Castlevania Retrospective Gametrailers COMPLETE

[@Phenominal222]

When Gametrailers died I was afraid that all of these retrospectives would be lost. You're doing gods work by preserving these pieces of art.

[@tigerwarrior2790]

Phenominal222 how did gametrailers die?

[@FfejTball]

Tiger, there's a Jimquisition article that explains it pretty well.

[@tigerwarrior2790]

@@FfejTball I'll have to check it out, thank you so much.

[@justicegear85]

Yes. Chris Leathco, please continue to do God's work or else you perish for Eternity in the depths of Philips CD-i.

[@FredMaverik]

The quality is so terrible might as well be dead

[@aroccoification]

These are still some of the best retrospectives on the internet almost 20 years later

[@Nekucloud]

Castlevania is truly one of the greatest videogame series of all time. It also has the most spectacular musical scores ever created. This is one favorite GT retrospectives, thank you for combining all episodes into long video!😊👏

[@joeyclemenza7339]

man... i miss these retrospectives.... gametrailers, thank you for the memories.

[@davecross4493]

People always say the prologue on Symphony is labelled Bloodlines incorrectly thinking they named the wrong game, but Richter's last level on Rondo is called Bloodlines.

[@sostrained]

Yup

[@MasterPlan1P]

12:37 crazy to think that an animated movie in development hell for a decade became the series on Netflix that kicks so much ass. Really shows just how far media has come in ways of reach, and a show doesnt have to be a "cinema" movie or "TV" show to reach international recognition.

[@reginaldeberhart8521]

And it's a great series

[@daehan8227]

Makes me wonder how Castlevania Arcade would've fit into to this time line, this bizarre game came out back in 2009. It was an arcade cabinet game that was similar to Metroid Prime but on rails, while still being a metroidvania but only leveling up at the end of each level. Though I did find it odd that it was exclusive to Japan despite how all of the spoken lines were in English. Supposedly the idea to bring it to western arcades was scrapped and the three characters never had names were named as follows: Vampire Hunter, Lady Gunner, and Little Witch.

[@Maceyoshiman]

Masterful video. Entertainment and informative for over an hour.

[@koolmanisback]

The replay of the last battle with dracula from Rondo of Blood at the starting of SOTN was NOT incorrectly labeled. The last stage was actually called "Bloodlines" in Rondo of Blood.

[@assassingio1866]

That was amazing such a great history of the classic Castlevania series it shows that they are passionate with their work and it shines in every aspect of the video.

[@souljastation5463]

But why have they ignored Lament of Innocence, one of the best Castlevania ever made?

[@JackOfen]

@Souljastation They didn't.... They talked about that game. Pay attention

[@soterioncoil2163]

My personally favorite series! I've been keeping with Castlevania since the 1986 NES game. Just picked up a Wii for Rondo of Blood and The Adventure Rebirth. I enjoy all Castlevania games with the exception of Judgment and possibly Harmony of Despair on Xbox Live Arcade. Even so, there are some I like better than others.

[@kylebrown4978]

In Afghanistan I had this lil card for my d's that had thirty games or close to it. But I only really played Portrait of ruin. I loved that game and no doubt it's my favorite of the franchise. I think it was that one at least. The one boss legion I remember very well. Sitting in my shitty LAV hatch.

[@MasterJunior93]

Rondo of Blood is one of those exceptional games where the boss's AI is done tricky and with surprising results; "Oh, you think you've beaten me?! You think I'm just gonna fall silently?! Well fuck you, because I'm taking you with me!!" these desperate moves that bosses will perform can be devastating if you're playing at pure vanilla AND if you only have 1 health point left; the absolute worst scenario is when you're also on your last life. this quick decision making can either give you bragging rights to your friends or make you rage out and toss your controller at your tv screen. Rondo of Blood's bosses teaches you to never underestimate your opponent; making you always cautious and keeping you on your toes so you can anticipate your opponent's next move. your enemy is never truly down for the count until it fades away before your very eyes.

