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The Sequel No One Asked For! – Lords of Shadow 2 Trailer
Did you ask for a sequel to Mercury Steam’s tepid 2010 release, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow? I know I sure as hell didn’t.
For those who didn’t finish the original, you might be a little confused as to why Gabriel is killing knights in a seemingly indiscriminate manner. As it happens, he ended up becoming a vampire for really no good reason, dubbing himself “Dracula” in the ending to the DLC. So now I guess he’s evil?
This is what Castlevania’s been reduced to. Sigh.
Like this:
Castlevania’s 25 years old today (in America)
Hey folks, one of my favorite franchises has hit the magical 25th birthday today…in America, anyway. Nester did celebrate the Japanese anniversary last year, but I tend to like focusing on American anniversaries meself. Alas, I don’t have much time to ruminate today, but there is no shortage of CV love on LVLs. Here’s some choice bits:
Opinions:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Nester’s Favorite Games:
Castlevania: Bloodlines (1994)
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (2006)
Nester’s Feature: The Illusions of Castlevania
Wildcat’s Favorite Franchises: Castlevania
Music Selections from Song Highlights after the jump! Read the rest of this entry
Like this:
Gamer’s Playlist – Spring Break Game Remixfest 2012 Final Day
The final day of our remixfest is at hand. At this exact moment, I’m getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist. XD Anyway, here’s two “official” remixes for you to round out our remix marathon.
Fumigation Refuge – Michiru Yamane (Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, DS, Konami, Michiru Yamane)
Mr. X Stages (Special) – Yuko Takehara (Mega Man 6, NES, Capcom, Yuko Takehara)
Gamer’s Playlist: Spring Break Game Remixfest 2012 Day 4
Let’s rock out a little today, shall we? Snappleman/virt will deliver a Zelda: Wind Waker medley of epic proportions, while The Advantage put their own spin on a Castlevania classic, Bloody Tears.
Full Mast – Snappleman and Virt (Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Gamecube, Nintendo, Koji Kondo, Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, Toru Minegishi)
Woods (aka Bloody Tears) – The Advantage (Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, NES, Konami, Kenichi Matsubara)
Virtual Console No-Shows: The Goonies II (NES)
Hm, America is apparently taking a significant break from the VC…again. XD Onward, with another game that’s worthy of consideration!
98. The Goonies II (NES, Konami)
Brief Synopsis – Loosely based on the movie The Goonies (note – Americans only saw a NES release for the sequel to the original Famicom game, thus the inexplicable “II” in the title. The first did see limited release in Nintendo’s Vs. System or Play Choice-10 arcade cabinets), you play as Mikey, who must rescue the rest of the Goonies and a randomly determined mermaid (wha?) from a small-time criminal family, the Fratellis. You play the game in two perspectives, side-scrolling and first person, and the game has a Metroid-esque feel in how it progresses, with Mikey able to improve his skills to access new areas previously blocked off from him. I haven’t had the good fortune to play it, but it’s supposedly very good.
Why is it Missing? – Two major reasons here: one is that it is a licensed game based on a movie, and two, we haven’t seen anything from Konami come west in a long time. I suspect that Konami isn’t too keen on continuing to support the Wii VC, and especially not too keen on re-licensing this game no matter how good it is. Let’s hope the NA/PAL 3DS Virtual Console will see some of their Game Boy games they’ve released in Japan recently, so I don’t have to write posts on those. XD
Other (Legal) Options – The NES is the lone console for you here.
News Roundup – 3/21/2012
Hey-o, I’ve conquered most of my school demons, so I’m able to do a little bit of reporting today. 
Fire Emblem: Awakening has a new trailer highlighting the mysterious masked character calling himself Marth. Is this the same Marth as the prince hero of lore?
Some other details can be seen here.
Another new character for Persona 4 Arena’s console versions – Elizabeth, Igor’s assistant in Persona 3, will be joining the fray with Thanatos serving her. Labrys is also confirmed to be playable for consoles.
Some combat details for Assassin’s Creed III: Conner will be able to be dual-armed, and can use a tomahawk and a knife in battle, for example. He also has a bow and a chain dart weapon, and will be capable of riding horses in the game.
Frogger will be seeing yet another comeback, this time for WiiWare, PSN and Xbox Live in a Hyper Arcade Edition. It even features Contra and Castlevania skins (hey, how about new games in those franchises, Konami?).
Tunage – Norio Hanzawa
Image source: Giant Bomb
Norio Hanzawa (also credited as NON, Kazuo Hanzawa, Star Hanzawa, and Playback Hanzawa) is a video game music composer currently employed at Treasure Co. Ltd. He originally worked at Konami as a member of Konami Kukeiha Club where his first known credited game was Castlevania: The Adventure for the original Game Boy in 1989. In 1992, he was one of a handful of Konami employees who left the company to form Treasure, and is currently Treasure’s only full-time music composer.
