DF Retro Let's Play: Castlevania 64! Is It Really A Series Low Point?
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- And now for something a little different - a Digital Foundry Retro Let's Play! In this video, John returns to play some of the controversial Castlevania 64. Is it really a series low point? Audi Sorlie guests.
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I also always loved Castlevania 64 and never understood its hate. I'm glad you guys made a video about it, it's really an underrated game.
I agree. It was just different so critics ragged on it. Remember Lords of Shadow 2? Most critics hated that game because it was different, but it was a totally awesome game/awesome sequel. Most people tend to cry if it's not the game they want, including the critics unfortunately.
@@tallonIV LOS2 problem was the simple plot and really bad stealth segments..
Camera is bad and controls are sluggish.
It is not bad first attempt (for KECK) at 3D platformer, but there are objectively bad things about its gameplay.
@@ShadowSumac Can chalk that up to early 3D days. Pretty much every 3D action platformer of that era had problems. Considering when it came out and even today compared to most other games of the time it's really polished.
Soul Reaver has problems, Shadow Man has problems, Mario 64 has problems, Tomb Raider has problems, Resident Evil has problems. Doesnt make them horrid garbage and they're still considered classics by many despite the early 3D limitations.
@@ShadowSumac i love c64 but the camera isn't bad its horrible lol. It's the worst part of the game
Spooky castle.
Dense fog.
Skeletons on motorcycles.
Now THIS is a horror game.
tasty barbecue chicken inside coffins.....
I like on their motorcycle the plate number is 666. A detail I remembered when one of those shits hit me during the nitro don't get hit don't jump mission for that Magick seal to fight the bull
That fog was usually covering up N64's poor draw distance, but it worked well for the atmosphere in this game. It also seems a little better implemented than other N64 games.
Idk why, but i loved it, the music, the level design the athmosphere everything.
It's one of the few castlevania games I've never played. It honestly looks really good even today. A bit blurry, but it looks quite aesthetically pleasing.
I have the rom on my PC, but I want to play it on original hardware.
Is there a cycle perfect emulator for the N64? I can't find my N64 to use an everdrive on it and I feel it wont be emulated correctly.
One of my favourite games on the N64, I absolutely loved it
Agreed,i did like the music, castlevania games are known for that
Me too.
I loved Castlevania on N64...don't care what anyone says. While Symphony of the Night was perfecting 2d gameplay, C64 was pioneering new ground in 3D. Sure it was rough around the edges, but most 3D games were at that time...even the best of the best.
I loved the atmosphere in Castle64, probably the best thing about it. They completely nailed the Vania atmosphere in a 3D space. Also loved the way they were trying to be intelligent about telling a more mature story. And the music/ambient sounds were perfect.
This game (Castle64/Legacy of Darkness) deserves to be brought back remastered on modern consoles. I found N64 Castlevania much more soulful than the PS2 games that followed, honestly.
i lived with a friend who loved this game, he was killed in a hit and run. this took me back in time, thanks for posting i hadn't thought of him in years.
Sorry for your loss dude. My roommate also loved playing n64 back in the day, anything on the system takes me back to those days.
Hit and run is one of the most moronic things a person could do.
RIP
Hopefully the driver got what they deserved - the prison term they deserved.
@@xBINARYGODx sadly not, i only got the description of the vehicle. they t-boned my friends mothers car then backed up and took off, David was in the passenger seat. They turned off life support after two days.
The real low point of Castlevania is its pachinko game. Next question.
Cheap move, indeed
Its konami they can always go lower
@@dun0790 Not sure if this qualifies, but here in Wisconsin a year or two ago there was a Frogger scratch game from the state lottery. Any thoughts?
@@pokepress sounds like a step up for them its shady but honest unlike them lol
No matter how much you try to sweeten it: it remains a horrible n64 game with bad game design, horrible controls and bland graphics and a sterile feeling world.
Before this DF Retro: Never played it
After this DF Retro: Will be playing it
To be fair, that's the case with basically any DF Retro.
