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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 Akumajō Dracula for the Famicom Disk System and MSX platforms in 1986 in Japan. Even though the MSX 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 Akumajō Dracula until the localized release of the FDS version under the title of Castlevania for the NES in 1987.
In Japan, the series is mostly known as Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ), which loosely translates as "Demon Castle Dracula". On the Nintendo Game Boy systems, the series is known as Dracula Densetsu, which could be translated as "The Legend of Dracula". However, since Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance for the Game Boy Advance, the Japanese games have officially adopted the western name for the series, although it should be noted the first Japanese title to recognize the "Castlevania" name was Castlevania Chronicles (yet it still retained the subtitle of "Akumajō Dracula X68000"). This is due to the fact that the developers want to expand the series to involve scenarios that do not solely revolve around the main plotline of the series.
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, 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 somewhat 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.
Castlevania game list
There are numerous games released in the Castlevania series and in many different contries.
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):
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:
External links
Official websites
Informative websites
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