I've been playin more Castlevania! Here's my thoughts.
- Castlevania (NES, 1986) - Just a classic. You can't beat it. There's nothing cooler than walking down a hall of medusa heads and axe armors and just annihilating everything. Holy Water is so op.
- Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (NES, 1987) - It's really cool! I like the RPG stuff. Feels very different, but not unwelcome.
- Castlevania: The Adventure (Game Boy, 1989) - This is totally fine. It really doesn't feel like Castlevania. It has a lot of single-screen platform challenges. No sub-weapons though.
- Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES, 1989) - It's a more intricate Castlevania but with more bullshit. I liked it just fine but it was more frustrating than the original to not much benefit.
- Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Game Boy, 1991) - I like it, but it's still more about about spikes and holes than it is about killing demons...but for the most part I did enjoy it.
- Super Castlevania IV (SNES, 1991) - Man. This game is ugly as hell and expects way too much of you. I really didn't get along with this one. I do like the variety of level gimmicks, but it's still probably the lowest on my list except maybe for Adventure.
- Castlevania Bloodlines (Genesis, 1994) - REALLY cool and underappreciated. Maybe the fastest game between now and Adventure ReBirth. I just really adore this game, and having the second playable character helps too. I can NEVER remember John Morris's name but it's fine.
- Castlevania: Dracula X (SNES, 1995) - This game RULES dude! It's super fucking hard but I love it. It was also fun to finally see the damn thing in full, and to relive my memories of Rondo of Blood through this weird dreamy haze. It expects too much of you just like Super IV, but it makes up for that by looking and sounding sick as hell, and by having Richter just feel better to play as than SNES Simon.
I still have these GBA titles at my disposal even if I'm not really in the mood for an Igavania. I really wanna play Haunted Castle and Vampire Killer, but those will take a little effort (or twenty dollars, in the case of the former). As for Rondo of Blood, Adventure ReBirth,, & Chronicles, I'll have to leave the Xbox for those unless I want to buy Rondo of Blood for a third time in my life. And honestly as fun as Rondo of Blood is, I've played that one a million times thanks to the Sony PSP.
Ultimately, Dracula is no longer a threat. I handled it.