In this series of articles, I look at a specific video game franchise and help those who are new to it learn what it’s all about and what the best titles are to start out with.
The criteria for this is availability and affordability. Some games in the franchise may be (or are) out of print and ridiculously expensive. The goal is that you should have little problem finding, affording and enjoying these games.
What is Castlevania?
Castlevania is a game franchise produced by Konami. In most games, you play as a vampire hunter tasked with killing Dracula. You usually play as a member of the Belmont family, using weapons to defeat the hordes of Hell on your way to the castle of Dracula.
The series borrows from Dracula, old monster movies and a range of other horror references. The games can be played in any order, although there is a loose chronology that ties all the games together and some games may make more sense if you’ve played the previous games. For this list, we are ignoring the chronology and focusing on the best games in the franchise for new players.
As a side note, the games do not follow the Bram Stoker novel. Castlevania is also an animated series that is currently running on Netflix. The games do not follow the events in the Netflix series, although some of the lore from Castlevania can be found within the animated series.
What type of game is Castlevania?
Some of the games are standard 2D linear action games (and some titles include branching paths), while some are Metroidvania style games (more on this term below), and some are 3D action games.
What’s a Metroidvania?
This is a genre of video games where you explore a large interconnected map and on the way, you will reach obstacles that you cannot pass with your current abilities. As you explore more of the map, you will gain abilities that allow you to be able to overcome the old obstacles that were blocking your way. The term comes from the Nintendo game Metroid and the Castlevania series.
Here are the games I would recommend for a complete newcomer:
Castlevania Requiem (PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC)
This download only offering includes two of the best Castlevania games ever made: Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Rondo of Blood puts you in control of Richter Belmont and Maria Renard fighting Dracula and Symphony of the Night has you control Alucard, the son of Dracula. Symphony of the Night is a direct sequel to Rondo of Blood and is a 2D action platform game with branching paths. Rondo of Blood originally appeared as a Japan-only release on the PC Engine CD (TurboGrafx CD in the United States) and Symphony of the Night is a 2D Metroidvania-style game that was originally released on the Sony PlayStation. Requiem is a great way to play both games without shelling out hundreds of dollars for original copies.
Castlevania Anniversary Collection (PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC)
This download only offering includes the following titles: Castlevania (NES), Castlevania II (NES), Castlevania III (NES), Super Castlevania IV (SNES), Castlevania Bloodlines (Genesis), Castlevania: Adventure (Gameboy), Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge (Gameboy), and Kid Dracula (NES). Also included are the Japanese version of most of the games. Out of all the games in the collection, I would start with Super Castlevania IV and Castlevania Bloodlines, followed by Castlevania III. Super Castlevania IV is one of the more easier entries in the lineup and acts as almost a remake of the original Castlevania. Castlevania Bloodlines is a more difficult game but makes up for it with two playable characters, each with their own path to Dracula, and then Castlevania III which has you play Trevor Belmont to defeat Dracula and along the way you meet up with Grant, Sypha, and Alucard who will aid you in your quest.
Castlevania is one of my beloved game franchises. Full of awesome platforming, gameplay and some of the best video game music out there. If you like horror and smacking around the pantheon of devils, demons and the denizens of the damned, you can’t go wrong with Castlevania.
Written by Chris Murdock
