If there there was ever one series that was near as awesome as Megaman, Castlevania would probably be it. The Castlevania series was made by Konami, the creators of oh, so many good games. Metal Gear Solid, The Ninja Turtle games, and the Gradius series comes to mind. Castlevania started out on not very popular MSX, with it's first title known as "Vampire Killer". This title was released in 1986, and followed one year later in 1987 by the original Castlevania being released on the Famicom in Japan. Both Vampire Killer, and Castlevania were known as "Akumajou Dracula" or "Demon Castle Dracula" in Japan. Only with their english releases did the titles change. With Castlevania having a different name probably to stop confusion between it and it's predecessor.
What made Castlevania so great though? Well, for starters, it was a side-scroller. Side-scrollers kick ass. Second off, your character gets a whip, and goes on a quest to slay Dracula, and kills tons of monsters on the way. What more could you ask for? Anyways, the storyline is a little more complex than that. In short, in almost every Castlevania game, you play in a different timezone as one of the Belmont clan of vampire hunters. For whatever reason, you set out on your journey as is destined to go and slay Dracula. Unfortunately to get to him you need to get through hundreds of monsters, and through his bigass castle, aptly named "CastleVania".
To date their have been around 18 Castlevania games released in North America, varying on platform from NES, to SNES, to Playstation, PS2, and N64. Let's talk about the early Castlevania games first off though. There were 3 Castlevania games on the NES. Castlevania, Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest, and Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse. The first Castlevania had you playing as Simon Belmont, showing the first appearance of the Belmonts (video game-wise), and had you treking across various areas, fighting skeletons, zombies, bats, and other various mythical creatures. That would probably be one of the reasons why the series is so popular. It's chocked full of just about any mythical creature you could think of. Frankenstein, Werewolves, Medusa, and of course Vampires all make appearances across the various games.
And despite the fact that the first three games use similar engines, all three use unique level designs, and unique monsters. In every title you can expects to see a very different side of Dracula, which is something to look forward to one could say. The first game was a linear platform game, not different from Super Mario Bros., you went along, killing enemies with your whip, gaining powerups, and killing bosses at the end of the levels. Pretty straightforward.
But when the second game was released, it was a similar deal to the Zelda series and the Mario series. All of these games saw their sequels take dramatic turns in gameplay, unlike the Megaman series, which stuck with the good thing they had going. This is not to say the changes were bad. In Castlevania 2, players got to explore, and interact a bit more, with gameplay a little more similar to Metroid, and possibly even Zelda 2,containing that element of an RPG.
This might have shocked some of the fans of the first game, but it gained more fans towards the series, showing them something different. Those that may not have liked the first game liked this one, and vice versa. Either way, the series continued on, spawning Castlevania 3 next. Castlevania 3 to some is the best of the series. Containing elements from the first two games, this one let you choose from an array of characters, and let you take multiple paths throughout the game, some-what eliminating the linear style that bored some players.
Graphics were improved, as well as sound, and it was basically the "Super Mario Bros 3." if you will, of the series. More of what the fans of the first game loved, while not eliminating completely elements of the second game. Probably the best part of it all was the fact that , like I said before, it wasn't as linear as other games. Not only could you take other paths in the game, instead of going through the exact same levels all the time, but the fact that you could use multiple characters made the replay value go through the roof. Why you say? Well, you can only use your regular Belmont (Trevor in this case), and then you can choose between one of three companions. A thief named Grant DaNasty, a priestess type-deal Sypha, and a vampire, Alucard (Dracula's son). Each had their strengths and weaknesses, you could switch between yourself and your chosen secondary character rather easily, making things more fun, easier, and all around way more cool.
Eventually the NES died, and then came the days of the Super Nintendo. A system with more power, more potential, and ultimately better games. Eventually, all the famous series' were getting makeovers, and heading over to the new system, and Castlevania was one of the series to spearhead that revolution. Super Castlevania 4 was released in 1991, and is probably my favourite game of the series. SCV4, was a new game, yet was kind of a remake of the first game. It featured the same storyline, and same character, but with new graphics, all new levels, and features of course. Some fans were mad that this game wasn't taken in the direction that Castlevania 3 was, seeing as this one had you only playing as Simon, and featured linear gameplay like the first game. But the game had it's strong points.
Aside from the obvious kickass graphics the game had, as well as excellent music, the game featured a password system, and a few new gameplay features the old games did not have. In this game, your whip can go in 8 different directions, making killing stuff easier, and just everything much better. Also, with more buttons on the SNES controller, and now that you can whip in different directions, your special weapons are accomodated by using (I think) the A button as a default. This makes the controls a hell of a lot easier, and a whole lot better. Plus, this game introduces the ability to use your whip to wrap around posts, and 'fly' to previously unreachable areas.
