We all worry about the things that go bump in the night, the fears that make our hairs stand on end, keeping us up long past bedtime. But what do you do when you worry that one of your favorite game franchises might have its reputation ruined? Well, it’s happening for me with Castlevania Anniversary Collection.
Konami And The Arcade
I’m a huge fan of Konami from the old days. They made some of my favorite games when I was a kid, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons arcade games. But with licensing issues, it’s understandable that they couldn’t get them for their Arcade Classics collection.
This may not be an issue for the Castlevania Collection, but there’s still something that has me thinking Konami will screw it up. And no one wants the collection to be good more than I.
Konami’s Reputation
First of all, there’s no denying that Konami’s public image has changed since they fired Kojima and took his name off of Metal Gear Solid 5. They seem more interested in pachinko machines than new video games because they make consistent money in Japan.
Even the recent Castlevania Requiem collection for PS4 seemed rather slapped together for Konami to make a quick buck. The collection featured two games: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. These games, to their credit, are classics in their own right.
But there appeared to be something off about the collection. The main menu of Requiem looked to have no care put into it — a standard menu with the same noise playing on and on until you pick a game.
What’s more, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, a decade-old Castlevania collection released with both games in addition to a third, and it had a full remake of Rondo of Blood rather the simple re-release that came with Castlevania Requiem. Yet Konami charged the same amount of money for Castlevania Requiem.
It’s worth mentioning that both collections came with an updated dubbing and localization of Symphony of the Night. This decision was controversial among some fans, as some loved the quirkiness of Symphony‘s cheesy voice acting, but it didn’t affect the superb gameplay.
The real letdown is in the fact that it didn’t seem like much effort was put into Requiem. With such classic games in the collection, there wasn’t really a big need for it, but it would’ve been nice if it wasn’t such a downgrade from The Dracula X Chronicles.
Four Games Revealed So Far…
So far, four games from the series have been revealed for the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, but one of the reveals in particular gives me hope.
The games include Castlevania, Castlevania 3, and Super Castlevania 4. The surprise comes from the fact that Castlevania 2 for the NES was not revealed (at least not yet). Instead, we’re getting the one original Castlevania game released on the Gameboy: Castlevania 2: Belmont’s Revenge. It stars Christopher Belmont, who’s trying to rescue his son from Dracula, and it has a good reputation among fans.
Personally, I think the inclusion of Castlevania 2 is a good sign. I hope they don’t include the other Gameboy games or other readily available Castlevania titles. Instead, I hope for Bloodlines and the GBA and DS games, though I don’t think Konami would put the effort into making the latter games playable without a touchscreen. At the end of the day, I just hope the Anniversary Collection is full of games worth revisiting.
What do you think? What do you want to see in the Castlevania Collection? Let us know in the comments below!
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