News Articles
Thursday5th May 2022
News Former Konami Staff Discuss Elusive Castlevania Creator's Work
"I realised he wasn’t fit to be a team leader"
The creator of Castlevania, Hitoshi Akamatsu, is a notoriously difficult person to track down. Despite creating one of Konami's most well-known franchises, the director of the three main NES / Famicom games has all but vanished from the industry. Never prone to interviews even back in the day,...
Wednesday13th Apr 2022
News Kraino ReAnimated Looks Like Shovel Knight Crossed With Castlevania
Live now on Kickstarter
Developer Angel Dorantes has launched a Kickstarter for side-scrolling adventure title Kraino ReAnimated, a game inspired by Castlevania, Mega Man X, and Ninja Gaiden that features handcrafted levels, slick combat, and fearsome bosses. Angel is an ex-dev at Wayforward and is the sole developer of Kraino ReAnimated, having...
Sunday16th Jan 2022
News Konami Sold This Castlevania Pixel Art For Over $26K In Its 'Memorial' NFT Auction
What a bargain...
Whether you love or hate NFTs in gaming, it seems some companies are intent on monopolising on this new trend. One, in particular, is Konami, who decided to celebrate Castlevania's 35th anniversary with a special 'Konami NFT Memorial Collection' auction. It's now sold off all '14 unique artworks" which consisted of game scenes,...
Friday1st Oct 2021
Rumour Konami Reportedly Reviving Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid, And Silent Hill
The game giant pivots back to... games
For a few years now, Konami has been pretty quiet on the premium games front, preferring to focus on their presumably lucrative pachinko content instead. Back in 2015, it all blew up spectacularly with the cancellation of Silent Hills, the removal of spooky and beloved teaser
Friday10th May 2019
News Behold The Tragic Tale Of The Man Behind Castlevania
"Konami placed profits above all else"
The Castlevania series is one of gaming's most famous franchises and has spawned a long line of video games as well as TV shows, albums and loads of associated merchandise. However, fresh insight into the development of the original NES / Famicom trilogy – unearthed by shmuplations.com – reveals that the...
Wednesday8th May 2019
Random Rare Promo Art For Unaired Cartoon Show Features A Metroid Gender-Swap
The artist obviously never finished the game in five hours or under
Occasionally a piece of concept art for a treasured icon of gaming pops up and we all gawp and have a laugh at how off-model the initial sketches looked before the character was established. Even official takes on characters can be vastly different from the versions we know and love...
Sunday4th Nov 2018
Random Castlevania Animated Series Makes Hilarious Reference To Original Game
Wall chicken is the best chicken
For anyone who wasn't confident the talent behind the Castlevania animated series on Netflix was respecting the source material, this should put any concerns to rest once and for all. An eagle-eyed viewer of season two has spotted a cartoon chicken bone poking out from one of the walls within Dracula's castle during...
Wednesday17th Oct 2018
Random DuckTales Artist Creates Hauntingly Good Castlevania Mash-Up Tribute
Two NES games in one
Castlevania fever is running high at the moment, with Simon and Richter Belmont arriving in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in December, a new season of the Netflix series airing next week, and this month's release of Castlevania Requiem (which
Wednesday3rd Oct 2018
News Konami Launches Castlevania Portal Website With Info And History - And Space For New Games?
A home for all things Castlevania
Konami has launched a brand new website dedicated to the Castlevania franchise, giving fans a look at the series' history, a chance to check out the newest release, and perhaps hinting at more games to come. As it's currently in its infancy, the site is relatively small in terms of content at the moment, but it...
Wednesday8th Aug 2018
News Simon And Richter Belmont Confirmed As Playable Characters In Smash Bros. Ultimate
Simon Lashes Out!