Be warned, you will break controllers out of frustration.
I like your friend Audi, however if you could bring up your other friends, namely BMW and Mercedes, that would be great.
This comment made my day. Thank you sir.
I think Japanese friends shouldn't miss the party. Invite Toyota, Mazda, and Nissan as well!
My good friends Aston Martin and Rolls Royce are lonely lol
@@madfinntech I think those indie fellas shouldn't be invited into the triple A company, only Lexus, Infinity and maybe Acura should be invited imo.
@@RetroGamerBB Yep, I don't understand how John forgot about those oh and you forgot Bentley aswell, he is a good friend too
There is this mysterious coat of paint Nintendo64 games have which draws me in every time I see videos about this incredible console. It must be real life magic!
Yeah they all have this mysterious and magical atmosphere
This game has mirror reflection and hair fisics for NPCs, I wanna to know if it's real or animations.
Do a complete episode one day please :)
Like a Raytracing? 😁
Mirrors were usually a copy of the room and a character that moves identically, the "mirror" was a hole between the two rooms. Hair physics were animations, sometimes a basic bounce system but no physics calculations. Developers used tricks to simulate the systems we have today, sometimes they even looked better due to art style.
Who wants digital foundry to complete castlevania 64.
yes i was so disappointed it ended so soon in the game
Sadly, the channel is a full time job so I doubt he has enough time to dedicate so much of it. On top of that he still does these in-depth DF Retro series.
@@mariuszj3826 well it doesn't have to be in one go. I think people would be fine for a half hour-1 hour of raw gameplay every week or 2 like this.
He would be quite disappointed when reaching the elevator in the castle. Because on easy mode the game ends there.
@@Jehudimedudi Indeed...I was very pissed when I was 14 back in 1999 and this happened lol
Thank you for defending this game which deserves it so much, one of my top 5 N64 title.
You should have shown a bit visuals from later in game. This game had the default to be unregular with graphics, most of graphics in the first half are medium, and some in the second half are astonishing, almost 6th gen level sometimes with the expansion pack on Legacy of Darkness.
@A World Under A Spell
/watch?v=2Gakq4dNN6M
@@AmnesiaGm1 messed up the link
Castlevania 64 WAS AND IT IS AN AMAZING GAME!!!
Very underrated gem! It was bad you stopped the video before the mansion level which is a very nice diversion from the rest and represents the innovative approach and mix of this atmospheric and clever game!
DF Retro Suggestion: 3DMark starting with the 1999 version. (Or vintage synthetic benchmarks in general)
Castlevania 64 was before my time but I played it recently and thought that it was perhaps one of the best third party games available for the n64
Were the other n64 games so bad that this is one of the Best ?
Most N64 games have aged just as well as the best Phillips CD-I games.
Maybe if it came out before Symphony, the reception may have been different, or alongside Tomb Raider
@@His0ka Besides 1st parties and Rare games the N64 library is pretty mediocre.
I'm very mixed on the Nintendo 64 in general. I like the controller and some of the games on the system are great (Super Mario 64, Mario Party 3, Mystical Ninja 1 and 2, Diddy Kong Racing, Glover, etc). However most games on the system are okay at best and haven't aged well. Even games like Earthworm Jim 3D which were somewhat panned at the time are somewhat looked back on as just another typical okay at best N64 game (also I have the unpopular opinion of thinking Earthworm Jim 3D is more fun to play than games like Donkey Kong 64 and several other games at the time).
Love this idea! Do more :) your insight is always interesting
Whiping skeletons in 3D was a 'wow' moment like love at first sight, had a good impact with that sound
Castlevania's graphics were excellent for an N64 game. Great use of antialiasing, lighting, animation, and camera system. Even better with a little CRT magic.