[@MrSoulChives]

only shafts orbs can kill and they are easy to dodge

[@cliftonsargent1572]

Great video! I’m very surprised your channel isn’t bigger. I look forward to the next video

[@Kane429]

I make sure to watch this every October.

[@EdgeOfEntropy17]

I watch this every Halloween season!!!

[@JonARob]

Had to re-watch this after finishing Netflix's Castlevania

[@mrmusickhimself]

Jon Robinson Same

[@MrSoulChives]

ya coulda played them

[@jharvey62778]

I was pissed they left out grant he may have been nerfed in the us version but he is still one bad ass character

[@montemontague2998]

@@MrSoulChives.wx X Xavi m1m1¼um1m2mm

[@Kaptinkumar]

Same here

[@baardbi]

The MSX version was only named Vampire Killer in Europe. In Japan it was still called Akumajō Dracula like it's original Famicom version.

[@frankymcdonald3081]

when they got shut down, i wondered if this masterpiece would survive somewhere else.

[@Maioly]

I actually really love lament of innocence

[@iqueda1420]

@@MentatParadigm the clunkiness of those games kept them from being legendary and was probably what ultimately led to the abominations known as Lord of Shadows.

[@effthree7227]

Thanks! I could watch these multiple times.

[@tawdryhepburn4686]

Eff Three you literally can!

[@peliparado94]

Fuck I miss my DS and those 3 Castlevania games

[@tarrker]

How can they bring up Symphony of the Night without even so much as mentioning the music. Still one of the best gaming sound tracks I've ever heard. At the time it was mind blowing. They had all that space on the disc and used it for fulling orchestrated CD audio tracks. It was fucking fantastic!

[@JackOfen]

Did you only play Symphony or something? Every Castlevania game has amazing music (except maybe Harmony of Dissonance). So mentioning that a Castlevania game has good music is redundant.

[@luckyrockmore2796]

@@JackOfen Agreed, anyone around since the Nes days knows Castlevania has always been synonymous w terrific and very unique music.

[@theenglishman]

I mean, you can *hear* the music throughout that SOTN section. Maybe they thought it was self-evident.

[@jakobfel2]

I can't be the only one who thinks that Simon's Quest was the best of the series. The atmosphere was creepy but memorable, the gameplay was borderline RPG, the world was as open-world as a side-scrolling game can be and its soundtrack was awesome.

[@MechReaperofKhaos]

I think what it needs is a proper remake.

[@jakobfel2]

@@MechReaperofKhaos Agreed! If I had a team and could get in contact with Konami, I'd absolutely offer to partner with them to release a remake. Sadly, I don't have a team and have no contact with Konami haha

[@cripplehawk]

2:55 James Banana was a reference to English composer James Bernard, who was known for his 1958 score for Terence Fisher's Dracula (Known in the US as Horror of Dracula) Starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Just FYI.

[@HeadacheCentral]

He also once composed his own very score for Nosferatu, as well as composing the scores for The Curse of Frankenstein, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Mummy (1959), The Devil Rides Out, Dracula: Prince of Darkness among only a few Hammer movies. All very good stuff.

[@KEYSERSOZE1965]

I never knew there were so many games in this franchise.

[@melvinbutchhoot]

My favorite video game franchise.

[@lunarproduction]

I don't care what anyone says, DS had the best Castlevania games.

[@MechReaperofKhaos]

Casper317 Idk I really like the GBA ones, but all the GBA/DS games are good af.

[@nateblack8669]

Hell yeah. Order of Ecclesia is the first Castlevania I bought since I owned an NES in the early 90's, and it's the game that truly got me into Castlevania and encouraged me to check out other past titles I had completely missed out on. Not to mention the soundtrack and the protagonist in OOC, who is one of my all time favorite playable characters. Her absorb ability could serve no purpose and still kick ass because of how awesome it looks. Anyway, I love all Castlevania games I've played, but I owe it to one of the DS games for getting me back into the series.

