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[Editor's note: Educate Yourself is kind of like a book of the month club. Each month, Cowzilla3 picks a title and tries to get the community together to play and write about the game. -- CTZ]
 
Welcome one and all to the third and hopefully most prolific month of Educate Yourself: The Classic Game of the Month Club. Perhaps this is your first time with us. If so, might I suggest finding out more about the club here.
 
Now that you know all about it and you’re desperate to join let’s all jump right on in. We had a great time last month playing Splatterhouse and learned a lot about our bloody gaming heritage and whether or not wearing a possessed hockey mask is a good way to go about rescuing your girlfriend from the clutches of evil. If you missed out on all the Failcast fun, FNF debauchery and general retro gaming that was last month’s Educate Yourself, fear not, for we are roaring back this month with another awesome game. Find out the details after the jump.


Castlevania? But that really is a classic! Everyone’s played that. Even my mom’s played that. Well, everyone except me. There I said it and I feel good about it. It’s like a secret that’s been weighing on my chest for years. Sometimes we miss great games, everyone does it and that is what Educate Yourself is all about, getting a chance to play the great games you’ve missed even if “everyone has already played it.” So I know I’m not the only one who hasn’t played this game and I know not everyone has played it all the way through so let’s get down to it and find out (or remember) why everyone loves this game.

Of course there are plenty of great reasons and excuses to pick up and play the original Castlevania not least of which is the fact that it was recently a subject on RetroForceGO! If you listened to any of that episode, you know that the Castlevania series is still hot, HOT, HOT! Ever wonder while you were playing through your fancy new DS versions of the game how the whole thing started? Plus with the Order of Eclasia coming to us soon, you won’t be able to discuss whether or not the gameplay has changed, regressed or stagnated over the years without educating yourself to the ways of the original. It’s actually a pretty interesting debate as to how such a long standing series morphs and changes as the games progresses and going all the way back to the beginning can’t hurt.

Finally Simon Belmont vs. Dracula is one of the greatest showdowns in gaming history and since the new games have moved away from the Belmont clan, this is now the only way for the great rivalry to survive. So pick up your whip, dust off your magic tome and start to ponder what the hell Frankenstein is doing in Dracula’s castle. And remember to stay tuned for the club’s FNF, which is currently scheduled for Friday the 13th (oooooohhh, sppppooookkkyyy) and the spot on Failcast.

Where to Get It
Wii VC – 500 points
eBay - $3-$7
Amazon - $7-$29
Gametap
Not here (Once HarassmentPanda returns from his exodus, hopefully soon.)

What to Write About
Castlevania is a series that has changed and yet not changed over the years (unless it went 3D). How has the gameplay changed, developed and evolved since this first incarnation.
Dracula. Man or myth? Man or drag queen?
Why don’t’ games use whips more often?
Are there games that you think do the Castlevania formula better than Castlevania now that you’ve played the original?
Really, why is Frankenstein there?
Who is truly the most bad ass monster in all the world, does Dracula really take the cake?
So, open ended or level by level? What is the true way a Castlevania game should be played?

Forums
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30 comments | showing # 1 to 30
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Aaron Mxy Yost's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 15:52
Aaron Mxy Yost
You copied the post from gmail, didn't you? I hate when it inserts spaces into my url tags.
Cowzilla3's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 15:58
Cowzilla3
Damn you're quick Mxy, all fixed.
Aerox's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 15:59
Aerox
Hooray! I'm actually going to do this one!
Passionate Styos's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 16:02
Passionate Styos
He..hehe..Looks like I have to dust of my old Castlevnaia cartridge, oh yeah, this is gonna be fun.
Wexx's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 16:05
Wexx
Jawsome
galagabug 's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 16:06
galagabug
i just started the 3d xbox castlevania, lets see how far i make it! (i'm guessing not very)
king3vbo's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 16:10
king3vbo
Woot, heres a game I really wanted to play, but never got around to it
ZombiePlatypus's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 16:25
ZombiePlatypus
There's absolutely no reason for me to have not played this, one of my brothers even owns the GBA remake, yet the oldest Castlevania I've gone through is Super Castlevania IV, (and that was only after it was ported to the VC). Before that it was Symphony of the Night... I guess I really should see if my bro can dig up that GBA version, I could dig into this on my SP during lunch breaks...
KMCC's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 16:43
KMCC
This game has some of the most kick-ass 8 bit music of all time.
guermogamer's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 17:12
guermogamer
I think this may have been the start of shitty sequels for a series.
And before anyone freaks on me, i had a HUGE internal debate with myself, and my gradeschool memories before i was able to utter such blasphemy...

