[quote name='dg7md']You will never find a Castlevania, IMO, as pure as SOTN. Don't expect this to beat SOTN...[/quote]
Man, I'm picking at everyone tonight. Sorry about that.
But what I want to say is--SotN, pure? If anything, this is pure Castlevania, and perhaps the best expression (as was mentioned) of pure Castlevania is Dracula X (Rondo of Blood, remade in the excellent PSP release, whose name escapes me--Dracula X Chronicles maybe?--, that includes the original Turbo Duo version, a remade version, and even SotN); SotN was the first to divurge from the "pure" formula and add, well, Metroid elements.
You're right, though; if you're expecting this one to be SotN, you'll be gravely (oh, the puns!) disappointed. Appreciated as its own beast, even kind of difficult on easy (if I remember correctly), it can be fun, and, as you say, historical; it might be nice to experience the Famicom originals, too. I wonder how many are available on the Virtual Console? Castlevania 3 is one of my all-time favorites.
[quote name='opportunity777']In order of preference, my [pre-SotN] picks look like this: RoB, Super Cv IV, III, Bloodlines, I, this, II and the terrible SNES Dracula X.
Although, for some reason, I have a sick fascination with II. At times, I like it more than any other CV because it's much different.[/quote]
Really, you like Super IV better than Bloodlines? I don't know why, but I never got into Super. I should play it sometime soon. But I always loved Bloodlines for some reason. Could have been all the glowing praise I read about it in GameFan Magazine that swayed me.
Yeah, Castle II is such an odd duck. I never realized its... flaws... at the time. I mean, it was so novel. In retrospect, I have realized it's kind of a mess, which makes Castle III all the more interesting.
But speaking of different Castlevanias, what do you think of the GBA and DS releases? The newest DS one is probably my favorite--Order of Ecclesia. It's just fantastic. Probably too easy for you, though.

I mention it because it has you roaming around like in II instead of just in one, big castle.
And finally, to end this long-winded questionaire, what did you think of the 3D Castlevanias? I couldn't bring myself to enjoy anyone, although I certainly tried to like the first PS2 one. (I can't even remember the names.)
There's a new Castlevania game coming to the current-gen consoles. I would love it to play classically, but I fear it will be another 3D disaster. Or, maybe it'll be, gasp, a good 3D Castlevania, but I'm sure not holding my breath.