Play legacy of darkness. Loved it as a kid since I went directly from the nes games
I can relate to that next played legacy of darkness
Legacy of Darkness is awesome, it's a Top 10 N64 game imo
Isn't Legacy of Darkness sort of a Director's cut of this game ? I remember they added a new area on a ship at the beginning but then the game was almost identical. Back then I felt that they fixed some of the glitches and control issues as well, like climbing and hanging from ledges. It's all from memories, I could be wrong.
Armand Q. There was a lot added. New character, levels, music, but it reworked the old game too.
Armand Q. As far as I am aware it’s basically closer to what was initially promised at the original games reveal. The only real difference I noticed was that the fourth playable character was initially presented to be a chainsaw wielding Frankenstein vampire hunter wearing a crocodile Dundee hat, rather than Henry in the final game. What’s funny is he is basically in the game, just as an enemy
This is a very relaxing format. Makes a good addition to DF Retro proper.
Speaking of N64 games, Im hoping to see a comparison of Perfect Dark now that its Xbox one X Enhanced and in 4K.
Jonathan Packer it’s great that the Rare games were updated to X Enhanced, I tested both Viva Piñatas and Banjo-Kazooie, they looked amazing.
Castlevania 64 was flawed, but still a good time. And no, there are worse games in the franchise. And to be honest, i would buy the Castlevania Collection if this was somehow included.
They could always do a collection with the two N64 games, the third Game Boy game, and Dracula X for the SNES. I assume they wouldn't include Rondo of Blood on account of that PS4-exclusive collection with it and Symphony of the Night, but they could include the SNES version. I know I'm in the minority here but I prefer that version anyway.
When you get a phone guest on, you should get them to record their audio in audacity and then you can sync them together seamlessly and the quality is perfect... unless you like the 80s phone effect of course 🙂
This is DF Retro after all, kinda fitting :^)
I would guess it is rather the other guys mic more than the call itself. And if that's the case it wouldn't help to record it localy. However the "phone effect" is kind of charmig. :)
It's a similar effect to back in the 80s-90s when you would call your friend on a landline phone and just chat for hours, tying up the house phone, (talking about nothing particularly important) other it being a way to hang-out together.
The N64 graphics lend themselves so well to creepy and athmospheric settings. Even OoT and MajorasMask benefited from those a lot (Just look at Ganon's castle or Clock Town on day 3 in general). Castlevania gets that same vibe for me and I think I would have really loved it back then!
I am guessing you are referring, in part, to the cool diarrhea (that's just what I call it) cloud swirling above Ganon's castle. Looking at this video, I really like the clouds in n64 Castlevania too.
Can you do Parasite Eve 1 or complete series for your DF Retro? Just starting playing it again and love little details like that your character has an actual mirror reflection or the water in the sewers right in the first "level".
I adore Parasite Eve and I even like the sequel. I would love for him to look at those games.
Fun fact. The Castlevania 64 New Game sound is the Perfect Dark N64-turns-into-Perfect Dark-symbol sound.
@Levi Jordan Generic sound library, most likely. There's probably someone out there who knows where the sound comes from.
I love that DF Retro is now reappraising games in a context beyond just technical performance.
I love this game.
Thank you for making this video.
It really is underrated and bashed to bits by so many people.
Please do a proper video of castlevania 64.
I know how it feels about a series that you like.
Really enjoyed this!
this game is so underrated! I played it to death when it came out
I don't know why, but that sound effect of the paper scroll menus are the thing that specially triggered my memories of playing this great game.
Loved it's atmosphere.
I've always loved this game, especially from a nostalgic pov. These days it almost feels like a 90s beta version of Bloodborne.
This game was awesome! It had a lot of atmosphere.
Great video as always. If possible, I'd like to see a full comparison between Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness.
I'm trying to figure out why this guy keeps skipping over all of his whip upgrades...
I remember the commercial for this game. Interspersed with game footage there was a live action actor arming himself with vampire hunting gear in a Ramboesque vignette; stakes, garlic, etc..
Once polygons were introduced into gaming almost every studio blindly forced them into their games despite having the increased power (from the new gen consoles) to make sprite based games shine. It wasn't just a low point on the Nintendo 64 but across all consoles and PC. It was a necessary change to bring us into what we have now sure, but these games do not hold up compared to sprite based games of the same era.
