Castlevania (キャッスルヴァニア) is a
video game series, created and developed by
Konami. The series debuted in
Japan with the release of
Demon Castle Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ
Akumajō Dracula) for the
Famicom Disk System (FDS) and
MSX 2 platforms in
1986. Even though the MSX 2 port (which was localized in
Europe under the title of
Vampire Killer) was released first outside of Japan (a fact which had led to many people attribute the MSX version as the original game, when in reality the FDS version came out first), many people in the west weren't exposed to
Demon Castle Dracula until the FDS release was
ported to
cartridge format for the
Nintendo Entertainment System and
localized for
North American and European release under the title of
Castlevania in
1987.
In Japan, the series is mostly known as
Demon Castle Dracula. However, not every entry in the franchise has borne that title. For example, several installments for the
Nintendo Game Boy were released under the title
The Legend of Dracula (ドラキュラ伝説
Dracula Densetsu), and the game known in North America as
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse was originally released in Japan as
The Legend of the Demon Castle (悪魔城伝説
Akumajō Densetsu). Since
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance for the
Game Boy Advance, the Japanese games have officially adopted the western title
Castlevania, although it should be noted the first Japanese title to utilize the name,
Castlevania Chronicles, still retained the subtitle of
Demon Castle Dracula. According to series producer Koji Igarashi (or IGA, as he is sometimes known), the developers chose to adopt the
Castlevania moniker as a way to involve scenarios that do not solely revolve around Dracula himself.
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.
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 most notable Belmont is perhaps
Simon Belmont, star of the first several
Castlevania games. However, the games feature many other characters, including Belmonts, relatives and other people that the player can take control of. Included among the usable characters is
Alucard, the son of Dracula himself. Also, several female characters star in some of the later games. See
Castlevania characters for more information about the characters of
Castlevania.
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. The also 3D PlayStation 2 title Castlevania: Lament of Innocence 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
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:
Related games
There are also six parody games created by Konami that have Castlevania-related elements or characters. These, according to Castlevania Dungeon, are:
External links
Official websites
Informative websites
