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Underrated

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: May 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'm sure many people thought that it would never happen, but in 1994, it finally did - Konami released a Castlevania game for a Sega system! It was in that year that Castlevania: Bloodlines was released on the Sega Genesis. The entry tends to be one of the most overlooked entries in the series. Is it an underrated masterpiece, or are fans right to overlook it? Read on for my review.

PROS:
-IT'S THE ONLY CASTLEVANIA GAME FOR THE GENESIS. Accordingly, if you've got nothing but a Genesis, and you're a fan of the Castlevania series, you'll definitely want to pick this one up.
-BY GENESIS STANDARDS, THESE GRAPHICS AREN'T BAD. Sure, they can't hold a candle to those found on the Super Nintendo, but they still manage to get the job done.
-YOU GET A CHOICE OF TWO CHARACTERS. One of these characters is your typical Belmont ancestor, armed with his trusty whip, and the other is a Hispanic warrior who is armed with a spear. Being able to play as different characters is one of the things that made some entries in the series so great, and I'm glad to see that feature make a return here.
-THERE ARE SOME WEAPONS FEATURED ONLY IN THIS GAME. Many of the secondary weapons your characters can obtain to use against the forces of evil in this game have never been featured in any other game in the series. That's a shame, because they're pretty cool.
-YOU CAN SAVE YOUR PROGRESS WITH PASSWORDS. It's always good to have a way to be able to save your game. A failure to have such a mechanism has ruined many a potentially good game.
-IT'S CHALLENGING. If you're a fan of side-scrollers and you're looking for an intense challenge, you'll find it here!

CONS:
-MANY GAMERS MAY BE TURNED OFF BY THE EXTREME DIFFICULTY. There are passwords, but they don't really make this game much easier. The stages are huge and difficult, and the monsters that have taken them over will show you no mercy. Although many gamers like a good challenge, this may be a bit much for some.
-THE SERIES JUST DOESN'T WORK WELL ON A GENESIS CONTROLLER. Maybe it's just me, but I could never get the hang of playing a Castlevania game on the system's controller. Of course, this is easily remedied by buying a better control device.

OVERALL:
Overall this is a very good entry in the series, and it's a shame so many fans of the series tend to overlook it. If you're one of the gamers out there who still has a Genesis, and you're a fan of Castlevania games or side-scrollers, don't hesitate to pick this one up.

An underrated game, not nearly as bad as people say it is.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: April 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

[IF THEE HATES THIS GAME, THOU HATH WASTED THY [DARN] LIFE. OH, BTW, I'M A BIG CASTLEVANIA FAN.]
Bloodlines came two years after Super Castlevania IV and while IV has some better graphics and definitely some better sound quality, it has its own merits. Sure, you go kill Dracula... so what? Actually, the plotline itself is a refreshing change from the others. In this one, you can choose to be either John Morris or Eric Lecarde, which allows a different change of pace of having just one character to start off with (faintly similar like Castlevania III for the NES, except in that game you start with just one). The graphics are essentially good for the Genesis, so I have no complaints (YES, they're better than the NES).

Overall? A great game. It may not touch Symphony of the Night, but this game is ESSENTIAL to any Genesis collection. It may be difficult, but it's WORTH IT. Personally, I rank Super Castlevania IV a little higher, but that's just because it's my favorite. Is it better? Judge for yourself. Nevertheless, get it. After all, it IS Castlevania, and you would be depriving yourselves without it.

An actual original Castlevania plot!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I love the castlevania games, but have you noticed the plots seem to always be the same? You always have to go through Dracula's castle and fight Dracula. But in Bloodlines, in the first level, Dracula's castle was already destroyed. You have to go through the ruins. In the next level, you are put in Greece to an Atlantic Shrine. And that's just for starters! Beautiful graphic for it's time mixed with a soundtrack you may see from other games, (the music from the Atlantis Shrine is the same music from the Art Tower in Legacy of Darkness...) if you can find Bloodlines, it is one of the greatest games you will find.

BACK TO THE PAST

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I HAVE BEEN A BIG CASTLEVANIA FAN FOR A LONG TIME THIS GAME IS THE BEST CASTLEVANIA EVER I CANT REMEMBER MUCH ABOUT IT I WAS 4 OR 5 WHEN I PLAYED IT BUT I REMEMBER IT WAS MY FAVERATE I LOVED IT UNTIL THOSE REJECTS CUT OFF SEGA CHANNEL CASTLEVANIA NEEDS A MEGA COLLECTION LIKE SONIC HAVE CASTLEVANIA 1 2 3 4 CASLEVANIA X AND BLOODLINES PEOPLE WE HAVE GOT TO FIGHT TO KEEP OLD SCHOOL GAMES ALIVE WHOS WITH ME

Castlevania

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

a must have for castlevania fans,and i mean a must have,this game is awesome!you can play as either John Morris the guy with the whip and Eric Lecarde the guy with the spear. 6 stages of non-stop action.The Graphics are as good as the sega Genesis can get. i wonder if anyone cares? this game is kinda old,huh?

bloodlines has 4 fathers and no babies

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: August 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

