Castlevania ( / ˌ k æ s əl ˈ v eɪ n i ə / ), called Akumajō Dracula in Japan, is a dark and spooky action-adventure video game series and media franchise created by Konami. The series takes place mainly in the castle of Count Dracula, who is the main enemy of the Belmont family, a group of vampire hunters.
The series began in 1986 with a game released on Nintendo’s Famicom Disk System. Most of the early games and many later ones are side-scrolling action games. In 1997, the game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was released for the PlayStation. This game used a different way to play, similar to Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, which also added role-playing features and exploration. Later games adopted this style, and along with Super Metroid, helped create the Metroidvania genre. In 2010, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, a 3D action-adventure game made by MercurySteam and Kojima Productions, was released. This game started the series over again.
The Castlevania series has been available on many platforms, from older systems to modern consoles and handheld devices like mobile phones. The franchise has also grown into other types of games and media, such as comic books and an animated television series that received high praise.
Over nearly 40 years, Castlevania has become one of Konami’s most successful and well-known franchises. Many games in the series are considered among the best ever made. Reviews have noted the series’ success because of its mix of action, adventure, and horror, as well as its difficult gameplay, atmospheric settings, and famous music.
Games
Most Castlevania games have been released in Japan, North America, Europe, and Australia on video game consoles, personal computers, and mobile phones. These games have also been remade or re-released multiple times.
The first console game, Castlevania, was released in 1986 on the Famicom Disk System in Japan and on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America in 1987. It is a 2D side-scrolling action game where players complete six stages. Many features of the Castlevania series began with this game. It has been made available on many other systems, such as the NES Classic Edition. In 1986, a different version called Vampire Killer was released for the MSX home computer. This game played differently from the original Castlevania, as players had to find exits to move to the next stage. In 1987, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest changed the gameplay style, making it more like the nonlinear exploration found in games such as Metroid. This game included a world map that players could explore freely and revisit.
In 1988, Haunted Castle was released as the first arcade game. It returned to the linear platforming style of the original Castlevania. This style continued with the first Game Boy game, Castlevania: The Adventure, and the NES sequel, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, both released in 1989. Dracula's Curse added new stages and allowed players to choose from multiple characters. The Adventure had a Game Boy sequel, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, in 1992, and a remake called Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth for the Wii in 2009.
The first 16-bit home console game, Super Castlevania IV, was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1991. A version for the X68000 home computer in Japan in 1993 was later released in English as Castlevania Chronicles for the PlayStation in 2001. In the same year, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was released for the PC Engine. It was not translated into English until it was included in Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the PlayStation Portable in 2007. Rondo of Blood was the first Castlevania game to use CD-ROM technology, featuring Red Book audio and fully voiced dialogue. Its content was reused in Castlevania: Dracula X, a SNES game released in 1995. Castlevania: Bloodlines (1994) was the first Castlevania game for the Sega Genesis. It was not re-released until 2019 as part of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection.
In 1997, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was released for the PlayStation, and Castlevania Legends was released for the Game Boy. Symphony of the Night changed the gameplay by adding role-playing elements and a nonlinear map that players could explore freely, similar to Simon's Quest and Metroid. These changes influenced future games, including Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow, released between 2001 and 2003. Aria of Sorrow had a sequel, Dawn of Sorrow, for the Nintendo DS in 2005, followed by Portrait of Ruin (2006) and Order of Ecclesia (2008).
The first 3D Castlevania game, Castlevania for the Nintendo 64, was released in 1999. It received an expansion called Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness later that year. In 2003, Lament of Innocence was released for the PlayStation 2. This game focused on combat and was compared to Devil May Cry and God of War. It was followed by Castlevania: Curse of Darkness in 2005.
A new version of the series, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, was released in 2010 for multiple platforms. It was developed by MercurySteam and co-produced by Hideo Kojima. Two sequels followed: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013 and Lords of Shadow 2 in 2014. Lords of Shadow 2 was the last mainline Castlevania game before Konami shifted focus to mobile games and gambling in the 2010s.
In 2021, rumors suggested Konami was working on a new version of the series after restructuring to focus on PC and console games. In 2024, a remake of Haunted Castle, titled Haunted Castle Revisited, was included in the Castlevania Dominus Collection. It was developed by M2, who previously worked on The Adventure ReBirth. A new game, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, is being developed by Evil Empire and Motion Twin and is expected to release in 2026.
