The Castlevania N64 Games are Better Than You Thought | A Contextual Castlevania N64 Retrospective

[@JustYourAverageM8]

This channel is a hidden gem fr

[@MattyStoked]

Thank you so much. That's so kind of you! I'm glad you like the videos

[@jonathanjollimore7156]

@@MattyStoked I kind of agree it's not an unplayable mess no it's not but original release is rough around edges for sure compared to up dated Legacy of Darkness

[@AlphaZeroX96]

Why on Earth is this pinned?

[@FrankieGHL]

Totally agree! :) Instan sub!

[@HeyBlondieGamer]

Konami nailed the ambience, the sense of isolation and sinister creeping threat with Castlevania 64, and it was one of my favourites. It's great to see more creators covering how much better Castlevania 64 was than the net gave it credit for. Good work!

[@MattyStoked]

Thanks. It really is partway to being the best Castlevania game. When I do my Ideas Guy video for the dream CV game, it will be 75% CV64.

[@corbenalley8382]

Sounds good, I'd started with 1 and 4 before finding C64 and even after having played Crash, Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time first I was still really impressed with it.

[@rsalceda]

I feel this game in a very scary ambient!!! The games from 2000 to nowdays are like more adventure not scary at all!!!

[@LadyVoldo]

Castlevania 64 was the first Castlevania game I ever played. I fell in love with the atmosphere, music and story. It made me a Castlevania fan then and makes me one now. Because of this game, I play and own just about all of the games. You got yourself a subscriber.

[@MattyStoked]

Thank you so much, Liz. Castlevania still works so well in 3D. I'd love for us to get a new entry in the series.

[@Boomblox5896]

I would actually agree with this too. I also played Castlevania 64 first, and I was still blown away at the atmosphere and the characters. I also loved the little story between Reinhardt and Rosa, so I was never going to forget what this game really meant for me.

[@ceo-of-ecchi4092]

I had the same experience and it has been an absolute joy seeing its reputation slowly being restored!

[@redcrimson1028]

@LadyVoldo castlevania 64 was your first castlevania game? Have you been living under a rock for the past few decades? The 3d games weren't really bad, I guess, at least for its time. They were more experimental with them, which is why they weren't perfect

[@LadyVoldo]

@@redcrimson1028 I grew up on Mario and Zelda. Plus I was born in 85.

[@theoldboyproject3619]

Castlevania 64 deserves more love than actually received have a great ambientation , innovative mechanics and awesome soundtrack in my opinion this games have some elements of the classic Resident Evil especially in the castle segments because you always feel unsafe because everytime are enemies spawning and it used the time and day/night mechanics before Majoras Mask , we'll hope that the time give it the place it deserves.

[@cristiancamilocuta61]

Castlevania 64 en especial castlevania legacy pf darkness, sirvieron de inspiración para dark souls

[@TurdFerg117]

I want a remake of castlevania 64...I live that game

[@MattyStoked]

Yeah it's great. I think a remake of this whole game, with only a few updates to the fundamentals, would result in an extremely satisfying game.

[@Paz-EXP]

I would like that as well

[@Nutty151]

A remake would be very interesting, specially of Legacy of Darkness. I third this.

[@ABCDEFGH-ub7wg]

Dude what the absolute fuck me too!

[@KrunchyTheClown78]

@@ABCDEFGH-ub7wg lol

[@SandroSensei]

The N64 games have so much atmosphere, its like a resident evil game. Especially the first half of the game, you can check everything. Look it up, you can check so many thinks. It adds so much more to the game. The music also, its very atmospheric. I play LoD every halloween 🎃 LoD has the better camera and is overall the better game with expanded levels, but unfortunately it misses the voice acting for the Reinhardt and Carrie levels.

[@MattyStoked]

I really like the music! It's less actiony than other Castlevania games, but it's synthy and atmospheric so it's definitely still in the Castlevania wheelhouse.

[@dolemite8282]

I was legitimately gonna say the same thing. Especially the 1st half is amazing. It drips of atmosphere. It hits all the right tones. IMO you can’t complain about the controls and platforming. It’s a product of its time and personally, very manageable.

[@tds2117]

@@dolemite8282 yeah there was a lot of criticism about the camera/controls back in the day, which was totally overblown in hindsight. Almost all of those old 3D games had the exact same problems. I think people were picking up on smaller nuances at the time, which we’d see as almost trivial now. It would be like if carrots were the only food you had ever eaten; you’d spot even the slightest differences in carrots, and they could be a big deal. Then someone feeds you steaks and ice cream and pancakes and this shit for 20 years. Those differences wouldn’t seem as massive as they used to.

[@SylphidUndine]

played castlevania 64 as a kid. played it again as an adult. never understood why anyone didn't enjoy it.

[@MattyStoked]

Exactly! It's a good game!

[@b.lloydreese2030]

Magic nitro

[@raiusdaltar1483]

People who played it enjoyed it. People who hate it, didn't play it.

[@TheElephantRoom1]

@@raiusdaltar1483 I played it, and hated it. Hate might be a strong word....I'm pretty sure I just rented it for a weekend and strongly disliked it. 🙂 SOTN was just...light years beyond this game and still is.

[@raiusdaltar1483]

@@TheElephantRoom1 Yeah, I was being a bit silly. SotN is a masterpiece for sure, but as a kid I thought the n64 games were very cool and still consider them decent. Some people skip games due to bad reputations and then absorb other people's opinions (Dark Souls 2!!!), was kinda just poking fun at that trend.

[@suazaa8719]

These games actually aged quite well. I can go back and play these all the way through and have a great time doing it, unlike a lot of other n64 games. The camera isn't even that bad either like people make it out to be. It seems to always be where it needs to be for each platforming area. I remember speedrunning through the sewers with Carrie, and the camera followed you almost perfectly around corners and thin/tightrope bridges you ran over. Play this, then pop in Super Mario 64 afterwards and tell me which camera follows you better for platforming.

[@MattyStoked]

The camera is really good! You don't have as much control over it. That's all. It does a lot more thinking on your behalf but exactly like you said, it's surprisingly intuitive and I never really found myself getting stuck because of the camera.