The eerie page flipping sequence that happens everytime you start a new game (and also continue a game? I forgot) was clearly inspired by Evil Dead 2's opening, where a bunch of blood texts quickly scribbled itself on the pages of the "Necronomicon" (a book of the same name as the one in Castlevania 64's main menu) before closing itself down violently. That part of the game AND movie has always scared the sh*t out of me as a kid.
It would be sick if Konami made a small collection of the N64 games for switch/modern consoles the way they did Symphony of the Night with Rondo of Blood.
Would love to see a full review and or analysis of Castlevania 64 or Legacy of Darkness.
I personally played this game for the first time when I was eleven on my first laptop. My older brother had just finished installing a bunch of N64 roms, some I knew and some I didn't; I played all day with as many games as I could (struggling with getting used to keyboard controls) Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, Golden Eye, Paper Mario, etc. And near the end I saw the name of a game I couldn't even pronounce, "Castlevania" I thought it was weird so I gave it a shot. I sat through the opening cutscene of the looming castle coming into view, and then the violin came in. From that moment I knew this would be great.
I never made it past the first stage but the feeling I got was so different from any other game I had ever played, I recently found this game again, having not known the name made it difficult to find but I cherish the game with the name I couldn't pronounce and am now a proud fan of this franchise.
Thank you for reading, I really appreciate it.
This game's bad reputation probably comes from how bad the first level is. The game REALLY picks up after it, and also I think this really feels like a very early version of a Souls game.
Watching this makes me wish they would do a remaster collection of the _Lord of Shadows_ series on PS4; hopefully on disc.
They're backwards compatible on Xbox one
@@jarg8 even Mirrors of Fate, the HD remaster of the 3DS Lords of Shadow game
Hold back on CV: Lord of Shadow 2 + CV: Mirror of Fate bundle on Nintendo NX cart.
I really like C64. Most of the negativity towards it comes from avgn fans. I love how atmospheric it is.
Could be somewhat true. I have never been much into N64 so for most part i have little knowledge of the games of the system. Avgn is what ive seen of this one so i thought it was a garbage release. Interesting with another view here.
Maybe i need to replay it but back when i was 10 or 11 it felt really stiff and slow and just not worth the effort music was good though
Not really. A lot of people didn't like CV64 because it wasn't like Symphony.
I played Legacy of Darkness for the first time about 2 years ago. These games have some rough edges, but the gothic atmosphere makes up for it. It also helps that, from a technical standpoint, they are more polished than most of their contemporaries.
Maybe next Let's Play will be Omikron: The Nomad Soul (PC, DC)? It's a great game for DF Retro Let's Play!
The coolest thing about this game that nobody talks about is the crazy variety of gameplay types throughout the levels... it goes from an open, 3D platformer type area in the first level, to an almost mario galaxy type 3D interpretation of 2D platforming in the second level, to something like an adventure game in the third as you can explore a lot of the castle, talk to NPCs, etc and has this amazing atmosphere that isn't evident at all in the first level... then there's the insane explosives level with a great interpretation of a boss from Rondo.... I could go on, the point is that every level is really different, and it's a shame that most people just see the rather bland-looking and playing first level, which feels like a lot of other mediocre games of the era, and assume the stereotyped reputation it has is fully accurate...
DF Retro is best DF
I played Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness on an emulator with only a keyboard, and I still loved it.
I beat CV64 on keyboard as well, kb works and I love it for fighting games
@@RenegadeC Same here. Used keyboard.
We all have our guilty pleasure games that got almost universally panned. I guess we know one of John's now 😁
Mine was 18 wheeler on gamecube 😂
Universally panned? The game has an 8 on Metacrtic and sold about 500.000 copies (which is pretty good by N64 3rd party standards). The only people who hated it were 2D Cstlvania cryabies. C64 is better than any 3D action adventure game on PSX
I never saw it as a series low. It had neat moments like the opening and the garden with the flowers watered with blood. The camera was the true boss of the game. But Legacy of Darkness was the definitive Castlevania 64 experience.
