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

@anasbakhit4303

5 жыл бұрын

tasty barbecue chicken inside coffins.....

@rayfran06

3 жыл бұрын

I like on their motorcycle the plate number is 666. A detail I remembered when one of those shits hit me during the nitro don't get hit don't jump mission for that Magick seal to fight the bull

@guitarzilla555

Жыл бұрын

That fog was usually covering up N64's poor draw distance, but it worked well for the atmosphere in this game. It also seems a little better implemented than other N64 games.

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.

@tallonIV

5 жыл бұрын

I agree. It was just different so critics ragged on it. Remember Lords of Shadow 2? Most critics hated that game because it was different, but it was a totally awesome game/awesome sequel. Most people tend to cry if it's not the game they want, including the critics unfortunately.

@ZetsubouFallen

4 жыл бұрын

@@tallonIV LOS2 problem was the simple plot and really bad stealth segments..

@ShadowSumac

4 жыл бұрын

Camera is bad and controls are sluggish. It is not bad first attempt (for KECK) at 3D platformer, but there are objectively bad things about its gameplay.

@TheT3rr0rMask

3 жыл бұрын

@@ShadowSumac Can chalk that up to early 3D days. Pretty much every 3D action platformer of that era had problems. Considering when it came out and even today compared to most other games of the time it's really polished. Soul Reaver has problems, Shadow Man has problems, Mario 64 has problems, Tomb Raider has problems, Resident Evil has problems. Doesnt make them horrid garbage and they're still considered classics by many despite the early 3D limitations.

@seanmills7586

3 жыл бұрын

@@ShadowSumac i love c64 but the camera isn't bad its horrible lol. It's the worst part of the 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.

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.

@rickylovesyou

5 жыл бұрын

Sorry for your loss dude. My roommate also loved playing n64 back in the day, anything on the system takes me back to those days.

@WH250398

5 жыл бұрын

Hit and run is one of the most moronic things a person could do.

@SotNist

5 жыл бұрын

RIP

@xBINARYGODx

5 жыл бұрын

Hopefully the driver got what they deserved - the prison term they deserved.

@DueM

5 жыл бұрын

@@xBINARYGODx sadly not, i only got the description of the vehicle. they t-boned my friends mothers car then backed up and took off, David was in the passenger seat. They turned off life support after two days.

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

@Bigdaddymittens

5 жыл бұрын

It's one of the few castlevania games I've never played. It honestly looks really good even today. A bit blurry, but it looks quite aesthetically pleasing. I have the rom on my PC, but I want to play it on original hardware.

@Jucelegario

5 жыл бұрын

Is there a cycle perfect emulator for the N64? I can't find my N64 to use an everdrive on it and I feel it wont be emulated correctly.

@carllavery82

5 жыл бұрын

One of my favourite games on the N64, I absolutely loved it

@redcrimson1028

5 жыл бұрын

Agreed,i did like the music, castlevania games are known for that

@RightNowMan

5 жыл бұрын

Me too.

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

@igodreamer7096

5 жыл бұрын

Cheap move, indeed

@dun0790

5 жыл бұрын

Its konami they can always go lower

@pokepress

5 жыл бұрын

@@dun0790 Not sure if this qualifies, but here in Wisconsin a year or two ago there was a Frogger scratch game from the state lottery. Any thoughts?

@dun0790

5 жыл бұрын

@@pokepress sounds like a step up for them its shady but honest unlike them lol

@stansteez

5 жыл бұрын

No matter how much you try to sweeten it: it remains a horrible n64 game with bad game design, horrible controls and bland graphics and a sterile feeling world.

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

@SirYodaJedi

5 жыл бұрын

To be fair, that's the case with basically any DF Retro.

@Clay3613

5 жыл бұрын

Be warned, you will break controllers out of frustration.

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.

@AmnesiaGm1

5 жыл бұрын

@A World Under A Spell /watch?v=2Gakq4dNN6M

@earthwormjim91

5 жыл бұрын

@@AmnesiaGm1 messed up the link

Who wants digital foundry to complete castlevania 64.

@soverysleepy

5 жыл бұрын

yes i was so disappointed it ended so soon in the game

@mariuszj3826

5 жыл бұрын

Sadly, the channel is a full time job so I doubt he has enough time to dedicate so much of it. On top of that he still does these in-depth DF Retro series.

@TheLastLineLive

5 жыл бұрын

@@mariuszj3826 well it doesn't have to be in one go. I think people would be fine for a half hour-1 hour of raw gameplay every week or 2 like this.

@Jehudimedudi

5 жыл бұрын

He would be quite disappointed when reaching the elevator in the castle. Because on easy mode the game ends there.

