The story of the epic battle between the Belmont family and Count Dracula has become a legend that transcended through the years and became a part of the history of gaming. One man (Sometimes teamed up with powerful allies) wanders into the horrors of darkness to defeat the evil incarnated as the Lord of the Vampires. You and your children are familiarized with these games and this compilation is more than just a "Trip down Memory Lane", is a testimony of relying to the classics when the modern games fail.
Classic. Simply a classic which doesn't need words to describe.
CASTLEVANIA (Nintendo Entertainment System): "If you think it's scary outside, wait until you see the basement." The game that started all the saga. While the arcade game Haunted Castle was the beginning of the Belmont story, it was Castlevania the foundations of this universe. As one of the first horror themed action platformers, Castlevania is one of the major exponentials of this genre. With an unique gameplay which involved a short ranged whip and the support of sub-weapons like the Holy Water, the Cross boomerang and the Battle Axe, combined with the combination of sequences that required some skills, it became the action platformer for excellence among old schoolers, along with its graphics and phenomenal soundtrack.
CASTLEVANIA II: SIMON'S QUEST (Nintendo Entertainment System): "This game sucks. Castlevania I and III are great classic Nintendo games, but for Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, the game designers obviously were not thinking straight.", James Rolfe's first words are what we all remember the most of this game. Unlike Castlevania, this breaks with what will become a routine of platforming action as it takes a turn into and RPG-like platformer where you have to find Dracula's parts, revive him and defeat him as fast as possible, since Simon's been cursed by the count and each day that passes means one step closer to death for Simon. While the concept of day and night transitions was an interesting feature, it became tedious with the infamous interruptions, not to mention you have to buy things and the horrible clues which can be confusing due to the engrish translations. It's sole point in favor was the introduction of the password feature to continue where you left off. Otherwise, this game is a sequel that most of us will want to forget.
CASTLEVANIA III: DRACULA'S CURSE (Nintendo Entertainment System): The third and final entry on Nintendo's 8-bit console. This returns to the traditional formula of linear action platforming, but in a larger scale as we have the option of select different paths and for the first time in the series, the option of teaming up with allies like the Ghost Pirate Grand DaNasty, the mystic warlord Sypha Belnades and Alucard, Dracula's forgotten son. This is also the first Castlevania without Simon, but with his ancestor, Trevor Belmont. Teaming up with a specific character made the game more strategical, since they have unique powers and skills like Grant's wall climbing, Sypha's fire and ice powers and Alucard's bat transformation which helped on crossing a stage segment with ease. While these features are well executed, the difficulty was climbed up to exploit the characters' skills, being the hardest of the NES trilogy.
The 16-Bit Horror Epic is back breaking new ground and burying your PlayStation 4 in it.
SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV (Super Nintendo): "The Gravest Castlevania adventure breaks new ground ...and buries you in it." The definitive Castlevania game. Despite being a retelling of the first game, it feels more like a new entry in the series. Like Contra III: The Alien Wars, Super Castlevania IV exploits all the advantages of the SNES resulting in a very involving game and a 16-bit epic with spectacular graphic effects, total control of Simon Belmont and the mastery of the Mystic Whip and a majestic orchestrated soundtrack that brings the mystery of Castlevania's world and the horror of the bosses to life (Being the Clock Tower level the most memorable of all). An unforgettable game which became a heavy reason to own a SNES.
CASTLEVANIA: THE ADVENTURE (Gameboy): Also known as The Castlevania Adventure. This was the first incursion of the series on Nintendo's portable handheld console and the debut of Christopher Belmont, and to be honest it was the worst game of the series you could play. Terrible controls, being the jumping the worst of all, especially on long jumps which required pixel precision (combined with crumbling blocks were a via crucis), bad hit detection and the worst of all: There was no sub-weapons and your whip downgrades on each hit, making the game virtually unplayable. Curiously, this game was only four stages long.
