DF Retro Let's Play: Castlevania 64! Is It Really A Series Low Point? 

I also always loved Castlevania 64 and never understood its hate. I'm glad you guys made a video about it, it's really an underrated game.

I loved Castlevania on N64...don't care what anyone says. While Symphony of the Night was perfecting 2d gameplay, C64 was pioneering new ground in 3D. Sure it was rough around the edges, but most 3D games were at that time...even the best of the best. I loved the atmosphere in Castle64, probably the best thing about it. They completely nailed the Vania atmosphere in a 3D space. Also loved the way they were trying to be intelligent about telling a more mature story. And the music/ambient sounds were perfect. This game (Castle64/Legacy of Darkness) deserves to be brought back remastered on modern consoles. I found N64 Castlevania much more soulful than the PS2 games that followed, honestly.

Idk why, but i loved it, the music, the level design the athmosphere everything.

Spooky castle. Dense fog. Skeletons on motorcycles. Now THIS is a horror game.

Thank you for defending this game which deserves it so much, one of my top 5 N64 title. You should have shown a bit visuals from later in game. This game had the default to be unregular with graphics, most of graphics in the first half are medium, and some in the second half are astonishing, almost 6th gen level sometimes with the expansion pack on Legacy of Darkness.

I like your friend Audi, however if you could bring up your other friends, namely BMW and Mercedes, that would be great.

i lived with a friend who loved this game, he was killed in a hit and run. this took me back in time, thanks for posting i hadn't thought of him in years.

The real low point of Castlevania is its pachinko game. Next question.

Castlevania 64 WAS AND IT IS AN AMAZING GAME!!! Very underrated gem! It was bad you stopped the video before the mansion level which is a very nice diversion from the rest and represents the innovative approach and mix of this atmospheric and clever game!

There is this mysterious coat of paint Nintendo64 games have which draws me in every time I see videos about this incredible console. It must be real life magic!

Before this DF Retro: Never played it After this DF Retro: Will be playing it

This game has mirror reflection and hair fisics for NPCs, I wanna to know if it's real or animations. Do a complete episode one day please :)

Castlevania 64 was before my time but I played it recently and thought that it was perhaps one of the best third party games available for the n64

DF Retro Suggestion: 3DMark starting with the 1999 version. (Or vintage synthetic benchmarks in general)

Who wants digital foundry to complete castlevania 64.

Castlevania's graphics were excellent for an N64 game. Great use of antialiasing, lighting, animation, and camera system. Even better with a little CRT magic.

Love this idea! Do more :) your insight is always interesting

Speaking of N64 games, Im hoping to see a comparison of Perfect Dark now that its Xbox one X Enhanced and in 4K.

When you get a phone guest on, you should get them to record their audio in audacity and then you can sync them together seamlessly and the quality is perfect... unless you like the 80s phone effect of course 🙂

Play legacy of darkness. Loved it as a kid since I went directly from the nes games

Castlevania 64 was flawed, but still a good time. And no, there are worse games in the franchise. And to be honest, i would buy the Castlevania Collection if this was somehow included.

I love this game. Thank you for making this video. It really is underrated and bashed to bits by so many people. Please do a proper video of castlevania 64.

It would be sick if Konami made a small collection of the N64 games for switch/modern consoles the way they did Symphony of the Night with Rondo of Blood.

The N64 graphics lend themselves so well to creepy and athmospheric settings. Even OoT and MajorasMask benefited from those a lot (Just look at Ganon's castle or Clock Town on day 3 in general). Castlevania gets that same vibe for me and I think I would have really loved it back then!

I really like C64. Most of the negativity towards it comes from avgn fans. I love how atmospheric it is.

This is a very relaxing format. Makes a good addition to DF Retro proper.