The game was just so much better in my oppinion, then nearly any other platformer in existence. It definitely deserves recognition as one of the greatest games of all time. The greatest Castlevania game of all time? That's for you to decide. Moving on, there was also another Castlevania game on SNES entitled Castlevania: Dracula X, but it was wasn't even close to SCV4 in terms of gameplay. It was still an alright game.
Another game that caught my eye was Castlevania: Bloodlines, the sole Castlevania game on the Sega Genesis. A lot better than Dracula X, this title let you choose from your traditional whip user, John Morris, or Eric Lecarde, who uses a nifty Spear. Besides the fact that this game was used to tie the Castlevania storyline in with Bram Stoker's Dracula's storyline, the game itself was extremely good. Great graphics, decent sound, and excellent gameplay. These were the days of perfection for the series in my eyes.
After that, things were sort of slow. Sure, there were the Gameboy games of Castlevania, but none of them really did the series justice. Nothing could have compared to what had already had been done. Or could something? The SNES was dying, as the N64 was being mothered, and the Playstation was the hottest system on the market these days. With many series switching over to the Sony system, Castlevania got it's turn as well. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was released in 1997 for the Playstation, and fans rejoiced. With improved graphics, a new character to play as, and new features it seemed even the best of the series had been topped.
In SOTN, not a Belmont is to be found as Dracula makes his return, and without anyone to slay him, his son Alucard awakens from his slumber, and sets out to do the Belmont's work for them. In the end it turns out Richter Belmont had been put under an evil spell, and therefore could not kill Dracula, as he had sided with Evil. Alucard breaks the spell, and kills Dracula, all in time for dinner at the end of the day.
SOTN, as I said before, featured delicious graphics, and being on a CD, featured some excellent music, of the utmost quality. it was obvious Konami wanted this game to be all that it could be, as the gameplay was obviously modelled after the best pieces of the earlier games. Whether they did the job is for you to decide. Not many people have complained about this game. Many hail it as the best game ever. I myself wouldn't say so. Either way, the vast majority would agree that no game collection is complete without this gem.
Skipping ahead a bit, Castlevania featured some Gameboy games, and as well some Gameboy Advance ones. But sticking to the main topic, and making sure this article doesn't go on too long, we'll take a look at the bane of the Castlevania series in most fans eyes. Yes, it seemed that Castlevania had done it all. They'd been on just about every successful system, and what was left for them? Well, it turns out many of the most popular series' were turning to 3D for the next Generation. And the Nintendo 64 was just the system to accomidate that type of game.
"Castlevania" was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1999, and fans were excited to see what Konami had pulled out of their sleeves. After the success of Metal Gear Solid, it seemed that Konami would have no trouble making Castlevania a 3D game that worked. Unfortunately, the fans were dissapointed. I don't really see why. I enjoyed Castlevania 64 quite a bit. I mean, sure it didn't have the same feeling as the old games, but it was fun, and wasn't without secrets and challenges.
Castlevania 64 follows the tale of Reinhardt Schneider, the latest of the Belmont clan, and Carrie , a young magician. Both on a quest that leads them to kill Dracula it seemed. Players can choose between either character, each of them having an array of attacks, and abilities. The graphics in the game are quit nice, although not the best on the N64. The music, while not the greatest in the series, was also fairly good.
This game added more adventure elements, and whatnot into the series, but still had it's fair share of action. Each character has a differences in their quest, whether it be levels, bosses, etc. Several unlockables were included,and overall the game wasn't as bad as people say. I think the problem was that Konami rushed to release this game, and didn't wait to have the game at it's full potential.
But that was remedied later that year (I believe) when Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness was released. This game was everything that Castlevania 64 was intended to be. More characters, more levels, more bosses, and all around, a better game. There's no doubt I'd rather own both of the N64 games, as they are different, but LOD made up for some of the fans that were mad at CV64. Those that hadn't given up hope weren't totally disapointed. Of course it's unfortunate that this game wasn't released first, but it made Konami learn a valuable lesson.
Afterward, the series continued on, and still goes strong today. But as for the rest of the series, that is another story. Castlevania is a big part of video game history, and will continue to go on through time. It's the only game series with vampires in it that didn't horrendously suck ass. Castlevania is awesome. If you haven't played any of these games, I suggest you to go and play some of them now. You will not be dissapointed (Unless you're a dumbass).