@sammyg4806

5 жыл бұрын

@@Jehudimedudi Indeed...I was very pissed when I was 14 back in 1999 and this happened lol

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

@jonteguy

5 жыл бұрын

This comment made my day. Thank you sir.

@madfinntech

5 жыл бұрын

I think Japanese friends shouldn't miss the party. Invite Toyota, Mazda, and Nissan as well!

@RetroGamerBB

5 жыл бұрын

My good friends Aston Martin and Rolls Royce are lonely lol

@InFlamesor12

5 жыл бұрын

@@madfinntech I think those indie fellas shouldn't be invited into the triple A company, only Lexus, Infinity and maybe Acura should be invited imo.

@InFlamesor12

5 жыл бұрын

@@RetroGamerBB Yep, I don't understand how John forgot about those oh and you forgot Bentley aswell, he is a good friend too

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!

@christopherrobyn4416

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah they all have this mysterious and magical atmosphere

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 :)

@GameslordXY

3 жыл бұрын

Like a Raytracing? 😁

@guitarzilla555

Жыл бұрын

Mirrors were usually a copy of the room and a character that moves identically, the "mirror" was a hole between the two rooms. Hair physics were animations, sometimes a basic bounce system but no physics calculations. Developers used tricks to simulate the systems we have today, sometimes they even looked better due to art style.

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!

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

@His0ka

5 жыл бұрын

Were the other n64 games so bad that this is one of the Best ?

@ultrairrelevantnobody1862

5 жыл бұрын

Most N64 games have aged just as well as the best Phillips CD-I games.

@retrosoul8770

5 жыл бұрын

Maybe if it came out before Symphony, the reception may have been different, or alongside Tomb Raider

@Saberwaisen

5 жыл бұрын

@@His0ka Besides 1st parties and Rare games the N64 library is pretty mediocre.

@ultrairrelevantnobody1862

5 жыл бұрын

I'm very mixed on the Nintendo 64 in general. I like the controller and some of the games on the system are great (Super Mario 64, Mario Party 3, Mystical Ninja 1 and 2, Diddy Kong Racing, Glover, etc). However most games on the system are okay at best and haven't aged well. Even games like Earthworm Jim 3D which were somewhat panned at the time are somewhat looked back on as just another typical okay at best N64 game (also I have the unpopular opinion of thinking Earthworm Jim 3D is more fun to play than games like Donkey Kong 64 and several other games at the time).

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

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.

@Renk1

5 жыл бұрын

Jonathan Packer it’s great that the Rare games were updated to X Enhanced, I tested both Viva Piñatas and Banjo-Kazooie, they looked amazing.

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

@redcrimson1028

5 жыл бұрын

I can relate to that next played legacy of darkness

@drlight6677

5 жыл бұрын

Legacy of Darkness is awesome, it's a Top 10 N64 game imo

@ArmandQ.

5 жыл бұрын

Isn't Legacy of Darkness sort of a Director's cut of this game ? I remember they added a new area on a ship at the beginning but then the game was almost identical. Back then I felt that they fixed some of the glitches and control issues as well, like climbing and hanging from ledges. It's all from memories, I could be wrong.

@occupantvillainyoutbreak

5 жыл бұрын

Armand Q. There was a lot added. New character, levels, music, but it reworked the old game too.

@geoffreychauvin1474

5 жыл бұрын

Armand Q. As far as I am aware it’s basically closer to what was initially promised at the original games reveal. The only real difference I noticed was that the fourth playable character was initially presented to be a chainsaw wielding Frankenstein vampire hunter wearing a crocodile Dundee hat, rather than Henry in the final game. What’s funny is he is basically in the game, just as an enemy

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.

@SpookySkellyGurl

5 жыл бұрын

They could always do a collection with the two N64 games, the third Game Boy game, and Dracula X for the SNES. I assume they wouldn't include Rondo of Blood on account of that PS4-exclusive collection with it and Symphony of the Night, but they could include the SNES version. I know I'm in the minority here but I prefer that version anyway.

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

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

@karlandersson4350

5 жыл бұрын

Could be somewhat true. I have never been much into N64 so for most part i have little knowledge of the games of the system. Avgn is what ive seen of this one so i thought it was a garbage release. Interesting with another view here.

@dun0790

5 жыл бұрын

Maybe i need to replay it but back when i was 10 or 11 it felt really stiff and slow and just not worth the effort music was good though

@ShadowSumac

4 жыл бұрын

Not really. A lot of people didn't like CV64 because it wasn't like Symphony.