I've always loved this game, especially from a nostalgic pov. These days it almost feels like a 90s beta version of Bloodborne.

this game is so underrated! I played it to death when it came out

The coolest thing about this game that nobody talks about is the crazy variety of gameplay types throughout the levels... it goes from an open, 3D platformer type area in the first level, to an almost mario galaxy type 3D interpretation of 2D platforming in the second level, to something like an adventure game in the third as you can explore a lot of the castle, talk to NPCs, etc and has this amazing atmosphere that isn't evident at all in the first level... then there's the insane explosives level with a great interpretation of a boss from Rondo.... I could go on, the point is that every level is really different, and it's a shame that most people just see the rather bland-looking and playing first level, which feels like a lot of other mediocre games of the era, and assume the stereotyped reputation it has is fully accurate...

Great video as always. If possible, I'd like to see a full comparison between Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness.

Fun fact. The Castlevania 64 New Game sound is the Perfect Dark N64-turns-into-Perfect Dark-symbol sound.

I'd say it's different, not bad. It was a fun game for the time being, for sure.

I love that DF Retro is now reappraising games in a context beyond just technical performance.

This game was awesome! It had a lot of atmosphere.

I played Legacy of Darkness for the first time about 2 years ago. These games have some rough edges, but the gothic atmosphere makes up for it. It also helps that, from a technical standpoint, they are more polished than most of their contemporaries.

Whiping skeletons in 3D was a 'wow' moment like love at first sight, had a good impact with that sound

Maybe next Let's Play will be Omikron: The Nomad Soul (PC, DC)? It's a great game for DF Retro Let's Play!

I'm trying to figure out why this guy keeps skipping over all of his whip upgrades...

The music 🎶 is actually really good goes along with the atmosphere of the game. Never played this one though.

I always thought these games were really underrated. They're much better than Iga's attempts at 3D Castlevania on PS2. The Lords of Shadow games eventually came around perfected the concept, but for its day, and even compared to the next gen attempts, this did an better job at capturing the feel and mood of the NES era Castlevania games. Its biggest crime was not being Symphony of the Night, which is incredibly unfair because to this day, that's a series highlight.

I've always wondered why people didn't like this game. Konami should make a Castlevania Collection 2 and include the 2 N64 games and Symphony Of The Night.

We all have our guilty pleasure games that got almost universally panned. I guess we know one of John's now 😁

I don't know why, but that sound effect of the paper scroll menus are the thing that specially triggered my memories of playing this great game. Loved it's atmosphere.

Once polygons were introduced into gaming almost every studio blindly forced them into their games despite having the increased power (from the new gen consoles) to make sprite based games shine. It wasn't just a low point on the Nintendo 64 but across all consoles and PC. It was a necessary change to bring us into what we have now sure, but these games do not hold up compared to sprite based games of the same era.

Legacy of Darkness fixed a lot of the problems with Castlevania 64. Fans only bashed it because they wanted another 2D entry. Castlevania 64 Legacy of Darkness had: creative design, atmosphere, great music to fit that atmosphere, resident evil-like puzzle solving, fun gameplay and in the end the camera wasn't even that bad because you had two camera modes to switch to.

More 3d castlevania please! Btw, a nice 3d metroidvania from the late 90s that was AWESOME is Shadowman. It has a PC, Dreamcast, Playstation and a N64 version. It was very atmospheric and dark...with a voodoo touch. It was very narrative driven and the story was great. I'd love to see an in depth video about that game!

I saw another retrospective on this game recently, and this person said that Castlevania 64 would be held in the same high regard with the likes of the best N64 games, if it had come out as a launch title, and I think he's right.

I played Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness on an emulator with only a keyboard, and I still loved it.

Thank you for that video. I only played Legacy of Darkness back in the day, but I remember enjoying it a lot. I'm currently playing Darksiders Warmastered edition on the Switch and while everyone says this game draws inspiration from the Legend of Zelda, I think it is much closer to Castlevania 64 in terms of themes and general game design. I really think these games deserve the HD remaster treatment.

Can you do Parasite Eve 1 or complete series for your DF Retro? Just starting playing it again and love little details like that your character has an actual mirror reflection or the water in the sewers right in the first "level".