[@dr.feelgoodmalusphillips2475]

I really dislike Angry Video Game Nerd and JonTron for basically burying this game and it's Sequel/Prequel into the ground and their legion of fans adopting said hate too. I actually started Castlevania on 3D on Legacy of Darkness no less and was shocked that Castlevania was mostly 2D and that folks hated this game. I'm glad that it's getting appreciated and respected now.

[@MattyStoked]

It's entirely unfair. I understand the characters have their schtick. But the impact their negativity has had on a lot of games is really unfair. This is absolutely one of them! Check out my most recent upload for the longer, more in-depth review of CV64 :)

[@dr.feelgoodmalusphillips2475]

@@MattyStoked Will do! Cheers for this video as well mate!

[@marianokaz1503]

The worst part about AVGN playing Castlevania 64 is that he didn't even check Legacy of Darkness and played Castlevania 64 on Easy Mode, meaning that the game didn't let him get past the Nitro/Mandragora bombs part because Easy Mode is for babies and he just gave up at it. I stopped watching the AVGN a long time ago and realized how much of a hack and a fraud James Rolfe really is.

[@dr.feelgoodmalusphillips2475]

@@marianokaz1503 I think he has a very specific type of a opinion and is very certain on his thoughts which is why so many people like him but speaking your mind isn't the same as having a relevant or interesting opinion on something and on this, it was terrible. Never been too much a fan myself when I first found him 10 years ago and still not now.

[@RockoEstalon]

@@marianokaz1503 Yeah unfortunately James has shown his "true colors" a while ago. It should be noted also that he flat out lied in this Castlevania retrospective as he never actually buyed an N64 when he was younger. Before meeting Mike Matei and starting the AVGN his last console had been the SNES.

[@Yvellic]

Feels like yesterday that I would be falling off platforms, getting frightened by Cerberus and listening to the unique music within the game. Sure do miss those days without a smartphone 😢

[@MattyStoked]

Well worth firing up again! I've been going back through Legacy of Darkness for Halloween. The atmosphere and music is really awesome and it's a fun space to poke around in.

[@bladyalex85]

X2 amigo.

[@Yvellic]

@@bladyalex85 Those were the days 😆

[@richarddavis7530]

I have such fond memories of this game. I 100% both characters had save files for each right before the final boss. If I wanted to fight the bonus bosses all I had to do was spend all my money, use all my sun/moon cards for the another now and a less than perfect ending. I still have PTSD from the maze level and the camera, but love this game.

[@luminasdiary]

I'm making graphics for a low poly 3d game, and I thought this would be good inspiration to draw from. Got to the castle center so far, and I gotta say, this game is beautiful. The character models are full of style, the environments are at that abstract level of detail where your imagination starts to fill in the blanks. The slow paced gameplay goes well with the graphics too. Great game and review. Thanks for giving this game exposure.

[@MattyStoked]

Thank you so much. The low poly work in this is peak 90s. Really clever use of the hardware's limited capabilities. Using an alpha map on the skeleton ribcages is INSPIRED.

[@Paz-EXP]

Whats the name of your game? I would like to play it when it comes out

[@luminasdiary]

@@Paz-EXP That's very kind of you to say that. Unfortunately my job is killing my time atm and it's just me working on this side project. You know how life is haha. Most of the coding is a completed, I'm just completely switching the graphics to low poly style. Because modern just wasn't appealing. I'm determined to finish though, I'll promise to respond back when something substantial is completed.

[@luminasdiary]

@@Paz-EXP Hey dude. I'm not sure if you're still curious but I just recorded a small gameplay video on my channel. Still got lots more to do but it's a start... I hope @The Game Show doesn't mind me shilling my projects here :P

[@Rad-Dude63andathird]

Reinhardt is the best Belmont and I won't let anyone deny his canon-ness, especially given folks denying his Belmont status is already part of his history. That man is a goddamn sweetheart and his gift to Rosa honestly made me tear up when I saw it. "God forgives us all Rosa... But you I can never forgive!"

[@MattyStoked]

Reinhardt for life

[@Boomblox5896]

I really loved that storyline between Reinhardt and Rosa. It was so touching. It's too bad that people never took the time to appreciate it, and only judged it based on modern standards.

[@Rad-Dude63andathird]

@@Boomblox5896 Seriously! Was just thinking about that lol (it's how I saw your reply, came back to this video), for an N64 game with so much else going on (a day/night cycle that impacted multiple facets of the game, a merchant/optional boss, status ailments, etc.), it was a beautiful little love story.

[@Boomblox5896]

@@Rad-Dude63andathird I accidentally had to fight both optional bosses when I was new to the game and got to the Keep, but I couldn't kill the boss after that, so I never found out that I got the bad ending... not until much later. So I think I'll try to finish the game on emulator some time.

[@DiegoReviews]

I’m so stoked to see this series continue! These Castlevania games are kind of a blind spot for me cause I never owned an N64, but man do they look cool. I know emulators show graphics at their sharpest but even then, this games graphics hold up so well. I love the synergy between our videos with skeletons on motorcycles LOL!

[@MattyStoked]

Sometimes emulation can show the flaws, the CRT covers a multitude of sins! But these games look great to me. Thanks man, I'm glad you liked this and yeah, I love that we're both covering boney biker bois 🤣

[@redcrimson1028]

The skeletons in bones was a terrible idea. What year were u born in?

[@Tom-V]

All you have to do in these games is switch to the action view (I think it was the default view on legacy of darkness) and the camera was fine. Only thing I didn't like was having to rely on the N64 memory cards for saving

[@Colonelguuber]

The Aesthetic of these 64 and early 2000’s games are unrivalled imo. Your imagination had a part in adding to the experience

[@JordansFilms1]

i love me some positive takes on media people usually dismiss, and goddamn if i don't really wanna play these games now

[@MattyStoked]

Thank you :-) It's nice to have a slightly controversial opinion in the positive, I think. These games get a hard rap. Some high profile negative reviews have cast a long shadow over these games and I think unfairly so. Go get 'em! I'd love to hear what you think :)

[@skull_scrimmage3953]

This game was an instrumental part of my childhood, I remember playing it as a toddler and on. The atmosphere was very spooky to a young kid, and even now it's still a little unsettling. Disappointed about the last half of the game being so linear and about the... subpar controls in some areas, but I think overall this game isn't necessarily bad, just could've used more time to complete properly.