The series has many spin-offs. The first was Kid Dracula, a 1990 platformer for the Famicom that parodied the original game. It was released in English for the Castlevania Anniversary Collection in 2019 and had a sequel for the Game Boy.
The first fighting game, Castlevania Judgment, was released for the Wii in 2008 and developed by Eighting. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (2010) was an online multiplayer game where players could control characters from previous Castlevania games and explore stages.
Several games have been made exclusively for mobile phones. *Castlevania:
Common elements
Castlevania, released for the NES in 1986, is a platform game where the player controls Simon Belmont. He moves through six levels of Dracula's castle, with each level divided into six sections, each containing three stages. Simon can jump across platforms and climb stairs to progress. He has a health meter that decreases when he touches enemies or hazards. If he loses all his health, falls off-screen, or runs out of time, he loses a life. The game ends when all lives are used, but players can restart from the last checkpoint. Collecting points increases the score and can earn extra lives. Each level ends with a boss battle against one of Dracula's monsters, each with their own health meter that must be reduced using Simon's attacks. Simon uses the Vampire Killer whip, which can be upgraded by collecting items hidden in candles. Upgrades make the whip longer and stronger, allowing Simon to attack enemies from farther away. He can also use other weapons, such as throwing knives, holy water, and a cross that acts like a boomerang, which require hearts collected from enemies to use.
Castlevania's gameplay influenced many games, but Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1987) introduced role-playing elements, a change from the strict platforming format of the first game. Unlike the first game's linear path, Simon's Quest lets players explore a map freely, revisit areas, and interact with a world that changes between day and night. Players can talk to villagers for hints and buy items from merchants using hearts. This game also added experience points, which let Simon increase his level and health. In 1997, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night expanded on these ideas, creating a new formula for the series and inspiring later games called Metroidvania. Symphony of the Night allows non-linear exploration, requiring players to collect items and abilities to access new areas. It added more complex role-playing features, such as a system where the main character, Alucard, gains stats by defeating enemies. Alucard can transform into a bat, wolf, or mist to reach new areas and uses a variety of equipment.
The first 3D Castlevania game, released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, had gameplay different from earlier 2D versions. It introduced a targeting system for combat, with two playable characters, Reinhardt and Carrie. The environment required precise jumping on 3D platforms and navigating dangerous areas, including rotating and crumbling platforms. This version also included survival horror elements, such as a sequence where the player must escape a pursuing enemy in a maze. In 2003, Lament of Innocence focused on a central hub system, letting players access five main areas from the start. Progress required defeating bosses to unlock the final area. The combat system allowed players to perform fluid combo attacks with the Whip of Alchemy. In 2010, Lords of Shadow introduced up to 40 unlockable whip combos with the Combat Cross, which also helped with exploration by letting players climb walls and swing across gaps. The game featured large boss battles against titans, where players used the Combat Cross to disable them.
The Castlevania series draws inspiration from horror films by Universal Pictures and Hammer Film Productions. The creator, Hitoshi Akamatsu, wanted players to feel like they were in a classic horror movie. Zombies, werewolves, Frankenstein's monster, and Count Dracula appear repeatedly. Alucard, introduced in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, is named after the character from the 1943 film Son of Dracula. The games include folklore creatures like Medusa and references to literary horror. Castlevania: Bloodlines directly uses events from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and the character Carmilla is based on the 1872 novel Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.
Most Castlevania games take place in Count Dracula’s castle, which he resurrects every 100 years to take over the world. Players usually control the Belmonts, a clan of vampire hunters who have defeated Dracula for centuries using the Vampire Killer whip. This legendary weapon is passed down to their descendants and can only be used by them. In Castlevania: Bloodlines, the whip is inherited by John Morris, the son of Quincey Morris, a distant Belmont relative. Other recurring characters include Alucard, a dhampir who helps Trevor Belmont fight his father, Dracula. Trevor is joined by Sypha Belnades, a vampire hunter who uses magic and marries Trevor by the end of the game. Later titles feature descendants of the Belnades clan, such as Carrie Fernandez and Yoko Belnades, as playable characters.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a reboot of the series, set in medieval Southern Europe. The main character, Gabriel Belmont, is part of the Brotherhood of Light, a group of holy knights who fight supernatural creatures. Using a retractable chain whip called the Combat Cross, Gabriel battles the Lords of Shadow to find the God Mask, which he believes can bring back his dead wife. In Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate, Gabriel plays the role of Dracula, the main antagonist of Simon and Trevor Belmont. The sequel, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, is set in modern times and follows Dracula’s search for a way to end his immortality.