I personally played this game for the first time when I was eleven on my first laptop. My older brother had just finished installing a bunch of N64 roms, some I knew and some I didn't; I played all day with as many games as I could (struggling with getting used to keyboard controls) Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, Golden Eye, Paper Mario, etc. And near the end I saw the name of a game I couldn't even pronounce, "Castlevania" I thought it was weird so I gave it a shot. I sat through the opening cutscene of the looming castle coming into view, and then the violin came in. From that moment I knew this would be great. I never made it past the first stage but the feeling I got was so different from any other game I had ever played, I recently found this game again, having not known the name made it difficult to find but I cherish the game with the name I couldn't pronounce and am now a proud fan of this franchise. Thank you for reading, I really appreciate it.

Watching this makes me wish they would do a remaster collection of the _Lord of Shadows_ series on PS4; hopefully on disc.

I never saw it as a series low. It had neat moments like the opening and the garden with the flowers watered with blood. The camera was the true boss of the game. But Legacy of Darkness was the definitive Castlevania 64 experience.

I really like this DF retro let's play with you playing while commenting the game, I would like to see other videos like this!

Before watching I'm going to say no. I really like the textures and all the stuff you can found in the levels. Which was really cool in the time. Also I love the story telling and multiple endings. Edit: finished the episode. It was a great video. I would like a more in depth video.

Good point about “Lament of Innocence” and its successors with regards to the structure and layout of the levels John. I agree.

I like that these awesome videos just happen to be sponsored by the headset I bought 3 years ago based on reviews (and wanting quality wireless).

John, you have the right to love what you want and I really appreciate that you made a video about this particular Castlevania game, because I've never played it and based on your thoughts, it really seems like a cool and fun game. I also have a really polarizing opinion that happens to be connected to Castlevania. I completed nearly 700 video games and I completed most of the Castlevania games (including handheld and mobile ones), and my favourite game of all time is Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I think it's a monumental masterpiece but I know a lot of people hate it in the Castlevania community mainly because it doesn't follow the old timeline. So I know how you feel.

Would love to see a full review and or analysis of Castlevania 64 or Legacy of Darkness.

I enjoyed this video. I know DF is a tech channel and all, but it's nice to hear about things other than pixel counts and frame rates. John is always so enthusiastic about old games and is so good at talking about things that are fun and pleasing. While still technical aspects of the game, you can't exactly zoom 400% on them or measure them on a graph. Things that are more subjective like pleasant animations that tell a story or make you feel something. Level design that challenges your mind and builds a world or atmosphere. Controls that feel good, and things you 'do' in a game that are satisfying. Love the DF Retro content. Your passion and knowledge shine through. Your nostalgic love and respect for history, and the intangibles behind the numbers is always appreciated. The unscripted podcast/let's play style was interesting and entertaining. P.s please play Soul Reaver ;-)

Symphony got the attention Simon's Quest didn't.

It may not have the rpg mechanics and the metroidvania level design, but it was a decent action adventure with platforming, where they tried to copy in part the 3D Zeldas. I personally love them and especially the music is the best what the N64 offers.

Thank you so much for this video!! I have no investment in the Castlevania series, and I never had an N64, but I love games from this era. I especially love it when spotlights are shown on those things which have been unfairly criticized. Today the Souls series is seen as carrying forward the Castlevania style, Castlevania 64 seems very much a precursor to Souls, excellent atmosphere and smooth animation, I see no reason why it shouldn't be well remembered by Castlevania fans. But fans do an unfortunate thing, they need to represent their fandom by hating on something, Castlevania 64 was their target apparently. Too few and far between are well rounded fans who don't have to sacrifice their appreciation of an artform in order to artificially prop up this or that monument. In the Souls series itself, the scapegoat has been Dark Souls 2, but for my money (as far as the Scholar of the First Sin edition anyway) it is the best of the series. The one everybody props up --- and for the sake of which they feel the need to tear down DS2 --- Dark Souls, I feel is easily the worst of the series. But there you have it.

