Castlevania Anniversary Collection

For the real gamers out there, the ones who want to consider the whole history of the medium, this collection is a wonderful gift. To people looking for classic design, for inspiration, for history, there’s a lot to like here. I’m told that it’s a horrible night to have a curse, but any night spent playing this collection feels great.

The trilogy ends with Dracula’s Curse, which adds four playable characters and multiple routes, taking us even closer to the metroidvania approach we love. Arguably the best game in this collection, it demonstrates why director Hitoshi Akamatsu is one of the unsung heroes of the 8-bite, erm, -bit era. [Issue#164, p.96]

Konami rightfully get criticism for not treating their old series' with respect. Castlevania Anniversary Collection does manage to rectify that. Eight fantastic classics are under one roof and, whilst the bonus content doesn't go far enough, there's some care to this that I wasn't expecting. M2's efforts have been astounding and fans should go home happy with this accurately recreated effort.

Overall, Konami Castlevania Anniversary Collection is a solid release, even without the best of the bunch, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Getting authentic ports of the classic series, while adding some small save features, and graphical options help to sell the package. The bonus book might be the best part of it, though, so that’s something to look forward to if you’re going to purchase it.

When it comes to compilations like this, there’s three criteria to meet. One, the games have to stand the test of time. Two, they have to be emulated well. And three, substantial historical features and content must be added. In all three categories, the team at M2 knocked it out of the park. While there are a couple of clunkers here, that doesn’t diminish the fact that there are four outright classics available in this package. Anyone interested in spectacular 2D action titles or in learning about Castlevania‘s history would do well to bite on this collection.

The eight retro games in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection focus on the early traditional platforming era from 1987 to 1994, and quality is assured in the four main numerical entries in the series. The way these games are balanced alongside the previously untranslated NES Kid Dracula, and the superb but overlooked Castlevania: Bloodlines on the Mega Drive provides value, despite limited extras beyond a bonus book and a replay recording function. There's also novelty from playing two Game Boy games on a modern PS4, but their inclusion highlights omissions of remakes like M2's Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth.