The best Castlevania games on Nintendo consoles
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In honor of the series’ 35th anniversary, yes, 35 years since Castlevania was first released in Japan on the Famicom Disk System on September 26, 1986, we are republishing our ranked list of all Castlevania games on consoles. from Nintendo. Enjoy!
the Castlevania The series has a rich history on Nintendo consoles since the original game first made its way to the Japanese Famicom Disk System in 1986, and then to the NES a year later. There may be a significant release or two from Konami’s vampire slaughter catalog still missing from Nintendo platforms (we’re looking at you, Symphony of the night), but the vast majority of the series can be found on Nintendo consoles.
But where should you start if you are new to the Castlevania series? Which Castlevania game is the best? Those are tough questions, but we’ve done our best to create a ranked list of the best Castlevania games (on Nintendo consoles) below. The series has Many high points, plus a couple of very low points, and it comes in two distinct flavors: the more direct right-to-left style of the original games or the more expansive brand of games produced by Koji Igarashi, sometimes referred to as ‘IGAvanias’ – which are spiritually merged with Nintendo’s Metroid series to give birth to an entire ‘Metroidvania’ video game genre.
For Switch owners, the Castlevania Anniversary Collection should obviously be their first port of call, with the most recent Castlevania Advance Collection also containing one of the best games in the series. And there’s always Koji Igarashi’s unaffiliated Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night once you’ve exhausted all of the Belmonts below. The Switch version isn’t perfect, but it has improved a lot since its launch and is arguably the closest thing to Symphony of the Night on Switch until Konami decides to put Symphony of the Night on Switch.
We’ve included a couple of spin-offs and rarities, but that’s enough talk. Wipe away those tears of blood and we’re going to kill some vampires.
Editor: Konami / Developer: Konami
We started with a spin-off. Set in the Castlevania universe, this 2008 Wii game brought together all your favorite characters and monsters in a transcendentally trashy 3D one-on-one fighter with hideous controls and questionable character designs. Castlevania Judgment It was criticized by critics and fans alike on its release and time has done nothing to heal the wounds it inflicted. A miserable bunch, actually.
Editor: Konami / Developer: Konami
The first entry in the series on the Game Boy, and best left in oblivion, Castlevania: The Adventure is a turgid and terminally slow take on the series’ classic gameplay with a smooth, repetitive level design. Given the limitations of the host console, you might be tempted to give it the benefit of the doubt, but the sequel would show what the platform was really capable of and expose this for the horror that it is. Do yourself a favor, skip this and start your portable Castlevania adventure with Belmont’s Revenge.
Editor: Konami / Developer: Konami
Available on Switch as part of Konami Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection, Enchanted castle it is a strange duck. Made exclusively for arcades, it occupies a strange middle ground between homage, parody and harbor and sees Simon Belmont (with a leprechaun who is a quarter of the screen tall) rescuing his new girlfriend from the Count’s evil clutches. . The music is by far the best it has, but despite superficially looking “better” than the original, it is an unfairly punished arcade experience designed to empty your pockets of shiny coins. As such, it’s not a lot of fun, and ultimately it’s not a patch on the original.
If you are interested, you can check the differences between the original NES game, its VS Castlevania arcade port and haunted castle in this video.
Editor: Konami / Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Nagoya
Not knowing that this was the third Castlevania for the Game Boy, you could be forgiven for thinking that this was the second game before Konami perfected things with Belmont’s Revenge. But no, Castlevania Legends It was a late release of the old console (1997 in Japan, 1998 in the West), the third and final entry, and a less auspicious send-off for Nintendo’s 8-bit handheld. Following the release of the mighty Symphony of the Night on PlayStation it would have been an unenviable task, to be sure, but even considering the platform’s inherent limitations, this is one. intense disappointment. With poor animation, mediocre sprite work, and equally unimpressive level design, it’s hard to believe this came seven years after its fantastic predecessor.
Simply put, it wasn’t good enough at the time, and despite being a sought-after collector’s item these days, it only gets worse with age. To avoid.
Editor: Konami / Developer: Konami
A faulty stab in a polygonal Castlevania 3D, this is not as ‘bad’ as ‘crushingly average’. Released several years after the N64 cycle in 1999, gamers expected better from a 3D game at the dawn of the new millennium. Camera issues were a perennial problem for games at the time, but the best Castlevania titles have always been characterized by tight controls and Castlevania (yes, it avoided the colloquially added ’64’ to its title) it just didn’t measure up. We respect it, from afar, but it’s probably best to leave this one in the crypt.
Editor: Konami / Developer: Konami
This second N64 entry was released less than a year after the first and actually includes the entire first game as an unlockable bonus once you’ve completed the prequel adventure. Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness it’s essentially the game that its predecessor should have been and would certainly be a DLC release with countless patches these days. It features numerous in-game tweaks and also uses the Expansion Pak to enhance visuals, but paying full price for this after depositing cash for its predecessor earlier in the year was painful, even for series devotees. Those N64 tanks were expensive back in the day, and even in its polished form, Legacy of Darkness is a far cry from ‘classic’ status, despite our residual affection for it.
Editor: Konami / Developer: Konami
Another game we have fond memories of, despite itself. Castlevania II: Simon’s Search it’s obtuse, infuriating, and downright cheap at times … but it has an amazing soundtrack and admirably turns things around by building on the original game with new ideas, including a day / night loop and an intriguing (albeit ultimately frustrating) no linear Approaching. In the past it would have been an absolute nightmare, and we totally understand people who lose their patience with that, but if you’re not averse to sitting down with a tour and making use of save states, we recommend that you give Simon’s Quest another chance. The soundtrack alone makes it worth playing.
Editor: Konami / Developer: Konami
This MSX2 version of Castlevania was developed in conjunction with the NES game and has many similarities as well as some fascinating differences from the game you are probably familiar with. For example, it was not possible to implement scrolling in the MSX2 version, so each level is divided into individual screens between which you move. If you are interested in a side-by-side comparison, see this summary video of Splash Wave.
So what is this doing in a Castlevania game list for Nintendo consoles, questions. Well, Vampire killer released on the Wii U virtual console in Japan, so while we may not have had the pleasure in the West, it has technically appeared on a Nintendo platform. Ergo, it’s inclusion here.
Editor: Konami / Developer: Konami
Known as Vampire kiss in the EU, Castlevania: Dracula X is a Super NES remake of the original PC Engine Blood round, and it doesn’t stand up to comparison with the game it’s based on, though it’s certainly not badly taken in isolation. It offers a solid old-school Castlevania fare and is worth investigating if you’ve worked your way through the series’ better games (especially the original Rondo of Blood). However, if you’re new to the series, we wouldn’t start here.
Killer box art, mind.
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