[@joshuachittun9109]

As a child I could not even play through the first level, the atmosphere, in my child's mind, the theme dark, no different than Shadows of Empire, Resident Evil and so on... Passing each stage and overcoming the fear was an experience in itself....

[@videogamefanpty]

I love castlevania 64 the ambience is superb I have and always had 0 problem with controls maybe because I played it to death and. Mastered it, it felt muuuch more like a castlevania game than lords of shadow. Seriously I dont remember having issue with the controls even if you died there was always a save crystal nearby. Anyway Love castlevania 64. Is a friking gem. And the soundtrack is amazing.

[@ThatDangDaddy]

I remember playing these when I was young. I started with Bloodlines and became a hardcore fan of the series. These two were a nice breath of fresh air for the game. Great music, hard to beat on the harder difficulty, good story and great bosses. I’ll always love them and wish we’d get a remake combining both games.

[@venjorun]

I’m really happy to see this video. I’ve been interested in these games for a long time and always thought they looked 110% up my alley, but the negativity surrounding them had me a little reluctant to jump right into them. I can tell now that was foolish. Fantastic video, man! You’re very rapidly becoming one of my favorite channels!

[@MattyStoked]

Thank you so much for that lovely comment. That's amazing to read. I think AVGN made a great piece of entertainment when he covered this game all them many years ago, but I think that video did a lot of damage to this game's reputation. There are frustrating parts, don't get me wrong. But nothing any more egregious than any other game on the system. They really are good games. Lots of atmosphere and it shows Konami were really trying to use the medium as a serious way of telling a story. Let me know if you play either one :-)

[@seanmills7586]

it gets a lot of unfair hate

[@DGneoseeker1]

Actually, the motorcycles with sidecars and MG42s were in the original CV64 as well. They only show up once you play Hard mode. Personally I prefer the final boss from CV64 vs the one of LOD. If you play on hard mode it's basically launching one hit kill nuclear homing plasma balls everywhere, using one hit kill earthquake attacks, summoning dragons made of fire to hunt you down... The most chaotic fight in the game for sure.

[@j255173]

LOD has been on my top 10 N64 games of all times. They can be wonky but the art design, characters, story and especially the music, I mean the Science and Art Tower themes are just amazing!

[@hflynn927]

These games were wonderful. In my opinion far more enjoyable than all later 3D installments. Love the moody, Castlevania IV-esque atmosphere. It's a tragedy these didn't perform better and I hope one day they get the respect they deserve. Thanks for helping to spread the word.

[@jase87]

I remember playing castlevania 64 around 12….first time I experienced true horror and dread in games in the garden maze section

[@kerbal666]

God, I hated that chase bit with Frank and the dogs! True terror haha.

[@RamManNo1]

That maze section really gets the blood pumping lol!!

[@jamesshipley9164]

Right? Credit where credit's due, it's still the only Castlevania that feels like an actual horror game. Love the whole series but in most of them the horror imagery is mostly a paintjob over action. This was atmospheric platformer Resident Evil

[@peacockfilletsteak]

I LOVE Legacy of Darkness. Fantastic Castlevania game. The atmosphere and gameplay are exactly what I wanted in a 3D Castlevania. Cornell was super cool and you could play as Henry then unlock the previous game's characters and stories but with the new updates. Beautiful.

[@leglockcontrol]

I first played Legacy of Darkness and not C64, so I had the "complete" experience first hand. I hold good memories of it, and of course I don't hate it. For me was a good game, just rough around the edges.

[@MattyStoked]

I think that's an entirely fair review. Rough around the edges, but full of heart. Like all my favourite people

[@FrankieGHL]

Castlevania 64 was my second game for N64. Totally loved the game my favorite stage was Villa.

[@mr.e3123]

as a 6-7 year old playing this game. The Maze in the Villa traumatized me. to this day whenever i think back on things that terrify me its one of the first examples i go to its so surreal. this game in general has left such a big imprint on me in terms of its aesthetics art design and sound design wise and ive never really found a game quite like it.

[@MattyStoked]

This is EXACTLY what I love about making KZbin videos. These little stories that touch us and bring us together. Thanks for the story, mate. Pleased to hear it ☺️

[@SimulationGamer12]

Thank yoooou. I love this game and every one always laughs at me. The controls are a little weird on the N64 controller but on a emulator it’s perfect.

[@MattyStoked]

Agreed. Ironically, one of the biggest pitfalls of this game is the hardware its on. I suspect if this had been on PS1 it wouldn't have half the negative opinion it's been getting. Still, it's a great game and I love that we can share our opinion on that.

[@adammartinez6033]

It's really something that SCIV and Bloodlines came out around the same time, were so different and yet so good, and the same thing happened again with SotN and C64.

[@MattyStoked]

Don't forget the Game Boy games, too! Konami had entirely different teams running in parallel, which is why they're all so unique. Sometimes they would share ideas, but I like to think there was an element of playful competition between them.

[@tds2117]

@@MattyStoked The GB games get shit on a lot too. I’ll concede that Castlevania Adventure is easily the weakest of the 80s/90s games (though I still enjoy it quite a bit), but Belmont’s Revenge and Legends are fantastic.

[@MattyStoked]

@@tds2117 Belmont's Revenge is a certified banger! I've covered them too, check out the uploads list :-D

[@tds2117]

@@MattyStoked great! I’ll check them out soon. Side note: Legends ending up as the rare, hyper-priced Castlevania game is strange as fuck. I can’t figure out how that happened. I’d sell mine if not for the fact that my pre-IGA CV collection is pretty bangin and I don’t want to take away from it.

[@kvltizt]

Once you master the wonky camera quirks it is quite good. The atmosphere is grand.

