You can still change the soundtrack arrangement on the PS1 version if you hold L1+R1 while it's booting up either the Original or Arranged mode, it brings up the same X68000 music menu, but with the added CD dance music for those who prefer to use that on the original version instead of the arranged mode. And of course, you can select the GS Midi music for that delicious mid 90's MIDI soundtrack on the PS1.
The menu always comes up in the original Japanese PS1 release. In the international release you have to hold L1+R1 for the menu to come up. I'm not sure why they chose to hide it.
I got an earlier version of Chronicles that always show up the sound module selection screen without the L1+R1 hold. It did confuse me at first after playing and then reading up the articles on the game (usually Mr.P's Castlevania Realm and Castlevania Dungeon back in the day)
Does Chronicles include the original x68000 version’s loading/“lobby” music? I remember that was part of the charm from playing games in those computers.
What a Rolls-Royce of a gaming system the X68K was in it's day. I had heard of this machine, I knew it ran on the M68000 CPU, I knew it was released circa 1986, I knew it was a 16 Bit home computer and I knew it had quite a few of the same games that appeared on the Megadrive and other 16 systems of the day, so in my head I had it in mind that it must have been somewhere around the same sort of spec as an Atari ST. I didn't believe it would live with the Amiga with all it's custom chips, I didn't think it would have lived with the Megadrive having been released so much sooner. Needless to say, when I finally saw it in action, running it's version of Streetfighter 2, it was a revelation.
CV1 has a choose your own adventure book of Remakes:- *>Vampire Killer for MSX(Plays like a hybrid of Simon's Quest&CV1)* *>Haunted Castle for Arcade(Well, it was an attempt...)* *>Akumajo Dracula for X68000(A very faithful re-imagining of CV in 16bit)* *>CV Chronicles(A remastered port of X68000 CV with Rave Music)* *>SCV4(The most well known remake of CV1)* *UPDATE:* They finally fixed Haunted Castle in 2024. God Bless Konami M2!
It’s not remastered so much as it’s remade from scratch with different levels, bosses, and features. It’s pretty dope they did that. I think remastering is more so when you enhance or change something that’s already there Vs remaking
@@vayouvoogie1033 The panthers were in the original game too, and the Flying Skeletons were in a few CV3 stages. EDIT: Misread. Yep, pretty sure you're right for those.
I've been playing Akumajo Dracula since FC (NES). Midi uses MT-32 and Roland SC-88VL on PC-98, Using Yamaha EOS keyboard as DTM (desktop music), connecting MT-32 (PC98 C bus inserted) and midi board I used the SC-88VL as an external sound source in a PC-98 game. Since there was no Dracula game on PC-98, I played the game with midi. I used to play songs. I play software sold to Super Famicom (SNES), NDS, ps, ps2, and ps3. Unique BGM enhances fear and remains in memory. I love this Dracula series even in Konami games, so this time I miss the x68000 and would like to play it again.
In Japan, the x68k was expensive at the time and few people owned it. So I let him play at my friend's house. At the time, the x68k had outstanding quality, so I was surprised by the sound source and the image.
Underrated game. Maybe the hardest in the series along with the western version of III and SNES Dracula X. The soundtrack here is amazing,Moon fight and Tower of the dolls are phenomenal themes.
@@marx4538 Honestly, the MSX version isn't that hard at all. The hourglass and holy water are pretty much broken -- if you have one or the other, and especially if you have both, you can absolutely walk over any boss in seconds. People always say the MSX version is crazy hard because it has no 1-ups and no continues, but it's one of those games that's less about twitch reflexes and more about careful planning. Learn where to find the best items in each stage, and which candles to avoid (since there are power-downs as well), and you should have little difficulty beating the game, even if your reaction time is awful. I say this because... I have beaten the game! And my reaction time IS awful! ;) I actually was never able to beat Castlevania on NES, yet I could beat the MSX game after only a couple weeks of trying. I consider the NES game to be much more difficult than the MSX version, despite having multiple lives and unlimited continues, if only because it DEMANDS you have actual twitch reflexes. You have no shields to block enemy projectiles, the stopwatch doesn't freeze bosses like the hourglass does, the holy water is nowhere near as powerful (and takes up your sub-weapon slot, which it doesn't in the MSX version; it counts as a wholly separate bonus item instead), and there exists no boomerang axe that's 2x as powerful as the Morning Star with each hit. Tl;dr version, MSX Castlevania gets a bad rap. Game is great, and far more balanced than people give it credit for.
@@Wyrdwad That's fair - while I'd still say that the lack of 1-ups or continues is a bit extreme, the MSX game definitely isn't unbalanced, even if it's still rather hard for me. That does mean the arcade game, Haunted Castle, is the hardest (and least sane)
A soundtrack aside: Nintendo and Roland offered SNES conversions of the Roland GS sounds from the original SC-55 Sound Canvas to licensed SNES developers. Most games chose to make custom instruments instead, but one that didn't was Super Castlevania IV. As a result, fan-made MIDI arrangements of SCV4 tunes played on an SC-55 sound just like the SNES game but higher quality.
Great video! I picked up Castlevania Chronicles on the PS1 when it was first released here in the U.S. and was blown away by the X68000 version (along with the arranged). As a 43 year old, I grew up on the linear series of games and still prefer them over the SOTN/Metroidvania formula. This game is still challenging.
Woah, this is such a high effort review! I really appreciate the cross-game comparisons as well as showcasing the various sound options via differing hardware. This is the quality to which other retro review should be held!
I love the algorithm at times, found this suggested to me yesterday. I'm a huge retro (console) gaming enthusiast, but I know next to nothing about Japanese computers like this from the 80s-90s, they're so fascinating to me. Awesome video, the MIDI stuff was such a treat!
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Curse of the Moon 1, and Curse of the Moon 2 are pretty good replacements for them, though, as are La Mulana 1, La Mulana 2, and Cave Story/Cave Story+.
Dude, booting this up with the MT-32 Pi on my MiSTer was just like, "Wow. This is what it was like for Japanese X68K users SO SO long ago?!" So impressive. Even to this day, IMPO.