This was so fun! I could watch John play and talk about any number of retro games. What is cloning tech like these days? We're gonna need more Johns

You guys are making me want to look for an old tube tv and hook up my N64. These are the memories that made me purchase a new N64 collection as an adult. Love this game.

Great to see this game getting a little love. One of my all-time favorites, I try to visit it for a full play through every year or so, a great experience every time!

Very underrated game, especially the second game Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, which is the same game as the first but with new characters and if i`m not mistaken new levels.

More lets play would be cool for sure. John is the type of lets player we sorely need. I am actually fascinated by the hybrid 2D pixel and 3D era for some reason, although in gameplay terms we are only now finally kinda mastering 3D and 2D separately in many ways. Stuff like I dont know obviously the first fps and build engine, dragonforce, even mil sims had nice 2D assets in them. What were possibly the last games to do that? Maybe the first two total wars. I guess we are having ion maiden.

I remember really loving this game, my cousin was the n64 guy, y was PSX, and when I saw this, it made me want an N64, the atmosphere sold it for me, very different from Igavania type game, I love those, but I also felt intrigued and drawn to this one as well. I honestly consider this a better approach to a 3d Castlevania game, than Lord of Shadows, which despite being fun, was too combat oriented for my taste, to me Castlevania in 3d should be about atmosphere, exploration, and difficulty. This is closer to that than LoS.

I remember playing this when it came out. I was so excited for it. The opening of the game was great and I think it still nails it. I do remember not getting into it though because I did rent it. But now looking back at it, the game that comes to mind is bloodborne. I am certainly not comparing it to bloodborne obviously but it definitely feels and looks like a older version of that game. I would love to see Castlevania try to go back to something like this.

Good idea for a video. I agree that the swarm of hate for the 64 vanias was unwarranted. Yes; the 2D ones were/are better overall, but these were enjoyable in their own right. They played alright and had a good atmosphere. The time dynamic was decent too. Legacy of Darkness was the better of the two for obvious reasons. Side note: I really liked the disintegration effect of breaking objects in this game...

Fantastic. Not only is your opinion spot on. But I played this after SoTN and I LOVED it. At the time it blew my mind. It was extremely atmospheric. Was hard, had great style, and was a fun experience.

Spot on about careful jumping with 3D platformers. Camera and controls were the biggest challenges for this era. But the perfection of this over the years also brought us the loss of this element where skill is involved.

Wow, i missed this one. Huge fan of CV64 here, so happy to see you touched it at least in this experimental format, the game is so very underrated and never judged in its actual context. Maybe a bit too late to ask, but please think about a DFRetro either on the 64 'vanias or just a fully feature 3D Castlevania special, it would be nice to see.

Any DF Retro is great, especially N64 Retro!

This game's bad reputation probably comes from how bad the first level is. The game REALLY picks up after it, and also I think this really feels like a very early version of a Souls game.

37 minutes video of the Nintendo 64 game. Yes, please.

Konami probably had some of the best music, or at least, sound, on the N64. They managed to squeeze very high quality samples for the MIDI music, they made very rich compositions, and they set the RCP to render sound at an approximation of a 44 .1kHz "CD quality" samplerate (~44095Hz on NTSC, not sure what the number is for the PAL version, since the AV bus timings change). Many other Konami games I've encountered on the system do the 44.1kHz part, and there's cerntainly lots of great music there too, like the Goemon games, probably representing the best example.

fun fact about this game, the PAL version is actually faster, not in terms of framerate (although it has less drops) but in terms of movement. they sped up the character movement and animation for the PAL version in order to compensate for the slowed down game logic. BUT they overdid it a tiny bit and so you actually run faster in PAL than in NTSC

It's nice to see a positive look at this game. I've always enjoyed the Nintendo 64 Castlevania games. They weren't these large, open-ended adventures, but what they did they did well--the music, atmosphere, challenging platforming and varied level setups (some being straight platforming, others being more adventure/puzzle focused). Legacy of Darkness definitely seems like what the original game was meant to be and is the more complete package, but even the original is still worth playing. I think these games mainly get a bad rep because of 2D die-hards unwilling to give them an honest chance, along with some control and movement mechanics that can take a little while to get the hang of (like knowing how *not* to do that accidental baby jump that got John killed early on in the playthrough. That happens a lot with people not comfortable with the controls). I also agree that they are more interesting than the PS2 era Castlevania titles. Those played well like mentioned, but were so utterly dull when it came to the level design.

