RF Generation Message Board

The story of Castlevania Bloodlines concerns a legendary vampire named Elizabeth Bartley who is Dracula's niece, suddenly appearing in the 20th century. Plotting a sacrificial war in order to bring her uncle back to life, she orchestrates the beginning of World War I. Quincy Morris' son, John, and his best friend Eric Lecarde, vow to take up the fight against evil. Together they manage to prevent Dracula's full resurrection.

ONLY SEGA GENESIS CASTLEVANIA GAME

CHECKPOINTS
Coming soon

PARTICIPANTS:
Disposed Hero
ericeskapade
FatherJack
Fleach
Ikariniku
MetalFRO
russlyman
singlebanana
wildbil52

ACHIEVEMENTS:
1. Beat the game on normal mode
2. Beat the game on expert mode for special ending
2. Beat the game with John Morris & Eric Lecarde

I'm definitely in for this.  I've had the Bloodlines cart for years, but haven't seriously attacked it to see if I could get very far.  I need to scratch this one off the backlog list!!!

Awesome!

I soooooooooooo want to play this as I never have and surprisingly I have a complete copy.  Unfortunately, I don't have the Genesis hooked up.  And before anyone says to hook it up, I don't have the Genesis at home. :(

Count me in for this.  I love the classic Castlevania games, and Bloodlines is one that I have very little experience with.

I'm probably going to go ahead and fire this one up a little early. With RWX coming soon, I want to make sure that this is one I finish. The good thing about Bloodlines is that there is a password system and you get one after every level.  I'm not sure yet if Floyd is going to want to do checkpoints, or if it will be play at your own speed. Any preferences?

A friend at the game store ended up finding a copy for me....,. for FREE! super stoked. Can't wait to play this one. I will def be doing some Live streaming of this on my YouTube channel and I'll do a Lets Play as well. Kinda Like a first thoughts and impressions on it

That's awesome Russ!  Glad your joining us and I'll be sure to mention your playthrough when we record our show.

I will join (probably a bit later, because i will see some of you at Retro World Expo at the start of October :) ! The first Castlevania i will actually play, and not only insert into my collection. Hope it's not to difficult for me.

I had a friend called John Morris lol. Look forward to playing it.

Awesome eric!  Glad you are playing and happy that you're coming to RWX. See you then. :D

Already signed you up based on your front page response.

I'm in! I don't play the old MegaGene DriveSys as much as I should.  I didn't get through all the NES Castlevania games in September like I wanted, but I won't let that stop me from enjoying this.

Sweet!  I can butcher your name in the podcast once again...........DOH!

Yeah, I never expected my name would ever be spoken when I joined RFGen.  I've considered changing it, but I have been too lazy to investigate how.

Seems that it wasn't just the Genesis that Konami were expanding to with the franchise as I have just discovered the Commodore 64 version with more or less the same level design.  8)

That's pretty sweet. Castlevania on a commodore.

Well sleeping at WildBil's tonight and Retro World Expo tomorrow. I'll start this Sunday or Monday.


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Okay, this is highly embarrassing. I'm out for this play through. I honestly thought I had a cart copy of Bloodlines, but I have scoured through my whole collection, and it's nowhere to be found. I could emulate, but I'd rather have the real thing. I will be looking more intently for it now, however!

Profile -> Account Related Settings -> Name.
You can't change your Username that you use to login and track your collection, but you can change the name that's visible to everyone else on the forum.

Somebody might wanna PM RetroRage and ask him if he wants to join in on this.

Just sayin'.

Still waiting for the cart Disposed mailed to me but it should be here soon. RWX was soooo fun! I think that's an acceptable excuse for not starting the game on time.

Does it normally take this long for you to receive a package from the US?  I feel like you should have gotten it by now.  I hope it didn't get lost in transit....

Anyway, I took my first crack at this game today.  I made it to Stage 3 before losing all my continues.  That's right, this game has limited continues, unlike most (if not all) of the other Castlevania games.  I am a big fan of the classic Castlevania games, so it should come as no surprise that I am really enjoying this one so far.  Looking forward to trying it again in a little while.

Just so everyone knows, there are NO checkpoints. It's casual, so play at your own pace. You can talk about anything you want at any time. Since it's not plot heavy and story-driven, there aren't really any spoilers. Good luck!


I'm at Stage 4 with 2 continues still left. I played the game several weeks ago and got a good feel for it already. Didn't make it to Stage 4 at that time, so I should start struggling soon.