I just wanted to watch 5 minutes of this video to burn some time while my dog falls asleep, but ended up watching it completely. Awesome video! I really love the Castlevania series and the golden age of 16-bit Konami. I still remember the day I saw Super Castlevania 4 for the first time. Absolutely amazing. My family couldn't afford the game at the time (1993). I finally got a copy some months ago.
As a Vania nut this game could use more love. It's basically a homage to the Simon games in general, references to each of the games starring the character. As a Vania it's solid on its own as well. Didn't push ideas or experiment as much as the other 16bit ones but think its simplicity helps it stand as an easy one to pick up and play every once in a while. There's also concepts and material here seen in later games. Once Iga took the producer role he considered this to be the canon Simon v Drac story, not that it matters.
i had bought a roland mt-32 for ms-dos gaming back in the day (silpheed, monkey island, dune, wing commander, ravenloft stone prophet.....). this game, with this midi module, is the only reason why i went looking for an x68000. never regreted it (and got my mind blown by a few other sountracks like granada -by far my favorite on the system, especialy the last stage, smashing street-, gradius2, super hang-on, or the "special mode" of xenon2)
Thanks for the great video! I discovered this game through Castlevania Chronicles. This game, alongside Super Castlevania IV, Bloodlines, and Rondo of Blood really represents for me an amazing piece of gaming history, with each of the quartet representing a unique take on a timeless series. Also, despite some of the more “techno” tunes, Castlevania Chronicles Arranged Mode has an incredible rendition of The Theme of Simon Belmont.
Absolutely, and I'm sad much of the discussions have become a contest on which 16bit Vania is the "best", which just takes away from each game's experience when they're all worth playing and enjoying. I don't think any of the four do anything better than the rest, they all have unique identities and are mechanically all pretty different.
You guys are killing it. It so hard to find truly compelling retro video gaming content these days. Thank you for thoroughly entertaining me with theses deep dives! Another beautiful game from Japan.
The PSX version isn’t all dance based music, as the orchestrations for Bloody Tears and Etude for the Killer are legendary. In addition to the lighter difficulty, it’s a nice change that when hit, you don’t fly back nearly as much, drastically reducing cheap deaths.
these videos like water in the desert. beyond the actual games (well a fraction of the games), japan's glorious 8 and 16 bit gaming (and computer) era, its unique culture and gaming gear is criminaly underrepresented, even neglected (ok, for obvious reasons). so your videos like this and about the pc-88 and such are a godsend. top quality informations and presentation, brilliant stuff. and you got the best intro ever. so thanks and keep'em coming! also, this very x68000 akumajo dorakyura is comig to the (aga) amiga! i hope it will be finished, not even soon, but at all, coz as i understand its a one-man project. however a demo is already out with 2 playable levels. naturaly its a cut-down version of the original but still looks almost as good and plays just as good as the x68000 one (although i havent played that one only the amiga demo so i cant really compare the two). seeing the later levels and all the gfx trickery those have i wonder what can be achieved on the miggy, fe. with the stage on fire, or that fast scrolling stage with the transparent water or the big and complex level boss sprites. in the amiga demo the big bat boss at the end of level one is already a cheap, chinese knock-off version of the x68000's one, so based on that one i think we cant expect too much. but - as its only a demo - it is possible that they will improve on that. technically its possible, with skill, time and effort. i've seen many things on the miggy which were deemed impossible... it will certainly not be a 100% perfect port, but it can be a very very good one and fo' sho a million times better than that abysmal horrorshow what the amiga's got as castlevenia (a "port", but rather a recreation, of the nes game. a really terrible one done by some cheap hungarian coders behind the iron curtain, who im certain had never played or seen a videogame before this job)
Amiga CV1 is a depressing sight to behold. So much potential just squandered by a team who either didn't care or didn't have time. I like some of its graphics but is otherwise one of the ugliest Vanias.
The reason the default sound option is the highest-end Roland MIDI device is marketing. Sierra On-Line games on the late 80s and early 90s did the same thing. If the highlight is on the option with the marketing tie-in, it plants the idea in your mind that it would be desirable to play the game with that device, so you might end up buying one. Simple marketing, no big mystery.
admittedly I've only ever played this one via emulation.... but damn what a cool game it is! I mean even for what just amounts to an HD remake of original castlevania on famicom or in the arcade... but there's enough new stuff here that I definitely recommend checking it out! and the music, good lord even as various flavors of MIDI and fm synth it's just SO GOOD! also the chronicles remixes were done by sota fujimori, I loved a lot of his stuff from over on Konami's BEMANI line (dance dance revolution, beatmania) so I'm assuming that's why it sounds the way it does. I'd probably put it right behind rondo as far as the not-metroidvania versions, for sure.
I was sure you'd be getting to this one eventually. I'm always glad to see another Basement Brothers video and this one does not disappoint. I'm certainly not good enough to clear this game but it's a great one for any X68k player to try. I appreciate the extra knowledge about the different sound cards too. Even GameSack glosses over that slightly.
Wow, i didnt expect soo many details over this rare and obscure game. I just played it last month and i couldnt beat the wolfwoman in the clock tower. This game is deffinetly really tough and i am glad we can play it on PS1 tough it keeps in the shadow of Symphony of the Night
Shit man, you are nailing Every point about the X68K!! I got one about 6 months ago, with a hard drive and some games on it. Now I understand about the loading, the music with no picture, twhy I got no sound when I first started (because it defaults to midi) and thanks for the midi info too!! Stellar video dude !! Very excellent !!
Ah, I have CC for Playstation and had a fun time going through it (that werewolf boss really tripped me up more than I'd like to admit). Shoot, now I need to find out if it's worth playing through several more times to see if something changes...
Really good content here. My first exposure to a lot of lesser known games and systems was from scouring vgm soundtracks. The early/mid 2000s were such an exciting time of discovery through emulation of games and sound chips.
i was about to ask for line-in recordings of the soundtrack, but fascinatingly, the CD release of the soundtrack of the PS1 ver, actually includes 4 soundtracks in total, FM, LA, GS & PS1 Arrange mode, pretty neat imo.
