Castlevania is a legendary series, that goes without saying. The games in this series are some of the most well regarded games ever made, and hold a place in gamers’ hearts. Now Konami has released their first collection of the series, collecting eight of the first games as emulated thanks to M2. The result is an experience to make any vampire killer happy.
The original Castlevania remains a classic, even if parts of it haven’t aged well. The difficulty is high, but not unmanageable ( many can even speedrun it within 15 minutes), and it simply requires you to learn how the game works. You may get knocked back when you get hit, and there are frustrating jumps and enemies, but there is just something about this game that has charm and class. Its a blast to play still.
About Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest….This game sucks. Those were the words that started the long running series Angry Video Game Nerd, all about this game. I will go against the grain and say Simon’s Quest isn’t bad. Its very flawed, but still has the Castlevania charm. I guess it holds some nostalgic value from my childhood for me, but I really do enjoy this one. This was the first time a non linear approach was attempted in the series. It didn’t work out well this time, but later on, Koji Igarashi took the formula and added ideas from Zelda II and the Igavania legacy took off.
Castlevania III Dracula’s Curse is without question the best of the NES games, but also the hardest. It has amazing music, and was the first time characters like Alucard appeared, but you had to really learn how to play. The American version is actually harder than the Japanese version ( which also had better music), but that just gives us more of a challenge. The nonlinear style from II was dropped in favor of a branching path system, which worked out far better, and the side characters you could play as also added a lot of variety and replay value. This is the game that was adapted into a Netflix anime series, and shows the battle between Trevor Belmont and Dracula, and is a must play for fans.
Super Castlevania IV is without a doubt one of the best games ever made. A remake of the first game, it had far better music and controls and actually made you feel properly in control of Simon Belmont. The whip could be used in any direction and subweapons had their own dedicated button this time. Along with music and enemies from all the previous entries, the game was a technical marvel at the time and has aged spectacularly. This is the one to start with, to see why people love this series. It is an absolute must play.
Castlevania Bloodlines has never had a re-release until now and I am glad that has been corrected. Many feel this is inferior to Super Castlevania IV, but the more I played, I ended it up liking it more than IV. It offered new ideas and ways to play, including two separate characters to choose from that had their own playstyle. Konami broke notions of what could be done with the Genesis/Mega Drive back then and the results hold up well today. This is the goriest of the 2D entries prior to Symphony and Rondo, and the game was even censored in Europe for that. This was also where the novel Dracula was incorporated into the series lore, with John Morris being the son of Quincy Morris from the novel. This is another must play.
Castlevania The Adventure was the first game boy title, and unfortunately it aged very poorly. The controls are sluggish, the level design is bland and the weapons lacking. The remake, The Adventure Rebirth is far better and hopefully will be included in a future collection. At least the music is nice.
Belmont’s Revenge fixed all the problems of the first Game Boy game and then some. Much better controls, level design and enemies, in addition to good subweapons made this a great playthrough. Whereas the first game was a linear affair, this game has level select ala the Mega Man series. You choose which castle to tackle in what order you want, and start your journey. Good, but not as good as the console games.
And that leaves us with Kid Dracula for the Famicom. This is the first localization for the title and I am very impressed for the most part. The visuals are some of the best for the 8 bit system and are even reminiscent of an early Turbo Grafx 16 game. While the jumps can be a bit too stiff, I really liked my time with the game. Its a side scrolling platform shooter akin to the Mega Man series ( once again) and even if its a spinoff, is one of the better entries in the collection. It has neat takes on the Castlevania music, interesting minigames and fun levels with cool bosses. This was a treat from Konami and I love it,
In addition, Konami has provided an excellent ebook containing details about the series, and concept art that really stood out to me as a longtime fan. This was a labor of love and I appreciate it. The controls are awkwardly placed and took time to get used to, but I adjusted. I would have liked the option to remap them, but Konami didn’t include that. The game allows for save states, changing the aspect ratio and adding scanlines, as well as adding in game replays. All of this was handled very well.
The last thing I will note is that the Japanese versions of the games are coming soon in an update and for Castlevania III, this is notable because the Japanese version had better music and a more balanced difficulty. I appreciate that Konami is doing this.
All in all, this was a fantastic collection and I cannot wait for the next one. Highly recommended.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
In addition, I would like to add that there is an active Castlevania retrogaming Facebook community group you can join at https://www.facebook.com/groups/castlevaniaretrogamers
For more, visit Retro Gamers Hub (www.retrogamershub.com) for their extensive collection of retrogaming interest groups to choose from.