Castlevania : Retro Vampire Killing Part 1

KONAMI’S CASTLEVANIA SERIES is undergoing something of a resurgence in popularity of late, thanks to MercurySteam’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful Lords Of Shadowentries. However, videogame veterans will be aware that the bloody history of this vampire-slaying franchise stretches back almost thirty years, right the way back to Nintendo’s 8-bit hardware. Since the original Castlevania– known as Akumajo Draculain its native Japan,

which translates as Devil’s Castle Dracula – hit the Nintendo Famicom Disk System in 1986, we’ve seen instalments on a whole host of popular platforms, including the Mega Drive, N64,PlayStation and – more recently – the iPhone. The Belmont clan’s eternal war against The Prince of Darkness has featured its fair share of twists and turns over the years, with some instalments becoming genre classics while others fall painfully short of the expected quality. Despite this, Castlevaniaboasts one of the most packed lineages in videogaming history, and its penchant for moody settings, whip-cracking action and brilliant music has secured it a legion of devoted fans. Over the next few pages we’ll chart the sometimes tumultuous past of Konami’s gothic masterpiece, covering all of
the games released so far

we Collect Some of the Early ( non 3d ) Castlevania from 1999,
If You feel we Misses some Series from Castlevania, let me Know in the comments below :

CASTLEVANIA 1986

The first entry in the series was originally an exclusive release for the Japan-only Famicom Disk System, but it was released on the NES in 1987. Focusing on the heroic Simon Belmont and his quest to destroy Dracula, the game followed a linear route through six different levels. It would later be ported to the Amiga, C64 and PC, with a Game Boy Advance release in 2004

VAMPIRE KILLER 1986

Despite sharing gameplay, visuals and music with the NES original, the MSX2-only Vampire
Killer– which was released in Japan, Europe and Brazil, but not the US – actually turned out to be a very different proposition. It was non-linear, featured RPG-like elements and had special items to collect

 

CASTLEVANIA II: SIMON’S QUEST 1987

Following the lead of the RPG-like MSX2 Vampire Killer, Simon’s Quest boasted an open-ended game world which was subject to a day and night cycle. Enemies were more powerful when the sun set, which gave combat an additional challenge. Like its direct predecessor, Simon’s Questmade its debut on the Famicom Disk System before being ported to the NES in 1988.

HAUNTED CASTLE 1988

Most games series from the ‘80s usually appeared in arcades before moving to consoles, but
Castlevaniahas never been one to follow convention. Haunted Castletook the core gameplay of the original and dramatically improved the visuals and sound, but sadly the end result wasn’t as spectacular as it could have been. A Japan-only PS2 conversion appeared in 2006.

CASTLEVANIA III: DRACULA’S CURSE 1989

The third NES game is a real gem, mixing together multiple level paths, different playable
characters and some of the best music on Nintendo’s seminal 8-bit system. It was also notable for being the first game to showcase Alucard, Dracula’s famous offspring

CASTLEVANIA II: BELMONT’S REVENGE 1991

After Castlevania: The Adventure, Belmont’s Revenge was a complete surprise. Considered by many fans to be one of the finest of the “old school” Castlevaniatitles, it pushed the
host hardware to the limit. The soundtrack was especially good, with some truly amazing tunes courtesy of Hidehiro Funauchi

SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV 1991

Essentially a remake of the NES original, Castlevania’s 16-bit debut was rightly regarded as
one of the Super NES’ better titles. Eminently playable and dripping with atmosphere, the CD-quality soundtrack was a thing of beauty





To Be Continued... to Part 2

Once again, If You feel we Misses some Series from Castlevania, let me Know in the comments below :