Category:Castlevania

Castlevania
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Year introduced	1986
Genre(s)	Action, Metroidvania

Castlevania is one of Konami's longest running series, with games from the NES to the PS2. The series (normally) revolves around the Belmont family and their eternal mission of defeating Dracula whenever he reappears, with occasional help from the Belnades clan and Alucard, the son of Dracula. There are two types of Castlevania games: the traditional level-by-level action games and the newer, so-called, "Metroidvanias", which involves more exploration, item/key collecting, and going through areas multiple times. There is an official chronology that was created several years ago, and involved retconning several plotlines from games, as well as removing four games from the official timeline. Games are not released in chronological order, and several games are direct sequels to previous ones. Most games take place decades or even centuries after the previous entry, but some (Simon's Quest, Curse of Darkness, Dawn of Sorrow, Symphony of the Night, and Castlevania 64) take place a few years later and involve the same characters.

Games

The original title of the series is Akumajou Dracula, where Akumajou is Japanese for Devil Castle.

Castlevania games can be roughly divided into two main groups: linear and mazes. Linear games consist of a series of stages that must be cleared in order; maze games usually consist of a single, huge labyrinth with areas that can be accessed only after the character found specific items.

Terminology:

• Metroidvania is a term referring to 2D video games where the exploration is non-linear; its earliest famous example is the Metroid series, hence the name Metroidvania.
• Alternate universe: four titles were removed from the official continuity because later titles openly contradicted their plot:
  • Castlevania Legends (1997) was replaced by Lament of Innocence (2003);
  • Castlevania 64 (1999), Legacy of Darkness (1999) and Circle of the Moon (2001) were replaced by Order of Ecclesia (2008).

After 2010, the Castlevania series was rebooted. The games are then titled Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (plus number or subtitle) in both the original and localized versions.

Linear action games

Action games are based on quick reflexes, adventure games require some deep thought.

Action platformers

The core of the Castlevania series.

In these games, the player has to navigate through a fixed number of stages. Some titles allow forks in the path, but the total number of areas is usually constant, or it varies by one at most.

The player controls one member of the Belmont family (the Morris are related), armed with the whip called "Vampire Killer". The characters are very similar to each other from game to game: they can jump, swing the whip, and use some other skills. The number and characteristics of said skills depend mostly on the capabilities of the platform (e.g. the Belmont in the first Castlevania for GameBoy has just one sub-weapon, whereas the Belmont in the last SNES title can use ten different special attacks).

The handheld line incrorporates some gameplay elements that are reminiscent of the Mega Man series. In particular, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge has a stage selection screen; the hero in Castlevania Legends obtains new skills whevever a boss is defeated; the stages in Castlevania: Order of Shadows can be revisited to access new areas using new skills.

Original title	Localized title	Year	Systems	Setting & hero
悪魔城ドラキュラ Devil Castle Dracula	Castlevania	1986	NES, C64, Amiga	1691 - Simon Belmont
悪魔城ドラキュラ Devil Castle Dracula	Haunted Castle	1988	Arcade	1691 - Simon Belmont
悪魔城伝説 Devil Castle Legend	Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse	1989	NES	1476 - Trevor Belmont
ドラキュラ伝説 Dracula Legend 1	Castlevania: The Adventure	1989	GB, SGB GB GB, GBC	1576 - Christopher Belmont
ドラキュラ伝説II Dracula Legend 2	Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge	1991	GB, SGB GB GB, GBC	1591 - Christopher Belmont
悪魔城ドラキュラ Devil Castle Dracula	Super Castlevania IV	1991	SNES	1691 - Simon Belmont
悪魔城ドラキュラ Devil Castle Dracula	Castlevania Chronicles	1993	X68000 PS1	1691 - Simon Belmont
悪魔城ドラキュラX 血の輪廻 Devil Castle Dracula X: Reincarnation of Blood	Castlevania: Rondo of Blood	1993	TG-16	1792 - Richter Belmont
Vampire Killer	Castlevania: Bloodlines (NA) Castlevania: The New Generation (EU)	1994	SMD	1917 - J. Morris
悪魔城ドラキュラ XX Devil Castle Dracula XX	Castlevania: Dracula X (NA) Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss (EU)	1995	SNES	1792 - Richter Belmont
悪魔城ドラキュラ 漆黒たる前奏曲 Devil Castle Dracula: Dark Prelude	Castlevania Legends	1997	GB, SGB	1450 - Sonia Belmont
-	Castlevania: Order of Shadows	2007	Phones	1600's - Desmond Belmont
悪魔城ドラキュラ Xクロニクル Devil Castle Dracula X Chronicle	Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles	2007	PSP	1792 - Richter Belmont
ドラキュラ伝説 ReBirth Dracula Legend: ReBirth	Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth	2009	Wii	1576 - Christopher Belmont

Three-dimensional action

With the advent of 64-bit consolles, the Castlevania series upgraded its gameplay. These titles feature three-dimensional environment and a third person point of view (i.e. the player sees the game world as if he or she was just behind the character).

