PolaroidJack’s ‘Mid March’ Birthday Weekend Castlevania-athon Extravaganza Part 3:

This one hurts.
Aesthetically this is such a cool game, with a lot of neat sections and a lot of branching paths, alternate characters, neat levels for the NES, a great chiptune soundtrack…
But this was when I REALLY started to realize how much I didn’t like Classicvania. I really don’t like how limited you are on health. I really don’t like how cramped boss arenas feel. I really don’t like how precise the platforming can get. I REALLY don’t like that last one and a bunch of these games get real cheeky with being oh so precise with how far off you heel has to be at the edge of a platform, leading you to fall like a brick to your death. I also do think its a fucking cop out to have a bunch of sections where you fall down a pit even though its obvious there’s a section of the map right below the section you’re on. It really made me appreciate Mega Man more. Even though I don’t find those faultless, it never felt AS needlessly petty with dropping to a previous segment of a level in some Mega Man stages as it does through each of these Castlevanias.
At least characters like Sypha help mitigate a lot of difficulty, but I did have trouble recognizing when certain sections would really benefit from a character swap leading to major frustration on certain bosses.
I still think its neat for the NES, and its certainly easier in ways compared to the western release but goddamn I wanted to love this game rather than tolerate it by the end.

I made it to block 7 without using saves, then I made it to block 9 with them before it became a bit too much for me. game's good! Castlevania's good! there's so much here that I love even if the difficulty is a bit too over tuned for me. the clock tower level where you beat the boss and then it tells you to go backwards through the whole stage, using the abilities of the new character you just got, immediately shows the potential that this series' mechanics have when paired with the right level designs. that really surprised me!
maybe if I return one day I'll check out some of the other paths.

Konami was in the habit of ruining the difficulty of their games overseas so they couldn't be beaten in one rental back in the day, so the American version of the third Castlevania is pretty miserable. The Japanese version, on the other hand, is one of the better platformers on the console, in addition to having much better music. It's mostly held back by the NES standard of losing significant progress after a few deaths, and that really becomes a problem in the later stages. The underground route also has some bullshit in it, especially if you didn't take Alucard with you. But the levels, enemies, and the abilities of the playable characters and how they play off each other all feel more thoughtfully designed than what you see in most non-Nintendo games on the console.

I played the Japanese version of Castlevania 3 because fuck playing the American version.

A good time, though it gets a little brutal at times and has some pretty obnoxious/fucked up level design from time to time. That block falling section was horrible, for instance, as was that water section with the fish and birds. The game also relies a bit too heavily on staircases and using them to limit your moveset.

Besides those issues, Castlevania 3 is a very, very solid platformer with some decent level design, good mechanics, FANTASTIC fucking music for the Japanese version. Generally one of the best game on NES imo.

Esse jogo tinha tudo pra ser perfeito: Muita fase interessante, trilha sonora sensacional, personagens carismaticos mesmo no nes, uma mecanica de gameplay nova e bem legal, e seleção de fases com muitas e muitas fases pra explorar no nes, mas ele se quebra totalmente.

O jogo tem sinceramente as partes mais injustas e horrorosas de todo Castle até agora pra mim, irmão é surreal, eu fiquei um fodendo mes preso na penultima fase, tive que passar a penultima e ultima fase na base do save state, esse jogo quebrou totalmente meu orgulho.

E não é só nas ultimas arrombadas fases não, todo jogo tem momentos estranhos que tu sente que passou por sorte e não por habilidade, o que é terrivel demais.

Eu fico triste pra caralho com esse jogo, por ter tanto e tanto potencial e tantas ideias boas, mas ele é O castle que eu nunca vou querer rejogar, nem quis fazer o 100% zerando com todos os personagens e todas as fases, quero que esse jogo se foda.