Too late to join?

Not at all. Please join us by all means.

Who is everyone using right now, John or Eric?

User of what?  Cocaine?

Playing as John at the moment and just playing it when I can trying to get past Stage 3.

I think I have to play as John, we have the same birthday.

I'm going against convention in the first playthrough and went with Eric. One of the things I like about the different characters is the different routes they have to go down.

I used John on my first attempt, then tried Eric afterwards.  I definitely prefer playing as Eric.  He can attack in more directions than John, and he has that awesome high jump maneuver.  I'm also pretty sure he attacks faster, but I'm not 100% sure about that.

Oh, now I got it.  You can pick between two characters.  Now I feel  :embarrassed:

yeah I am using Eric. I actually played with Eric(German buddy) on Sunday morning for a bit. We got to level two. pretty tough with that scrolling level. Going to play more tonight

Thanks, Shadow.  I really thought it would be more difficult than that.

As for Bloodlines, Now I'm glad I played Castlevania on the NES before starting.  The call back to the first level was much appreciated.

I should not have to answer with whome I play through the game :)Captain Obvious!  Like I already experienced at Russ'house, it will be not easy for me to get til the end- even in easy mode. I am more used to sport- and racinggames.
Back at home I also was little bit unsure if I had the right version, when picked out the game-box. Because it read "Castlevania-The New Generation"...but that's only the title in PAL.
So together and with Password-system we can do this :).

Sounds great Eric. Yeah I think bloodlines sounds cooler ha
[img width=700 height=525]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/10/c4f3018a92df131b6c5120ad8ab22d6d.jpg[/img]
Ok playing as Eric with 5 lives on easy.
Writing down my passwords as well.


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Ok best I could do
[img width=700 height=525]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/10/4da2a3745100ca37d030ef0bc685b0ec.jpg[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/10/920d4501c2fc1b28ebbe53871fa1602a.jpg[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/10/8b72958c0a6fc47a9fe13ce0b6eaf468.jpg[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/10/00afa9bfa44f7ed7b81503d94eb92be5.jpg[/img]

Couldn't beat the next level. The plant one where you fight some moth thing.


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I made it to Stage 6, but haven't gotten very far into it yet.  6-2 and 6-3 have to be two of the stupidest sections from any game I have ever played.  They make absolutely no sense and are incredibly disorienting and frustrating.  You'll see when you get there...

On a brighter note, I found out that if you go into the options menu and set the BGM and SE to 05 and 073 respectively, then whenever you get your weapon powered up all the way, the music changes to 'classic' Castlevania music.  To my knowledge, this is the only way in the game to hear Bloody Tears, which is possibly my favorite track from any game ever.

So I went back and gave it another shot, and this happened:

[img width=700 height=525]http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm155/DisposedHero/CAM01643.jpg[/img] (http://s295.photobucket.com/user/DisposedHero/media/CAM01643.jpg.html)

[img width=700 height=525]http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm155/DisposedHero/CAM01645.jpg[/img] (http://s295.photobucket.com/user/DisposedHero/media/CAM01645.jpg.html)

Overall, I really enjoyed this game.  I'll probably go back and do another playthrough as John.  I might attempt to do it on Expert, but I feel like I only finished Normal by the skin of my teeth, so we'll see how that goes.

Congrats on finishing Disposed!  I think this game is going to be quite a challenge for many of us.

Little late but here I am:

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/qtYjH8M.jpg[/img]

I've never played this game before.  I really liked the second stage.  The reflection effect was pretty cool and I REALLY liked the moving portions of the stage where you had to not get caught in the water.

I agree Bil. Stage 2 is really beautiful. The water reflections are cool and it seems they really put a lot of love into the game here. The rising and falling of the water is a neat addition to the game and though it makes some of the parts of the stage a bit more cumbersome, I think it's done well enough that it isn't overly difficult for the average player.

yes I think stage 2 might be my favorite.  Less favorite and out of place was I think stage 4. You are randomly in a warehouse fighting people with guns and the boss was some gear monster. Thought hey could have done better with that.

Yeah, I'm at the warehouse right now and it is a very odd level. It fits time-wise, but is aesthetically out of place.  This game is odd in that it is one of the first (if not the first) Castlevania games where you travel to other parts of the world instead of staying solely in Dracula's Castle, or in one specific regional area (such as in Simon's Quest).

A small bit of trivia.... Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is the sequel to this game.