In 2002, Koji Igarashi, a game developer, changed the official timeline of the series by removing some games, including Legends and Circle of the Moon, which caused fan criticism. Igarashi explained that Legends conflicted with the series’ story, and Circle of the Moon was removed because its developers intended it to be a standalone game. A 2006 pre-order bundle for Portrait of Ruin included a timeline that added back these games, but Konami’s official Japanese website still excluded them in 2007. Igarashi described the removed titles as a “subseries” rather than part of the main story.
Development
The game was inspired by classic horror movies from the past, before the rise of slasher films. Castlevania was directed and programmed by Hitoshi Akamatsu for the Family Computer Disk System in 1986. The game's credits list names connected to famous horror films, with Akamatsu credited as "Trans Fishers," a nod to film director Terence Fisher. This may have been because Konami did not allow real names to be used at the time to avoid other companies hiring Konami's employees. Akamatsu, who loved movies, designed the game with a "film director's eye," saying the visuals and music were created by people who wanted to make something cinematic. The main character, Simon Belmont, uses a whip because Akamatsu liked how it could repel enemies, and because he admired the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. After Castlevania's success, it was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) as one of its first major platform games. The international title Castlevania was chosen because Konami of America's senior vice president, Emil Heidkamp, disliked the original Japanese title, Akumajō Dracula, which he thought meant "Dracula's Satanic Castle." Due to Nintendo of America's censorship rules, most scenes with blood, nudity, or religious imagery were removed or edited in early versions of the game.
Akamatsu directed Castlevania II: Simon's Quest in 1987, which had gameplay similar to Metroid. When asked if Metroid influenced his work, Akamatsu instead mentioned Maze of Galious, another Konami game that included exploration and puzzles. His final game in the series, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1989), returned to the platforming style of the original Castlevania. Because Konami's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games sold well, their development was prioritized, pushing the team working on Dracula's Curse to create a game that would surpass them. Simon's Quest and Dracula's Curse were not commercially successful, and Akamatsu was moved to work in one of Konami's game centers before resigning.
In 1993, three Castlevania games were developed at the same time: Akumajō Dracula, Rondo of Blood, and Bloodlines. Rondo of Blood, directed by Toru Hagihara, was the first Castlevania game made for a CD-ROM and the first to include fully voiced dialogue. Hagihara later directed Symphony of the Night (1997) for the PlayStation, with Koji Igarashi as assistant director and story writer. Artist Ayami Kojima joined the team to create a new visual style for the series. She later became a character designer for future Castlevania titles. Igarashi said Symphony of the Night began as a "side story series" and aimed to take the franchise in a new direction. The game changed from the original platforming style to include nonlinear exploration and role-playing elements, similar to Simon's Quest. The success of Simon's Quest helped convince Konami to approve Symphony of the Night. After Hagihara was promoted, Igarashi became assistant director. Symphony of the Night was well-received and became a sleeper hit, though it sold modestly, especially in the United States, where it was poorly advertised.
The first Castlevania game with 3D computer graphics, Dracula 3D, began development in 1997 for the Nintendo 64 by Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe (KCEK). It was an action-adventure and platforming game, later released as Castlevania in 1999 and expanded with Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness the same year. KCEK's last Castlevania game was Circle of the Moon, released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance. Circle of the Moon was the first entry to use Metroidvania gameplay since Symphony of the Night. Igarashi, who was not involved in the game, criticized it. In 2002, Igarashi reorganized the series' timeline by removing Castlevania Legends (1997) and KCEK's games due to story conflicts, a move that some fans opposed. After KCEK was dissolved in 2002, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance was released for the Game Boy Advance, produced by Igarashi and developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET). From Harmony of Dissonance onward, Japanese games briefly used Castlevania as the title instead of Akumajō Dracula because Count Dracula is not always the main villain. This continued with Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (2003), a 3D game meant to restart the series. Konami returned to Akumajō Dracula with the 2005 release of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for the Nintendo DS. Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin (2006) introduced a new art style to attract more players, especially younger Nintendo DS users. This change ended with Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia in 2008.