I truly love your channel and your documentary style overviews. 🖤 Chef's Kiss 😘👌 perfection and one of my must sub/view channels. Stay blessed and I wish you continued success/growth. 🤘
Thrashard to me is the standout track, so damn aggressive and in your face. Also yeah I love how the devs for Adventure Rebirth agreed with you on LOADING and used that for a stage track.
The MIDI selection screen only appears if a MIDI board is detected. Also, there is a secret 4th option, basic GM. Hold XF1 and push G to activate. Its has some issues, so compatibility with GM modules is quite low. Check out my old Akai SG01k video for a good example. Finally, there is an unofficial doujin patch which adds stereoscopic 3D. It is quite easy to rewire a Famicom 3D Adapter for use, and really cool effect, but CRT monitor is required.
1. Ah, the MIDI screen appears because of the MIDI board! I never remove my board, and thus I guess I assumed the selection screen always appears. That somewhat explains why it defaults to GS midi... somewhat. 2. I remember hearing about the hidden GM MIDI option years ago! Forgot all about it. Might have been worth mentioning in the video. 3. Never heard of the doujin 3D patch. Interesting.
@@BasementBrothers There are 3D patches for this, Dragon Spirit, Space Harrier, and Xevious. (Fantasy Zone has native 3D support too.) Since the 31khz games basically double the pixels, the 3D effects are super clean, as you don't lose any lines like on Fami/MS games. Worth the effort to try.
I played so much CC growing up I loved it. I remember walking into funcoland as a kid and blowing all my money I had to buy the last copy of chronicles. It was worth it.
The MT-32 / CM-64 has programmable sounds. You have full access to the envelope and filter parameters and PCM ROM waveforms while GS did not. This information is uploaded to the module over the MIDI port as a MIDI SYSEX dump. GS was actually a step backwards from the MT-32 in many ways because while it offered better "out of the box" sounds it only offered basic editing of envelope parameters and filters with the fixed bank of premade sounds rather than the "make whatever sound you want out of what's in there" that the MT-32 had. And even those limited editing features were rarely used in the interest of keeping games compatible with the General MIDI standard.
Good to know. I would assume then if they had wanted to use the LA MIDI's PCM they would have had to cram the PCM data into the two 1.2MB floppy disks. I would guess that they used the PCM very little if at all, and so the GS MIDI ended up sounding better.
You're giving GS a bad look here. Comparatively, yes, you couldn't program a sound from scratch. But, to make up for that fact Roland added QUITE a lot more parameters controllable over NRPN messages and it's not "only basic" stuff. It's not just ADSR and filtering/resonance (TVA/TVF), but you do still have access to pitch envelopes and LFOs just like LA. You could often get away "creating a tone" by using some tricks (or if you're crazy enough, a custom Drum Map). Not to mention the upgrade in polyphony. It's way easier to manage and the tradeoff is massive in comparison. It's all within the realm of possibility to do crazy stuff with sound modules and chips, it always has been. It's just that composers aren't often programmers who want to spend time with this stuff, so in that sense it wasn't a step backwards.
@@BasementBrothers No you could not upload PCM sounds to the MT-32 / CM-64 rather you could create new instrument sounds using the built in PCM waveforms by editing the parameters hardware. The GS standard only had basic editing of the envelopes and filters of predefined sounds while the MT32 / CM-64 allows for much more extensive editing of the parameters of the synthesizer hardware which waveforms were assigned to a sound how they were layered and so on.
@@xan1242 Yes you could do that but that was rarely done with games in the interest of compatibility with non roland GM MIDI devices (same reason Yamaha XG was rarely supported directly). With MT-32 it was only ever going to be used with an MT-32 or CM-64 so there was no reason to not go crazy with the sound editing like there was with GM/GS. It doesn't matter if it can do something if nobody ever uses it that way.
@@atomicskull6405 Back then it didn't matter. Now it kinda does. See all these crazy covers with the YMF262 or YM2612 or whatever else on RUclips? This is exactly my point. Same could be done with GS/XG/whatever other synth. The argument isn't about how someone used it back then. It's about what it can do and what the select few did with it (about calling it a step backwards). So is it a step backwards? From a pure technical standpoint - not really. Better samples all around and more polyphony. Even from an artistic standpoint - no. Just because a tool needs a different skillset doesn't make it less valid. The only standpoint I can see this as a step backwards, as you've said originally, was from a perspective of a retro gamer who happened to play a lot of games which used custom sounds on MT-32 (which were not that many). The real reason why GM compatibility was chosen was simply because it was simple and easy on the hardware at the time. MIDI was getting phased out very quickly by that point. So yes, back then, from that perspective, it was a step backwards, but only to take 5000 steps forward and leave these devices to DTM musicians. That being said, even Konami didn't do it justice. Only time these devices were ever used properly by them was in the MIDI Power albums.
I wish I had a physical copy of this and Chronicles. I got it digitally when it was about $5 on the PS3 PSN. You ain't kidding about that difficulty. I haven't put in the amount of time I should but the furthest I've managed to get is the ice part of stage 3. I don't know if the Playstation version has wonky hit detection in that part but things keep killing me instantly despite not touching anything I'm not supposed to. I just keep randomly dying going "What hit me?!" Last time about a year ago I rage quit because of it that I haven't picked it back up since, but I have been wanting to try again. Seeing your video on this game come up in my feed is my sign from the gaming gods that it's time to try again.
MIDI might have been a desirable commodity at the time but the YM2151 synth has aged better to my ears. Admittedly that's coming from my heavy bias for the SEGA Genesis and the YM2612 chip.
Yeah. I love the sound of FM synth, so have to agree. That's why we just use the raw FM synth as the BGM in so many of our videos. The MIDI in this game sounded amazing for its time, but now it just reminds me of cheap old CD rom games... which is kinda nostalgic in itself I guess. But anyway, we usually choose to play this game using the original FM synth despite the fact that we have the two MIDI modules.