Apart from the change in graphics, everything said for the #Action platformers still applies to these games.

Original title	Localized title	Year	Systems	Setting & hero
悪魔城ドラキュラ 黙示録 Devil Castle Dracula Apocalypse	Castlevania 64	1998	N64	Alternate universe
悪魔城ドラキュラ 黙示録外伝    〜LEGEND OF CORNELL〜 Devil Castle Dracula Apocalypse Spin-off:    Legend of Cornell	Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness	1999	N64	Alternate universe
キャッスルヴァニア Castlevania	Castlevania: Lament of Innocence	2003	PS2	1094 - Leon Belmont
悪魔城ドラキュラ 闇の呪印 Devil Castle Dracula: Curse of Darkness	Castlevania: Curse of Darkness	2005	PS2, Xbox	1479 - Trevor Belmont

Other action games

Technically, fighting games and light gun games are two sub-sets of action games.

Original title	Localized title	Year	Systems	Setting & hero
悪魔城ドラキュラ ジャッジメント Devil Castle Dracula: Judgement	Castlevania Judgment	2008	Wii	Fighting
悪魔城ドラキュラ THE ARCADE Devil Castle Dracula: The Arcade	Castlevania: The Arcade	2009	Arcade	Light gun

Labyrinth games

Early non-linear games

Vampire Killer is a different version of the first Castlevania. Each stage is a labyrinth where the player has to find the necessary items to progress to the next one.

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is the only true role-playing game in the series. In fact, it features all three main characteristics of the genre: text-rich, freedom of exploration, permanent character upgrades.

Put together the maze-like stages of Vampire Killer with the freedom of exploration and the level-up system of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and you get a good approximation of a Metroidvania.

Original title	Localized title	Year	Systems	Setting & hero
悪魔城ドラキュラ Devil Castle Dracula	Vampire Killer	1986	MSX2	1691 - Simon Belmont
ドラキュラII 呪いの封印 Dracula II: The Seal of the Curse	Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest	1987	NES	1698 - Simon Belmont

Metroidvanias

When it was released, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was a revolution in the series.

A Metroidvania game consists of a huge two-dimensional, platform labyrinth, where certain areas can only be accessed after the character found specific items or abilities.

Still, it would be a stretch to include them in the definition of "role-playing game". They do include freedom of exploration and permanent character upgrades, but they are completely lacking when it comes to active dialogue and plot development.

Original title	Localized title	Year	Systems	Setting & hero
悪魔城ドラキュラX 月下の夜想曲 Devil Castle Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight	Castlevania: Symphony of the Night	1997	Sega Saturn PS1, PSP	1797 - Alucard
悪魔城ドラキュラ Circle of the Moon Devil Castle Dracula: Cirle of the Moon	Castlevania: Circle of the Moon	2001	GBA	1830 - Nathan Graves
キャッスルヴァニア 白夜の協奏曲 Castlevania: Concert of Midnight Sun	Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance	2002	GBA	1748 - Julius Belmont
キャッスルヴァニア ～暁月の円舞曲～ Castlevania: Minuet of Dawn	Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow	2003	GBA	2035 - Soma Cruz
悪魔城ドラキュラ 蒼月の十字架 Devil Castle Dracula: Cross of the Blue Moon	Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow	2005	NDS	2036 - Soma Cruz
悪魔城ドラキュラ ギャラリー・オブ・ラビリンス Devil Castle Dracula: Gallery of Labyrinth	Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin	2006	NDS	1944 - J. Morris
悪魔城ドラキュラ 奪われた刻印 Devil Castle Dracula: The Stolen Seal	Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia	2008	NDS	1830's - Shanoa

Multiplayer

A multiplayer game requires each player to have a different approach than in a single-player game.

Original title	Localized title	Year	Systems	Setting & hero
悪魔城ドラキュラ ハーモニー オブ ディスペアー Devil Castle Dracula: Harmony of Despair	Castlevania: Harmony of Despair	2010	PS3, X360	Multiplayer
-	Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls	2019	Phones	Multiplayer

Cancelled games

• Castlevania: The Bloodletting for the Sega 32X
• Castlevania Resurrection for the Dreamcast
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the Game.com

Spin offs

• Kid Dracula for the NES (Japan only) and Game Boy