[@MattyStoked]

Indeed! Thanks for joining in, my friend :)

[@c.b_palemoon]

It's really a shame that a game as excellent as Legacy of Darkness has been forgotten in the shadow of its predecessor that it had serious problems because of its very rushed development that didn't generate a good fame. The game shows that Castlevania 64 would really be an evolution of the game series if Konami's studio in Kobe team had more development time and it was a great video talking about it.

[@MattyStoked]

Castlevania 64 absolutely _was_ an evolution of the series. It's a really great game! It's interesting that so many other horror games started coming out to compete with it. I think that's really what worked against it so much.

[@santanagamers9220]

Esa Castlevania 64 me gustó muchísimo es un juego muy entretenido y re-jugable y su banda sonora es genial👍 Este juego necesita un remake

[@Gladgrampa]

I absolutely loved the N64 Castlevania games. I never EVER understood why they got shit on so much.

[@PikangsFutaba]

While at my place almost everyone hated the N64 Castlevania games, I ended up loving them a lot, flaw aside, I agree the games got great ideas, and recently I got my chance to get my "revengeance" on Reinhardt and Carrie's quest as I wasn't able to get their good endings (but despite that back in the day, the games got me the biggest joy of saying to my bros. "In your face!!!" as they got soft-locked in Castle Center because they went to the wrong way with the Magical Nitro to the Behemoth arena).

[@littlecr0w]

okay but that nitro part is bullshit lmfao

[@PikangsFutaba]

@@littlecr0w Can't deny that Nitro BS (that Legacy of Darkness also has... unless you play as Cornell or Henry without using Gameshark to enter unintended areas like Castle Center for them).

[@RunningUpStock]

I fell in love with this game the first time I played it, and I always go back to it and not the LOD version. This game was fun and challenging and frustrating, top notch!

[@TheKonamiMan]

As someone that has loved these games since 1999 I am so glad to see videos like this. This was also such a well put together video you got a subscribe from me.

[@MattyStoked]

Thank you so much! Thanks for the sub, it means a lot. You will be rewarded as the next video is a much longer one just about Castlevania 64 ☺️

[@mrringtalesworkshop]

I was obsessed with the first one as a kid and it really influenced me artificially. When i found out about legacy of darkness i was even more obsessed as a teen. When i found out people hated these games i was GENUINELY shocked. I'm so happy to see a bit of a resurgence

[@proff321]

One of the best N64 Castlevania reviews i have ever seen, that was heartwarming, enjoyable, calming and awesome. You deserve all the praise, love, happiness and then some. 💐🎂🥳🍾🤝🇪🇪

[@MattyStoked]

Thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed your stay. Same back at you xxx

[@thewal1ofsleep]

I never knew these games were this hated until a few years ago, and I'm guessing a lot of the hate was spread online by people who were just repeating the opinions of a few others and never played the games themselves. I never owned CV64 (N64 games were stupid expensive), but I spent a weekend playing it with my cousin and thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure, it has its fair share of jank by today's standards, but so did a lot of early 3D third person games.

[@MattyStoked]

Exactly this! It *is* a bit janky. But is it significantly jankier than *any* 3D game from the late 90s? No!

[@ArcadeStunfisk]

This video deserves way more than 20k views. Production quality is really good, review is clean and well thought out and you come across as very professional whilst also being genuine and down to earth. Really enjoyed this! Also I love Castlevania LOD so I’m biased 😊

[@MattyStoked]

Thank you so much. Feel free to share the video, it's the only way it will get more views! Facebook, Twitter, text it to your mates. It all helps!

[@Paz-EXP]

This retrospective is really good. After seeing this I want to try those 2 games. I hope we get a remake of these 2 and keep its atmosphere and aesthetic, but better.

[@MattyStoked]

Thank you! I'm glad you're interested in these two old games now ☺️ I'd love to see a remake with modern controls!

[@Snyperwolf91]

Its 2022 and nowadays remakes are a bad choice nowadays because they change too much that it loses everything that was good in the original games. I prefer a collection of all 3d castlevanias with legacy of darkness included .

[@jamesshipley9164]

I'm hoping for PC port decompilations with the same kind of enhancements you can find with the Mario and Zelda PC ports. That'd just be perfection

[@DNYLNY]

Best Castlevania ever made. I remember begging my mom for it bc it needed a memory card and she didn't wanna buy one but I got it for Christmas and had a blast.

[@dommoore6180]

Really glad to see this video. The whole narrative that 3D castlevania doesn’t work is just ridiculous and has only ever been one of those pretentious ‘doesnt this sound clever’ things that every fandom has. It’s a lot like how the IGA era fans sort pretend that his canon was always canon as opposed to the truth in that he retconned the hell out of the series (Scv4 was not intended as a remake, rondo and Sotn were designed to be non canon spin offs as was bloodlines and the n64 games were actually the relaunch of the main series that had died with scv4). It even got the point that people were calling the blonde x68k Simon (who looks just like Christopher belmont but nothing like Simon) ‘classic Simon’ despite the Cv1/2 Simon having the shorter red hair in all of the official artwork it sourced out to separate artists. Or how LoS is a blatant remake of Cv1/2/4 featuring elements and plot lines from each of them and Gabriel and Marie being obvious Simon and Selena stand ins due to them making the games ‘stand-alone’. All this stuff should be obvious to a fan but the narrative is so muddled because a core group of the fandom who loved the gba/ds games have essentially written the franchise into a corner whilst buying into inaccuracies spread by IGA at the time. The idea that the n64 games were non canon spin offs that weren’t good is a totally inaccurate idea yet the most popular one as a result of all this.

[@MattyStoked]

Fantastic insight here. Castlevania works just as well in 3D. I can clearly see a genetic line between this game and modern horror-themed action games like Darksiders, Dark Souls or God of War. You could take everything in this game, give it a tidy up and it could hold its own against anything on the platform (or since)!

[@renereyes2648]

I put the whole blame on IGA and his toxic fanbase. He totally shat on these and Castlevania legends. But brought Cornell back for Judgement🤷🏽‍♂️. Konami is also to blame as they should have done more advertisement for LoD not just the one magazine ad that only poped up in EGM and Gamepro, I don’t even remember Nintendo power putting an add up. Konami definitely learned a lot from these titles as the Mystical Ninja staring Goemon was fantastic. Love this video and love the insight man good to see a Castlevania fan who actually know what they are talking about.