I fucking love this game. The soundtrack, the levels and fun bosses. The violin intro is probably one of my favorite songs in gaming ever. Happy to see a video talking about it in a better light.

Love for you to do a proper deep dive, John. I honestly dismissed this game like a lot of others, but this vid got me interested. I’m definitely going to look out for it at my local retro shops now.

Yes, please do more with this game and similar games of this era. This is actually one of my favorite N64 games and have it currently in my small collection of N64 cartridge-based games, along with Donkey Kong 64 and GoldenEye 007.

I got Castlevania 64 when it first came out, and it was my first Castlevania game, and I loved it. It is still my favorite Castlevania and I beat it multiple times.

Thank you for the appreciation! Rented this like 5 or 6 times from Blockbuster back in the day.

Really enjoyed this!

The eerie page flipping sequence that happens everytime you start a new game (and also continue a game? I forgot) was clearly inspired by Evil Dead 2's opening, where a bunch of blood texts quickly scribbled itself on the pages of the "Necronomicon" (a book of the same name as the one in Castlevania 64's main menu) before closing itself down violently. That part of the game AND movie has always scared the sh*t out of me as a kid.

The best series on Digital Foundry by far. Terrific work as always John.

The game is one of the better games on the n64. Very atmospheric, lots of 3d adventuring and platforming.

At the time it was released it was a genuine good looking eerie game. Dark Souls reminded me of it when I first played it.

I remember the commercial for this game. Interspersed with game footage there was a live action actor arming himself with vampire hunting gear in a Ramboesque vignette; stakes, garlic, etc..

I remember playing this around 2000 or 2001. The next gen consoles were all out (for the time - Xbox, PS2, GC), but I wasn't on board yet (had gotten a little casual with the game after puberty kicked in and I was... distracted). My older brother had gotten all of these "last gen" consoles and a box of games cheap at Game Stop but never really used it, so I moved it all into my room. I don't know if I ended up beating it, but it was the Legacy of Darkness version if I remember correctly [EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, I had both versions and I am not entirely sure which version I played OR played more of]. Anyway, I dont quite remember all of the games from that era I played, but I dont think I finished any as I had basically convinced myself to go out and buy an Xbox because I felt I wanted to be a "hardcore gamer" again (I didn't call it that till afterwards when I was online and interacting with things in that way - of course that phrase hasn't really been used in over ten years at this point). So basically, this was a game really enjoyed that helped get back into gaming, and then a few months later Halo blew my mind and was forever locked into it (happily, even now).

I’ve always loved this one and Legacy of Darkness. I’m aware of their poor quality but they always appealed to me when I was younger.

One thing that always bothered me was how giant a lot of the environments were and just completely out of proportion compared to the character. It's funny that Lords of Shadow 2 had the same issue 15 years later! I enjoyed the game itself though and would like to replay it. They nailed the Dracula fight and everything.

It's a pity we don't have a version of Castlevania 64 that combines both C64 and Legacy of Darkness. The two games are kinda different and there's no clear winner between them.

What you mention about uncharted and modern tomb raider Vs classic platforming is one of the things I've been telling people when trying to explain the many problems of modern tomb raiders. Preach!

DF Retro is best DF

This game always had a lot of charm imo. It didn't completely nail the execution but still had a lot of memorable moments for me. I also like that there were so many vampires in this game.

This is my favorite castlevania game! I was literally just thinking, “I would love digital foundry to cover this game.” Opened RU-vid and this was in my recs... spooky

Castlevania 64 is a resonably good game. It was praised by critics and people on the release and the ones I remember complaining about it were PSX owners who already played SotN because it was not like it, ironically doing the same on the release of Chronicles years latter.