It at least pushed the series in new directions.
The Metroidvania series became retread after retread, where much of the graphics work was being lifted directly from games released in 1993 (Rondo) and 1997 (Symphony).
The music 🎶 is actually really good goes along with the atmosphere of the game. Never played this one though.
37 minutes video of the Nintendo 64 game. Yes, please.
More 3d castlevania please! Btw, a nice 3d metroidvania from the late 90s that was AWESOME is Shadowman. It has a PC, Dreamcast, Playstation and a N64 version. It was very atmospheric and dark...with a voodoo touch. It was very narrative driven and the story was great. I'd love to see an in depth video about that game!
fun fact about this game, the PAL version is actually faster, not in terms of framerate (although it has less drops) but in terms of movement. they sped up the character movement and animation for the PAL version in order to compensate for the slowed down game logic. BUT they overdid it a tiny bit and so you actually run faster in PAL than in NTSC
That is a cool detail, thanks for sharing!
Good point about “Lament of Innocence” and its successors with regards to the structure and layout of the levels John. I agree.
I played and beat both Lament of innocence and curse of Darkness and the levels were just repetitive and boring. You always had a fork and no matter which way you took the paths eventually crossed. Just zero atmosphere and zero level design. I enjoyed both games but they were now where near the level design of this game
Very underrated game, especially the second game Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, which is the same game as the first but with new characters and if i`m not mistaken new levels.
I'd say it's different, not bad. It was a fun game for the time being, for sure.
I fucking love this game. The soundtrack, the levels and fun bosses. The violin intro is probably one of my favorite songs in gaming ever. Happy to see a video talking about it in a better light.
Enjoyed this game
I like that these awesome videos just happen to be sponsored by the headset I bought 3 years ago based on reviews (and wanting quality wireless).
i always loved the sound of the closing necrocomicon... necromanticnovel... that save file book.
I always thought these games were really underrated. They're much better than Iga's attempts at 3D Castlevania on PS2. The Lords of Shadow games eventually came around perfected the concept, but for its day, and even compared to the next gen attempts, this did an better job at capturing the feel and mood of the NES era Castlevania games.
Its biggest crime was not being Symphony of the Night, which is incredibly unfair because to this day, that's a series highlight.
Legacy of Darkness fixed a lot of the problems with Castlevania 64. Fans only bashed it because they wanted another 2D entry. Castlevania 64 Legacy of Darkness had: creative design, atmosphere, great music to fit that atmosphere, resident evil-like puzzle solving, fun gameplay and in the end the camera wasn't even that bad because you had two camera modes to switch to.
Thank you so much for this video!!
I have no investment in the Castlevania series, and I never had an N64, but I love games from this era.
I especially love it when spotlights are shown on those things which have been unfairly criticized.
Today the Souls series is seen as carrying forward the Castlevania style, Castlevania 64 seems very much a precursor to Souls, excellent atmosphere and smooth animation, I see no reason why it shouldn't be well remembered by Castlevania fans.
But fans do an unfortunate thing, they need to represent their fandom by hating on something, Castlevania 64 was their target apparently.
Too few and far between are well rounded fans who don't have to sacrifice their appreciation of an artform in order to artificially prop up this or that monument.
In the Souls series itself, the scapegoat has been Dark Souls 2, but for my money (as far as the Scholar of the First Sin edition anyway) it is the best of the series.
The one everybody props up --- and for the sake of which they feel the need to tear down DS2 --- Dark Souls, I feel is easily the worst of the series.
But there you have it.
Great to see this game getting a little love. One of my all-time favorites, I try to visit it for a full play through every year or so, a great experience every time!
Well done. Please pick apart Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, the clearly superior N64 Castlevania entry. I think you’re right, these games get way too much negativity thrown their way and are far superior to the PS2 entries.