During today's Super Smash Bros. Direct, Simon and Richter Belmont have been confirmed as playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The legendary vampire hunter Simon, main protagonist of Castlevania and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, will use his far-fli
Tuesday4th Jul 2017
Video Off-Screen Footage Of Netflix's Castlevania Series Surfaces Online
Sink your teeth in
Netflix's Castlevania animated series premiers this week, and off-screen footage has emerged showing the introduction sequence and two key scenes. The quality of the footage isn't great and those of you wanting to feel the full impact of the production might be advised to wait until it launches officially on the 7th July, but for...
Monday29th May 2017
News This New Artwork For Netflix's Castlevania Series Sure Does Look Familiar
Fangs a lot
The more we see of the new Castlevania Netflix series, the harder it is to contain our excitement. Last week we were given the first taste of this animated epic and now we've got this awesome artwork, which is a neat tribute to the cover of the very first NES game. While the series will t
Tuesday3rd Jan 2017
Rumour Frederator Studios Could Be Working on a Castlevania Animated Series or Film
12 years in the making
About a week ago, we reported on the rumour that Fred Seibert (of Fairly Oddparents and Adventure Time fame), along with his production company 'Frederator Studios', would be animating a Nintendo property. However, some believe this referenced project might actually be an adaptation of a renowned third-party Nintendo classic,...
Tuesday18th Oct 2016
Video Fan Remakes NES Castlevania Using Unreal Engine 4
While Konami sleeps...
We've already seen a few Nintendo properties remade using the powerful Unreal Engine but this latest project is of interest because it aims to remake one of the NES' most beloved third-party titles: Konami's Castlevania. Dejawolfs has spent the past four months working on the demo shown above, which recreates the first two...
Tuesday27th Sep 2016
News Fangs For The Memories Castlevania, You're Now 30 Years Old
Three decades of miserable secrets
Want to feel old? Konami's Castlevania series has now been going for 30 years. The franchise began life on the Japan-only Famicom Disk System as Akumajou Dracula. This title was released in North America as Castlevania in May the next year and was followed by two NES sequels - 1987's Castlevania II: Simon's Quest...
Tuesday8th Dec 2015
Random Disney Engineers Play NES Classics In Innovative Fashion
8-bit, 8-player, 8-projector madness!
Disney has always been known for its innovative flare, including within the videogame industry through its licenses and Disney Infinity titles. However, Disney Infinity is not the topic of discussion here, for the Disney Research team has revolutionised a way of revisiting NES classics in the form of...
Friday31st Oct 2014
Video Join Us For Nintendo Life's Haunting Halloween Night In
No Tricks here, just Treats for your Wii U and 3DS
Halloween is a wonderful time of year to watch scary movies, eat candy and play spooky video games, as opposed to being out in the cold. To help you decide on your entertainment for this ghoulish evening, we've come up with a list of games that can be played on your Wii U and 3DS, with many of these...
Monday17th Mar 2014
Nintendo Download 20th March (Europe)
Cross-platform chess, retro Dracula slaying, discounts galore and more
It's that time, Europe, and after two weeks of being delayed by a day the Download Update information has been unleashed promptly to kickstart our week. It includes an intriguing cross-platform release on Wii U and 3DS that could fill a nice gap in the eShop library, two NES...
Thursday19th Dec 2013
Nintendo Download 19th December (North America)
Knytt Underground, Classic Konami, 3D Sega and more
It's that time again, North America, when we can calm down from Nintendo Direct madness and consider the week's download options; this is the last pre-Christmas update, too. This week brings us new offerings on the Wii U and 3DS eShop platforms, with plenty of diversity and styles to choose from...
Thursday4th Apr 2013
Nintendo Download 4th April 2013 (North America)
A chick's adventure, slaying monsters, finding your groove and more
It's Nintendo Download time, North America, and this week you have options on Wii U, 3DS and Wii. It's a mixture of the old, the new and DLC extras, so let's get right to it. Wii U eShop: Toki Tori 2 (Two Tribes, reduced to $13.49 until 25th April, will be $14.99) — Starting off...