I am way late but that distinctive sound of the old LA and GS units is commonly referred to as "rompler" and it is an amazing sound. And yet so is the Yamaha FM chip in the X68k... Win win situation, I suppose!
@@BasementBrothers Thanks for the awesome retro vids. Funny that I looked on at units like the MT-32 and such as a kid lamenting that I couldn't afford them. And now decades later they're rare enough I still can't afford them! My kingdom for an XV5080...
I wasn't especially fond of Castlevania 4, so when I want to play an enhanced version of Castlevania 1, this one(the PS1 version anyway) is an easy choice for me. I was a little worried about this one before I tried it due to the graphics looking a but more like CV4, relatively speaking, and also the difficulty. Luckily, I ended up liking the way this one looks, feels, and sounds in action. I enjoyed it a lot more than expected and was happy to add it to the pile of CV games I like. The audio options are a nice touch. Of course, as I understand it, those MIDI modules were quite expensive back in the day and not something most people would have just for game playing. The built-in FM chip was no slouch and was the model most used in arcade boards. The MIDI modules produce some nice renditions of the tunes in this game and each audio option has some advantages. For me, the FM sound is the most consistent and cohesive and is the one I prefer. I always liked good FM synth in games, though. The solution to adapt the game to the PS1 from the odd resolution of the X68000 is a good one. It only really got slightly in the way once or twice. The actual gameplay area is the same, with the X68000 using the extra 32 pixels for the HUD. Good that they made the game available another way. I really enjoy this game and recommend it to those who like the older CV games.
Yeah. Maybe we should have included that detail in the video, but we wouldn't have been able to demonstrate it anyway since we don't have a GM midi module.
This is a great classic style Castlevania game. I'm glad they ported this to the PS1, as I really don't think I'm brave enough to deal with vintage Japanese PCs.
Again, you guys surpassed yourselves and gave us an awesome video! Btw i have the exact same sound mixer 👍 i think i bought it years ago on aliexpress?? Or amazon?? It's a great piece of equipment as it is ultrasmall 👍
Nice. I had my reservations seeing how cheap and simple the device is. I was originally going to use a powered mixing board, but I figured this passive device would do the job more simply and elegantly.
Oh thank hod and also awe man. I was happy to hear a new game I haven’t played yet was a thing. But then I herd what it was on and was like or crap. Then it was made on the PSX and I had played it. I’m conflicted
I'm surprised you didn't reference Maria at 16:27. The dolls look very similar to her appearance in Rondo of Blood, and even use voice samples that sound similar to hers in that game.
"In order to make the most of ... resources, I ... put in all sorts of dubious functions" is a fantastic description of game development
You can still change the soundtrack arrangement on the PS1 version if you hold L1+R1 while it's booting up either the Original or Arranged mode, it brings up the same X68000 music menu, but with the added CD dance music for those who prefer to use that on the original version instead of the arranged mode. And of course, you can select the GS Midi music for that delicious mid 90's MIDI soundtrack on the PS1.
The menu always comes up in the original Japanese PS1 release. In the international release you have to hold L1+R1 for the menu to come up. I'm not sure why they chose to hide it.
@@BasementBrothers probably because no one in west, they would think, would know or care about it
I got an earlier version of Chronicles that always show up the sound module selection screen without the L1+R1 hold. It did confuse me at first after playing and then reading up the articles on the game (usually Mr.P's Castlevania Realm and Castlevania Dungeon back in the day)
Does Chronicles include the original x68000 version’s loading/“lobby” music? I remember that was part of the charm from playing games in those computers.
@@noharakunthey were so wrong, there were dozens of us!! Lol
What a Rolls-Royce of a gaming system the X68K was in it's day.
I had heard of this machine, I knew it ran on the M68000 CPU, I knew it was released circa 1986, I knew it was a 16 Bit home computer and I knew it had quite a few of the same games that appeared on the Megadrive and other 16 systems of the day, so in my head I had it in mind that it must have been somewhere around the same sort of spec as an Atari ST. I didn't believe it would live with the Amiga with all it's custom chips, I didn't think it would have lived with the Megadrive having been released so much sooner.
Needless to say, when I finally saw it in action, running it's version of Streetfighter 2, it was a revelation.
X68000 is basically arcade machine disguised as home computer
CV1 has a choose your own adventure book of Remakes:-
*>Vampire Killer for MSX(Plays like a hybrid of Simon's Quest&CV1)*
*>Haunted Castle for Arcade(Well, it was an attempt...)*
*>Akumajo Dracula for X68000(A very faithful re-imagining of CV in 16bit)*
*>CV Chronicles(A remastered port of X68000 CV with Rave Music)*
*>SCV4(The most well known remake of CV1)*
*UPDATE:* They finally fixed Haunted Castle in 2024. God Bless Konami M2!
Don't forget the scuffed Amiga conversion!
Such a wasted opportunity...
> Haunted Castle for arcade
> an attempt was made
lol
Don't forget the actual "choose your own adventure" book (loosely) based on CV1, published by futabasha.
@@serella Which itself was a really strange port of the DOS version.
It’s not remastered so much as it’s remade from scratch with different levels, bosses, and features. It’s pretty dope they did that. I think remastering is more so when you enhance or change something that’s already there Vs remaking
The maid enemies from this game made a return in Aria of Sorrow. Looking back it’s really neat to see how much Iga liked to homage the series’ past.
Moon Fight and Tower of Dolls also mak returns in a few of his produced games. Iga really likes this one and I don't blame him.
The toad, flyng skeleton, and the black panther sprites from this game are also reused in Symphony of the Night and some of the DS games.
@@vayouvoogie1033 The panthers were in the original game too, and the Flying Skeletons were in a few CV3 stages. EDIT: Misread. Yep, pretty sure you're right for those.
I've been playing Akumajo Dracula since FC (NES).
Midi uses MT-32 and Roland SC-88VL on PC-98,
Using Yamaha EOS keyboard as DTM (desktop music), connecting MT-32 (PC98 C bus inserted) and midi board
I used the SC-88VL as an external sound source in a PC-98 game.
Since there was no Dracula game on PC-98, I played the game with midi.
I used to play songs.
I play software sold to Super Famicom (SNES), NDS, ps, ps2, and ps3.
Unique BGM enhances fear and remains in memory.
I love this Dracula series even in Konami games, so this time
I miss the x68000 and would like to play it again.
Which Dracula game is your favorite today? 3 and X68k are my favorites.
(I played the X68k version on PSX)
In Japan, the x68k was expensive at the time and few people owned it.
So I let him play at my friend's house.
At the time, the x68k had outstanding quality, so
I was surprised by the sound source and the image.
Underrated game. Maybe the hardest in the series along with the western version of III and SNES Dracula X.
The soundtrack here is amazing,Moon fight and Tower of the dolls are phenomenal themes.
The MSX and the arcade game are the hardest, X68000, Western III and Dracula X are still pretty respectful of the player's sanity at least
@@marx4538 Honestly, the MSX version isn't that hard at all. The hourglass and holy water are pretty much broken -- if you have one or the other, and especially if you have both, you can absolutely walk over any boss in seconds. People always say the MSX version is crazy hard because it has no 1-ups and no continues, but it's one of those games that's less about twitch reflexes and more about careful planning. Learn where to find the best items in each stage, and which candles to avoid (since there are power-downs as well), and you should have little difficulty beating the game, even if your reaction time is awful.
I say this because... I have beaten the game! And my reaction time IS awful! ;) I actually was never able to beat Castlevania on NES, yet I could beat the MSX game after only a couple weeks of trying. I consider the NES game to be much more difficult than the MSX version, despite having multiple lives and unlimited continues, if only because it DEMANDS you have actual twitch reflexes. You have no shields to block enemy projectiles, the stopwatch doesn't freeze bosses like the hourglass does, the holy water is nowhere near as powerful (and takes up your sub-weapon slot, which it doesn't in the MSX version; it counts as a wholly separate bonus item instead), and there exists no boomerang axe that's 2x as powerful as the Morning Star with each hit.
Tl;dr version, MSX Castlevania gets a bad rap. Game is great, and far more balanced than people give it credit for.
@@Wyrdwad
That's fair - while I'd still say that the lack of 1-ups or continues is a bit extreme, the MSX game definitely isn't unbalanced, even if it's still rather hard for me.
That does mean the arcade game, Haunted Castle, is the hardest (and least sane)
SNES X is only ridiculous in the final boss fight. The freaking fall deaths are so stupid.
I agree, the werewolf boss gave me hell.
I've had 6 work shifts in a row. Now I have 7 days off. What a great way to start my mini holiday with a quality Castlevania video :). 👍
What an excellent breakdown, analysis, and conclusion. Nice work.
Appreciate the kind feedback. Thanks for watching!
@@BasementBrothers You're very welcome. Subscribed.
A soundtrack aside: Nintendo and Roland offered SNES conversions of the Roland GS sounds from the original SC-55 Sound Canvas to licensed SNES developers. Most games chose to make custom instruments instead, but one that didn't was Super Castlevania IV. As a result, fan-made MIDI arrangements of SCV4 tunes played on an SC-55 sound just like the SNES game but higher quality.
Great video!
I picked up Castlevania Chronicles on the PS1 when it was first released here in the U.S. and was blown away by the X68000 version (along with the arranged). As a 43 year old, I grew up on the linear series of games and still prefer them over the SOTN/Metroidvania formula. This game is still challenging.
I just tried this game for the first time the other day, and stage 2's music theme blew me away, haha. Good stuff.
Thank you for another great review!
Moon Fight is an excellent track, definitely one of my favorite Castlevania tracks.
Incredibly underrated track for sure
i love the amount of improvement you've made for your videos over the years. also biweekly videos is such a godsend.
Woah, this is such a high effort review! I really appreciate the cross-game comparisons as well as showcasing the various sound options via differing hardware. This is the quality to which other retro review should be held!
This channel kicks ass!
very happy to see this video perform well. you deserve it more than anyone i know, dood.
The loading music actually got what it deserved and was reused as a stage bgm in castlevania rebirth on wiiware.
I love the algorithm at times, found this suggested to me yesterday. I'm a huge retro (console) gaming enthusiast, but I know next to nothing about Japanese computers like this from the 80s-90s, they're so fascinating to me. Awesome video, the MIDI stuff was such a treat!
The algorithm giveth, and the algorithm taketh away... Welcome aboard!
Dude this game looks amazing, they really went in on the backgrounds. Works of art.
My first exposure to this was the OST, too. "Hope the game is as good as the soundtrack..." It was. God I miss Castlevania.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Curse of the Moon 1, and Curse of the Moon 2 are pretty good replacements for them, though, as are La Mulana 1, La Mulana 2, and Cave Story/Cave Story+.
@@paxhumana2015 castlevania can never be replaced
Even if they keep the rights Konami should at least license the Castlevania brand and let some other studio make a new game.
Dude, booting this up with the MT-32 Pi on my MiSTer was just like, "Wow. This is what it was like for Japanese X68K users SO SO long ago?!" So impressive. Even to this day, IMPO.
I just wanted to watch 5 minutes of this video to burn some time while my dog falls asleep, but ended up watching it completely. Awesome video! I really love the Castlevania series and the golden age of 16-bit Konami. I still remember the day I saw Super Castlevania 4 for the first time. Absolutely amazing. My family couldn't afford the game at the time (1993). I finally got a copy some months ago.
