…Wow, man, this episode brought flooding back a ton of great memories and moments. Again, this series and particularly this “silver age” of Castlevania games (As you accurately coined as such.) is something that I grew up with and kinda defined my teenage years and early adulthood. And while I agree that six games in the span of six years might seem as much… I loved and cherish every single one of them, and I do wish we could get more of that style of sprite 2D Castlvenaia games.
Anyway, I could write paragraphs upon paragraphs about this, and my opinion on every singe game and it’s music… But let’s be honest it’s clear that no one really gives a fuck, specially when I write a lot. So I’ll just finish this by saying that I really, really love this podcast, I am absolutely loving Castlemania month, and thank you so much guys for making this happen.
Lastly though… YES Henry! An entire episode dedicated to Mario RPG music would be greatly appreciated! 😀
I absolutely loved AoS. Brings back so many good memories, I used to sneak my GBA into my programming classes in high school and just listen to the music from the sound test. Good times….
Although the GBA had some incredible music, that speaker really inhibited the quality of it (use headphones, I know).
Circle of the Moon had great music, but I think it’s the weakest of the GBA titles. And screw that absurdly dark screen. Even with the wormlight that crap was annoying. Its versions of “Sinking Old Sanctuary,” “Aquarius,” and “Clockwork” are really great.
Harmony of Dissonance’s music is an acquired taste, I feel. I remember a lot of people didn’t like it initially, but it grew on me. I think people were just disappointed at it being mostly comprised of original tracks. “Successor of Fate” is one of my favorites from the game. It’s dramatic, and reminds me of when I got it in Poland in the summer of 2003. I still have printed-out GameFAQs maps of each GBA/DS entry somewhere. I dunno how I would’ve finished those games without them.
Never realized that “Heart of Fire” was remixed in Aria of Sorrow. That’s amazing. “Ruined Castle Corridor” and “Clock Tower” are my favorites from that one. Dawn of Sorrow was awesome, and the last DS one I finished. “Pitch Black Intrusion” is super catchy and “Into the Dark Night” is freaking epic for its fast-paced double-bass drumming, bass-slapping and Konami-esque orchestral hits. I want to see that covered with a live band so badly!
I need to nab Portrait of Ruin & Order of Ecclesia, but that Death/Dracula fight you mentioned sounds terrifying.
A small suggestion: Show the tracklist/timestamps for people not well-versed in CV music.
Just wanted to let you know, that thanks to the nostalgia trip you’ve led me into with this Castlemania month, I’ve decided to purchase CV: Chronicles on the PSN. And i wanted to thank you for it! Some good dose of old retro challenge was something that I sorely missed.
Also, I’m itching to play some of those portable games again… maybe when I go to visit the USA in November I’ll get Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow at bargain price… Or maybe I’ll buy it on amazon trough a link from lasertime XD
I’m just guessing here, but I think you really can’t get rid of that “white noise” in GBA music, because, if it was something related to the GBA hardware, why would emulators emulate that? And even if there were a reason to emulate that (nostalgia?), I think it would be kinda hard to do.
Therefore, my theory is that, as the hardware could only reproduce audio in a low bit-rate, there was no reason to store high bit-rate samples on the cartridge, so, the samples are really low-quality.
Hells yeah! Man, I can’t wait to listen to this one! :3 Out of all the castlevania eras, this is the one I am by far the most familiar with! ^^
…Wow, man, this episode brought flooding back a ton of great memories and moments. Again, this series and particularly this “silver age” of Castlevania games (As you accurately coined as such.) is something that I grew up with and kinda defined my teenage years and early adulthood. And while I agree that six games in the span of six years might seem as much… I loved and cherish every single one of them, and I do wish we could get more of that style of sprite 2D Castlvenaia games.
Anyway, I could write paragraphs upon paragraphs about this, and my opinion on every singe game and it’s music… But let’s be honest it’s clear that no one really gives a fuck, specially when I write a lot. So I’ll just finish this by saying that I really, really love this podcast, I am absolutely loving Castlemania month, and thank you so much guys for making this happen.
Lastly though… YES Henry! An entire episode dedicated to Mario RPG music would be greatly appreciated! 😀
I absolutely loved AoS. Brings back so many good memories, I used to sneak my GBA into my programming classes in high school and just listen to the music from the sound test. Good times….
Although the GBA had some incredible music, that speaker really inhibited the quality of it (use headphones, I know).
Circle of the Moon had great music, but I think it’s the weakest of the GBA titles. And screw that absurdly dark screen. Even with the wormlight that crap was annoying. Its versions of “Sinking Old Sanctuary,” “Aquarius,” and “Clockwork” are really great.
Harmony of Dissonance’s music is an acquired taste, I feel. I remember a lot of people didn’t like it initially, but it grew on me. I think people were just disappointed at it being mostly comprised of original tracks. “Successor of Fate” is one of my favorites from the game. It’s dramatic, and reminds me of when I got it in Poland in the summer of 2003. I still have printed-out GameFAQs maps of each GBA/DS entry somewhere. I dunno how I would’ve finished those games without them.
Never realized that “Heart of Fire” was remixed in Aria of Sorrow. That’s amazing. “Ruined Castle Corridor” and “Clock Tower” are my favorites from that one. Dawn of Sorrow was awesome, and the last DS one I finished. “Pitch Black Intrusion” is super catchy and “Into the Dark Night” is freaking epic for its fast-paced double-bass drumming, bass-slapping and Konami-esque orchestral hits. I want to see that covered with a live band so badly!
I need to nab Portrait of Ruin & Order of Ecclesia, but that Death/Dracula fight you mentioned sounds terrifying.
A small suggestion: Show the tracklist/timestamps for people not well-versed in CV music.
P.S. YEAH JET SET RADIOOOO
P.P.S. YEAH MARIO RPGGGGG
P.P.P.S. Breath of Fire too. Someday.
These three Castlevania episodes are great!!!! Thank you very much for putting them together
[…] Onward to the GBA and DS era, including Circle of the Moon, Aria of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and more. Whip it good, whip it well! […]
woot
cant wait to listen
Damn, these episodes have been awesome. I never played the GBA Castlevanias, I think I’ll have to go find them, now.
XD WOAH YAH BABY! TOKYO ELEVATOR!
one of the prizes of my podcast collections!
YO ELSTON!
Just wanted to let you know, that thanks to the nostalgia trip you’ve led me into with this Castlemania month, I’ve decided to purchase CV: Chronicles on the PSN. And i wanted to thank you for it! Some good dose of old retro challenge was something that I sorely missed.
Also, I’m itching to play some of those portable games again… maybe when I go to visit the USA in November I’ll get Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow at bargain price… Or maybe I’ll buy it on amazon trough a link from lasertime XD
Only played a couple of the GBA games but they had outstanding music. This episode made me want to go back and check out the DS games
I’m just guessing here, but I think you really can’t get rid of that “white noise” in GBA music, because, if it was something related to the GBA hardware, why would emulators emulate that? And even if there were a reason to emulate that (nostalgia?), I think it would be kinda hard to do.
Therefore, my theory is that, as the hardware could only reproduce audio in a low bit-rate, there was no reason to store high bit-rate samples on the cartridge, so, the samples are really low-quality.
Yeah, even music CDs you buy (for Harmony etc) have that white noise hum :/