4 fathers of this game are castlevania 1, not 2, 3, 4, and legends. "no babies" implies that there hansn't been a castlevania quite like it since. straight linear levels prgressions w/ boss at end of level. no eqipment or ability upgrades (minor item power ups think "power up" in altered beast) 2 playable charachters, infiite pits, boss paterns, cheap deaths, romantic atmospheres(ah greece, romania, industrial russia?)...but lacks the non-linear gameplay first spawned by dracula x pc engine (avoid snes dracula x heir equivalent)) and then enhanced by: "symphony of alucard, circle of the useless spell books, aria of should have been titled white night concherto, and harmony of 2 castle rip off of the iverted castle induced by the grandady". not castle 1, played it recently very cheap hits but solid enough control. In conclusion I have decided not to buy the new castlevania: "lament of innocence" due to it's devil may cry heritage. I am glad footsteps are made away from 2d and the tried and true formulas of symphony, but I want a remake of castle 2. I guess you will have to look there for why. conclusion...castlevania meets smetroid=it is not...sonic versus mario=getting more linear...decap attack versus chakan=sounds like my teen spirit

As I remember...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: June 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I went back and played this recently. As I remember, it had GREAT music, like many Castlevania games... but was really slow, really really easy, and really really really short. Other than that, not such a bad game. I liked the shape shifting cat boss.

CASTLEVANIA BLOODLINES=SEGA GENESIS CLASSIC

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: July 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Castlevania is a series that has stood the test of time all the way back from the original in the NES days. Castlevania Bloodlines proves another great Castlevania game. This game has probably the best plot of the series and has cool location such as Rome,London and more. Also just like Castlevania 3 Dracula's Curse you choose two different characters with different moves,strengths,abilities which also means mutiple endings. Secondly these Castlevania is the only uncut and unedited version to come to the US,and we can thank Sega and Konami for this release.OVERALL GREAT RARE OOP SEGA GENESIS GAME AND GREAT FOR ANY CASTLEVANIA FAN,ALSO CHECK OUT SUPER CASTLEVANIA/SNES,AND CASTLEVANIA S.O.T.N./PLAYSTATION,( BUT SKIP THE [bad] DRACULA X FOR SNES,ITS THE ONLY CASTLEVANIA I COULDN'T STAND AND THE (N64) CASTLEVANIAS TOO)
(Graphics= 3/5 Vibrant colors and detail,plus blood and effects don't hurt,Some of the decent graphics and some really bland at times )
(Sound=4.5/5 Excellent Castlevania theme music,great clear effects utilizing the Genesis sound capilbilites)
(Controls=5/5 Fans will feel right at home with Bloodlines controls ,its similiar to Super Castlevania and S.O.T.N.)
(Fun/Replay 3/5

Great graphics serving a ludicrous premise...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Following the lead of the previous year's Japanese-only PC-Engine classic Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (Rondo of Blood,) Bloodlines is highly ambitious in attempting to create a sense of a bridge between the old CastleVania and the new. It even copies the Dracula X Chi no Rondo "boss that throws a ton of the bosses you've already beaten" formula, but it allows you to fall back on the trusty old password system. The game is even, but it fails to rank among the best games in the series for a number of reasons.

It's interesting to point out how portions of the level designs were reused for next year's (1995's) Super Nintendo/Super Famicom games Dracula X and XX, respectively. That tells us its designers were strangely attracted to some points of their bizzare little creation.

On the plus side, the environments are varied, the music is great for the Genesis (composed by the same person who went on to write the music for Symphony of the Night/Nocturne in the Moonlight) and the graphics are colorful. The special effects are considered by many to be in the same league as Contra The Hard Corps and even Gunstar Heroes, and it certainly comes close.

Wait...I didn't just say the graphics are colorful, did I? Drat. The graphics are stronger than many other Genesis games, but I feel a sense of horror at putting this title above Comix Zone or Ecco. Of course, no Genesis titles are truly ever beautiful--ask Rembrandt to paint the Night Watch and then squeeze that into the severely limited Genesis palette. Color and shading is central to CastleVania as we know it today and have known it since 1991 with Super CastleVania 4, and the Genesis doesn't really allow much in the way of subtlety. In order to make up for the low palette, the game's critters are instead drawn in a way similar to your average early '90s Genesis title, in a cartoony fashion.

As a result, the game is somewhat bizzare. Ingenious and silly creature designs freely mingle here; from the old standby of the zombie to the skeletons refitted with World War I era helmets, the common enemies of the game look a bit too garish and outlandish for my taste. I like a lot of what is done in this game, and some things (such as the "cut-up" AND upside areas in the final stage) haven't been done again anywhere, but the game gets a bit far off track at times.

Of course, the controls are perfectly adequate for myself, but they aren't without fault (each character has a major quirk with their weapons' special function and it adds to the confusion at first). The stair climbing animation, however, is particularly horrid.

Konami, as you could guess, can be counted to make great use of that 8 Megabit cart space; the programming gives us something that the Super Nintendo was hard pressed to do: move a ton of large sprites across the screen quickly and easily. The limited space has a drawback, though: if you're used to the modern masterpiece CV games on CD format (Symphony from 1997 and Rondo from 1993; even CastleVania Chronicles to a degree) you'll miss the great amount of interaction with the environment. That's simply a drawback inherent to many titles in this series. For over half a decade it has remained one of the last of the old "barebones gameplay" examples of CV, and likely will remain so unless Konami changes the formula after three GBA games (the as-yet unreleased AoS appears to follow the format of the Metroid-style CV). (And, a year later, I can say it did.)

It's pretty hard to go wrong buying this game as cheap as it may be found. While the Japanese version will snag some good cash if you let yourself get hornswaggled, the US version is basically more Genesis ballast to get rid of as far as many game stores are concerned and can be found for a few dollars--even complete or unopened.

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