I remember finding castlevania chronicles at funcoland by accident. What a treasure! I still revisit it every few years
As a Vania nut this game could use more love. It's basically a homage to the Simon games in general, references to each of the games starring the character. As a Vania it's solid on its own as well. Didn't push ideas or experiment as much as the other 16bit ones but think its simplicity helps it stand as an easy one to pick up and play every once in a while. There's also concepts and material here seen in later games. Once Iga took the producer role he considered this to be the canon Simon v Drac story, not that it matters.
i had bought a roland mt-32 for ms-dos gaming back in the day (silpheed, monkey island, dune, wing commander, ravenloft stone prophet.....). this game, with this midi module, is the only reason why i went looking for an x68000. never regreted it (and got my mind blown by a few other sountracks like granada -by far my favorite on the system, especialy the last stage, smashing street-, gradius2, super hang-on, or the "special mode" of xenon2)
Thanks for the great video! I discovered this game through Castlevania Chronicles. This game, alongside Super Castlevania IV, Bloodlines, and Rondo of Blood really represents for me an amazing piece of gaming history, with each of the quartet representing a unique take on a timeless series. Also, despite some of the more “techno” tunes, Castlevania Chronicles Arranged Mode has an incredible rendition of The Theme of Simon Belmont.
Absolutely, and I'm sad much of the discussions have become a contest on which 16bit Vania is the "best", which just takes away from each game's experience when they're all worth playing and enjoying. I don't think any of the four do anything better than the rest, they all have unique identities and are mechanically all pretty different.
So much interesting information! This is already one of my favorite channels on youtube
Probably the best review that I have seen for this game here on YT. Good job!
You guys are killing it. It so hard to find truly compelling retro video gaming content these days. Thank you for thoroughly entertaining me with theses deep dives! Another beautiful game from Japan.
An interesting video on a lesser known and even lesser played Castlevania game.
Thanks for this 👍
Amazing as always. Love the size of that box and the artwork.
Your videos are fantastic. They are professionally and passionately made and a joy to watch. Thanks for the obvious effort you put into making these.
The PSX version isn’t all dance based music, as the orchestrations for Bloody Tears and Etude for the Killer are legendary.
In addition to the lighter difficulty, it’s a nice change that when hit, you don’t fly back nearly as much, drastically reducing cheap deaths.
these videos like water in the desert. beyond the actual games (well a fraction of the games), japan's glorious 8 and 16 bit gaming (and computer) era, its unique culture and gaming gear is criminaly underrepresented, even neglected (ok, for obvious reasons). so your videos like this and about the pc-88 and such are a godsend. top quality informations and presentation, brilliant stuff. and you got the best intro ever. so thanks and keep'em coming!
also, this very x68000 akumajo dorakyura is comig to the (aga) amiga! i hope it will be finished, not even soon, but at all, coz as i understand its a one-man project. however a demo is already out with 2 playable levels. naturaly its a cut-down version of the original but still looks almost as good and plays just as good as the x68000 one (although i havent played that one only the amiga demo so i cant really compare the two). seeing the later levels and all the gfx trickery those have i wonder what can be achieved on the miggy, fe. with the stage on fire, or that fast scrolling stage with the transparent water or the big and complex level boss sprites. in the amiga demo the big bat boss at the end of level one is already a cheap, chinese knock-off version of the x68000's one, so based on that one i think we cant expect too much. but - as its only a demo - it is possible that they will improve on that. technically its possible, with skill, time and effort. i've seen many things on the miggy which were deemed impossible... it will certainly not be a 100% perfect port, but it can be a very very good one and fo' sho a million times better than that abysmal horrorshow what the amiga's got as castlevenia (a "port", but rather a recreation, of the nes game. a really terrible one done by some cheap hungarian coders behind the iron curtain, who im certain had never played or seen a videogame before this job)
Amiga CV1 is a depressing sight to behold. So much potential just squandered by a team who either didn't care or didn't have time. I like some of its graphics but is otherwise one of the ugliest Vanias.
The reason the default sound option is the highest-end Roland MIDI device is marketing. Sierra On-Line games on the late 80s and early 90s did the same thing.
If the highlight is on the option with the marketing tie-in, it plants the idea in your mind that it would be desirable to play the game with that device, so you might end up buying one. Simple marketing, no big mystery.
Oh yes, been waiting for Sharp x68000 paradise. Is Fm Towns or MSX next?
You are a genius Sir, i love the way you put it all together just for Castlevania.
This is amazing. It's amazing how much reacserch you did and it's always great to hear about the developers thoughts and ideas. Subbed!
Another fantastic video! This is very quickly turning into my favourite channel. Great work.
Is it weird that I’ve loved the MSX and X68000 videos on this channel?
admittedly I've only ever played this one via emulation.... but damn what a cool game it is! I mean even for what just amounts to an HD remake of original castlevania on famicom or in the arcade... but there's enough new stuff here that I definitely recommend checking it out! and the music, good lord even as various flavors of MIDI and fm synth it's just SO GOOD! also the chronicles remixes were done by sota fujimori, I loved a lot of his stuff from over on Konami's BEMANI line (dance dance revolution, beatmania) so I'm assuming that's why it sounds the way it does. I'd probably put it right behind rondo as far as the not-metroidvania versions, for sure.
I think its very cool that you go into the OST part of things in this review :)
You got my subscription man, I knew about the existence of this game, but I didn't knew it was so good!
Great video! I'm a big fan of this game. It's extremely hard, but it's also incredibly compelling and definitely worth playing.
Just stumbled upon your channel and I'm so glad I did, great video and loving these rendition of the game ❤️
I admire your very detailed knowledge on this niche gaming PC!!! Please keep these videos coming!
My frothing demand for more of your outstanding content intensifies.
This is an extremely impressive video. Well done!
wow I wish I could've had one of these PCs growing up. And you've gotten your hands on those Roland modules too. So cool...
You're making some killer content out here, and I love it.
Man, that computer tower is just such an incredibly cool looking piece of tech. I want one just for the aesthetic itself
I was sure you'd be getting to this one eventually. I'm always glad to see another Basement Brothers video and this one does not disappoint. I'm certainly not good enough to clear this game but it's a great one for any X68k player to try. I appreciate the extra knowledge about the different sound cards too. Even GameSack glosses over that slightly.
