Falling an inch short of Platform Hell on many occasions, early Castlevanias were strictly about making your way through Dracula’s castle, not getting murdered by his army of ghouls, not getting murdered by mistimed jumps, not getting murdered by bottomless pits, and finally, not getting murdered by the Big D himself. Classicvanias - the earlier entries in the series, including the self-titled debut.
Most games of the series can be divided into three categories: Belmont sent Dracula to hell, but every few years, Dracula would return (either through his own dark presence or the machination of his cult followers), and with his return, a member of the Belmont clan (or a friendly substitute) would walk right up to the castle gates and begin vanquishing the horrible night.Īs the Castlevania series continued, its gameplay evolved, although the iconic elements - the Vampire-Killer whip, the sub-weapons, and the focus on combat and exploration - remained. Dracula spread his dark influence across the countryside until a vampire hunter, Simon Belmont, broke into the castle armed with the enchanted whip "Vampire Killer" and a plethora of appropriate sub-weapons. The series is notable for pursuing a Gothic approach to both the audio and visuals (the latter becoming more and more baroque as graphics engines advanced), and it's also respected for helping to define Nintendo Hard back in the day (an ideal occasionally upheld in newer entries of the series).Ĭenturies ago, the dark lord Dracula rose to power, and his power helped create a demonic castle filled with all manner of folkloric beasts and mythical monsters. Castlevania, one of the longest-running franchises in the platformer genre, is the co-inventor of Metroidvania-style gameplay and one of the earliest adopters of RPG elements in a non-RPG title. For the first Castlevania game see Castlevania 1986Īn old saying posits the following: " True evil never dies, and all that is necessary for its triumph is for good men to do nothing." As it so happens, the Belmonts are absolute workaholics - and very, very good men.įor over twenty years, Konami has been chronicling the adventures of the extended Belmont family and their neverending quest to rid the world of Count Dracula and his eponymous castle. This article is about the series as a whole.
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