I saw another retrospective on this game recently, and this person said that Castlevania 64 would be held in the same high regard with the likes of the best N64 games, if it had come out as a launch title, and I think he's right.
I enjoyed this video. I know DF is a tech channel and all, but it's nice to hear about things other than pixel counts and frame rates. John is always so enthusiastic about old games and is so good at talking about things that are fun and pleasing. While still technical aspects of the game, you can't exactly zoom 400% on them or measure them on a graph. Things that are more subjective like pleasant animations that tell a story or make you feel something. Level design that challenges your mind and builds a world or atmosphere. Controls that feel good, and things you 'do' in a game that are satisfying. Love the DF Retro content. Your passion and knowledge shine through. Your nostalgic love and respect for history, and the intangibles behind the numbers is always appreciated. The unscripted podcast/let's play style was interesting and entertaining.
P.s please play Soul Reaver ;-)
Symphony got the attention Simon's Quest didn't.
4 years after this game, Star Wars Galaxies was released. That just blows my mind. It's crazy how fast tech and gaming advanced at this time.
The opening violin always gave me chills.
I really like this DF retro let's play with you playing while commenting the game, I would like to see other videos like this!
This was so fun! I could watch John play and talk about any number of retro games. What is cloning tech like these days? We're gonna need more Johns
I've always wondered why people didn't like this game.
Konami should make a Castlevania Collection 2 and include the 2 N64 games and Symphony Of The Night.
Given that Symphony of the Night and Rondo have just recently been collected(though not without some problems), I'd actually rather a second collection have Legacy of Darkness, the GBA games, and the DS games if they found a suitable workaround for not having the second screen.
Bwah the motorcycle skeletons.Why do I feel like that's a solution of convenience? Like they meant to do horse riders, but the N64 couldn't handle that. And the cycle rev sound helped you keep aware of them despite the camera. Neat!
The best series on Digital Foundry by far. Terrific work as always John.
At the time it was released it was a genuine good looking eerie game. Dark Souls reminded me of it when I first played it.
I stand by this:
Castlevania 64 was a great game & was underrated
One thing that always bothered me was how giant a lot of the environments were and just completely out of proportion compared to the character. It's funny that Lords of Shadow 2 had the same issue 15 years later!
I enjoyed the game itself though and would like to replay it. They nailed the Dracula fight and everything.
Wow having a phone interview instead of a discord call is very retro
Great video! If I ever make lets play video, it would be in this format! with the soundtrack sample at the end that was very fun.
Just so everyone is on the same page - this is just an experimental Let’s Play! Regular DF Retro episodes take a while to produce and I wanted to try this format as a bonus, basically. Just to see if Let’s Plays could occasionally work! So I know it’s not on par with normal episodes but wanted to try it anyways!
Before watching I'm going to say no. I really like the textures and all the stuff you can found in the levels. Which was really cool in the time. Also I love the story telling and multiple endings.
Edit: finished the episode. It was a great video. I would like a more in depth video.
Thank you for that video. I only played Legacy of Darkness back in the day, but I remember enjoying it a lot. I'm currently playing Darksiders Warmastered edition on the Switch and while everyone says this game draws inspiration from the Legend of Zelda, I think it is much closer to Castlevania 64 in terms of themes and general game design. I really think these games deserve the HD remaster treatment.
"It's very THICC"
*Cut to Tomb Raider*
More lets play would be cool for sure. John is the type of lets player we sorely need. I am actually fascinated by the hybrid 2D pixel and 3D era for some reason, although in gameplay terms we are only now finally kinda mastering 3D and 2D separately in many ways. Stuff like I dont know obviously the first fps and build engine, dragonforce, even mil sims had nice 2D assets in them. What were possibly the last games to do that? Maybe the first two total wars. I guess we are having ion maiden.
Wow, i missed this one.
Huge fan of CV64 here, so happy to see you touched it at least in this experimental format, the game is so very underrated and never judged in its actual context.
