Castlevania Anniversary Collection Review

"Vampire Ages"

Campaign

June 21, 2019 at 6:45pm
By Jason Stettner

The Castlevania franchise is definitely one of the most well known in gaming, and this is one interesting way to experience it. This Konami Anniversary Collection is part of the publisher’s fiftieth celebration and it’s packed with interesting titles. There are eight games that make this pack up and one extra eBook to learn about the series that’s titled “History of Castlevania – Book of the Crescent Moon”.

You get a little of everything in here, at least in the old school side scroller style for the series. Having been rather unfamiliar with these older games it was nice to give them a whirl. You can definitely see that some are timeless, and the others are rather funny. I’ll list the full games under the gameplay section, but in general you get the full growth of the start of the franchise here. There’s a really interesting sense of progression if you go from the start and make your way through the titles by year.

You get to see how the games grew, developed and changed greatly over time. They’re fun to play, and a neat experience if you’re wanting to revisit or perhaps check them out for the first time. There’s a bit of a story here, but that of course depends on which of the series you’re playing.

Gameplay

The games list is; Castlevania, Castlevania II Simon's Quest, Castlevania III Dracula's Curse, Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania The Adventure, Castlevania II Belmont's Revenge, Castlevania Bloodlines, Kid Dracula. The games can be played in their original style, or adjusted in multiple ways with various screen options. There are a number of ways to tweak how the games are presented and that was appreciated.

There are save options, and other ways to tweak how the titles are played as well. This is great as it gives control to the player in regards to how they want to interact with these classics. They all handle well, and it was neat to get a grip on how they differ throughout during their evolution. The visuals hold up well, as does the music and it was an enjoyable time to try them all out.

The Conclusion

The Castlevania Anniversary Collection delivers the essentials from the franchise while offering new ways to experience them. There’s a solid selection of titles and it’s neat to be able to see the general evolution over time. The visuals are excellent, the gameplay handles well and it’s neat to be able to adjust various elements of the presentation.

This is a great way to experience these games, and if you want additional details the eBook brings even more. Castlevania has endured through the years due to the groundwork these games laid out and I can see why. They’re rather hardcore I suppose, but you can adjust that with the modern tweaks. I believe this package covers the essentials, and makes them easily accessible in one spot.

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Castlevania Anniversary Collection Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Rating Overall: 8.0