Tuesday12th Feb 2013
Nintendo Download 14th February 2013 (Europe)
Tank! Tank! Tank! goes free to play, Wii U discounts, Dracula slaying and more
Nintendo seems to revel in surprising us, and details of this week's download update in Europe have struck to keep us on our toes. We have a Wii U launch title going free-to-play on the Wii U eShop — with paid DLC, of course — as well as permanent price reductions and...
Monday4th Feb 2013
News Castlevania Is Stalking Onto The 3DS Virtual Console Soon
Just in time for Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate is due to hit 3DS consoles this March, but it won't be the only chance for fans to get their fill of Dracula-slaying action - the original NES classic has recently been given an ESRB rating for the Nintendo 3DS, which means a Virtual Console download is in...
Monday5th Nov 2012
News Turns Out Worf From Star Trek Was Talking About A Fan-Made Castlevania Movie
No big-budget version coming after all?
Remember that news we posted about the Castlevania live-action Hollywood movie being resurrected? Where Michael "Worf from Star Trek" Dorn said he was involved in the production of the film? Hope you didn't get too excited, because it turns out he was talking about a fan-made series, and not the on-off...
Thursday11th Oct 2012
News Castlevania, Mega Man 4 And Donkey Kong Heading To Japanese eShop
Popular NES titles making their way to the 3DS Virtual Console next week
Japanese gamers are in for a treat next week, as Castlevania, Mega Man 4 and Donkey Kong will all be released for the 3DS Virtual Console on October 17th, priced at 500 yen each. Both Mega Man 4 and Donkey Kong are the original Famicom versions of the games, whereas...
Monday17th Sep 2012
News Egads, The Castlevania Movie Adaptation Is Actually Happening, Again
We've been here before, haven't we?
Hollywood loves video games. It simply cannot get enough of them, and constantly picks up well-known franchises in order to churn out dumb action movies with wafer-thin story-lines and terrible special effects. There are few truly successful examples, and those which do fare well commercially - such as Paul W.S...
Saturday24th Apr 2010
News Dedicated Castlevania Fan Beats NES Version With Dance Mat
Virtual Console port is bested using some smooth moves
Those of you brave enough to have downloaded the Virtual Console port of the original NES Castlevania will be aware that the game is hard. As in tough-as-old-boots hard. Here at Nintendo Life Towers we've lost count of the number of NES pads we've broken over the years attempting to put Drac...
Thursday7th Jan 2010
News Konami Readying Castlevania Collection For Wii?
Listen to them - the children of the net. What rumours they make
This is probably one to file under “rumour” for the time being but we’ve gotten wind from an anonymous source that Konami is currently working away on a Castlevania collection, which apparently will be released on the Wii and Sony PSP this year. Details are predictably sketchy...
Monday16th Nov 2009
News Original Castlevania Ported To Half-Life 2, Sort Of
Modder recreates first stage for PC shooter
Dracula's castle has come down with a bad case of alien head crabs. Where are the Belmonts to stop them? Dead, presumably, so it's up to Gordon Freeman to crowbar them into crab juice in this translation of the original Castlevania's first level to the PC's Half-Life 2. The mod retains the same look of the...
Wednesday14th Oct 2009
News Castlevania Draculathon '09 Proves Vampire Slaying is a Charitable Cause
Support SouthSideGamers in this most noble quest
If the recent Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth screens have whetted your appetite for all things vampire-related then you might want to point your browser in the direction of the SouthSideGamers website. The gaming group intends to play Castlevania games for 48 hours straight (and possibly longer)...
Thursday28th May 2009
News Castlevania Movie Bites The Dust
The Belmont's Hollywood debut is cancelled
Although Hollywood's track record with video game adaptations has been less than impressive over the years (see Super Mario Bros. for proof) we have to admit we were a little excited about Paul W. S. Anderson's proposed Castlevania movie. Announced back in 2005, the film was due to begin production in 2006...