While it looks like the difficulty might jump slightly beyond where I've reached, Bloodlines has not been very difficult for me so far.  I usually stop due to time constraints rather than than the game shredding my confidence and laughing at my ruined hopes, a la Little Nemo. 

I mentioned how the game makes an immediate reference to the original NES Castlevania.  Thus, Castlevania is always on my mind as I play Bloodlines.  While I didn't find Castlevania controller-shatteringly difficult, Bloodlines is way more gentle a game.  It really struck me when I first encountered the infamous Medusa Heads near the end of Level 2 (I think).  Medusa Heads always confound me in Castlevania, and I resign myself to taking a few hits when they appear.  In Bloodlines, though, the Medusa Heads were few enough and slow enough not to pose much difficulty, even as I raced the screen in a scrolling level.

A more capable, easier to control character, larger sprites reducing enemy density, I wonder if these are at the root of the drop in difficulty.  Whatever the cause, Bloodlines lacks the "by the skin of the teeth" intensity of Castlevania.

Which isn't to say I'm not enjoying it.  Cruising through the game smashing its squishy, well-designed monsters (which look like the escaped Splatterhouse to join Dracula's forces) while listening to the funky Genesis-powered soundtrack has been remarkably fun.

I agree,  I feel like Bloodlines is easier than the other Castlevania games I've played.  I didn't have much trouble with the first 3 or 4 levels, but I felt like the difficulty spiked quite a bit on the last two stages.  Pretty much all of the bosses were less difficult than I would have expected also.  I also thought that the more fluid controls of Bloodlines may be a contributing factor.

Is this one similar to the original?  Which one do you guys like better?

No, it's not similar to the original per se, though it plays as a similar type platformer with many of the same rules. I think what Ikariniku means is that in the beginning you get a throw back to the original game in terms of setting motif and atmosphere. Castlevania has always been really good about this and you see the same sort of return the original castle foyer (if you will) in Symphony of the Night and I believe also in Rondo of Blood/Dracula X.  

I can't say which one I like more, but I've always considered the original Castlevania and Super Castlevania IV to be my favorites in the series.  After having played Bloodlines, I think I can place it alongside those two as being one of my favorites.

Looks like James and Mike decided to join in the playthrough:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg4KLe58qTU

I want to apologize to the playthrough community for being slack about checking in this month.  My kids are playing Fall sports, and like a dumbass, I signed them up for 2 sports each....... We will never do this again (of course we will) and luckily we are in the home stretch and finishing up soon.

Honestly, I've been taking my time with Bloodlines this month and savoring the game.  That's not so much a purposeful decision on my part, but instead, by design, the game's design.  With early Castlevania games, I am use to unlimited continues and sure, you may have to begin an entire level again, but at least you are able to redundantly continue and get better and better with every attempt. I think Bloodlines is one of the first Castlevania games that I have played where the continues are limited. I understand that there is a password system in place for the game and that you get a new password at the end of every level, but it's just not the same. The password keeps up with where you are in the game, but also keeps track of how many lives and continues you have left, which can put you in a bit of a bind at times. Also, when you die completely, you have to go through the arduous process of re-entering the password. I wish they would have made it so that your previous password would have been auto-inputted like they do in some other games.

As a result of this design, what I have been doing is trying to run each stage without losing a life and then writing down the password. I think this is helping to make me better at this game and hopefully, once I finish my first playthrough, I can go back again and put together a continuous, solid run.

Last night, I polished off the German Ammunitions Factory.  It was kind of an odd stage and I felt that it was more out of place than any of the other stages I have played so far.  I understand that the point is to drive home the timeline of the game, but it seems ill-fitting. Thoughts?

No sweat banana, I love this line: We will never do this again (of course we will)

I haven't played since completing stage 2, plan to give it another crack tonight.  Get it?  A whip joke!

Polished it off last night. Sweet dreams Drac!

[img width=700 height=522]http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y359/necrom99/Playthroughs/D1F15A05-5A48-4AAF-9E66-F04074400B1D_zpsixkv7tii.jpg[/img]

i have been marking my passwords on weather I used a continue or not, so this way I can go back to the previous password and try again as to not to lose a continue and what not. Hoping this helps.

I have been tied up with heading over to Portland last weekend, so should be able to knock this out sometime this week.