[@tds2117]

Your opinion mirrors mine and probably most fans from the pre-IGA era. Fuck that guy. He ruined the series.

[@AlphaZeroX96]

Wait what?

[@c.b_palemoon]

Super Castlevania IV since its conception was conceived as a retelling or new perspective of the events told in the first Castlevania of the NES on a new console with increased qualities, and neither is considered canon within the official timeline that considers only the original NES game as the pure version of the Simon Belmont's story and Castlevania Chronicles (a re-release of Akumajō Dracula X68000) as a legitimate remake of the first NES Castlevania as described in the interview coming as a bonus on the CD. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood from the beginning was a main title that was continuing the story told in Simon's Quest with Richter Belmont being responsible for facing Dracula 100 after Simon, and his Japanese title of Akumajō Dracula X: Chi no Rondo was made due to being the 10th release of the game series (10 in Roman numerals is X) and the Japanese titles did not respect sequential as in western titles (only Simon's Quest numbered Dracula II: Noroi no Fūin); while Symphony of the Night was actually made a spin-off following the Rondo of Blood while preparing a main title that was not the Nintendo 64 games but rather a project that was cancelled dubbed "Castlevania: The Bloodletting" that would come out to PlayStation for being the best media option of the time. The Nintendo 64 games as well as the Circle of the Moon released for the GameBoy Advance were designed as spin-offs in Konami's studio in Kobe that would not conflict with the major projects developed in the Konami's studio in Tokyo, and this was said by director Yuji Shibata himself. The idea of Nintendo 64 games not being canons because they're not good doesn't really make sense, because The Adventure released for GameBoy is also poorly received and remained in the canon causing a confusion of which game would pass 100 years before Simon Belmont, The Adventure or Dracula's Curse because they both count that it's 100 years before Simon, and only after organizing the timeline was granted the idea that Dracula's Curse takes place in 1476, The Adventure in 1576, Belmont's Revenge in 1591 and the first NES Castlevania in 1691.

[@jamesshipley9164]

Played the hell out of Castlevania 64 when it came out and didn't get a chance to play SotN until much later even after trying Circle of the Moon. Much as I love the Metroidvanias and hold them in higher regard, this game was a blast and brings a totally different aesthetic and mythos and the soundtrack is pure excellence. I do wish we could get a remastered version of this game, it's begging for a rebalanced 60fps release or even some cleaned up romhacks (or a decompiled port!!!) but it's still really fun to play to this day with emulation tools easing some of the worst frustrations. Legacy of Darkness was super cool too and smooths some of C64's rougher edges while adding content, but I didn't play that version either until several years after the original and missed some of the stuff that wasn't included. And personal experience take, but I loved playing C64 with Gameshark codes for an L-button moonjump and playing as Carrie with a controllable levitation flight firing homing blasts from above like a damn DBZ character makes this game impossible to hate on. Try it out with moonjump if you haven't, it eases any platforming annoyances and makes the game so fuckin cool on a replay.

[@BlastProcessing]

Brilliant video mate. It's easy to get hung up on the weaknesses of these N64 games, but there are some really fun ideas in them and I agree that they play better than their reputation would lead you to believe. A spiritual sequel with some of the same concepts but a more refined 3D engine could be a really good time!

[@MattyStoked]

I completely agree with this. The PS2 Castlevania games and arguably games like God of War, Prince of Persia etc have a small debt to pay to these games. Kicking open those doors for the first time.

[@agadez4015]

Really goes to show how important marketing is. And how sales are not an indicator of quality.

[@-roejogan-]

ive been singing legacy of darkness' praises for years! no one believed me, bastards probably never even tried.

[@MattyStoked]

I'm here for you. There's no reason that these games should be so widely derided. They're great!

[@-roejogan-]

@@MattyStoked I'm just glad people are finally coming round to them!

[@14kevinnivek41]

These two games were so amazing. It just became popular to hate on them because they weren’t the best thing to ever exist when Castlevania went 3D. Great review. 👍

[@dudes.5351]

Excellent and well informing video :) also greatly appreciate the unbiased review and your experience of the game. Good to see not everyone is a sheep, afraid to say what they feel. great job!

[@MattyStoked]

Glad you enjoyed it! I would say I am biased towards being positive, but I'm glad to be seen TBH :-D

[@D__D-cg3zb]

I just finished Cornell story and I'll say it has the best 3d platforming controls i ever played. This 90's game reminded me something that Ubisoft did only in 2005 with Prince of Persia (Two Thrones) and guess what, it feels better in C64. The only horribly bad thing in this game is final boss. Attacks just goes through Dracula and you have to deal with his fd up frames plus ultimate Dracula (just try it on "normal" without save states for the first time)

[@JuanDiaz-jo1rw]

I think if Nightdive Studio would have a chance to remaster this game. I would be leaps and bounds. They would be not only able to to add missing content/deleted content, but also improve on everything else.

[@neoconnor4395]

I always enjoyed the Castlevania 64 games despite the hate. I didn't quite understand.

[@nickhebert8829]

Castlevania 64 was soooo fun and it was pretty difficult too

[@MattyStoked]

It's definitely difficult!

[@kawamikazecheant]

Great video, atmosphere looks on point and I was thinking about trying them since a long time... But still not sure about if I could handle the gameplay lol

[@chesspuppeteer]

This game is the reason that I got my scholarships. The opening scene. The beauty to its sound had me fascinated with the string family even as a small child. I wanted to reproduce the music of this game so I opted to learn to play it. This was back when your internet connection was still tied to your phone line so music piracy wasn't easy do let alone even have anything to play it on unless you recorded it off your speakers with your walkman.

[@MattyStoked]

This comment absolutely wins because of the era-specific piracy. Well done you!

[@wackyswacky1374]

I have not seen the video yet, but just know that I have already subscribed due to the title alone. Finally, a KZbinr with a good take.