Maybe a bit too late to ask, but please think about a DFRetro either on the 64 'vanias or just a fully feature 3D Castlevania special, it would be nice to see.
It's a pity we don't have a version of Castlevania 64 that combines both C64 and Legacy of Darkness. The two games are kinda different and there's no clear winner between them.
As far as I remember, Legacy of Darkness was just a Director's cut of this game . They added a new area on a ship at the beginning but then the game was almost identical. Back then I felt that they fixed some of the glitches and control issues as well, like climbing and hanging from ledges. It's all from memories, I could be wrong.
This would be a great re-release that I'd pick up in a heartbeat.
@@ArmandQ. The chief problem with Legacy of Darkness is that the Castlevania 64 content is gated behind all the new content, some of which is less than great. Also, they removed some voice acting, and the Castlevania 64 content takes place in LoD's remixed level layouts. From a mechanical viewpoint, LoD is a lot better since it's a more refined game. But from a level design and atmosphere and pacing viewpoint, it's a mixed bag.
I love the Saturn boot up noise with your logo!
It's nice to see a positive look at this game. I've always enjoyed the Nintendo 64 Castlevania games. They weren't these large, open-ended adventures, but what they did they did well--the music, atmosphere, challenging platforming and varied level setups (some being straight platforming, others being more adventure/puzzle focused). Legacy of Darkness definitely seems like what the original game was meant to be and is the more complete package, but even the original is still worth playing.
I think these games mainly get a bad rep because of 2D die-hards unwilling to give them an honest chance, along with some control and movement mechanics that can take a little while to get the hang of (like knowing how *not* to do that accidental baby jump that got John killed early on in the playthrough. That happens a lot with people not comfortable with the controls). I also agree that they are more interesting than the PS2 era Castlevania titles. Those played well like mentioned, but were so utterly dull when it came to the level design.
I notice you’re using the whip an awful lot, it helps a lot to remember that Reinhardt and Carrie also have a sword as a melee attack, very helpful when taking out torches or enemies that get too close.
As for 2D N64 games, Mischief Makers must be mentioned. What an absolute gem.
DF: Nightmare Creatures doesn't feel well to play
*Caddicarus entered the chat room*
Konami probably had some of the best music, or at least, sound, on the N64. They managed to squeeze very high quality samples for the MIDI music, they made very rich compositions, and they set the RCP to render sound at an approximation of a 44 .1kHz "CD quality" samplerate (~44095Hz on NTSC, not sure what the number is for the PAL version, since the AV bus timings change).
Many other Konami games I've encountered on the system do the 44.1kHz part, and there's cerntainly lots of great music there too, like the Goemon games, probably representing the best example.
I agree. On the other end of the n64 instrument sample spectrum, is Starfox 64 and Ocarina of Time. Their music sounds like it was made with an affordable consumer electronic keyboard from 1992.
This is my favorite castlevania game! I was literally just thinking, “I would love digital foundry to cover this game.” Opened RUclips and this was in my recs... spooky
John, you have the right to love what you want and I really appreciate that you made a video about this particular Castlevania game, because I've never played it and based on your thoughts, it really seems like a cool and fun game. I also have a really polarizing opinion that happens to be connected to Castlevania. I completed nearly 700 video games and I completed most of the Castlevania games (including handheld and mobile ones), and my favourite game of all time is Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I think it's a monumental masterpiece but I know a lot of people hate it in the Castlevania community mainly because it doesn't follow the old timeline. So I know how you feel.
Talk about shadow man next please
It may not have the rpg mechanics and the metroidvania level design, but it was a decent action adventure with platforming, where they tried to copy in part the 3D Zeldas. I personally love them and especially the music is the best what the N64 offers.
This game was fantastic! The atmosphere was pure Castlevania horror. The hedge maze scared the hell out of me back then.
Stop hitting the bomb-skeletons. Just run from them!
Ps. After the first meeting with the boss you can actually see him or her from the edge swimming around in the water. A great detail!