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 🙂

@Foas

5 жыл бұрын

This is DF Retro after all, kinda fitting :^)

@MartinBarreby

5 жыл бұрын

I would guess it is rather the other guys mic more than the call itself. And if that's the case it wouldn't help to record it localy. However the "phone effect" is kind of charmig. :)

@sasquatchintime

2 жыл бұрын

It's a similar effect to back in the 80s-90s when you would call your friend on a landline phone and just chat for hours, tying up the house phone, (talking about nothing particularly important) other it being a way to hang-out together.

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

@jacobsoper4708

5 жыл бұрын

@Levi Jordan Generic sound library, most likely. There's probably someone out there who knows where the sound comes from.

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!

@brandonginsburg3120

Жыл бұрын

I am guessing you are referring, in part, to the cool diarrhea (that's just what I call it) cloud swirling above Ganon's castle. Looking at this video, I really like the clouds in n64 Castlevania too.

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.

@ZackSNetwork

5 жыл бұрын

I know how it feels about a series that you like.

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.

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

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!

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

Great video! If I ever make lets play video, it would be in this format! with the soundtrack sample at the end that was very fun.

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.

DF Retro is best DF

This was a fun episode, great format!

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

@RenegadeC

5 жыл бұрын

I beat CV64 on keyboard as well, kb works and I love it for fighting games

@ShadowSumac

4 жыл бұрын

@@RenegadeC Same here. Used keyboard.

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

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!

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

This was great! More of this and more DF Retro in general please.

Nice vid, hope to see some more DF let’s plays in the future

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.

@SherlockHyde

5 жыл бұрын

Given that Symphony of the Night and Rondo have just recently been collected(though not without some problems), I'd actually rather a second collection have Legacy of Darkness, the GBA games, and the DS games if they found a suitable workaround for not having the second screen.

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

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.

Really enjoyed this!

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 ;-)

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

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

@GagzGaming

5 жыл бұрын

I played and beat both Lament of innocence and curse of Darkness and the levels were just repetitive and boring. You always had a fork and no matter which way you took the paths eventually crossed. Just zero atmosphere and zero level design. I enjoyed both games but they were now where near the level design of this game

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

@random_gamer_guy82

5 жыл бұрын

Mine was 18 wheeler on gamecube 😂

@jhkuno88

Жыл бұрын

Universally panned? The game has an 8 on Metacrtic and sold about 500.000 copies (which is pretty good by N64 3rd party standards). The only people who hated it were 2D Cstlvania cryabies. C64 is better than any 3D action adventure game on PSX

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.

@solcreate490

5 жыл бұрын

It at least pushed the series in new directions. The Metroidvania series became retread after retread, where much of the graphics work was being lifted directly from games released in 1993 (Rondo) and 1997 (Symphony).

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

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...

Damn, that's awesome. Digital Foundry never stops delivering. My favorite content regarding video games on KZread. And the extra amount of care and effort John puts into his videos never stops to impress me.

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.

Fascinating and so interesting, thanks guys once again.

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

@jarg8

5 жыл бұрын

They're backwards compatible on Xbox one

@SotNist

5 жыл бұрын

@@jarg8 even Mirrors of Fate, the HD remaster of the 3DS Lords of Shadow game

@HsienKoMeiLingFormerYANG

5 жыл бұрын

Hold back on CV: Lord of Shadow 2 + CV: Mirror of Fate bundle on Nintendo NX cart.

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.

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

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).

Great episode. Keep'em coming.

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.

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

@Psydrre

5 жыл бұрын

That is a cool detail, thanks for sharing!

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

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.

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 love the Saturn boot up noise with your logo!

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.

What amazing video !!! Again !!! Congratulations!!! A big and maniac fan of you !!!

i always loved the sound of the closing necrocomicon... necromanticnovel... that save file book.

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

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 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..

Great video, more would be great.

Fun DF! What a wild frontier back then..

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.

Loved this video! Please do a proper DF Retro on Castlevania (64)!

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.

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.

@montygill2835

5 жыл бұрын

Enjoyed this game

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".

@kazaloolovesgames

5 жыл бұрын

I adore Parasite Eve and I even like the sequel. I would love for him to look at those games.

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

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.

Watching this it urged me to watch a Shadow Man DF Retro! Love to see info on the ports

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.

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.

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.

2021 here, i played this game, and the other one for N64, recently for the first time and i liked!! Great video DF

Love this game. One of the first games I ever played so it has a lot of nostalgic value for me. Also, I really enjoy seeing you play the game as well!

4 years after this game, Star Wars Galaxies was released. That just blows my mind. It's crazy how fast tech and gaming advanced at this time.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The in game model looks better than the actual render lol, great video!

Now I want to go back and play this. Though it would be nice if we got a full redo on say the switch. I think with a little spit and polish this game would be really fun.

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.

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.

loved it john! Audi was great as well, wouldnt mind hearing more from him either :)