What Is a Man? More Than a 4Chan Meme

Nadia Oxford — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:17:00 GMT

Konami will never live down the original translation inflicted upon Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It tried to atone for past sins by re-doing the voicework for SOTN in Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP. It was a fine attempt, but a worthless gesture overall; you can't erase the past. I can't deny the fact I'm descended from sheep thieves and Konami can't deny Dracula's infamous riddle to Richter Belmont. "What is a man?" (I don't know Dracula, what is a man?) "A miserable little pile of secrets!"

I hang out and make trouble at Gamespite because sometimes I learn something new. Today, for example, I learned through a fellow forum comrade named eirikr that Dracula's riddle is not his own. It was, in fact, lifted from a French author named Andre Malraux. Interestingly, Malraux was born in 1901, meaning he picked up the quote from Dracula during a time jaunt through the Carpathian Mountains. Damn, I need to manipulate some kids into writing this down for a history project. These are TRUFAX being doled out here, people. Remember them, and pass them onto your children.

If you're interested in the source material, check out The Big Curmudgeon: 2,500 Outrageously Irreverent Quotations from World-Class Grumps and Cantankerous Commentators. If you can recite the book's title to the store clerk before running out of breath and dying, that is.

Related Links:

Games to Film: Paul W.S. Anderson's Castlevania
Games To Movies: Why Is It So Gad-Danged Hard?
When Good Developers Go Bad: Koji Igarashi

The Ten Greatest Fire Levels in Gaming History, Part 1

Peter Smith — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:30:00 GMT

Videogame designers have found a great deal of inspiration in elemental dichotomies. Wood versus stone, wind versus lightning, ice versus fire — these natural conflicts are excellent bases for compelling environments and rich atmospheres. What better than tangible extremes like hot and cold to convey a sense of place to a player? To celebrate the imminent arrival of summer, 61 Frames Per Second is going hot with our first top-ten list, looking at the greatest fire levels in gaming history. If you're sweating, don't worry — we'll get to ice soon enough. — John Constantine

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts — Crucible of Flame

Nobody would subject themselves to the brutally difficult Ghosts 'n Goblins series if the games didn't feature Capcom's usual immaculate production values. Dying a hundred times in Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts' third stage, the Crucible of Flame (and you will) is made marginally more bearable by the brooding music (forever seared in my brain after a misspent youth) and the characteristically idiosyncratic twist on the usual "fire level" theme: instead of a generic inferno, the Crucible of Flame finds you in some kind of metallurgical hell. The stage has a lot of character; as fire levels go, it's more of an oozing, molten nightmare than a pyrotechnic fun fair. (In fact, some would say there's nothing fun about it.) A word of warning: it only gets worse from here. — Peter Smith

Dracula X: Rondo of Blood — Dinner of Flames

The games in the original Castlevania trilogy all open with scenes of civilization. In the original, Simon Belmont approaches Dracula's titular castle via a gate on a road. The second finds Simon in the town of Jova, and Simon's ancestor Trevor passes through Wallachia Town and a cathedral at the opening of the third. All of these places feel oppressed by evil but, even when full of monsters, they've got a lurking malevolence. They're not overtly violent. The opening stage of Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, Dinner of Flames, is a different story entirely. Veros — a town neighboring Jova in Castlevania 2, for a nice garnish of continuity — is literally burning to the ground around Richter Belmont while the metal chords of "Divine Bloodlines" play in the background. The flames don't directly affect your passage here. They do, however, make the stage completely fucking sweet. — JC

F- Zero — Fire Field

When F-Zero first came out, its sense of speed was awesome, and nowhere more than in its ultimate track, Fire Field. If you made it through the fourteen previous tracks, you might — just might — have the skill to make it through this godless collection of hairpin turns, speed traps and exploding mines. The soundtrack matched the intensity of the track layout, with one of the game's most memorable hard-rock grooves. Some would argue that the "fieryness" of Fire Field is purely incidental, with no direct relevance to gameplay. But as a thought experiment, imagine Fire Field as a frozen wonderland, or a barren ocean. Not quite the same. No, there's a distinctly combustive quality to this level, as any King League veteran would be quick to tell you. — PS

Click here for Part 2.
Click here for Part 3.

61 Frames Per Second : dracula x

What Is a Man? More Than a 4Chan Meme

The Ten Greatest Fire Levels in Gaming History, Part 1