[@MattyStoked]

Now THAT is the kind of comment I like. Thanks bud! :-D

[@IANGEL101I]

Nice to see someone who appreciates the 3D Castlevania games.

[@RedSpade37]

Thank you for this video! Long story short, this game was a mainstay in my friend group growing up. We were speedrunning it before we even knew what speedrunning was! A memorable experience was when my friend's younger brother played this for the first time; he had a spooky blast! Such good memories!

[@MattyStoked]

That's so great to hear. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! I've really enjoyed hearing people's personal stories with this game. I'm so glad to have made this video :-)

[@nicksterwixter]

I never understood the hate for these games either. I remember playing through most of the first one with my cousin and most of the second one in college, and they're fun 3D platformers of the era

[@Avenging_Archer]

I love this game. I have played most Castlevania games, except for the PS2 ones which I haven't been able to get and the Lords of Shadow ones and Castlevanai 64 and Legacy of Darkness are likely the ones I've played the most, I'll beat the game twice in one sitting. Reinhardt is my favorite Belmont ever (and yes, he is a Belmont, listen, when Death itself calls you Belmont that's because you are). Unlike most Belmont's before him he actually had a story, experienced emotions and loss and goes through character development. The whole idea that they were bad came from one idiot KZbinr who purposely played wrong and overblew the Nitro bit. I consider pretty much every other Castlevania to be harder than this one tbh.

[@MattyStoked]

I think Death calls Reinhard "Belmont" is because during development he was originally called Schneider Belmont. Most likely they forgot to fix it 😂 I love this game too, but the PS2 games (specifically Lament of Innocence) live in my head. I paid a lot of money for physical copies of Lament and Curse of Darkness, but I really have no qualms with emulating them. I would highly recommend them. And yeah, there are a couple of big heavyweight KZbinrs who certainly dented this game's rep a long time ago and it doesn't seem to be able to recover. The nitro bit is hard, but it's really unique and it definitely stays with you! But all told, it takes less than an hour to do that whole section so I don't see the issue.

[@patrickhenry1030]

I tried playing it a few months ago and thought it sucked, but gave it a second chance here recently and I am now enjoying it. I think it just took me some time to get used to the controls.

[@MattyStoked]

I find that going back to old games often takes some time to readjust. You have to take off your preconceptions and go in with a completely open mind. You can really find some great old gems that way!

[@SUB1KOIRA]

Finally someone who gets it!

[@FearsomeWarrior]

Crazy imagining any Metroid prototypes. Even if they were ultra basic from devs just fooling around.

[@Eleven17Studios]

Shocked to hear the N64 controller isn't great for platforming in this. SHOCKED. well, not really that shocked. Great video as always

[@SilverSurfPunk]

Evan stop bullying the N64 controller. It was a good controller that pushed the boundaries. And you could duel wield them.

[@MattyStoked]

Thanks mate! Yeah the thing about the N64 controller was that it was already kind of problematic when it was new, but they rarely age well. So playing on original hardware now is a lot harder than it needs to be.

[@tds2117]

Man, I can’t imagine playing them on anything other than that dumb controller.

[@deckofcards87]

While I think that 95% of N64 games control like garbage, have slow framrates and are frustrating, I agree with you that Legacy of Darkness and C64 still look pretty good here. I just remember them both being underwhelming in the variety of gameplay, even back then.

[@MattyStoked]

I'm not sure about a lack a variety. Platforming, puzzling, combat. Big bosses, rails sections, branching stories. There's secrets, boss rushes, new game + modes and hidden characters. It's pretty stacked!

[@LuisDiaz-dt1uh]

I've played all of the Castlevania games countless times and Legacy of Darkness is probably my fave, its so much fun, always beat it at least twice whenever i put the cart on the N64 lol

[@MattyStoked]

Yeah, it's absolutely a top five pic. Really fun game. If it was rebuilt now in a slightly more sophisticated engine it would easily be a hit. Great game.

[@tds2117]

It’s surely in my top 3. Definitely the most enjoyable.

[@ZacharyMoonshine]

This game was perfect when it came out and had a cool storyline and had elements from bram stokers dracula for sure. They totally need to remake this particular game!

[@PlayfulFruitLPer]

Everyone hated on it because they didn’t have enough sense to keep the camera on action. That and the fact that reviewers played it on easy mode and got locked out of the end half of the game. It’s very sad, because this game is an absolute hidden gem as far as the N64 goes and one of the best horror games on the platform. It has such an amazing atmosphere that is pretty unrivaled, the music absolutely kills it, easily As good as Mario 64 and Zelda. I feel like it more people went into the game with no expectations and an open mind, they’d really love it.

[@leglockcontrol]

I played legacy of darkness in 2006 I think, and even when I already played stellar games, I really liked it even ignoring it was sequel of the 1st born 3D game of this dev team. I know the game has issues but I rate it quite good and not only for nostalgia. I played C64 afterwards and it was a totally different experience. LoD had lot of qol improvements over the original which made going back hard.

[@hairy_cornflake]

I never really understood the hate for the N64 Castlevanias, they might not be perfect but they're far from the worst of the series and they oozes atmosphere.

[@MattyStoked]

Exactly this! 👌

[@videogamefanpty]

I played so much of this game since I was a teenager that I absolutly have no problem with the controls. And I love this game so much. I think konami got the atmosphere and feeling just right Im a fan of Dracula and vampires so I love C64 atmosphere so much even to date... still symphony of the night Draculas curse Super C4 and aria of sorrow are my top favorites. C64 have a special place on my heart thou.

[@k-dogg9086]

I had 7 Zelda on my wii and I was a happy: Legend of Zelda I, Adventure of Link II, Link to the Past III, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword. Sadly what it didn't have was Link's Awakening, Wind Maker, and Link between Worlds. If it did I'd a been more happy. All 10 titles are the best and only good Legend of Zelda. In looking for a portable that's good quality, immersive screen, good power, long battery, and with all these titles. An elusive search indeed. I also had Castlevania I, Simons's Quest II, Dracula's Curse III, Akumajo Dracula (SC4), Legacy of Darkness, and Rondo of Blood. Would a love it if they had Symphony of the Night but it did not. 🤔 This was some years ago on the wii before they shot down the virtual console. Sadly my wii was stolen from my apt I lived in at the time.. never got a system since.