CASTLEVANIA II: BELMONT'S REVENGE (Gameboy): After the disaster that was Castlevania: The Adventure, the sequel is actually much more playable and is more faithful to the traditional gameplay of the NES games as you can use sub-weapons and your whip doesn't downgrade with every hit, but still it is only playable until you reach the final bosses: Soleil (wrongly called Soleiyu) and Dracula. One of the most interesting features of the game was to be able to select which castle you want to start kinda like in Megaman. Still, this one feels more like the Castlevania II that will make us forget about Simon's Quest.
CASTLEVANIA BLOODLINES (Sega Genesis): Castlevania's lone incursion in the Genesis. Like Contra Hard Corps, this game allows us to select our starting character: John Morris who utilizes the Mystical Whip like the Belmonts, or Eric Lecarde who utilizes a spear, being the first game in the series without a Belmont, just like Hard Corps is Contra without Bill. The game has splitting paths during a level based on which character you're using. The most annoying thing is that you have to finish the game not once but twice. One in Normal to unlock the Hard difficulty, and then finish it in Hard to reveal the full ending. To make things stingier, it has a continue limit, making the game very difficult to complete (2 Continues for Expert difficulty is asking too much). You can call this one "Castlevania: Hard Corps" if you want.
KID DRACULA (Famicom Disk System): This game does to Castlevania what Parodius to Gradius, being the parody of the franchise. While Castlevania is a platformer involving using your whip and weapons, Kid Dracula involves more of a gameplay style more reminiscent of Megaman with the huge sprite and coloring of the Tiny Toon Adventures games. There's the basic chargeable shot, Homing 5 way bullets and even a Metal Storm-like ceiling walking ability. Another unique feature of this game was the inclusion of bonus levels after completing the stages, involving 4 different minigames where you can win extra lives.
While Konami and M2's decision of bring a Japanese-only title to the collection is always accepted, I think they've made the wrong choice 'cos Rondo of Blood really deserved a release, even if it was released with Symphony of the Night on the PS4 as a 2-in-1 bundle. Speaking of SOTN, a release of the original game in the collection would be amazing, especially since the XBLA port has the cutscenes and the song "I am the Wind" removed and without the redub of the PSP/PS4 release. Those two and Castlevania Chronicles would fill the unnecesary inclusion of the Gameboy games because they're among the worst of the series (Castlevania: The Adventure being the worst of all).
As bonus material, the compilation includes the Japanese versions of all the main games, so we can enjoy the games without Nintendo of America's censorship to violent elements (Blood->Green Ooze) and religious themes.
CASTLEVANIA: ANNIVERSARY CURIOSITIES
- The Castlevania logo used on the title screen is the one used on Castlevania Harmony of Despair and Order of Ecclesia. The gold color and the formal font of "Anniversary Collection" fits together quite well.
- Kid Dracula will later appear on the Parodius series using the weapons of Axelay.
- The Famicom version of Castlevania III (Akumajo Densetsu) has better sound due to the Famicom's sound driver which had more channels than the NES.
- The back of Super Castlevania IV's package renamed some of the bosses: Puweyxil (Death Breath Head) was called "Tongue Lasher", Sir Grakul was "The Darkest Knight", Rowdain became the "Bone-afide Horseman" and Koranot (Golem) was named "Granite Crusher".
- Both Simon and Dracula make a cameo on the Outer Heaven night club from Snatcher.
- The Belmont bloodline ended with Kokoro Belmont from Otomedius Excellent, and the names of those heroic warriors have long been forgotten by Konami.
Castlevania: The Atlantis Factor
Don't misunderstand me, but despite the odd decisions and strikes made on this compilation, Castlevania Anniversary Collection is a solid compendium of the classics. Being the NES and SNES games enough reasons to buy it, along with their japanese versions for those who want to play Super Castlevania IV without Nintendo's SJW antics. An absolute nostalgia trip for those who want some old school action.
One final word of advice: The best way to play the games is from the worst to the best. Start with the Gameboy games > Kid Dracula > Simon's Quest > Bloodlines > Castlevania, Castlevania III and then Super Castlevania IV. Have fun, Belmonts!
Simon: Are the burgers ready?
Ghost Chef: No. Tonight's meal will be fish and pasta.