Good Castlevania to start with

[Adamant1]

[QUOTE=ActRaiser]
How do you acquire this one if you have a 360?  As far as I'm aware the only Castlevania on the 360 is the Symphony of the Nights port, which is extremely good.[/QUOTE]

Oops, got my games mixed up. SotN is the 360 game, Chi no Rondo is for the PSP (hey, I don't own either console, I can't keep track of which great game they release for which ).

[Brett Weiss]

I prefer the arcade-style Castlevanias, like Castlevania 3 for the NES and IV for the Super NES.

[QF]

Am I the only one that likes the PSX remake of the MSX Castlevania? Simons Quest isn't that bad either.

[a1]

Here's my recommended order. I'm going to do one for action style, and another, shorter list for Metroid-style. 

Action:
1. Castlevania (NES)-You should start with the first in the series. You can find it for $5, and while later iterations may be better, that doesn't change the fact that this one is great.
2. Castlevania 3 (NES)-If you like the original, you'll love this. It expands upon the formula by adding the ability to swap characters, and choose your path.
3. Castlevania 4 (SNES)-This is really well done. I admit I haven't finished it yet, but I am close to the end, and can definitely tell you it's worth the purchase. You have more control over jumping in this one, and the ability to whip in all directions.
4. Castlevania: Bloodlines (Genesis)- This one is fun, very fun, but I recommend getting it only if you really want more after those 3. You probably will, but hold off on it until then. The character with a spear is good fun to play with, and like Alienblue says, this one is less punishingly difficult, but it isn't too easy either.

Metroid-Style:
1. Dawn of Sorrow (DS)-I truly think this game surpasses Symphony of the Night. I played it through 3 times regularly, and twice on the newly unlocked modes. It has an incredible amount of replay value: it adds a new mode, and a hard mode which lets you keep your items, there are tons of items to collect, and souls which you receive from enemies. I usually don't collect things in games, but I got every single item and maxed out my souls in this one. I don't even want to know the grand total of hours I've played it for.
2. Symphony of the Night (PSX)- Despite the fact that I don't like it as much as Dawn of Sorrow, I can't deny this games greatness. The moment I started it I was absolutely amazed by how great it looked, and how smooth it played. It's definitely a classic.

Other than those, I've only played Castlevania 2, and Portrait of Ruin. I'd avoid Castlevania 2 completely. Portrait is fun, but I've heard that Aria of Sorrow is better, so I'd look into that first.

[Koopa W.]

Symphony of the Night. That's all she wrote. Xbox Live. Get it. I'd say PS version, but it's pretty expensive now.

[Atarifever1]

[QUOTE=hi there]

[QUOTE=Alienblue]plus the genny version is uncensored with lots of blood, nude statues, creepy monsters, excellent music and dramatic effects. It is one of my favorite non-shooter Genny games.[/QUOTE]

Mature content does not make a game more fun.

Second, people need to get used to high diffculty and stop acting like babies.
You're don't deserve to play games if you promote easy over extremely hard, and you should be ignored until you gain more respect for games like Castlevania, Street Fighter 2010, Etc.
[/QUOTE]

I have to jump in here and say if you were ever preaching to the choir, it is in saying that to Alienblue.  This is a guy who has Ladybug as one of his favorite games, and can't rave enough for Zookeeper.  Trust me, there's a reason why he made an argument and then added this as a "plus". 

Also, regarding difficulty, I have no doubt that with his background Alienblue would completely destroy most people's scores in difficult arcade games.  The guy quits playing PacMan when he gets bored of it on level 30 or something.

[ajsmart1]

[QUOTE=QF]Am I the only one that likes the PSX remake of the MSX Castlevania? Simons Quest isn't that bad either.
[/QUOTE]

I too enjoyed this one quite a bit.  I started out on Symphony of the Night, which I liked, but made me wonder why I wasn't playing Super Metroid instead.  Castlevania Chronicles was refreshing.  I hunted down Chi no Rondo shortly after finishing Chronicles.

[Alienblue]

Posted by "Hi there": "Just because a game has mature content doesnt mean it is fun to play" ; " People need [to get used to] a higher difficulty setting.."

I agree and disagree, hi there. I didn't mean, Atarifever, that you should get Castlevania:Bloodlines JUST because it is gory, but because it has nude statues. No, seriously because it is SUPER fun to play. I find the Jump/Spear mechanic more intuitive than the Whip control. Also, this game has amazing animation and detail, like when the Wolf Yowls and a dozen windows shatter!

But I disagree that ALL games should be super hard and force users to practice over and over...some of us have LIVES and enjoy the pace of say, GBA Bookworm, where it starts easy and very gradually gets to hard and near impossible. On a curve!

[a1]

[QUOTE=Alienblue]

But I disagree that ALL games should be super hard and force users to practice over and over...some of us have LIVES and enjoy the pace of say, GBA Bookworm, where it starts easy and very gradually gets to hard and near impossible. On a curve![/QUOTE]

I'm with you Alienblue. I just don't have the time or patience to play over the same level over and over again. I tried playing Devil May Cry 3 on normal, and it took me ten tries to beat the second boss. So I said screw it, and switched it to easy. I find it much more fun that way. Games can still be fun without making me throw the controller in frustration.

[BanjoPickles1]

Actually, Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest has always been one of my favorite games of all time and part of what people hate about it(day/night, lack of bosses, invisible blocks) amounts to some of the appeal for me. I love the atmosphere, the amazing music, the inventory idea, and exploring. Granted, it can be a huge pain walking across a platform and slipping through a block but, like so many games of the time, it's a stupid development idea that requires memorization on your behalf....like so many nes titles.