Thats pretty cool that Portrait of Ruins is a sequel to this game.  Maybe they can release a Castlevania history book like Zelda to help us understand the timeline ha

How's everyone fairing in this game?  We will be recording our segment of the podcast this week, so let us know if there is anything you want us to discuss.

@Russlyman: You can find the timeline here:

http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Castlevania_Timeline

I didn't think I would have time to play so I didn't sign up, but I gave the game a shot last night and beat it: (Normal Difficulty)

[img width=700 height=525]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/cisco678/RF/IMG_3016_zpsrcf4qhkf.jpg[/img] (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/cisco678/media/RF/IMG_3016_zpsrcf4qhkf.jpg.html)

[img width=700 height=525]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/cisco678/RF/IMG_3021_zpsggmizzku.jpg[/img] (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/cisco678/media/RF/IMG_3021_zpsggmizzku.jpg.html)

[img width=700 height=525]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/cisco678/RF/IMG_3027_zpslqxsowqf.jpg[/img] (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/cisco678/media/RF/IMG_3027_zpslqxsowqf.jpg.html)

I might go back and try to beat the game as Eric. It's interesting that a game that gives you long range weapons requires you to get in close to avoid a lot of attacks..  :-\ The Elizabeth Bartley fight is the easiest boss fight in the game.

If anyone wants some passwords let me know...

Nice work Addicted!  Thank you for playing. We recorded our Playcast segment on Monday and I'm not sure if I included you in the participants or not.

I listened to an episode of the Retro Fandango podcast the other night, and one of the members was really talking trash about this game.  Honestly, I enjoyed it and thought it was pretty good. I think it veers away somewhat from the typical Castlevania platformer, but I still think it's well-done and one of the better games on the Genesis.  I can't quite understand the knock on it, but I guess to each their own.

On of my favorite Castlevania games is Catslevania II: Simon's quest.  I loved the talking, town atmosphere.  I know everyone knocked this game but I wish they would make another another like this.

It's different from the first game, and change always means there are those that will dislike it (see Zelda II).  I remember when it came out and I loved it them, and still love it now.  The problem that most people have with the game is that it's filled with riddles and tough to figure out, even the townspeople are not that helpful.  Still, growing up with it, my friend and I still managed to beat the game without a guide.  Figuring it out is what made it fun. We were kids then, and had all the time in the world to game. We played through it 3 years ago. You should rummage through the playthrough thread: http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=13030.0

tried to give it another shot today and I'm still stuck on the plant level. Just loose too much health and can't not have enough left to fight the boss

The swinging plants with the scythes are brutal. Learning to deal with them is key.

Yeah they are def a pain. I started playing the level before so I can try and save some continues going forward. Getting better slowly. Ha


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Awesome, and with John too!  I personally felt like John was the harder of the two characters to play as.

I've always liked Castlevania II as well.  Unfortunately I missed out on the playthrough (before my time on RFGen), but I played through it a few years ago.  I attempted to finish it without using a guide, but about halfway through I got impatient and looked up where to go.

Yeah, Stage 5 is one of the harder levels in the game, but I felt like the boss of that level was one of the easier bosses, so at least they cut you a little slack there.  Keep at it and I'm sure you'll be able to beat it.

Finished the game with Eric last night:

[img width=700 height=525]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/cisco678/RF/IMG_3049_zpss27dwjbx.jpg[/img] (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/cisco678/media/RF/IMG_3049_zpss27dwjbx.jpg.html)

[img width=700 height=525]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/cisco678/RF/IMG_3055_zpsbq39ymcp.jpg[/img] (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/cisco678/media/RF/IMG_3055_zpsbq39ymcp.jpg.html)

Thanks for the community playthrough singlebanana!

@russlyman: Those are probably the hardest enemies in the game. Try baiting them as their attack patterns have long arcs.

Congrats Addicted!  Thanks for playing good sir. :)

I took a shot at beating the game last night as John, but ended up getting a game over on Dracula's third and final form....

I might try it again later.

I see this happening.

Took me a few tries, but I made it happen:

[img width=700 height=525]http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm155/DisposedHero/Community%20Playthrough%20Scores/CAM01663.jpg[/img] (http://s295.photobucket.com/user/DisposedHero/media/Community%20Playthrough%20Scores/CAM01663.jpg.html)

My problem was that I was being way too impatient with Dracula's third form.  Once I slowed it down and settled into a pattern of land a hit, back off and dodge his attack, repeat, things went pretty smoothly.

Nice work Steven!

@Disposed Hero: Congrats!