[@RagnarokMic]

Symphony of the Night is *THE* best, but DS has the all of the next best.

[@JackOfen]

Symphony, Aria and Ecclesia are the best Metroidvanias, while 3, 4 and Rondo are the best Classicvanias. In my opinion

[@bradydavis5791]

I don't care what you say either. It didn't. Lol

[@xXLunatikxXlul]

Gametrailers, we miss you.

[@shannonbateswillis5022]

I don’t know if you know this, but under the mantle of Easy Allies, GameTrailers is reborn! I usually only play games that they give 7 or 8 at the very least out of ten!

[@nateblack8669]

As much as I loved the ps2/xbox era, I also fucking hated it because game devs felt like they *had* to switch to 3D which put Castlevania in a temporary slump, and absolutely slaughtered other beloved franchises that relied on side-scrolling like Mega Man. I'm so glad that we're seeing less and less game devs who are only concerned with following the times and instead just sticking with the tried and true Metroidvania and top-down RPG formula. Mega Man 11 was an instant classic, Metroid: Samus Returns was a breath of fresh air, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night looks fucking KILLER, and that's not to mention recent Zelda titles and other top down adventure games and RPGs coming out. It's a great era for games right now, and I hope to see more devs stick to classic formulas while trying new things, as opposed to just following trends.

[@Ritly13]

I don't care what other people say, Lords of Shadows 1 & 2 was awesome! I really want Castlevania to come back; Konami, What the F are you doing?!

[@gc6096]

Agreed

[@AkaiAzul]

Rest in peace, Castlevania. You will be missed.

[@RagnarokMic]

Long live Bloodstained.

[@JackOfen]

I know the N64 Castlevanias get a lot of criticism, but I recently played Legacy of Darkness and it's not that bad honestly. I actually had a lot of fun.

[@pr0xy87]

Ugh...

[@JackOfen]

@@pr0xy87 Ugh? What are you trying to say Mr. Caveman?

[@pr0xy87]

@@JackOfen This caveman has better taste in games than you do.

[@JackOfen]

@@pr0xy87 Whatever you say my little caveman buddy :)

[@pr0xy87]

@@JackOfen Called it

[@mastabeta85]

Castlevania 64 was very under-rated... second best sound track in the series.

[@ReluctantWarrior]

Not to mention it had the balls to be closer to the classic formula when it would have been an easy decision to just make a 3D SOTN.

[@FredMaverik]

"easier to make a 3D SOTN". Yeah sure. That's why they never made it (maybe Lament comes closer)

[@ReluctantWarrior]

@@FredMaverik You missed my point, I wasn't speaking from a game design prospective, but rather that with SOTN's success, it would have been easy to say "well, we'll make a 3D Castlevania with its design philosophy." I'm glad they didn't though, seven metroidvanias was enough, no need to cram any more down gamer's throats.

[@FredMaverik]

@@ReluctantWarrior back when 64 was released there wasn't 7 metroidvanias though. It was literally, just Castlevania in 3D, they just fail trying to make a true metroidvania 3D.

[@Minnan1]

The game was praised and rated pretty well when it released. It just didn't age well. At the time, people loved it. It became cool to hate later on.

[@r.9158]

You know, I actually think HoD has some damn good music even if it sounds like garb. The composition in general is pretty good - just needs a remaster is all!

[@dungeonwallmeat2113]

Ever heard Geoffrey Gunn's rendition of Juste's theme? Beautiful-

[@aroccoification]

The GT people still exist under a different name on youtube go support them

[@ZimMan2]

Big error right at 1:24 Hamilton Deane’s Dracula play was written in 1924, not 1942, and it in fact was the basis for Universal’s 1931 version.