[@mariowario5945]

The whole problem with people having trouble with jumps and saying it's bad game design sounds more like a skill issue to me

[@ratix98]

Really loved c64 and c64 part 2 electric Boogaloo. In fact I still do. Nothing beats getting mad at the magical nitro part. I prefer the first game over legacy of darkness when i play Carrie or Reinhart. All the voice acting for their scenarios feel more limited in legacy. Gone are the opening narrations for both of those characters. The meeting on top of the tower after the boss fight is silent while the musical cues remain. The music has always been great and the addition of old sinking sanctuary for parts of Cornell's segments is one of the best renditions of the tune.

[@dandude5196]

This is the best review I have seen. Castlevania 64 has to be one of my favorite Nintendo 64 games of all time. I still own it and will never sell it. I liked everything better especially the boss fight better in Castlevania 64. I felt with it being a 3 tier was better than just a 2 tier. The dragon in the end getting sucked into the earth and the shreak of that thing dying will forever be ingrained in my memory. Amazing review!

[@MattyStoked]

Yea that final form is really awesome. I will have more on that when I upload my much longer video about Castlevania 64! :-)

[@dandude5196]

@@MattyStoked Terrific! Having to fight Rosa was so dark too. And Death’s fight with what he says at the end was dark too. “I’ll keep a warm place for you” wow 😯! Plus Malice on that horse showing that he was Dracula’s true form. Wow. I think Reinheart was the better of the two than Carrie’s ending and he is obviously the most rewarding character to play as with it being much harder to use the whip than a homing missile with Carrie. I have seen all 4 endings and I feel the endings ranked as follows. 1. Reinheart (No Moon or Sun Cards used/the least amount used before the ending changes) 2. TIE: Reinheart (used a ton of moon/sun cards) 2. TIE: Carrie (used a ton of moon/sun cards) 3. Carrie (No Moon or Sun Cards used/least amount before the ending changes) also loved how if you spent too much money you faced Renon who’s music and character are memorable AF! Plus loved the creepiness of the music and level that you go to the house to see Rosa for the first time and meet Renon for the first time (the inside of that house and music was creepy!) Castlevania 64 has the be my personal favorite of all the Castlevania games and I have beaten it close to 20 times if not more. I loved the GAME OVER sequence also with that piano and thunder crackling across that violin. 🎻 So much detail is overlooked by true fans. It was the only game of all of them that made me feel like I was actually climbing and going to Dracula’s castle. It was the most dark and atmospheric of all the Castlevania games I have to date. I am not a far of the God of War style that it has become now, but am glad to have picked up this gem on a vacation to Ohio for $39.99 brand new at Target. That is how memorable this game is for me. I have also played Alice: Madness Returns on Xbox which to me comes the closest to the atmospheric realm of this game but does not surpass the incredible story of Castlevania 64. But it does have the believability of going down the Alice in Wonderland Rabbit hole. Thanks for uploading this and look forward to another Castlevania 64 video!

[@jw4096]

This game is an all time classic, I spent many hours playing the original Castlevania 64 back in '99!

[@callmehercules]

As a kid, like 9 years old, this game was super scary

[@TommyDaGreatest]

These games had a few gripes. I only played the first one but the things I hated was, bad controls, no saving without a memory card (most N64 games had saves on the cartridge) and the unability to restart a game. If you had a bad run you needed to restart on a completely new save file or erase the old one, losing all previous progress from other characters.

[@kodiekulp]

So. Used to live in this huge warehouse. 8 to 10 people. Huge artist/loft/warehouse space with common areas. This was right after 96 the Atlanta Olympics . And before 9/11 The downtown support from the city in the more "darker" areas disappeared for like 10 years stopping gentrification in certain areas. We got this space for a steal. Anyways, we had a common living room with a 64. Had Castlevania 64 and pod racers. Saw literal fist fights over pod racer games lol. But I.loved that Castlevania game. Someone erased my save when... It's hard to remember but it was like a king's garden area. I feel like there was a maze too. Anyways. Lovely game. With I could play it again on any of my systems PS5 or Xbox one. I got the.... It's like a Castlevania package from the PlayStation plus . But it had games I hadn't even heard of lol. Didn't even have the original NES versions lol. Also. I love the part when you say " there's elements from previous games here. And weapons . And..... ". Then while saying this you see a flying/floating fish coming out of some portal lol(unless that's from a previous game, then I was unaware). And we used to make a joke all the time.... "Man this place sucks. It would really suck if there were skeletons riding around on motorcycles. Or man this place is cooler. It would be even cooler if they had skeletons riding around on motorcycles. Wow. Haven't thought about that little one liner we used to all say for a long time now. Thanks for the memories, sir!

[@MattyStoked]

That's a great story, thanks for sharing!

[@fishes002]

This game was my childhood and OMG i was obsessed! Carrie Fernandez was my fav character and Actrise the witch was my fav boss of all time and she inspired my love for witches and her aesthetic 💙 i wish they would remake this game. Elden ring being the blueprint for what a game should be like map and story wise, castlevania would be a huge success.

[@MattyStoked]

Castlevania has always been relevant! It wears its influences on its sleeve, in a way far more obvious than Elden Ring. But a big 3D castle and the surrounding forest, with big spooky vibes and a strong focus on melee combat is honestly just the perfect idea for a computer game.

[@dariangoodness3037]

I recently finished beating castlevania 64 as I’ve never beaten it due to not having a save pack but honestly the game was really fun to beat as both characters and the controls were never a problem and playing on an og n64 controller felt super good and the only problem I had with the controls was letting go of ledges resulting in death but eventually realized it was my fault cause I’d let go of the button so I think for most people it was them not understanding the controls cause after learning my mistake it made the game a lot smoother, and camera angle wise was never a problem atleast for other than the 1st stage of the Dracula fight but I also recently went to play castlevania 1,2,3 and Although I have a lot of respect for these games I honestly think I prefer castlevania 64 a lot more, the atmosphere, level design, story, sound track was amazing and even love how they included a lot of designs from the original games, like whip upgrade, sub weapons, platforming etc castlevania at its core was to go through a castle and defeat Dracula and this does just that but still pays respect to the original games while still trying to be its own game, if you’ve never played the game in it’s entirety I highly recommend but I also know it’s not for everyone

[@MattyStoked]

Thanks for that high effort comment! I'm glad to meet another fan. In fact you're a bigger fan than I am, so well done you!

