Castlevania – Bloodlines Shows Genesis Fans Darker Europe – Today in History – March 17th, 1994
Konami used to care about fans. For proof of this just look at the 16-bit era. Castlevania during this period was THE game to get if you were into action, adventure and hard as nails gameplay. The cool thing about this era is that every console or handheld that received a Castlevania game got an ORIGINAL Castlevania game. From the PC Engine Super CD-ROM Rondo of Blood (Japan exclusive on this format) to the Super Nintendo’s Super Castlevania IV (slight retelling of the first game) to the Sega Genesis’ Bloodlines game. They were all different. Even the port of Rondo of Blood to the Super Nintendo in North America was different enough to warrant fans purchase of it. It is sad that Konami doesn’t make games like this anymore, or at all really for that matter.
Castlevania – Bloodlines is not your “Nintendo” game. No, this is the Sega Genesis and things are going to get dark. Right off the bat, in the intro area that most Castlevania games have, you encounter a decaying, half eaten, body lying on the ground. This sets the mood quite well, even if that ball is sort of dropped later- you probably wouldn’t have noticed if I had said nothing.
Castlevania – Bloodlines constantly pushes the Sega Genesis in new ways. This is particularly true in the boss battles. Bosses here are not your normal “giant” monster that you see in other games. No, the bosses here are multi-jointed monstrosities composed of many sprites working together. This style was popularized by Treasure in their game, Gunstar Heroes on the Sega Genesis. Some say that Castlevania- Bloodlines and Contra: Hard Corps were Konami’s way of saying “we can still do that stuff without you” to Treasure’s former Konami employees.
We covered Castlevania- Bloodlines in issue #1 of our magazine, available here.
We have not seen a digital re-release of this game so head to Ebay to grab your copy of Castlevania – Bloodlines.
I used to own this game but I sold it like a chump and today its pretty expensive.
I am right there with you. I sold it years ago thinking cartridges were dead and moved onto PlayStation and Saturn. Lol
@retro-room @triverse At least you guys once owned the game. I gave up looking for a decent price after months of searching on eBay and online stores.
That is even worse. I myself am a part time reseller but I try to focus on helping others at the same time. Like if I find an amazing deal on a game, say Castlevania: Bloodlines. I don't immediately post it for sale along the same level as what it is going for on eBay. I ask around, I offer it to people I know that wanted it. I price it where I make a profit (that is the name of the game) but I don't price it so high that I can retire off that one sale like some do.
I would rather a true fan get the item than just another reseller seeing a deal and scooping it up so they can mark it up to "fair market value" as they see fit.
Now, I have run into situations where the item did end up going to eBay or somewhere else at a decent price. 99% of the time I can safely say it probably went to a reseller who marked it up again.
Those moments suck but they happen.
At least, you're trying to help people who actually want to play their games and I thank you for that. I've heard in a podcast that an independant video game store employee is struggling to find a right balance between pricing rare and popular games low enough to be fair but also high enough to discourage scalpers from flipping it on eBay and make a huge profit.
Same here
Interesting post. I had no idea there was a market for retro games. Wish I hadn't sold my game years ago damnit.
You can still rebuild your game collection without breaking the bank. All it takes is patience and a keen eye for a good deal. I'd suggest starting out by focusing on good but common and affordable games before moving up to rarer and pricier ones. eBay may not be the best place to look for rare games but you'd be surprised the amount of excellent games that are dirt cheap because they are so common. A lot of Japanese games also tend to be cheaper than their Western counterparts so it's a good alternative for games that don't rely on text.