Bloodstained's Classic Mode...is Castlevania 1 | Johnny's SPOTLIGHT! 

"This castle is a creature of content, it may take many free additions." -Koji Igarashi describing Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.

"Wanna see me make Castlevania? Wanna see me do it again?"

This is probably the closest thing to celebrating Castlevania we'll get this year.

Curse of the Moon does somewhat make this feel pointless. But it's still nice.

7:19 to give you a solid answer on that law question Johnny, basically if they straight up say it's supposed be like a certain franchise for a different device, or a different type with no key differences or even as simple as changing a letter, that's the key definitions of plagiarizing level design. In bloodstained's case, as Konami is already planning to sell their business, there is literally nothing they can earn from a lawsuit, cause they threw any evidence of this out the window

The Lightning Whip was a callback from Rondo of Blood Whip Extension trick. You see, in Rondo of blood, if you tapping forward while you are whipping, the whip will have a rainbow flash that indicate the whip has been extended a little bit. The Lightning Whip do double the damage but have a very tight timing.

The main's character's walk is fucking killing me. She looks like she storming off to her room after her parents just grounded her. "This is bullshit. You can't ground a vampire hunter..."

"Cold, cruel, Castlevania-less world" - Carlos

I'm thrilled to have the retro Castlevania Collection now

This mode has the greatest move in any Castlevania game. The forward backflip jump.

If Miriam had the Belmont Strut, then they would have definitely crossed the line.

Finally got around to playing Bloodstained. I beat Curse of the Moon and it was a great throwback. Ritual of the Night is just as good as Symphony of the Night. Looking forward to playing Classic Mode

10:49 Jumps like those are intended for the Flip straight out of Rond of Blood, almost a double jump.

21:30 - Johnny: "You got nothing to lose......" (I see what you did there! lol)

As long as it's your own code and your own characters and assets then you can do this

Ever since the release of Castlevania Harmony of despair it still kills me how great that game is and no one is recreating the formula or Konami doing anything else with it.

sprayed some coffee when I reached the part about Simiriam Bloodmont🤣🤣🤣

I appreciate them keeping their promises and putting in the work to continuously build upon what they made, but... at this point I just want Ritual of the Night 2!

This was nice to find out about, But I would like a Ritual 2 at some point in the future. The funny thing is Ritual 1 is staring to feel like getting the Treasure Trove version of Shovel Knight...

Have to say: Sabrina's editing is getting much better. Nice to see.

"I can save you time and tell you to watch my Castlevania 1 video" He says, at the 12:40 mark, referring to a video that's 11:10.

Lets go further with the Castlevania 1 comparisons. This is the only time since then where the "Medusa Heads" cant touch you as long as you walk in a straight line

Johnny bro I would’ve never got into castlevania or bloodstained without you bro. I like that we got similar gaming styles. Been a subscriber for years. Keep up the excellent work g

I'm looking forward to your eventual reviews of the GBA and DS Castlevania games. To this day, my top 3 are Order of Ecclesia, Portrait of Ruin and Aria of Sorrow.

Hi Johnny, I just want to say I am a huge fan of your work and videos and I cannot wait until your new videos that are coming soon.

For the jumps you were having trouble with - the double jump/backflip gives you a lot more distance for those. So...yeah, no need to struggle on the gaps like at the beginning of that cave area. Also yeah, Classic Mode, the "Prequel Mini Game" (Curse of the Moon) and the Retro Level were all separate kickstarter goals. And I'm glad they're fulfilling their "obligations". I was looking forward to all of this, and from Classic Mode's initial description sounded like it would be CV1 so it wasn't likely I'd be disappointed it'd be like CV1. I did hear several people say "Why do this when they already did x", but is more classicvania really a bad thing? How many other games out there are like this? basically none and RotN itself, I mean...sure, it takes a lot from SotN, but it takes a lot from all of Iga's games. Why complain about getting what we wanted and what they said they would do

The backflip would let you make all those jumps you had trouble with. Just FYI.

I hope the Doppelganger fight was teasing a playable Zangetsu in this mode, because that would really help demonstrate the subtleties in the level design. There is definitely a lot of iconic CV1 *architecture* here, but the actual levels designed around it have a lot more going for them. I think the best example of what I'm talking about is probably how applicable the backflip/somersault is throughout the whole experience. Also, the whip flash is like the old Rondo boost with critical damage added, you just have to time a forward tap just right. You can even do it while crouching, hint, hint. ;D

I love how after all these years Johnny still has that FLCL poster

The Lighting Whip is also a reference to Rondo of Blood, in there if you press Forward twice when swinging the whip, the whip would extend just a little bit, and I guess deal a bit more damage

This Halloween would be a great time for a second Castlevania marathon, huh?... HUH? Thank you for entertaining us these Johnny. Looking forward to your Final Fantasy (and Dragon Quest 5) videos!

I at first thought the "Critical whip attack" was like the extended whip in Rondo of Blood, where if you double tap the direction you're whipping, it'll just barely extend your whip range and the whip will glow pure white.