[@Tankallex]

I remember Castlevania and Legacy of Darkness for the N64. I play LoD and my brother played Castlevania…. Great memories watching each other play.

[@sleepysheep_4046]

Thank you. Castlevania 64 was my first Castlevania game and I absolutely loved it, but I was always sad to see it get so much hate. I’m working my way through the other Castlevania games too, and if anything, I’m a little sad that the other games aren’t as atmospheric as the N64 games were.

[@ktechnology9146]

I can't wait for these games to be recompiled for awindows/Linux and improved upon by the modding community in ways that simply aren't possible with emulation.

[@rc59191]

What i found really cool about this game was how Carries bad ending was actually her canon ending so she ended up becoming Draculas wife later on which would of been really cool to see in later games.

[@MattyStoked]

Hell yeah, give me a game where I play as badass goth gf Carrie

[@harlannguyen4048]

Citation?

[@rc59191]

@@harlannguyen4048 i keep trying to post but the comment keeps getting deleted.

[@harlannguyen4048]

@@rc59191 Keep trying

[@rc59191]

@@harlannguyen4048 i been KZbin doesn't let me post links anymore

[@shreddybrek]

I loved it as a kid. I just remember thinking wtf when i got the bad ending and missed loads of the game and had to start again

[@MattyStoked]

Just an excuse to play the game again!

[@elvisacosta3366]

My first Castlevania game was on the N64 this game is nothing but nostalgia and great platforming in my opinion. Legacy of Darkness is the Definitive version

[@90sGasPrices]

Castlevania 64 is a magnificent game with some understandably frustrating technical problems.

[@marianokaz1503]

When I watched the Angry Videogame Nerd barely play this for his Castlevania retrospective I always thought that Castlevania 64 was a bad game until I found out he was playing it on Easy Mode and in that mode you can't progress in the Nitro and Mandragora part, he didn't even play Legacy of Darkness either, what a schlock!

[@MattyStoked]

I have always had a huge love and respect for him. But his coverage has done a lot of damage to the public perception of this game. Just doing my bit to try and re-address the balance.

[@Djwunmoshen]

The one major issue with N64 Mario 64 esque games was controllers vs camera angles…. The camera angles and controlling sux. Matter of fact. All the new 3D games was having these issues. I remember touching through Tomb Raider 1 on PS1 with camera angles.

[@soraxstacy1477]

The opening violin song is just *Chef's kiss

[@MattyStoked]

Hell yeah, mate!

[@nattyrebel29]

This game will always be remembered as having the boss level music that inspired a riff I wrote on guitar for a grindcore death metal band i was in back in high school

[@MattyStoked]

Haha that's incredible

[@nate5490]

I thank you so much for defending this game. I had so much fun while playing this as a kid. The garden part with Frankenstein and the stone dogs chases you was just heart pounding the first time i did it.

[@MattyStoked]

I didn't understand why I couldn't move. Once it clicked that dogs paralyse you, that segment had such a great horror synergy. It's pretty damn terrifying!

[@jasonsmarr3621]

I played them both fairly new abs enjoyed them completely. I remember being confused by Castle64 at first and thought "this isn't what I wanted" but it quickly became a fun experience.

[@devilblackdeath]

They're really fine games of their times. I still much prefer the PS2 era (and would actually rank Curse a banger alongside Lament) but they're really fun nonetheless. Speaking of the ranking I'll definitely watch the DS games videos as I want more insight on that Order of Ecclesia ranking. It was one of my favorite 2D Castlevania and my favorite DS one by far so I expected it just below Banger truthfully! The versatility of the gameplay letting you make your way through skill or leveling was amazing. And the combat actually made me feel the same way you described LoI's orb system. It created an interesting and innovative combat experience!

[@MattyStoked]

Thanks for the high effort comments across these videos, mate. They will all be covered in time! GBA is up next, then I'll drop back to the PS1. DS will be before I cover the two PS2 games together. The DS games are all straight bangers if I'm honest, it will be hard to choose between them.

[@ThunderGenesis]

If Legacy of Darkness had released first (as was obviously intended) it might have been considered one of the N64 greats. The manner in which these games released is what killed them in the end. Shame; they’re fantastic! And that theme you played from the Art Tower level is one of the best in the series.

[@MattyStoked]

The music is a really interesting point. Going from those hi-energy synth tunes to this atmospheric ambience was a turning point for the series. And I'm all for it.

[@JohnnyOTGS]

I agree wholeheartedly with this video, the Nintendo 64 versions of Castlevania (including Legacy of Darkness) is just as good if not better than Symphony of the Night, but because SON got so much media hype (and eventually Internet memes) that Konami wanted every subsequent Castlevania game to be exactly the same, and that's where we coin the term "MetroidVania" since all of the Castlevania games since SON drove inspiration from the Metroid games, and even have RPG elements in there as well. But these games can't be overlooked and just passed off as bad because the 3D graphics weren't as good as they were on, say, Ocarina of Time. Castlevania for the Nintendo 64 still provided the jumping and the whiping action that most Castlevania fans grew to love with an added spice (hence Carrie and Cornell).

[@StingrayJay302]

Legacy of Darkness might be my favorite Castlevania game. If not my favorite, then at least the most played.

[@renegaderaven3777]

I’ve been playing it fir the first time lately. It’s rough in places but honestly pretty decent. Plays a bit like a survival horror game with semi limited healing resources but has the rough frame work for 3D action games like early DMC or GoW. Avgn and other performance video game reviewers really didn’t do it justice, it’s decent and deserves a chance. The music is pretty great too.