Castlevania was a franchise that I’d heard about quite a bit for many years but that I didn’t actually get around to playing until the end of 2021 with the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. While I haven’t played anywhere near as much of the Castlevania games as I would’ve liked, I’ve found myself becoming more and more fascinated and hungry to play more Castlevania games. Therefore, I thought it might be interesting to do an overview of the Castlevania franchise by going through the games, their history and the impact that they’ve had.
As you might expect, there’s no better place to start than the game that started it all, Castlevania. Initially released for the Family Computer Disk System as Akumajō Dracula, literally translated as Demon Castle Dracula, in 1986, the game ended up getting an international release for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) which saw the game receive strong financial and critical success. Castlevania follows Simon Belmont as he traverses Dracula’s castle with the intent to slay him. The game itself is a platformer where the player traverses stages filled with enemies before facing a boss which, upon defeating, allows them to progress to the next stages. Simon Belmont’s primary weapon is a whip which can receive upgrades to its range and damage and he can also collect and use sub-weapons such as throwing daggers, crosses, axes, holy water and a watch that can stop time for most enemies.
With the success of the first game, sequels were inevitable. However, I don’t think anyone predicted Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest which was released in 1987 and proved to be quite the departure from the first game. While the story continues from the first Castlevania game, gone are the levels and linearity and instead, Simon’s Quest features an explorable world and RPG mechanics such as levelling up and purchasing new equipment from traders. However, the poor English translation made the game excessively difficult as many vital clues for progression were difficult to interpret and Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest is often viewed quite negatively despite some discussion on its influence on later Metroidvania Castlevania games. Released in 1989, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse returned to the gameplay style of the original Castlevania while introducing multiple paths and endings alongside new playable characters and a story that precedes the events of the first game.
It was also at this time, in 1989, that the first Castlevania game to be produced for the Game Boy saw release, Castlevania: The Adventure. Set between Castlevania III and Castlevania, this game was quite poorly received as the controls were criticised for being sluggish, the level design frustrating and the game being excessively short. A sequel was later released in 1991 called Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge which was significantly more well-received due to its improved graphics, tighter controls and the reintroduction of sub-weapons. 1991 also saw the first release of a Castlevania game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Super Castlevania IV. Super Castlevania IV, despite being marketed as a sequel, is a reinterpretation of the original game that features improved 16-bit graphics, as opposed to the 8-bit graphics of the original games and the ability to swing your whip in eight directions and proved to be a big financial and critical success. Two years later, in 1993, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was released for the PC Engine, also known as the TurboGrafx-16, and played quite similarly to many previous Castlevania games and was later remade for the SNES as Castlevania: Dracula X.
It was soon after this that the Castlevania franchise began to experiment with its gameplay style with some being quite successful while others were less well-received. By far and away the most significant change came with the release of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in 1997 for the PlayStation (PS1). A direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the Night reintroduced many of the concepts from Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest such as a non-linear open map to traverse, RPG mechanics such as levelling up and a heavy emphasis on exploration. Symphony of the Night proved to be a critical darling and eventually a financial success but, most importantly, it helped to establish many aspects of the Metroidvania genre. A less successful venture was the release of Castlevania for the Nintendo 64 in 1999. The first 3D game in the series, the game received mixed reviews with particular criticism being directed at the poor camera and controls. An expanded version of the game was released later that same year, Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, but received similar complaints.
From 2001 to 2003, Konami released three Castlevania games for the Gameboy Advance, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, which featured the Metroidvania gameplay established in Symphony of the Night while introducing new mechanics and variations. These games proved to be commercial and critical successes and were later followed by three games on the Nintendo DS, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, that were released from 2005 to 2008 and were similarly well-received by critics. At the same time, Konami released a couple of 3D Castlevania games with the first being Castlevania: Lament of Innocence which was released for the PS2 in 2003. Serving as a prequel to all other Castlevania games, Lament of Innocence features a hack and slash combat style while the player explores a castle. The game was moderately well-received but was seen as inferior to the Gameboy Advance games being released at the time. The next 3D Castlevania was released in 2005 for the PS2 and Xbox and was called Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. While making some changes from Lament of Innocence such as improving the combat system, Curse of Darkness was similarly viewed as being inferior to the handheld Castlevania games being produced.
With sales for the Castlevania franchise declining, Konami decided to reboot Castlevania and, in 2010, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was released. The game heavily leaned into the hack and slash combat while featuring level based progression which consisted of a mixture of combat, puzzles and platforming. Lords of Shadow was well-received by critics and sold better than Konami had predicted. This led them to produce two sequels, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. Mirror of Fate was released in 2013 for the Nintendo DS before seeing a later release on consoles and PC. Mirror of Fate combined the gameplay of Lords of Shadow with the side-scrolling of the classic Castlevania games and told a story set between the two main Lords of Shadow games. Reviews were mixed and, as far as I’m aware, sales figures are unknown. Lords of Shadow 2 was released in 2014 and continued the gameplay of Lords of Shadow but removed the levels and opted for a continuous world while adding stealth and the ability to move the camera. Lords of Shadow 2 received mixed reviews and sold more poorly than Konami were hoping for.
Since then, barring a mobile title called Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls, Konami hasn’t released any new Castlevania games, instead opting for rereleases such as the Castlevania Anniversary Collection and the Castlevania Advance Collection alongside a Netflix animated series simply called Castlevania. Rumours of a new Castlevania game have been circulating recently and I’d be very happy to see a brand new 2D Castlevania as well as further rereleases of the older games. Let me know what your thoughts are on this overview of the Castlevania franchise, what you think of the Castlevania games, which have been your favourites and least favourites, what you’d like to see in a future Castlevania game and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.