I don't how an area that just looks retro makes a game mode that plays completely different feel redundant. That and calling the mode redundant because of Curse of The Moon would be like calling Castlevania 3 redundant with the release of Rondo of Blood.

Okay, the Kove speakers are cool, but big opportunity missed to bring back the “Castlevania Arrange Mode Dance”, there! Lol

15:43: Somecallmejohnny embraces FGC community: "When in doubt, do a DOUBLE BARRLE ROLL with QCF + HP."

The second crossover is pretty sure a Child of Light event/character they teased it a looooong time ago with the main theme jingle of Child of Light at the end in one of the first trailers for Bloodstained.

"I don't like having pains in my ass" -Johnny 2021 18:22

Kingdom two crowns cross is the most surprising and satisfying one for me. Love them both!

A new Johnny video? _Drop everything. Watch._

Never played a Castlevania game, but I like Bloodstained. The BSC playthrough got me to try Curse and the SGB playthrough got me to try Ritual. Haven't played Curse 2 or any of the updates to Ritual yet though. Just haven't been in the right headspace for it. This looks like an interesting little mode, but maybe a bit more challenging than I'd like. I'll still probably take a crack at it whenever the Bloodstained mood strikes me again.

Time of release: 3:00 PM EST

That chart looks so interesting. It does make me wonder who the 3rd character is going to be.

Funny thing that Metal Gear Rising's sam dlc did: the 5th VR stage was a remake of the first stage 01 all the way to the bat boss in the metal gear rising engine as a 2d stage. They have to take a few liberties, but if you're as familar with CV1 as i am, you can see that the account for everything in that vr stage. it's really cool. one critical difference between bloodstained and cv1 i would point out is that it's specifically using rondo of blood's jump physics. you can jump onto and off of stairs, you can change facing direction in midair, and if you jump straight up you can give yourself very slight momentum in a direction a single time in that jump. it's a really solid ruleset for stiff jumps to make them easier to control. Giving her richter's sotn slide is a neat addition and one i kinda wish rondo had.

oh boy i get to see john elaborate what he said on thursday :o

I always did a backflip onto that platfrom in that cave/water stage

the electric whip is i think a reference to castlevania rondo of blood's extended whip (same input and extends whip range slightly but in bloodstained ritual of the night classic mode it also makes the whip do more damage, i don't know if the extended whip in castlevania rondo of blood did more damage than the normal whip)

To help with the picky jumps, you should jump like normal, turn around in midair, and do the backflip. It's an unintended mechanic but it makes the jumps fair.

So Johnny, planning on playing the new Ghosts & Goblins when it drops next month?

The secret whip move is also from Rondo. Albeit slightly modified.

Electric whip happens when you tap forward after attacking. It's really tight timing.

btw johnny for those pixel perfect jumps, try the summersault, press jump twice

Yo I was hoping you would cover this

Whip then forward does the special whip attack. There's a weird rhythm to it, but it's a combo attack you can just do. I loved classic mode, but then Castlevania 1 is one of my favorite games. It was like a Dracula X Chronicles-style remake version of Castlevania 1, but with a bunch of extra areas and mix-ups in the stages. Not really one to one with CV1, though it IS super blatant. I love it.

3 years later... Johnny: "A game like Simon's Quest, but it's better doesn't sound like a bad idea" 2024 505 Games: "You're not gonna believe what's coming out on June 11th"

This game just keeps on giving

2:22 Considering the topic of today's video, I'm surprised he isn't jamming out to Castlevania rave music!

I just this mode a warm up to play the base mode.

Finally, I can have it with the Nandugger once again.

I can't wait to give this mode a go! And if you're looking for a recommendation for a phenomenal Metroidvania game, I believe you'll LOVE Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom. By all means, give it a shot when you have the chance!

I was struggle with the jump myself... until the end they show that she can do Backflip like Richter as well. It can use as a double jump

Nice! Reminds me of the PSP Castlevania Rondo 2.5D game.

The "critical hit" you mention is actually the whip extension from Rondo: tap forward while whipping and you get a slight extension of the whip. Not as useful here as in Rondo, and it's harder to pull off, but was another thing I was happy they included

That "critical whip" move is done by pressing attack and quickly holding Forward.

Idk if its just me but Johnny looks a littler slimmer in this video like all the weight is starting show! Keep it up dude! But I was interested in seeing gampley for this cuz this looked awesome!

How is this just Castlevania 1 again if you have so much movement option? Back dash? Backflip? Slide? Holy shit. After playing through it. It feels more like a “what if” sequel to Rondo of Blood if we didn’t go the Metroidvania route with SotN.

I still wait to see what the Child of Light Teaser means that was in the end of Bloodstained's Launch trailer ...

I swear I'm gonna end up getting Ritual of the night because of this mode... I crave classicvania in my life

Month of Castlevannia is 9 years old ? Jeez how long have I been watching Johnny

I also thought Curse of the Moon was supposed to be the 8-bit Classic Mode that was teased on the Kickstarter page. In fact, it was the release trailer of that game which made me support Ritual of the Night as a last-minute backer. Immediately got my access code as a result, played through it on Steam, and loved every second of it. I'm surprised they bothered with this second classic mode.