[@orion_cliff]

Thank you for this. I'd love if you dove a bit more into the lore but it was still an awesome watch for a long time fan of the series. Makes me want to fire up some of them for sure!

[@Eener1000]

Thx for preserving this. Seeing the early games makes me sad about the latter ones that totally forgot their roots and instead became more anime like with crappy melodrama plotlines and hip girly men protagonists...

[@samuelwolch1302]

Eener1000 i like both. Also the old games had anime in them. Look at Rondo of Blood

[@Eener1000]

​@@samuelwolch1302 Rondo of Blood was great and I don't think all anime influences are bad. It just seems that later anime influences are more highschool melodrama. It's not just Castlevania having this issue, more games have this. Might be some general change in anime culture. I simpy miss the older Castlevania style that was more influenced by the old Hammer movies and also had more consistent and believable worlds (like Rondo of Blood which is a good example) Levels in later games felt copy paste and kinda flat and fake (Like they are very obviously stages, each just with a different texture pasted over each area instead of a breathing world with unique areas)

[@daehan8227]

My bad apparently it did come to the west but only three arcades have them. Brookfield, Illinois - Galloping Ghost Arcade Littleton, Colorado - Round One Arcade Dos Hermanas, Spain - Arcade Planet Though honestly I have to say My favorite classic Castlevania game is Rondo of Blood Original and Remake. For my #1 favorite Metroidvania it's Order of Ecclessia

[@shenloken2]

Castlevania died along with Gametrailers. It's rather fitting that this was one of their last (and best) Retrospectives. But if the series should somehow revive (preferably from Mr Igrashi himself) it'd be great to get the Demon Castle War game fans wanted.

[@ernestt8398]

I thought the Belmonts disappeared because the whip got cursed after he was possessed by shaft. Either that or something about a prophecy where they vowed to return in the future and that's why they gave the whip to the Morris clan.

[@MechReaperofKhaos]

Ernest Tam the whip was tainted, the sisters tell Johnathan of the story in Portrait of Ruin, before making you face off against Richter.

[@nihilistick]

Thank you for this!

[@Malchus13]

I thought we were watching dark castle for a second.

[@littlediddle2198]

Damn I miss the good old days of GT, EP, and X-play on television

[@acidfruitloops]

Can find many of the tech tv and g4 lineup of shows here on youtube braa

[@monojuice]

G4 too

[@KidPrarchord95]

Ive never tried castlevania games. I hope this will inspire me to try!

[@doger235]

Alex Olmsted Definitely try the Nintendo DS ones

[@joeyclemenza7339]

the NES and SNES versions respectively, are just your basic side scrolling adventures. if you really enjoyed the metroid series, i'd say give Symphony of the Night a go first.

[@tawdryhepburn4686]

CeaveGunner did you ever try out castlevania?

[@ericrose290]

what IS that song that plays at the beginning? I remember finding the source before but it's been so long I forget what it's called

[@cawills]

Great video!! Really enjoyed seeing cousins I have never seen before. It is amazing how much so many cousins resemble each other and have never even met each other! Dave Hurley looks so much like my brother, Dennis Kibler, My mother Margaret, and Betty were sisters.

[@dewinter1411]

Huh???

[@felicia4017]

Wrong video?

[@SoftComet]

Im not huge fan of castlevania games but SOTN, (NES) 1 2, dracula X and Bloodlines are awesome

[@afterglow-podcast]

I enjoyed 3 on NES as a kid, but really got into the GBA games. Later in my late 20s I finally discovered SOTN

[@SoftComet]

@@afterglow-podcast Symphony of the night fits easily in top 3 best ps1 games ever :) like i said im not castlevania fan but damn i enjoyed that game.

[@gc6096]

Cool the like numbers spins super fast for every hundred like and Kim the 2,100th like awesome thanks for the retrospective

[@MrSandMan961]

An adaptation for Salem's Lot was apparently announced 5 days ago. lmao.