Wow, i didnt expect soo many details over this rare and obscure game. I just played it last month and i couldnt beat the wolfwoman in the clock tower. This game is deffinetly really tough and i am glad we can play it on PS1 tough it keeps in the shadow of Symphony of the Night
Another great video! Sweet MIDI goodness!
Holy crap, you tested the freaking MIDI modules!!! This is why the Brothers reign supreme
I have this on PlayStation titled Castlevania Chronicles, for $60 in 2015 and dear God am I happy I got that then and not now.
Shit man, you are nailing Every point about the X68K!! I got one about 6 months ago, with a hard drive and some games on it. Now I understand about the loading, the music with no picture, twhy I got no sound when I first started (because it defaults to midi) and thanks for the midi info too!! Stellar video dude !! Very excellent !!
Ah, I have CC for Playstation and had a fun time going through it (that werewolf boss really tripped me up more than I'd like to admit).
Shoot, now I need to find out if it's worth playing through several more times to see if something changes...
Yeah. She's the best werewolf boss from the castlevanias, i think
Really good content here. My first exposure to a lot of lesser known games and systems was from scouring vgm soundtracks. The early/mid 2000s were such an exciting time of discovery through emulation of games and sound chips.
i was about to ask for line-in recordings of the soundtrack, but fascinatingly, the CD release of the soundtrack of the PS1 ver, actually includes 4 soundtracks in total, FM, LA, GS & PS1 Arrange mode, pretty neat imo.
I truly love your channel and your documentary style overviews. 🖤 Chef's Kiss 😘👌 perfection and one of my must sub/view channels. Stay blessed and I wish you continued success/growth. 🤘
great episode very thorough with varied and engaging approach to the game, thanks, keep 'em coming!
greets from france^^
9:08
The Basement Brothers. Awesome channel name
Fantastic game. Looped it 9 times, played it at 200% speed, played Nomis mode, It's so good. This needs a rererelease.
I really want a X68000, but it's just on the cusp of being too expensive, along with Laser Active. Already have a MT-32 and SC-55mkII.
Great video! Just kinda surprised you didn´t mention some details taken from Haunted Castle, like the phantom tree enemies.
I knew we weren't going to mention everything.
Thrashard to me is the standout track, so damn aggressive and in your face.
Also yeah I love how the devs for Adventure Rebirth agreed with you on LOADING and used that for a stage track.
The MIDI selection screen only appears if a MIDI board is detected. Also, there is a secret 4th option, basic GM. Hold XF1 and push G to activate. Its has some issues, so compatibility with GM modules is quite low. Check out my old Akai SG01k video for a good example. Finally, there is an unofficial doujin patch which adds stereoscopic 3D. It is quite easy to rewire a Famicom 3D Adapter for use, and really cool effect, but CRT monitor is required.
1. Ah, the MIDI screen appears because of the MIDI board! I never remove my board, and thus I guess I assumed the selection screen always appears. That somewhat explains why it defaults to GS midi... somewhat.
2. I remember hearing about the hidden GM MIDI option years ago! Forgot all about it. Might have been worth mentioning in the video.
3. Never heard of the doujin 3D patch. Interesting.
@@BasementBrothers There are 3D patches for this, Dragon Spirit, Space Harrier, and Xevious. (Fantasy Zone has native 3D support too.) Since the 31khz games basically double the pixels, the 3D effects are super clean, as you don't lose any lines like on Fami/MS games. Worth the effort to try.
I played so much CC growing up I loved it. I remember walking into funcoland as a kid and blowing all my money I had to buy the last copy of chronicles. It was worth it.
If you want the hardest rocking Castlevania track, look up Konami's "Dracula Battle Perfect Selection II - Theme Of Simon"
The MT-32 / CM-64 has programmable sounds. You have full access to the envelope and filter parameters and PCM ROM waveforms while GS did not. This information is uploaded to the module over the MIDI port as a MIDI SYSEX dump. GS was actually a step backwards from the MT-32 in many ways because while it offered better "out of the box" sounds it only offered basic editing of envelope parameters and filters with the fixed bank of premade sounds rather than the "make whatever sound you want out of what's in there" that the MT-32 had. And even those limited editing features were rarely used in the interest of keeping games compatible with the General MIDI standard.
Good to know. I would assume then if they had wanted to use the LA MIDI's PCM they would have had to cram the PCM data into the two 1.2MB floppy disks. I would guess that they used the PCM very little if at all, and so the GS MIDI ended up sounding better.
You're giving GS a bad look here.
Comparatively, yes, you couldn't program a sound from scratch. But, to make up for that fact Roland added QUITE a lot more parameters controllable over NRPN messages and it's not "only basic" stuff. It's not just ADSR and filtering/resonance (TVA/TVF), but you do still have access to pitch envelopes and LFOs just like LA. You could often get away "creating a tone" by using some tricks (or if you're crazy enough, a custom Drum Map).
Not to mention the upgrade in polyphony. It's way easier to manage and the tradeoff is massive in comparison.
It's all within the realm of possibility to do crazy stuff with sound modules and chips, it always has been. It's just that composers aren't often programmers who want to spend time with this stuff, so in that sense it wasn't a step backwards.
@@BasementBrothers No you could not upload PCM sounds to the MT-32 / CM-64 rather you could create new instrument sounds using the built in PCM waveforms by editing the parameters hardware. The GS standard only had basic editing of the envelopes and filters of predefined sounds while the MT32 / CM-64 allows for much more extensive editing of the parameters of the synthesizer hardware which waveforms were assigned to a sound how they were layered and so on.
@@xan1242 Yes you could do that but that was rarely done with games in the interest of compatibility with non roland GM MIDI devices (same reason Yamaha XG was rarely supported directly). With MT-32 it was only ever going to be used with an MT-32 or CM-64 so there was no reason to not go crazy with the sound editing like there was with GM/GS. It doesn't matter if it can do something if nobody ever uses it that way.
@@atomicskull6405 Back then it didn't matter. Now it kinda does.
See all these crazy covers with the YMF262 or YM2612 or whatever else on RUclips? This is exactly my point. Same could be done with GS/XG/whatever other synth.
