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''Castlevania'' (キャッスルヴァニア) is a Video Game Series , created and developed by Konami . The series debuted in Japan with the release of ''Demon Castle Dracula'' (悪魔城ドラキュラ ''Akumajō Dracula'') for the Famicom Disk System (FDS) and MSX 2 platforms in 1986 . Even though the MSX 2 port (which was localized in Europe and Brazil under the title of ''Vampire Killer'') was released first outside of Japan, the series did not receive wide attention outside of Japan until the FDS version was Ported to Cartridge format for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Localized for North America n and European release under the title of ''Castlevania'' in 1987 . The series was landmark as it was among the earliest video games to feature a gothic horror storyline while at the same time abandoning the campy elements of similar games of the time, such as '' Ghosts 'n Goblins ''. The ''Castlevania'' series is one of Konami's most famous franchises, and has seen titles released for the Nintendo Entertainment System , the Super Nintendo Entertainment System , the Sega Mega Drive , the PC Engine , the Sony PlayStation , the Sega Saturn , the Nintendo 64 , the PlayStation 2 and the Microsoft Xbox Video Game Console s. Several franchise titles have been released for Handheld Game Console s, including the Game Boy , the Game Boy Advance , and the Nintendo DS , and for various Personal Computer platforms, including the MSX 2, the Commodore 64 , the Sharp X68000 , the Commodore Amiga , MS-DOS , and Microsoft Windows . OVERVIEW The ''Castlevania'' series is about a war between the enchanted family bloodline of the Belmonts and Dracula . Almost every hundred years, Dracula is resurrected and it is up to the Belmonts to defeat him before he invokes his wrath on the entire world. The most notable Belmont is perhaps Simon Belmont , star of the first several ''Castlevania'' games. However, the games feature many other characters, including Belmonts, relatives and other people that the player can control. Included among the usable characters is Adrian Fahrenheit Tepes, also known as Alucard , the son of Dracula himself. Also, several female characters star in some of the later games. See Castlevania Characters for more information about the characters of ''Castlevania''. The series is loosely based on the mythology of '' taking place shortly afterwards. The connection even goes as far as to claim that Quincy Morris, a character from the novel who lands the final blow against Dracula at the cost of his own life, is in fact a Belmont descendant. The series also incorporates a variety of other Monster s from classic Horror Fiction , Films , Fantasy , and Mythology . These monsters serve to obstruct the path to Dracula but are rarely tied to the game's plot. For a complete timeline of the events of the ''Castlevania'' series, see '' Castlevania Timeline ''. REGIONAL VARIATIONS AND LOCALIZATION In Japan, the series is most commonly known as ''Demon Castle Dracula'' (''Akumajō Dorakyura''). However, not every installment of the franchise has borne that title. For example, the first two installments for the '' (悪魔城ドラキュラ 蒼月の十字架 ''Akumajō Dorakyura Sōgetsu no Jūjika'', lit. ''Demon Castle Dracula: Latin Cross of the Blue Moon''). The series is also known for the differences between the Japanese and English Language versions. Particularly in earlier installments, the Localization process usually removes a heavy share of Violent and Religious imagery and references. In addition, the English localizations have frequently been plagued by a number of omissions, errors and deliberate alterations from their original Japanese counterparts. Notable examples include the mistranslated character names ('' was changed from "Ralph C. Belmondo" to " Trevor Belmont " for the English version). RARITY Several games in the series have been produced in very limited quantities, in North America and Europe at least, and have thus greatly fallen short of demand. Most recently, ''Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance'' and '''', considered by many ''Castlevania'' fans to be the "Holy Grail" of the series due to having been released solely on the Japanese PC Engine CD console, still easily sells for over a hundred dollars, as does the original Japanese version of the MSX installment, ''Vampire Killer''. Other rare editions include the original Sharp X68000 (a Japanese home computer) port of the first title in the series. EVOLUTION OF THE GAMES The gameplay mechanics are fairly consistent among most of the earlier titles. These are typical Platform Game s in which the player takes the role of a whip-wielding warrior from the Belmont family as he ventures inside Castlevania (Count Dracula's castle) and fights a variety of supernatural beasts on his way to defeat Dracula. The whip used by the Belmont clan is a relic named the Vampire Killer , which was blessed with the power to destroy vampires and other creatures of the night (no stake through the heart required). The games also feature secondary weapons that are powered by hearts, all of which can be found by destroying candles. Common secondary weapons are the straight-flying Dagger , the overhead-thrown Axe , the ground-burning vial of Holy Water , a Holy Book that flies in a circular motion around the screen, and the Cross , which is wielded like a Boomerang . The general appearance of the characters in the games has also changed since the first installments. In the earlier games, the main characters were usually warriors sporting leather armour or similar garb. As new ''Castlevania'' games were released, the heroes' outfits evolved into more elegant, fancy vests. The modern look adopted for the characters in the newer games could be said to have been introduced by '''', the first game to feature the Japanese artist Ayami Kojima as the character designer. Another notable detail is the distinctive Anime -style design of those characters, which is present in almost the entire series but is more prominent in ''Rondo of Blood'' and later titles. A major turning point in the series was the ground-breaking ''Castlevania: Symphony of the Night''. In addition to shaking off the stiff play controls that had plagued nearly every previous game in the series, ''Symphony'' adopted what is sometimes called a Castleroid style of gameplay due to its many similarities to the '' Metroid '' series (primarily '' Super Metroid ''), and combines this with the Console RPG concepts of Experience Level s, Hit Points , and equipment. Subsequent Castlevania games have followed this new style, with the replacement of the secondary weapons by complex magic systems in which spell components are collected from enemies or found in the castle. These systems use hearts to replenish MP and often include most of the classic secondary weapons among the much larger variety of spells and attacks. The first games in the series to employ to Capcom 's '' Devil May Cry ''. GAME LIST Related games There are also six parody games created by Konami that have ''Castlevania''-related elements or characters. These, according to Castlevania Dungeon , are: CHRONOLOGY :''See main article: Castlevania Timeline Prior to the release of ''Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance'', every game in the series was accepted as Canon , with the original versions of certain games (such as the original ''Castlevania'' and ''Dracula X'') usually accepted as the canonical interpretation of certain events. This was assumed even though there was no official unified direction to the series's storyline (other than conflicts against Dracula). However, when Koji Igarashi took over as producer for the series (starting with ''Harmony of Dissonance''), he revised the timeline and removed the following games from it: ''Castlevania Legends'', ''Castlevania 64'', ''Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness'' and ''Castlevania: Circle of the Moon''. OTHER MEDIA In November 2005, news of a ''Castlevania'' movie surfaced. Crystal Sky Pictures acquired the movie rights for ''Castlevania'' from Konami. British filmmaker Paul W. S. Anderson has been announced as director of the Castlevania film. No cast has been announced and production is expected to start in mid-2006. {Link without Title} EXTERNAL LINKS Official websites:
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SEE ALSO In 2004 amateur film maker and Castlevania fan Ben Isaac, made the short film : Castlevania: Prelude to War. A small feature can be found in EGM July 2004, as well as on many gaming sites. Konami eventually got their hands on it, and many assume the villain of Curse of Darkness, Isaac, is named after Ben. |