[@dest151]

just subed ..love that video game history..

[@AndreEichstedt]

Hi, Your Retrospective Videos are all very good. Can you do one with Mortal Kombat ? Thank you Andre

[@jasonmalice]

Harmony of Dissonance is vastly underrated

[@jasonmalice]

and i dont care what anyone says, but aside from Lament and Curse on PS2, Harmony has one of the best musical scores. Ever.

[@JackOfen]

I think you didn't listen to many Castlevania soundtracksif you say that

[@bahemutking12]

The Vampire Killer theme song at 1:32:25 is fucking awesome,wats the name?

[@jjj7790]

1:14:23 what is this theme? (edit)Nevermind I found it almost instantly lol. It's Crimson Blood from Harmony of Despair.

[@johndewberryiii9925]

Nice I used to love these

[@artisanjames182]

28:00 ... that was done in Brainlord on SNES ... companions that is.

[@JackOfen]

Who gives a f*ck? They never implied SotN was the first game to do it. Plus, I'm sure other games did that before Brainlord

[@RetroRupp]

Dracula must have disliked this.

[@s.d.8016]

very nice work!

[@SpiritStoneWarrior94-yx3gs]

Damn! The pc engine was the OG PS5 😂😂😂

[@MysteriousMrL]

I'm confused by the part that says Symphony of the Night failed to sell well. I specifically remember owning the Greatest Hits version. I assumed a game had to sell a certain number to get a Greatest Hits release.

[@MechReaperofKhaos]

Smarmee 500k for GH and 1m for Platinum.

[@waltersobchak7275]

A retrospective about a Platformer makes no sense to me but whatever I see some people like it.

[@waltersobchak7275]

@Tom Ffrench I was stupid younger and 48 when I wrote that. Covid has taught me the joys of platformers. Seriously best medicine in the world. Rest assured I’m mentally right now. Thanks for bringing this back to my attention buddy.

[@tohpingtiang4878]

Older 3D games are no good because we can't judge the distance properly and jump to our death. Dracula alway looked constipated. Diet of blood is bad for digestion

[@MyPhobo]

Why is it ironic that the turbo graphix launched on halloween? I don't understand what is ironic about that?

[@E180TEKNO]

my favorite castelvania IV for me the best episode of saga i like the episode is very very funny

[@radioned8282]

thanks for uploading this! Will you be uploading the others too?

[@afterglow-podcast]

Final Fantasy is already up. I am loading Resident Evil, Metroid, and Metal Gear retrospectives as well. Unfortunately, the Stat Wars retrospective has missing videos that I haven't been able to find

[@samuelward1148]

And Fred Fuchs...

[@JackOfen]

Fuchs is just the german word for "Fox"

[@Frumlock]

what version of Bloody Tears is that?! @38:35

[@Skyline8597]

At 2:05 what game is that cutscene from, I can’t figure it out.

[@super88cloud]

it´s probably a castlevania game from the msx or turbografx

[@bennie1079]

I am watching some weird video about music around 3 am at night. My eyes are so sleepy I can barely keep them open! Then, I fall asleep, still with my pc emitting bright light throughout the night. I wake up next morning, and find that my pc lost all it's battery throughout the night, which leads to me quickly figuring out that I fell asleep, forgetting to turn it off. After a good day of normal life, I open up my pc again after it has been charged fully, and I find that I have been watching this video about something I don't have any clue on what is in any way. Around the 40 minutes mark is where my pc died. I think it's kinda funny to think about!

[@SquidProQuo80]

This is a documentary on imho the best video game ever... the music was just phenomenal and the soundtracks are legendary. This was the first horror video game I ever played and began my fascination with the genre and also with classical and baroque music. I remember these games from as far back as the late 80's and are a huge part of my childhood.

[@bennie1079]

@@SquidProQuo80 what happened to it?

