A Castlevania Doom mod has recently been highlighted online — Castlevania: Simon's Destiny takes this uncharacteristically-linear game and provides a whole new perspective with the addition of 3D graphics.
Castlevania: Simon's Destiny has been in the works for a few years and a full version of the mod is now available. While there have certainly been many 3D Castlevania games over the years, we haven't seen much in the way of the originals being reimagined in such a fashion.
Now, a pretty cool reimagining of the first Castlevania game has been highlighted in a tweet by Free Game Planet— check out this speedrun from the mod's creator to see what it's like!
Castlevania: Simon's Destiny Expands on the Original in a Meaningful Way
Many of you are surely fans of the Castlevania games, but you might not have played the first entry in the franchise on the NES. This Castlevania Doom mod does a lot of things that just weren't there in what was the introduction to the series for many people.
All the levels from the classic NES era game have been reimagined like never before[.]
Modern Castlevania games are well-known for being non-linear experiences. This franchise forms one half of the "Metroidvania" genre, the other half being Metroid, naturally. These games typically reward players for exploring alternate routes and backtracking, occasionally requiring the use of special abilities or skillful movement.
The second and third Castlevania games gave players a handful of choices to make as they played, with the second borrowing ideas from RPGs, but a later series veteran exploring the first Castlevania game would find it surprisingly linear. All of the fundamentals are there: the whip, the monsters, Dracula, food in the walls — but it's pretty much a straight shot to the end of the game.
Castlevania: Simon's Destiny takes these levels and recreates them in 3D space. It meaningfully makes use of 3D, too — you're not heading down a straight, endless corridor. The game's sub-weapons have also been reworked to better fit the 3D environment; the throwing knife, for example, now fires in a tight cone.
Where to Get the Castlevania Doom Mod Simon's Destiny
You can download the Castlevania Doom mod on the developer's itch.io page. While you will need GZDoom to play it, that's all you need — it's a completely standalone title.
Castlevania: Simon's Destiny is just one of many Doom mods created by Batandy; a total of five separate games are available on his itch.io page including a standalone remake of Silent Hills P.T. Go ahead and check those out, too!
What do you think of this Castlevania Doom mod? What other 2D games would you like to see reimagined in a similar fashion? Let us know in the comments below!