Castlevania DS Revealed

Anyone who doesn't think consoles can offer massive improvements to graphics quality needs to merely watch some TV and get out to the movies. The latest $500 video card cannot deliver the kind of realtime performance to generate interactive imagery that compared favorably to what was being done for TV and film FX five years ago, not to mention just creating photorealistic scenes of mundane activity. Much of the problems go beyond just horsepower and lie in finding better algorithms to capture the appearance of living beings as opposed to highly detailed mannequins.

The coming generation of consoles will offer a major improvement, allowing entire games to be of circa 2000 FMV quality throughout. Yet this will be the last generation focused on NTSC/PAL displays and will still fall far short of what those displays commonly deliver. In the portable realm, displays should become fully comparable to NTSC/PAL around that same time. They will be the highest quality games targeting NTSC eventually appear after NTSC itslef has been retired in most of the world.
 
If you're going to use the best of current consoles as your standard, then mass market priced portables are guaranteed to disappoint. The portable has to satisfy a whole list of conditions for functionality and affordability beyond what is required of a console. Judging software for these devices out of context is very unfair to the product and the developers.

Thus far I'm not disappointed with the DS. It already has a much better array of games, albeit far short of where it must be a year from now, than the N64 did months after its launch. (They should have ported Wave Race just to maintain the N64 theme.) Will I ever be stunned by DS graphics? No, but I should be very pleased by what it does for a portable system beyond what its predecessors have offered. Sure, the PSP will offer better images but I'm expecting things to happen on the DS that will be genuinely exclusive to that machine. Not because Nintendo owns the franchise or has made a deal with a third party but because there is simply no platform that can do it.
 
Anybody notice the description for Mina Hakuba?

"Soma's previously kidnapped childhood friend is also targeted by the death cult. Sucks to be her...."

Great writing. Shows you don't need a degree to get into media nowadays. =)
 
[quote name='nikkai']Anybody notice the description for Mina Hakuba?

"Soma's previously kidnapped childhood friend is also targeted by the death cult. Sucks to be her...."

Great writing. Shows you don't need a degree to get into media nowadays. =)[/quote]

I notice that a lot lately. Hell, read any IGN review or news update and you'll see that it only takes the writing skills of a 5th grader to get a job at that site.
 
I think that's what they feel is passing for "personality" now a days. I dont mind the occasional "editorial aside" as long as it's not in every paragraph.

Frankly I like the graphics I've seen so far, if it's smoothly animated I couldn't care less that it's not some polygonal pixelfest, it's a good looking 2D game with an interesting use for the touch screen that adds to the gameplay rather than being shoe horned in. This is the way I'd actually LIKE to see the touch screen used, as an enhancment to the game rather than just BEING the game.
 
[quote name='Alpha2']I think that's what they feel is passing for "personality" now a days. I dont mind the occasional "editorial aside" as long as it's not in every paragraph.

Frankly I like the graphics I've seen so far, if it's smoothly animated I couldn't care less that it's not some polygonal pixelfest, it's a good looking 2D game with an interesting use for the touch screen that adds to the gameplay rather than being shoe horned in. This is the way I'd actually LIKE to see the touch screen used, as an enhancment to the game rather than just BEING the game.[/quote]

I guess we'll have to see how it really comes into play and then judge it. The touch-screen is nice for even little details in a game like menus, I just hope Konami didn't feel it had to add the function simply for the sake of it being there. Right now I really can't tell.
 
AoS was my all time favorite Castlevania game, so I'm really looking forward to this sequel. The graphics look to be a huge improvement over the original's--I don't know how some people think that Soma was lifted straight out of the GBA game.
 
I actually think the backgrounds got the bigger update. The bookcases look pretty damn real for a game of this type. I think when people finally see it on a small screen, they'll appreciate how nice it looks.
 
Screw the persistent map screen. I want a Castlevania that takes place across two screens (ala Driller Spirits).

However, I give major props to Konami for keeping Castlevania 2-d on the DS and incorporating some cool touch screen "final death blow" action.
 
as much as i love castlevania, the idea of a spruced up 2d side scroller doesnt exactly get me too thrilled about the future of ds gaming.
 
Damn this game looks good...not good enough to make me wanna run out and buy a DS, but if i were to get the system, this'd be a must-have.
 
[quote name='MadFlava']Am I the only who is sad that we will probably not see another Castlevania game on the GBA SP :([/quote]


The GBA sp already had three, that's pretty darn good.
 
[quote name='ddhex27']as much as i love castlevania, the idea of a spruced up 2d side scroller doesnt exactly get me too thrilled about the future of ds gaming.[/quote]

I'm thrilled that they're keeping it in 3D. With the new generation of handhelds, I was getting worried that with the last home of 2D dying, that 2D would also die with it. I'm glad to see that this may not be the case.
 
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