[@xFuzzyxPicklesx]

7:30 isnt that from YS? or yngwie malmsteen lol

[@DrVanNostrand01]

Released with the "play choice 10"? Wasn't that arcade system just a cabinet set up to play 10 nes cartridges that were on the inside?

[@scottblanchard7542]

yes, and they were typically set up with best-selling games. i know the color palette is unique to the PC-10 hardware, but from what i know it runs the games the same as an NES.

[@SeelkadoomandJokic00]

They kinda forgot Order Of Shadows, despite being Mobile, its actually Canon.

[@MechReaperofKhaos]

I just wish I could find it to play it.

[@Tjeftn]

What is the music in the intro?

[@Rafalocust]

best videoooo thank you

[@4of20]

1:16:43 anyone know what song this is?

[@Actual_MrCat]

What's the song at 17:08?

[@dadeleemurphy85]

it's a shame we'll not get a 720p rendition.

[@felicia4017]

12:37 and thusly a new castlevania animated series was created.

[@MrSkullkid09]

Funny enough we now have the castlevania 3 animated series now

[@felicia4017]

18:14 That is so pretty!

[@DaedalosC9]

artist name: Akihiro Yamada. He also made the artwork for Mystic Ark, the spiritual sequel of the infamously difficult 7th Saga

[@AdamKoebel]

"bell-nades"

[@magmango5000]

Castlevania and bloodstrain is best games.

[@Crisamandroid]

Anyone knows the name of the track that plays at 32:17?

[@Zenryth48]

It's the theme from Castlevania Judgment; "Darkness of Fear."

[@Crisamandroid]

@@Zenryth48 Thanks!

[@andersonrodrigo63]

Fucking amazing!

[@sknowles2532]

OST at 47:08?

[@super88cloud]

lament ofinnocence

[@BlinJe]

Calls Dracula X a port. Fail.

[@JPDD2]

Circle of the Moon and SOTN were by and far the best two. I have no idea why they thought COTM wasn't a hit. Harmony of Dissonance is all around shit compared to COTM

[@ibrokeyourlamp6995]

Wrong.

[@kvltizt]

Circle of the Moon is my favorite GBA Castlevania. I liked that it felt like an Old Castlevania mixed with Metroidvania.

[@JackOfen]

They didn't just "think" it wasn't a hit. They just stated facts. The game didn't sell. No matter how good it is, if it didn't sell it wasn't a hit.

[@anthonychatterton8453]

this video was uploaded in 2016 and isn't HD what?

[@afterglow-podcast]

Because some of us uploaders only have a DSL connection and realize more people are interested in the content than the video quality. Where I live, broadband isnt available.

[@marylab7101]

Kyrie Elehson

[@MermDaddy]

castlefuckingvania

[@tblscene]

Why on earth is the Hero on evry Gamecover from the 80's a former Bodybuliding Champion :-D

[@tblscene]

@Southern Fried Cynic thats true :-)

[@JackOfen]

@Revel Heir There are only three Castlevania games with anime artstyle lol DoS, PoR and Judgement.

[@player1productions63]

lords 3

[@kirkcavenaugh758]

Konami is fucking up

[@talktal]

the first 3 games are the only real games. all the others are not castlevania.

[@Ghostman80]

I liked Super Castlevania 4 on the SNES and Symphony of the night, those were real.

[@MrSoulChives]

wow thats some high tier puruist bullshit

[@cjrichards4342]

Lmao. First of all, Rondo of Blood is closer to 1 and 3 than 2 was. Secondly, 1 is a relic and 2 was complete trash. 3 is the only one that's really worth playing, as 4 is a retelling of 1 that feels a lot better and more rewarding to play anyway unless you're a masochist. Finally, like it or not, the IGA games ARE Castlevania. They aren't just part of the series. They define it. Get over.

[@jharvey62778]

I loved the Gameboy one too

[@anonymoususer6786]

Shit video recording at 480p brings this down