Castlevania

Castlevania is a video game series, created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan with the release of Akumajō Dracula for the Famicom Disk System and MSX platforms in 1986 in Japan. Even though the MSX port (which was localized in Europe under the title of Vampire Killer) was released first outside of Japan (a fact which had led to many people attribute the MSX version as the original game, when in reality the FDS version came out first), many people in the west weren't exposed to Akumajo Dracula until the localized release of the FDS version under the title of Castlevania for the NES in 1987.

In Japan, the series is mostly known as Akumajō Dracula, which loosely translated means Demon Castle Dracula. On the Nintendo Gameboy systems, the series is known as Dracula Densetsu, which could be translated as "The Legend of Dracula". However, since Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance for the GBA the Japanese games have adopted the western name for the series. This is due to the fact that the developers want to expand the series to involve scenarios that do not solely revolve around the main plotline of the series.

The Castlevania series is about a war, between the enchanted family bloodline of the Belmonts and Dracula. At least every hundred years, Dracula is resurrected and it is up to the Belmonts to defeat him before he causes too much pain and suffering.

The most notable Belmont is perhaps Simon Belmont, star of the first several Castlevania games. However, the games star many characters, including Belmonts, relatives and other people, that you can control. Included among the usable characters is 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 somewhat based on the mythology of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. In fact, the novel is considered to be within the official canon of the series; the events taking place prior to monsters from classic horror fiction, films, fantasy, and mythology.

Castlevania Game List

Game Title	Console/Platform	Year	Notes
Castlevania	Famicom/NES	1986	Also released on the Commodore 64, Amiga, and in the Arcade (Versus); Akumajō Dracula in Japan
Vampire Killer (Europe)	MSX	1986	Akumajō Dracula in Japan
Akumajō Dracula II: The Accursed Seal	Famicom Disk System	1986	Japan only; same as Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest	NES	1988	North America only
Haunted Castle	Arcade	1988	Akumajō Dracula in Japan
Castlevania Adventure, The	Gameboy	1989	Dracula Densetsu in Japan
Famicom/NES	1990	Akumajō Dracula: Legend of Demon Castle
Super Castlevania IV	Super Famicom/SNES	1991	Akumajō Dracula in Japan
Gameboy	1991	Dracula Densetsu 2 in Japan
PC Engine	1993	Japan only
Akumajo Dracula X68000	X68000	1993	Japan only
Sega Megadrive/Sega Genesis	1994	Vampire Killer in Japan
SNES	1995	SNES remake of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night	Playstation	1997	Akumajō Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku in Japan
Akumajō Dracula X: Gekka no Yasōkyoku	Sega Saturn	1998	Japan only rerelease of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania Legends	Gameboy	1998	Dracula Densetsu: Dark Night Prelude in Japan
Castlevania	N64	1999	Generally referred to as Castlevania 64 to separate it from Castlevania for the Famicom/NES; Akumajō Dracula Mokushiroku in Japan
N64	1999	Akumajō Dracula Mokushiroku Gaiden: The Legend of Cornell in Japan
Castlevania Chronicles	Playstation	2001	A Playstation rerelease of Japan, the first Japanese game to carry the Castlevania name
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon	Gameboy Advance	2001	Akumajō Dracula: Circle of the Moon
Gameboy Advance	2002	Castlevania: Concerto of the Midnight Sun in Japan
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow	Gameboy Advance	2003	Castlevania: Minuet of Dawn in Japan
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence	Playstation 2	2003	Castlevania in Japan
Akumajō Dracula	Gameboy Advance	2004	Rerelease of the original NES Akumajō Dracula; released as apart of the Famicom Mini Volume 3: Disk System Selection GBA release

Chronology

According to the chronological order of the storyline of the Castlevania series and the year the game was chronologically set in, according to :

Game Titles	Year	Notes
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence	1094
Castlevania Legends	1450	(Retconned from IGA's ideal version of the timeline due to the implied relationship between Alucard and Sonia Belmont.)
1476
Castlevania Adventure	1576
1591
Vampire Killer, Haunted Castle, Castlevania, Akumajō Dracula X68000, Castlevania Chronicles, and Super Castlevania IV	1691	(all known as Akumajō Dracula in Japan)
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest	1698
1748
Castlevania Dracula X	1792
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Akumajō Dracula X: Gekka no Yasōkyoku	1797
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon	1830	(Retconned from the timeline by IGA)
1844	(Retconned from the timeline by IGA)
Castlevania 64	1852	(Retconned from the timeline by IGA)
1914
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow	2035

Related Games

There are also six parody games created by Konami that have Castlevania-related elements or characters. These, according to , are:

Game Title	Console/Platform	Year	Notes
Famicom Disk System	1988	Japan only
Famicom Disk System	1991	Japan only
Famicom Disk System	1991	Japan only
Kid Dracula	Gameboy	1993	Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun in Japan
Sexy Parodius	Arcade, PlayStation, Saturn	1996
Konami Krazy Racers	Gameboy Advance	2001	Wai Wai Racing in Japan