Because recent Castlevania games sold poorly, several prototypes competed to become the next installment. These included a game by Igarashi announced at Tokyo Game Show 2008 and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, developed by Spanish studio MercurySteam. Konami initially told MercurySteam the game would be an original intellectual property (IP) but later asked them to stop work on Lords of Shadow until producer David Cox showed it to Japanese management. Cox was then helped by game designer Hideo Kojima. Igarashi said his project was not progressing well, and Konami canceled it, choosing Lords of Shadow as the next Castlevania game. Produced by David Cox and Hideo Kojima, Lords of Shadow was a 3D action-adventure reboot of the series. Kojima contributed to the game's design and
Reception and legacy
The Castlevania series had sold over 20 million copies worldwide by 2006. It had sold more than 3.7 million copies by 1993. The series has mostly received positive reviews. Symphony of the Night for the PlayStation was the most praised game, with a Metacritic score of 93 and a GameRankings score of 93.38%. Judgment was the least praised game, with a Metacritic score of 49 and a GameRankings score of 52.71%.
Many games in the series have been listed as some of the best video games ever made. Symphony of the Night was ranked #16 on IGN's "Top 100 Games" list and was one of the first games added to GameSpot's "The Greatest Games of All Time" list. Both lists praised the game for successfully creating a 2D game during a time when the industry was moving to 3D. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse was called the 9th best 8-bit game by GameTrailers. Super Castlevania IV was named the 11th best game for the SNES by ScrewAttack on their "Top 20 SNES Games" list. The entire series was ranked the 4th best game franchise ever by IGN, behind Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, and Mario. IGN highlighted Super Castlevania IV and Symphony of the Night as standout games in the series. Aria of Sorrow was named the 2nd best game for the Game Boy Advance and listed as a must-buy for the system by the same website. Castlevania, Super Castlevania IV, and Aria of Sorrow were included on Nintendo Power's "Top 200 Games" list. Information about the series has been included in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008.
In other media
Simon Belmont was a main character in the animated series Captain N: The Game Master. In the show, Simon is shown as self-centered, and his appearance is different from how he looks in the video game series. He was part of the N-Team, a group of mostly video game characters who fought to protect Videoland from the villain Mother Brain, who comes from the Metroid series. Dracula, called only "the Count" in the show, appeared as a villain in Captain N. Alucard also appeared in one episode, but he was shown as a rebellious teenager who likes skateboarding.
Several books and comics based on the Castlevania series have been created. In the 1990s, a book series called Worlds of Power included a story about Simon's Quest, written by Christopher Howell. The series was produced by Seth Godin. This story changed the original plot and added new characters, such as Timothy Bradley, a junior high student who plays video games and helps Simon Belmont in his quest. In 2005, IDW Publishing released a graphic novel titled Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy, based on Castlevania: The Adventure. The book was written by Marc Andreyko and drawn by E. J. Su. In Japan, a two-volume manga called Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, based on a PlayStation 2 game, was published from 2005 to 2006. It was released in English in 2008. A cellphone comic adaptation of Lament of Innocence, titled Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, was released in Japan from 2007 to 2008 for 40 episodes.
A toy line featuring characters from Castlevania was made by NECA. The line includes six figures of Simon Belmont, Alucard, Dracula, and Succubus. A small figure of Pixel Simon was only available as a special item at Comic-Con 2007.
Netflix released an animated series called Castlevania between 2017 and 2021. The series has four seasons and 32 episodes. The first two seasons are based on Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and follow characters Trevor Belmont, Alucard, and Sypha Belnades as they fight Dracula to protect the country of Wallachia. Later seasons include elements from other games, such as Castlevania: Curse of Darkness and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The series was created by Warren Ellis, who used a script he had written for a Castlevania movie that was never made. The art style of the series is influenced by anime and the artwork of Ayami Kojima. The animation was done by Frederator Studios and Powerhouse Animation Studios.
A sequel to the original Castlevania series, Castlevania: Nocturne, was released on Netflix on September 28, 2023. It follows Richter Belmont, a descendant of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, and Maria Renard in France during the French Revolution, 300 years after the original story. The series includes elements from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. The second season of Castlevania: Nocturne began on January 16, 2025. Warren Ellis, the original series creator, was not involved in the new series after allegations of misconduct were made in 2020.
A Castlevania television series was planned in the late 1980s as part of Super Mario Bros. Power Hour, a one-hour block of animated shows based on Nintendo games. DIC Animation City created concept art for the project. However, only segments based on Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda were made and aired in 1989 as part of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.
A Castlevania movie was planned in the late 2000s. However, in December 2007, Rogue Pictures stopped working on the film due to a writers' strike and later because the studio was sold to Relativity Media and concerns about a screen actors' guild strike. On May 27, 2009, the Castlevania movie was officially canceled.