The argument isn't about how someone used it back then. It's about what it can do and what the select few did with it (about calling it a step backwards).
So is it a step backwards?
From a pure technical standpoint - not really. Better samples all around and more polyphony.
Even from an artistic standpoint - no. Just because a tool needs a different skillset doesn't make it less valid.
The only standpoint I can see this as a step backwards, as you've said originally, was from a perspective of a retro gamer who happened to play a lot of games which used custom sounds on MT-32 (which were not that many).
The real reason why GM compatibility was chosen was simply because it was simple and easy on the hardware at the time. MIDI was getting phased out very quickly by that point. So yes, back then, from that perspective, it was a step backwards, but only to take 5000 steps forward and leave these devices to DTM musicians.
That being said, even Konami didn't do it justice. Only time these devices were ever used properly by them was in the MIDI Power albums.
I wanna play this again, hopefully one day I can buy it from PSN in the near future.
Wow that game looks phenomal. that sprite work looks great even without scan lines to blend anything.
I love this damn channel!
Thank you for the Captain N references.
nice work my fellow "basement brother" 😆
The original Sharp 68000 in game clock can be programmed to match the computer clock .The PS1 release did not include that feature .
Super Castlevania 4 and Akumajōu Dracula/Castlevania Chronicles has the absolute best Castlevania soundtracks.
Roland CM-500 midi is the best.
Castlevania always good!
I wish I had a physical copy of this and Chronicles. I got it digitally when it was about $5 on the PS3 PSN. You ain't kidding about that difficulty. I haven't put in the amount of time I should but the furthest I've managed to get is the ice part of stage 3. I don't know if the Playstation version has wonky hit detection in that part but things keep killing me instantly despite not touching anything I'm not supposed to. I just keep randomly dying going "What hit me?!" Last time about a year ago I rage quit because of it that I haven't picked it back up since, but I have been wanting to try again. Seeing your video on this game come up in my feed is my sign from the gaming gods that it's time to try again.
MIDI might have been a desirable commodity at the time but the YM2151 synth has aged better to my ears.
Admittedly that's coming from my heavy bias for the SEGA Genesis and the YM2612 chip.
Yeah. I love the sound of FM synth, so have to agree. That's why we just use the raw FM synth as the BGM in so many of our videos. The MIDI in this game sounded amazing for its time, but now it just reminds me of cheap old CD rom games... which is kinda nostalgic in itself I guess. But anyway, we usually choose to play this game using the original FM synth despite the fact that we have the two MIDI modules.
I am way late but that distinctive sound of the old LA and GS units is commonly referred to as "rompler" and it is an amazing sound. And yet so is the Yamaha FM chip in the X68k...
Win win situation, I suppose!
Yeah. We didn't use the term "rompler" in the video, but that's exactly what it is. Thanks for watching!
@@BasementBrothers Thanks for the awesome retro vids. Funny that I looked on at units like the MT-32 and such as a kid lamenting that I couldn't afford them. And now decades later they're rare enough I still can't afford them!
My kingdom for an XV5080...
The stage 2 theme of the NES version was actually incorporated in the Vampire Killer rendition of this game.
I wasn't especially fond of Castlevania 4, so when I want to play an enhanced version of Castlevania 1, this one(the PS1 version anyway) is an easy choice for me. I was a little worried about this one before I tried it due to the graphics looking a but more like CV4, relatively speaking, and also the difficulty. Luckily, I ended up liking the way this one looks, feels, and sounds in action. I enjoyed it a lot more than expected and was happy to add it to the pile of CV games I like. The audio options are a nice touch. Of course, as I understand it, those MIDI modules were quite expensive back in the day and not something most people would have just for game playing. The built-in FM chip was no slouch and was the model most used in arcade boards. The MIDI modules produce some nice renditions of the tunes in this game and each audio option has some advantages. For me, the FM sound is the most consistent and cohesive and is the one I prefer. I always liked good FM synth in games, though.
The solution to adapt the game to the PS1 from the odd resolution of the X68000 is a good one. It only really got slightly in the way once or twice. The actual gameplay area is the same, with the X68000 using the extra 32 pixels for the HUD. Good that they made the game available another way. I really enjoy this game and recommend it to those who like the older CV games.
Great video! I always assumed this version was just a port of the arcade Vampire Killer. I guess now I have a reason to try the X68000 MiSTer core.
Thank goodness it isn't...
Great channel, subscribed😊
there is a secret General Midi mode in Akumajou Dracula. If you hold XF1 and press G during MIDI selection screen it will pass GM.
Yeah. Maybe we should have included that detail in the video, but we wouldn't have been able to demonstrate it anyway since we don't have a GM midi module.
@@BasementBrothers is not the cm-300/sc-55 a general midi device?
This system was insane
Looks beautiful
Great coverage.
Thats a whole body on that gear bro! Red bones.
This is a great classic style Castlevania game. I'm glad they ported this to the PS1, as I really don't think I'm brave enough to deal with vintage Japanese PCs.
I forgot to mention, how amazing is that stage 2 bgm? A top tier tune for sure.
So the mirrors in aria of sorrows are from this game, did not know that tbh
Good video and showcase!
Again, you guys surpassed yourselves and gave us an awesome video!
Btw i have the exact same sound mixer 👍 i think i bought it years ago on aliexpress?? Or amazon?? It's a great piece of equipment as it is ultrasmall 👍
Nice. I had my reservations seeing how cheap and simple the device is. I was originally going to use a powered mixing board, but I figured this passive device would do the job more simply and elegantly.
23:00 that was very delibrate. nice
Oh thank hod and also awe man.
I was happy to hear a new game I haven’t played yet was a thing.
But then I herd what it was on and was like or crap.
Then it was made on the PSX and I had played it.
I’m conflicted
Amazing like always 😃
I'm surprised you didn't reference Maria at 16:27. The dolls look very similar to her appearance in Rondo of Blood, and even use voice samples that sound similar to hers in that game.