Template:RelevantLinks
The Castlevania series (also known as Akumajô Dracula in Japan, which means Demon Castle Dracula) is a series of 2D platform and 3D platform games developed by Konami based on the myth of the vampire Dracula.
Story
Chronology
Main article: Castlevania storyline
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Castlevania: Bloodlines was the first game to link the Castlevania storyline with Bram Stoker's famous novel.
Gameplay
Although Symphony of the Night introduced RPG and Adventure elements to the series, all Castlevania games are 2D platforming games, except for the four Castlevania in 3D.
Classic Castlevania
The pre-Symphony Castlevania games were pretty linear. The player plays as a member of the Belmont Clan (or as Quincey Morris in Castlevania: Bloodlines) and fights with a whip passed down in the Belmont clan: the Vampire Killer. The hero could also fight with a sub-weapon such as the axe, the holy book or the cross, amongst many others. These sub-weapons consumed hearts in order to be used.
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest was a little different from the other games. It wasn't linear but rather the player could travel through villages to gather informations about where to go (although the villagers were all liars).
The first games had a very limited gameplay, the character couldn't change direction mid-jump or jump on or off stairs, the whip could only be used in one direction. However, later games such as Super Castlevania IV fixed these issues, but only in the last classic Castlevania, Rondo of Blood could the player fully control the character.
Metroidvania/Castleroid/Castletroid
When Koji Igarashi took the direction of the Castlevania series, he introduced some RPG and Adventure elements to the series. The first game to feature these changes was Symphony of the Night, on the Playstation. Rather than playing through linear levels, the player could freely move in the castle à la Metroid (hence the name given to the genre: Castleroid, Castletroid, or Metroidvania). It also took some RPG elements, such as the inventory, the equipment or the experience system, which worked by defeating enemies or by collecting special items. A magic counter was added, in addition to the hearts counter for the sub-weapon.
It should be noted that almost all Castleroid of the series feature a classic mode without inventory or equipment.
3D Castlevania
The four installments in 3D of the series are often considered as inferior to the other games. As a matter of fact, IGA himself said that he had yet to find the good formula to make a 3D Castlevania.
N64 Castlevania
Castlevania 64 and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness were the two first tentatives for a 3D Castlevania. Actually, Legacy of Darkness is more a Director's Cut of the other game, as it features the same locations with extra levels and two extra characters. The gameplay is basically the same of the classic 2D Castlevania, but in 3D. The game was linear, but some levels, such as the villa, were non-linear.
The main issue of Castlevania 64 was its camera, which sometimes acted in a strange way, although it was fixed in Legacy of Darkness. Another common complaint was about the learning curve needed for the controls.
Another 3D Castlevania was planned for the Dreamcast, but the project was eventually canceled when Sega left the hardware business.
PS2 Castlevania
Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness were developed by IGA for the Playstation 2 (Curse of Darkness was ported to the XBOX), they were his first attempts at a 3D game. Basically these two games take the Castledroid gameplay, with experience, inventory and equipment in 3D.
They both received very mixed reviews due to poor level design and graphics, making the game mostly boring, going through empty corridors.
Music
The music in Castlevania includes is some of the most well-known soundtracks in the video game history.
 | This "Castlevania"-related article is a stub. You can help by adding to it. |