Konami has announced the full lineup for the upcoming Castlevania Anniversary Collection. The collection will be released on May 16th for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The Japanese edition will cost 3,240 yen, which is roughly $29.
Castlevania Anniversary Collection will consist of eight games. It's one of three retro collections Konami recently announced, alongside Anniversary Collection: Arcade Classics and Contra Anniversary Collection. Interestingly enough, Anniversary Collection: Arcade Classics features Haunted Castle, which is an arcade adaptation of the original Castlevania (albeit one with different stages and an altered plot) while it doesn't make an appearance in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection.
Here's the full Castlevania Anniversary Collection lineup:
- Castlevania (NES)
- Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (NES)
- Castlevania: The Adventure (Game Boy)
- Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES)
- Kid Dracula (Game Boy)
- Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Game Boy)
- Super Castlevania IV (SNES)
- Castlevania Bloodlines (Sega Genesis)
There are no sign of classics like Symphony of the Night or Rondo of Blood, although this makes sense given the recent Castlevania Requiem PS4 collection (still no word on other platforms for that, though) and the focus on the pre-Symphony style of Castlevania games. This collection runs between 1987 (original Castlevania) and 1994 (Castlevania Bloodlines). It's a shame Konami has chosen to include Castlevania: The Adventure here and not its WiiWare remake Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth. Since the original Wii Shop closed, ReBirth hasn't been available to the public. Some were hoping it would be part of this collection, but it seems we're getting the arguably inferior original Game Boy version instead.
Castlevania and its two NES sequels have appeared on Nintendo's Virtual Console service, as has Super Castlevania IV. Castlevania: The Adventure and Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge have both previously been re-released via Konami's GB Collection anthologies on Game Boy Color. Castlevania Bloodlines has never before been reissued, so this will be the first chance many will have to play it legally on a non-Genesis system. Kid Dracula has only been reissued once in Japan via Nintendo Power, so again, this will be many people's first time experiencing the game.
Like the other two anniversary collections Konami is releasing, Castlevania will come with an ebook. Details on that ebook haven't been released yet, but if it's similar to the Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection ebook then it'll likely contain developer interviews, behind-the-scenes images, design documents, and the like. We don't yet know who's working on porting the games to the new platforms, but it's likely to be Hamster Corporation. The official Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection website states that it's "powered by Arcade Archives", which is a brand of collections presided over by Hamster. It'd be a surprise if Hamster weren't working on the Castlevania ports too.
Castlevania Anniversary Collection will be released May 16th for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch as a digital-only title.
Will you be picking up Castlevania Anniversary Collection? Let us know in the comments below!
