Castlevania
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The series is also famous for the differences seen between the Japanese and American versions. When the games are converted for western audiences, they usually lose a heavy share of violent and religious imagery and references, a fact that upsets Castlevania fans. This strong censorship (which is a common practice in many other games) makes the American versions much milder, and such differences can be seen right in the opening sequence of Super Nintendo's Super Castlevania IV, for example.
Several games in the series have been produced in very limited quantities, in North America and Europe at least, and have thus greatly fallen short of demand. Most recently, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow had sold on eBay for two to three times their original selling price before pirated copies became common. Demon Castle Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, considered by many Castlevania fans to be the "holy grail" of the series, still easily sells for over a hundred dollars due to being released solely on the Japanese PC Engine.
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Overview
The Castlevania series is about a war between the enchanted family bloodline of the Belmonts and Dracula. At least every hundred years, Dracula is resurrected and it is up to the Belmonts to defeat him before he causes too much pain and suffering.
The series is loosely based on the mythology of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. In fact, the novel is considered to be within the official canon of the series; the events taking place prior to Castlevania: Bloodlines. However, the series also incorporates a variety of other monsters from classic horror fiction, films, fantasy, and mythology.
Evolution of the games
The games' mechanics can be seen as very similar (and most times simplistic) on most of the earlier titles. These games take the form of the typical platform game in which the player usually takes the role of a whip-wielding warrior from the Belmont family as he ventures himself inside Castlevania (Count Dracula's castle) and fights several different monsters and ghosts. On most Castlevania games, the main weapon is a whip (the Vampire Killer), which can be upgraded to a long flail. Other weapons such as daggers, axes and vials of holy water can also be seen in several versions.
The general appearance of the characters in the games also changed since the first installments. In the earlier games, the main characters were usually warriors sporting leather armours or other kinds of battle suits. As new Castlevania games began to be released, the outfit of those heroes changed to more elegant, fancy vests, reflecting an evolution in the games, also in matters of character design. This modern look adopted for the characters in the newer games could be said to have been introduced by Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the first game to feature the Japanese artist Ayami Kojima as the character designer. Another detail to be noted is the distinctive anime-style design of those characters, which can be seen as present in almost the entire series, but making itself stronger in games such as Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, as well as in the later titles.
As time passed, new elements and interesting features were added to the games, which started following a more RPG-like tone, first seen on Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. A milestone was reached by the release of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the PlayStation. The game took the Super Metroid style and gameplay and added RPG elements. It is regarded by many as the finest game in the Castlevania series. The three games subsequently released for the Game Boy Advance follow this schema as well.
The first games in the series to use 3D graphics technology were released for the Nintendo 64 (the second N64 game is a superset of the first, with many changes, improvements and added features) but many fans consider that they are not worthy successors of the Castlevania tradition, despite being decent. Yet another 3D Castlevania entitled Castlevania: Lament of Innocence for the PlayStation 2 is much better regarded, featuring a gameplay similar to the one found on Capcom's Devil May Cry. For a good comparison between the similarities, see here.
Castlevania game list
| North American/European title | Japanese title | System | Year |
| Castlevania | Demon Castle Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ Akumajō Dracula) | Famicom Disk System, NES | 1986 |
| Vampire Killer (Europe only) | Demon Castle Dracula | MSX | 1986 |
| Castlevania II: Simon's Quest | Dracula II: The Accursed Seal (ドラキュラＩＩ呪いの封印 Dracula II: Noroi no Fūin) | Famicom Disk System, NES | 1987 |
| Haunted Castle | Demon Castle Dracula | Video arcades | 1988 |
| Castlevania Adventure | The Legend of Dracula (ドラキュラ伝説 Dracula Densetsu) | Game Boy | 1989 |
| Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse | Legend of the Demon Castle (悪魔城伝説 Akumajō Densetsu) | NES | 1990 |
| Super Castlevania IV | Demon Castle Dracula | SNES | 1991 |
| Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge | The Legend of Dracula II (ドラキュラ伝説ＩＩ Dracula Densetsu II) | Game Boy | 1991 |
| Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (Not released in North America/Europe) | Demon Castle Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (悪魔城ドラキュラＸ血の輪ロンド廻 Akumajō Dracula X: Chi no Rondo) | PC Engine | 1993 |
| Castlevania X68000 (Not released in North America/Europe) | Demon Castle Dracula | Sharp X68000 | 1993 |
| Castlevania: Bloodlines Castlevania: The New Generation (Europe) | Vampire Killer (バンパイアキラー) | Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis | 1994 |
| Castlevania: Dracula X Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss (Europe) | Demon Castle Dracula XX (悪魔城ドラキュラＸＸ Akumajō Dracula XX) | SNES | 1995 |
| Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | Demon Castle Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight (悪魔城ドラキュラＸ月下の夜想曲 Akumajō Dracula X: Gekka no Yasōkyoku) | Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn | 1997 |
| Castlevania Legends | Demon Castle Dracula: Dark Night Prelude (悪魔城ドラキュラ漆黒たる前奏曲 Akumajō Dracula: Shikkoku Taru Zensōkyoku) | Game Boy | 1998 |
| Castlevania (a.k.a. Castlevania 64) | Demon Castle Dracula Apocalypse (悪魔城ドラキュラ黙示録 Akumajō Dracula Mokushiroku) | Nintendo 64 | 1999 |
| Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness | Demon Castle Dracula Apocalypse Side-Story: Legend of Cornell (悪魔城ドラキュラ黙示録外伝 Akumajō Dracula Mokushiroku Gaiden) | Nintendo 64 | 1999 |
| Castlevania Chronicles | Castlevania Chronicle: Demon Castle Dracula (悪魔城年代記 悪魔城ドラキュラ Akumajō Nendaiki: Akumajō Dracula) | Sony PlayStation | 2001 |
| Castlevania: Circle of the Moon | Demon Castle Dracula: Circle of the Moon | Game Boy Advance | 2001 |
| Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance | Castlevania: Concerto of Midnight Sun (キャッスルヴァニア白夜の協奏曲 Castlevania: Hakuya no Kyōsōkyoku) | Game Boy Advance | 2002 |
| Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow | Castlevania: Minuet of Dawn (キャッスルヴァニア暁月の円舞曲 Castlevania: Akatsukitsuki no Enbukyoku) | Game Boy Advance | 2003 |
| Castlevania: Lament of Innocence | Castlevania (キャッスルヴァニア) | Sony PlayStation 2 | 2003 |
| Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow | Demon Castle Dracula: Cross of the Blue Moon (悪魔城ドラキュラ 蒼月の十字架 Akumajō Dracula: Sōgetsu no Jūjika) | Nintendo DS | 2005 TBA |
| Castlevania: Curse of Darkness | Demon Castle Dracula: Curse of Darkness (悪魔城ドラキュラ 闇の呪印 Akumajō Dracula: Yami no Juin) | Sony PlayStation 2, Xbox | 2005 TBA |
Chronology
According to the chronological order of the storyline of the Castlevania series and the year the game was chronologically set in, according to The Castlevania Dungeon (http://www.classicgaming.com/castlevania/dungeon.htm). Prior to the release of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, every game in the series was accepted as canon, with the original versions of certain games (such as the original Castlevania and Dracula X) usually accepted as the canonical interpretation of certain events. However, when Koji Igarashi took over as producer for the series, he revised the timeline and removed a few games from it. Namely, Castlevania Legends, Castlevania 64, Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. Igarashi tried to justify his decision by saying he was trying to make the series' canon more coherent, but some fans have criticized him, claiming that he's ruining the previously-established storyline. Many fans are quick to point out that the games Igarashi retconned were all games developed without his involvement after Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was first released, which was Igarashi's first Castlevania title.
| Year | Game Titles | Notes |
| 1094 | Castlevania: Lament of Innocence | |
| 1450 | Castlevania Legends | Retconned from Koji "IGA" Igarashi's ideal version of the timeline due to the implied relationship between Alucard and Sonia Belmont. |
| 1476 | Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse | |
| 1479 | Castlevania: Curse of Darkness | |
| 1576 | The Castlevania Adventure | |
| 1591 | Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge | |
| 1691 | Vampire Killer | All known as Akumajō Dracula in Japan |
| Haunted Castle | ||
| Castlevania | ||
| Akumajō Dracula X68000 | ||
| Castlevania Chronicles | ||
| Super Castlevania IV | ||
| 1698 | Castlevania II: Simon's Quest | |
| 1748 | Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance | |
| 1792 | Dracula X: Rondo of Blood | |
| Castlevania: Dracula X | ||
| 1797 | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | |
| 1830 | Castlevania: Circle of the Moon | Retconned from the timeline by IGA |
| 1844 | Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness | Retconned from the timeline by IGA |
| 1852 | Castlevania 64 | Retconned from the timeline by IGA |
| 1914 | Castlevania: Bloodlines | |
| 2035 | Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow | |
| 2038 | Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow |
Related games
There are also six parody games created by Konami that have Castlevania-related elements or characters. These, according to Castlevania Dungeon (http://www.classicgaming.com/castlevania/), are:
| Game Title | Console/Platform | Year | Notes |
| Konami Wai Wai World fan translation (http://www.demiforce.com/) | Nintendo Famicom | 1988 | Japan only |
| Wai Wai World 2: SOS From Parsley Castle!! fan translation (http://vice.parodius.com/) | Nintendo Famicom | 1991 | Japan only |
| Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula-kun fan translation (http://vice.parodius.com/) | Nintendo Famicom | 1991 | Japan only |
| Kid Dracula | Game Boy | 1993 | Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun in Japan |
| Sexy Parodius | Arcade, PlayStation, Saturn | 1996 | |
| Konami Krazy Racers | Game Boy Advance | 2001 | Wai Wai Racing in Japan |
External links
Official websites
- Official website for the Castlevania series (http://www.konamityo.co.jp/castlevania/en/index.html)
- Official website for the Castlevania Chronicles PlayStation game (http://www.konamityo.co.jp/cvaniac/index.html) (site in Japanese)
- Konami of America (http://www.konami.com/usa)
Informative websites
- Castlevania Dungeon (http://www.classicgaming.com/castlevania/)
- Mr. P's Castlevania Realm (http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/)
- History of Castlevania (http://www.gamingredients.com/features/historyofcastlevania/) at gamingredients.com (http://www.gamingredients.com)
- Inverted Dungeon (http://www.inverteddungeon.com/), a descendant of ICVD (http://www.icvdforums.com/) forums
- Castlevania at gamekult.com (http://www.gamekult.com/tout/jeux/GP000208/) (site in French)
- Linnavaanijat (http://www.linnavaanijat.com/) (site in Finnish)de:Castlevania