How can it be that the soundtrack for Gunstar Heroes is notable enough to have its own page on Wikipedia (two, in fact!), yet the man who composed it is not? Norio Hanzawa’s musical scores are a perfect fit for Treasure’s classical sensibilities. They have a timelessness to them, capturing the essence of vintage video game music with their use of synth and catchy themes, yet still sounding right at home on modern consoles. Treasure’s games are known for their distinctive charm, but a large part of that charm would be missing without Hanzawa’s amazing compositions.
Discography
Castlevania: The Adventure (with S. Fukutake and H. Funauchi) (1989)
Quarth (1989)
RollerGames (1990)
The Simpsons (arcade version) (1991)
Bucky O’Hare (arcade version) (1992)
Gunstar Heroes (1993)
Dynamite Headdy (with Nazo Suzuki, Koji Yamada and Aki Hata) (1994)
Yū Yū Hakusho: Makyō Tōitsusen (with Nazo Suzuki and Aki Hata) (1994)
Alien Soldier (1995)
Guardian Heroes (1996)
Mischief Makers (1997)
Rakugaki Showtime (1999)
Bangai-O (Dreamcast version, with Aki Hata and Toshiya Yamanaka) (2000)
Silpheed: The Lost Planet (with Kass Satomari and Tomy Sonoda) (2000)
Stretch Panic (2001)
Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Bad Dream (2002)
Wario World (with Minako Hamano) (2003)
Astro Boy: Omega Factor (with Tsuyoshi Kaneko) (2003)
Advance Guardian Heroes (2004)
Gunstar Super Heroes (2005)
Bleach: The Blade of Fate (2007)
Bangai-O Spirits (2008)
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (2010)
Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury (2011)
Selected Samples
Castlevania: The Adventure
The Simpsons (arcade)
“Downtown Springfield ~ Help Maggie”
Gunstar Heroes
“Stage 1″
Alien Soldier
“Side Limits ~Flashback~”
Guardian Heroes
“Dear ‘Amadeus’”
Mischief Makers
“Esperance 1″
Wario World
Gunstar Super Heroes
“Title”
Bangai-O Spirits
“Title”
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
“Successor”
Sources
MobyGames – http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,97690/
VGMdb – http://vgmdb.net/artist/1587
Giant Bomb – http://www.giantbomb.com/norio-hanzawa/72-58331/
Video Game Music Preservation Foundation – http://www.vgmpf.com/Composer.php?Id=NorioHanzawa
Additional Links
Artist page at Overclocked Remix
If there are any corrections or additions that need to be made to this article, please let us know in the comments!
Gamer’s Playlist – “Theme of Simon Belmont”
This is my favorite of all the Castlevania theme songs. It’s the anthem for the most famous of all the Belmonts, Simon, although it did not appear in the original Castlevania. It was first composed for Super Castlevania IV, and has been rearranged and reused in many subsequent games in the series. This is the original, and still one of the better arrangements of the song, in my opinion.
Title: “Theme of Simon Belmont”
Composer: Konami Kukeiha Club
Trailer Tuesdays – Valentine’s Day Edition
New Love Plus (Konami)
Ah, love is in the air! The sequel to Konami’s DS dating sim, Love Plus, is heading to the 3DS, but probably not outside of Japan. Still, for Valentine’s Day, it’s perfect for those of you who want to spend time with your significant other, even in digital form.
Now, a lot of you might think that this game is only for lonely people who can’t get a real girlfriend, but not so! As this trailer demonstrates, it’s a game that can be enjoyed with your real girlfriend. And your boyfriend. At the same time. Or at least, that’s what I assume is going on, as I can’t read Japanese.
Casablanca (Warner Bros.)
Michael Curtiz’s classic film Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, is not only considered one of the greatest films of all time, but was also ranked by AFI as the #1 love story in American cinema. There’s just something inherently romantic about these old classic films.
Metal Gear Offline – MGO Scheduled for Shut Down
Has it already been nearly four years since MGS4 came out? Hard to believe. What’s a little easier to swallow, though, is the recently announced end to Metal Gear Online’s service. The servers will shut down for good on June 21st, 2012.
As I’ve probably mentioned before, I’m something of a nut for this franchise, so naturally I put some time into MGO when it first launched in the summer of 2008. What a train wreck. The Metal Gear series is traditionally known for three things:
1: Stealth
2: Shooting
3: Lots of cutscenes
The thing is, the basic gameplay isn’t really set up to support fast-paced action with a lot of other people. Everything from the camera to the controls to the speed of movement is based in a world where you can go at your own pace. It just doesn’t work when there are 10 other guys out there, all trying to get a piece of you.
It’s a bit of a shame, though. There was a hide and seek mode that could have been great, especially in consideration of the way Assassin’s Creed was able to integrate the same general concept into their own games. Unfortunately, this isn’t even close to the first example of Metal Gear feeling old and archaic next to its competition.
Whatever way you slice it, I feel sorry for the poor mooks over in Japan. They had to buy MGO as a full, separate purchase while we got it included with Guns of the Patriots.
So long MGO. We hardly played ye…
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