Castlevania 1's cover art is also partially inspired by a painting called The Norseman by Frank Frazetta, well, partially copied is more the right term, just like Simon's Quest's cover. It would've done well to also mention Dracula's Curse's Japanese Box art, which paints a much more deserted world, a blue fog in the distance, it's good stuff, although Trevor's face was a bit derpy.
Really interesting video idea! As a huge anime fan, I still think I enjoyed the more realistic approach of the older titles over Dracula X, but Ayami Kojima's artwork is the pinnacle of the series. Subbed for the next episode.
Thanks man! I checked out your channel as well, really great stuff. I get the sense that we share a lot of the same tastes. And yeah, I'm thinking about doing other "aesthetic retrospectives" for other series as well down the line. But we'll see if the idea catches on lol.
@@Ryan-Petre Appreciate it! I think the aesthetic retrospectives is a really cool topic that can be utilized for countless different series. It's just really really hard to get viewers these days sadly.
This is great. It's kinda insane seeing this because I'm working on video about mega man's nes visuals and I compare it too castlevannia with matching atmosphere with gameplay. Love this man.
Thanks! And good find, that's one of my favorite of Frazetta's. Though I wouldn't say it's plagiarism, at least not on the same level as Simon Quest, which is pretty much 1to1 with its source. The first cover is just a copy in terms of composition and concept. But still created something new imo
Great video. I love the concept of aesthetically reviewing videogames! Castlevania is definitely a right choice for such an effort. Something worth noting, when talking about NES Castlevania's looks, or any old sprite-based game's, is that their art was designed to be displayed on CRTs, whose natural fuzziness considerably changes a sprite's look. You can look up "sprites on crt" on any image search to get an idea. When played on era-appropriate tech, their graphics don't look quite as dated. Even a decent "CRT" emulator filter is an improvement, IMO.
Amazing review of the visuals of this incredible serie!!! You really demonstrate that you understand well the deep artistics nuances of Castlevania, can’t wait for part 2! :D What is your top 3 favortie castlevania games?
Thanks a lot dude! That's a tough question. Order of Ecclesia is my favorite game, period, but there are 6-7 contenders for second place. It's such a consistent series. Ultimately though I'd probably go for Castlevania 3 and Portrait of Ruin (my first Castlevania game).
Hey thanks man. My vocal delivery is something I'm a bit self conscious about so I appreciate it. I actually got some flak for it in the horror series, which admittedly I kinda agree with. I pitched it down to the point where it was too gravely.
I also got to say I've really been enjoying your content as well man. You have such a defined presence and brand for someone who's only been at it for like a month and a half. Seeing you commit full time to YT genuinely inspired me to do the same, and I'm not just saying that. You're a trailblazer.
@@Ryan-Petre Commented these on the wrong account before, so reposting, but I think I saw that comment, but for what it's worth it works really well here. It also adds a lot to the jokes you throw in here and there, they catch you that much more off guard being a little deadpan.
@@Ryan-Petre Thank you by the way, I really appreciate the compliments. I'm glad it could push you towards regular content. I'll have to DM you soon because it would be good to have someone else to talk RU-vid specific stuff with.
Thank you for putting Castlevania 4’s visual flaws into words for me! I enjoy the game overall, especially the final chapters, but I keep looking back and wondering what happened to the skeletons? why do all the blacks look greenish or brownish?
Kind of sad you didn't mention Dracula X even though it was something of an attempt to port Rondo It still created It's own look and style for the different platform
"...even though it was blatantly plagiarized." Ohhh, that's interesting... Maybe that is the reason why Dracula was cropped out of Simon's Quest's European box art.
I would agree, but from my perspective, only the best of the best on N64, like Conkers Bad Fur Day, I can look at and say "This looks really good", without an asterisk or without speaking comparatively to the rest of the library. Meanwhile games like FFIX, Legacy of Kain, and RE3 on PS1 still look fantastic to me even today.
@@Ryan-Petre Rare in general was the king of N64 graphics. No surprise they outhrone Castlevania 64 by a mile. Though my personal favorite looking N64 game is Kirby 64. It's simplistic beuty is so beutiful. However, if I am gunning for more realistic N64 graphics, my pick would be Sin and Punishment.
@@rac1equalsbestgame853 Yeah, Sin and Punishment does look great, I'd say it's about as close as the N64 gets to touching the best of the PS1, outside of the realm of simple, cartoony games. It's great that it's finally getting exposure via Switch Online.
@@Ryan-Petre Honestly, I prefer PS1 graphics even at their worst, for some reason I find myself actually nostalgic for PS1 graphics even though I wasn't a sperm at the time. Megaman Legends 1 and 2, Crash and Spyro and MGS have such a pixelated low poly glory
The N64 Castlevania games look better than the PS2 and PS3 3D Castlevanias. Tha art was incredible. If this had the graphics on the level of modern games it would get more respect