but after watching angry nintendo nerd's piece on it...
nintendo power = 3rd party income super straw
BenHaskett's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 17:13
BenHaskett
This is a fucking fantastic idea.
guermogamer's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 17:14
guermogamer
sorry, i was of course referring to simon's quest...
Dynamic Sheep's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 17:16
Dynamic Sheep
I've played this game all the way through, and as much as I love the Castlevania series... I have to say f*ck Castlevania! The reason for this is Egor (sp?)... that little bastard makes the game no fun. I've beat Frankenstein once, and I'll never put myself through that again.
Merry Ho's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 17:23
Merry Ho
@guermogamer
DAMN those changes between night and day!

It been a long time since I first met Simon Belmont, I believe I was 8 or 9. Hopefully this time I can get past the first Boss.
DrNutt's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 17:27
DrNutt
I still think Castlevania III was the pinnacle of the series.
winojesus's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 17:54
winojesus
i remember being too poor to play this in the arcades on holiday.
revenge will be mine.
Patorama's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 18:12
Patorama
I always start this game up with the mindset that "This time I am finally going to finish this cherished relic from my childhood" and then every playthrough I miss time a jump, smack right into a flying Medusa, fall down a pit, lose a life, throw down the controller, and put in a game where you can change direction in mid-air. Someday Castlevania....someday!
MechaMonkey's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 18:15
MechaMonkey
Excellent. I'm in the same boat and never played it. I'm ready for some edutainment!
JamnOnTheOne's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 19:47
JamnOnTheOne
I remember buying this when it first came out.

...And then promptly throwing controllers and the cartridge thanks to the friggin Medusa Heads. They're even worse than the birds in Ninja Gaiden.
guermogamer's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 20:07
guermogamer
@Merry Ho:

What a terrible night for a GODDAMNIT! I was 3 steps from making it back into town!

What was worse was needing nintendo power to finish the game...
duck? where? really? clues? clues? bueller?
naia-the-gamer's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 20:43
naia-the-gamer
I actually JUST played this recently! Since I played it recently I don't really want to play it again, but it's fresh enough in my mind that I may chime in with my thoughts at the end of the month. I do have to say now though, that the game is much shorter than I remember it.
zomginterweb's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 22:34
zomginterweb
I bought castlevania on my cellphone back in the day just so I could play the music anywhere and feel awesome.
arikhan's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 22:44
arikhan
I love this game! Its hard as hell, I've never actually made it pas the Reaper. It is one of the first games I remember renting from the store down the street. I have been wanting to ebay this now I might have to.
Misanthrope's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/03/2008 23:06
Misanthrope
Im playing through Portrait of Ruin right now. Yes its new but its got a Bermont and Dracula on it so it counts. And it kicks some serious ass at that.
portastad's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/04/2008 00:17
portastad
Awesome! I was wondering when you'd get a front page promotion. I love this idea. I'm playing through Portrait of Ruin right now and finished DOS a week or so ago. I should take a break and replay the original. I haven't touched it since I was a kid. Back then I was really bad at games and not able to beat it.

I may just play Super Castlevania since I just found a used cartridge last month. Just how close are they in relation? Can anyone give me some real details in the differences?
Deftone's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/04/2008 00:44
Deftone
The snes ones were the ones that I hated, they were good but I was frustrated with them. The ones on the psp like Dracula X Chronicles really got me in love again.
Knivy's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/04/2008 02:52
Knivy
I should play one of the newer ones, I neglected the series after the SNES, even though i did play one of the DS ones.
The Rotting Zombie's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/04/2008 05:05
The Rotting Zombie
it was the first vc game I brought when i got my wii, i spent days and days getting to the one before last level using the vc weird save system, and then I accidently lost the game save.

This turned out to be a blessing as I got to the very last level without losing a life, then a few lives later I had completed the bugger!
Jonathan Holmes's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/04/2008 05:53
Jonathan Holmes
Yeah! Nice!

More so that Gradius, Contra, or even Metal Gear, Castlevania is the definitive Konami franchise. Taking a look at how that all started is a brilliant idea.

In some ways, this is still the best game in the series.
Demtor's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/04/2008 07:48
Demtor
I wonder what the longest running video game series is. Cause Castlevania has got to be up there.
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