realize at the time I should have been grinding more and had to restart a new game to beat it.) And I actually think it was good that I started with a weaker entry in a series where each individual game is similar to the others. Each subsequent GBA and DS game could be even more enjoyable. And when I finally purchased Symphony of the Night on Xbox Live Arcade I could appreciate it more than if I started with that.

Michael Bentley

I wonder what is the Mega Man 2 of Castlevania, and by Mega Man 2 I mean "great but overrated, always incorrectly placed as the best despite glaring flaws"

Paul

Yay! I freakin' love Nadia!

Nadia has ascended to Dracula’s hosting throne! Whoo hoo!

Eric Plunk