I played til I lost all my lives on the third stage said meh and moved on. I couldn't get over that I had no control over the whip like Simon did in Super Castlevania IV. The amount of times I accidently used my sub weapon by pressing up and attack despite mapping it to RB. How stuff like the jumping backflip really didn't seem to have a purpose. The most I found for it was at the start of the 3rd stage you need it to reach the platforms.

bloodlines had you lose the subweapon for good too but had different candles for subweapons versus other things they should've done both, Rondo-style unequipping of subweapons and use a different type of candle for holding subweapons, or a different color

As someone who loves metroidvanias and didn't really get into Classic mode: which game is harder, Classic Mode or Curse of the Moon? Because I think the spritework/Shovel Knight-ish design of CotM might really help me get into it more than this did. Classic mode kicked my butt XD

Yo my boy looking slim 👀 keep it up bro

As a fellow big guy Seeing Johnny dance bring me happiness

So Johnny, do you know who Santa Chan from Kamen Rider W is yet?

Yeah, but can I moonwalk up stairs though?

That desktop background ain't subtle at all lol I might have to try classic mode for myself I guess

Do they have any plans to continue to update the Switch version of the game and iron out any bugs, etc...?

Did you guys know that DDR Universe have a remix version of a song from Castlevania?

Since Curse of the Moon was a Castlevania 3 copy, I would've expected Classic Mode to be much more similar to Rondo of Blood as that's the game IGA actually has a connection to. Also, bets on the final playable character being OD?

It's because her whip has would you call a critical hit option like in role-playing games where's the thing that happens every once in awhile

i really enjoyed this mode, my only complain is that it leans a bit too much on castlevania 1 but its great

I loved Ritual, CotM 1 and CotM 2. I've only played 2 levels of this brand new Ritual classic mode, but it feels a lot more difficult fundamentally than both CotM games. Maybe it's the mechanics like the static jumping and the lack of healing available, but I found both CotM more fun and rewarding in terms of Classicvania. Especially given the easy switching between playable characters similar to Castlevania 3 but with quality of life updates for convenience. But I'm glad for the free update and prefer CotM 1 and 2 for now.

9:09 that is the most cursed thing I have seen all day...

Can't wait for SGB to come back and I like spotlight. And hope you guys are doing well. 😁

i saw you dancing , then i subscribed :P

Johnny you looking clean. 😎👍

They may get sued by konami because quite honestly you can file complaint over anything, however it most likely wouldn't succeed. See the thing about copyright law is there is the whole thing about the comparable work being transformative. While there are some similar elements of level design in classic mode to castlevania 1 the difference in characters and tweaks to level design (dropping down the pool of blood, different bosses, changes to the underground section of 1-1) are enough to put it in the category of transformative homage. As such would be protected from copyright infringement.

10:10 The Prophecy is coming true

Christ, it’s been a while since I played Bloodstained. I didn’t even beat it! I should really replay this game sometime soon.

Critical hits in Castlevania 1 are actually a glitch, you activate them by being hit at the same time your whip is out, which makes the hitbox linger for a while and do a lot of damage.

I dunno if you've played it Johnny, but there is this game called Touhou Luna Nights which is a pretty nice if short Metroidvania game on Steam and Switch. However, you might need to know a bit about Touhou before jumping on the game, but it's a spinoff to the overall franchise so you don't need THAT much knowledge that you can check online, like in a wiki or some shit. There's also another short Touhou Metroidvana game called Touhou Double Focus, which is on Steam (I think?) and on PS4. Both are very stable, so you won't get many crashes whatsoever and that's a good thing at least. :P They're also not that expensive on PC as well as on both PS4 and Switch so if you're interested, there's some decent games to look into. With that being said, great video once again! Have a great day and stay safe, bro!

Every Castlevania game did that when you picked up another sup weapon your weapon got replaced with a different someone that's typical Castlevania duh

Johnny, you should do at least do a Spotlight video on one of the Darksiders games if you aren’t going to do a marathon of it! Trust me, you’ll love them! Give the first one a shot and tell me what you think.

I wonder, if Richter ends up being downgraded into Simon's costume (and maybe other Belmonts like Trevor and Leon) lets say in the next Smash game, would Miriam fit best as an Echo fighter?

Though recently I did hear that Konami has shut down of its divisions and businesses a few days ago, I might be wrong, but I did remember hearing that Konami was shutting down in that extent. Though I am curious what future Bloodstained games would be like? I would surprised if they decided to make a bloodstained game like the 2 N64 games or the Ps2 titles.

Good video

I know that the music in classic Mode is supposed to be a nod to the Japanese version of Castlevania 3, but it ends sounding like something out of the TurboGrafx 16

Looking trim Johnny. 👍

Did I hear Sonic the Hedgehog Remix - Techno Power Mix during the promo?