The ESRB has frequently revealed previously unknown games for WiiWare, Virtual Console and DSiWare through its software ratings. Today's new ratings include perhaps the biggest reveal yet - a brand new Castlevania game for WiiWare! After Gradius and Contra, and Koji Igarashi's expressed interest in making a new classic-style Castlevania game, this was pretty much a given, but it's still a pleasant surprise to see it pop up like this.
Titled Castlevania the Adventure ReBirth, this will be a return to the series' roots, meaning rather than featuring the Metroid-esque gameplay of more recent titles, the game will once again be divided into separate platforming action stages.
Because of its title, we assume that it will be loosely based on Castlevania: The Adventure for the Game Boy, and that you'll once again play as Christopher Belmont (Simon's great-grandfather). The Adventure is generally regarded as one of the lesser games in the series, but it still featured some interesting, unique gameplay mechanics.
Of course, this also begs the question of what the game will look and sound like. Will it resemble the Game Boy/NES games or will it be closer to the SNES/Mega Drive games?
Although Konami has yet to officially announce the game, we fully expect them to soon. After all, the Tokyo Game Show is coming up, and they have already announced that they have some games to reveal there.
Comments (77)
lol, some people were hoping for this game, and it turned out to be truth
hmmmm this might make me actually buy a castlevania game
Hooray; still waiting on Rondo of Blood for the VC, but I'll gladly take this for the time being.
Question:
"The ESRB has frequently revealed previously unknown games for WiiWare, Virtual Console and DSiWare through its software ratings. "
What were the other ESRB announcements? I don't see a link.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WAAAAAAAAAAAAY
YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looking forward to it. Hope it will be good.
Hahahahaha. That is too awesome. <3 Konami. Can't wait for Metal Gear ReBirth.
Awesome! I'm currently loving Harmony of Dissonance so this is great news!
That is cool. Not my favorite franchise but hey its a great one to have added to WiiWare !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!
I'm not surprised by this news. Konami loves developing retro games on WiiWare. I'm VERY EXCITED, and this will be a day-one purchase for me! I bet this is going to be a 16-bit styled remake of Castlevania:The Adventure.
W000000000000000000000T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111
Ooh Castlevania <3
Awesome! I'm currently loving Harmony of Dissonance so this is great news!
If you love HoD, you'll most likely love the other much better metroidvania's : D
Lol. Steady, steady no swearing. I know you're excited and all, but....
Anyway, some ppl on here must be psychic or something, lol. I haven't wanted to play a Castlevania game since the SNES era. I may pick this one up depending on how it turns out decent.
I knew it. Still not sure what it could be exactly. "Castlevania: The Adventure"?! Sounds as if they plan to make a revival of the game "Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest" for WiiWare. (Perhaps without the many flaws the original game has.)
Next: Salamander Rebirth.
Great news, I love Castlevania!
Yes! Castlevania is my favorite game series so this is perfect!
@warioswoods: Too many to list. Just think of all the random games which appeared on the ESRB without any prior announcement. Most of them haven't really been very big, but this one is!
And yeah, judging by trademark updates a while ago, Life Force/Salamander ReBirth will be next. I personally hope for Parodius after that.
"Rather than featuring the Metroid-esque gameplay of more recent titles, the game will once again be divided into seperate platforming action stages."
Fail.
@Drake: Parodius Rebirth probably wouldn't come to America. D:
@ Blue Protoman: Maybe they'll be nice just this once
Sparkster Rebirth!
I'm glad they are taking a break from the Metroidvania formula.
Hope Castlevania will be like the MSX2 Konami original one. As well as Metalgear and Metalgear2 for MSX2, in both cases, far better than the nintendo portings.
This is awesome. Personally, I hope it is more like the NES style.
@P. D4NG3R:No, this is exactly what Casltevania is. Back to it's roots as it should be.
@xesbeth or maybe The Adventures of Bayou Billy: ReBirth!
I think that one would translate really well, actually.
Good stuff. Keep it going, Konami.
Wow, this is a shock. And a welcome one. Looking forward to this.
Well, there is really only one appropriate response...
YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!
<Stops jumping around and punching the air when neighbours start complaining>
Sorry.
Although I'm not really sure the 'Adventure' part necessarily means it'll be based on or related to the Gameboy Castlevania. They might just have chosen it to make it easier distinguishable from the recent Metroidvania titles.
I can't wait! I love Castlevania!
Sweet. I knew this wouldd happen eventually. Konami loves us.
I still haven't bothered buying the other three Castlevania games, the first being the only one I bought.
Soon to become the shortest Castlevania in its history...
I hope you are able to move in mid air, and jump while on stairs...
i was expecting this after the other rebirth games castlevania is one of konami's biggest old series and with it being done by iga it is now my top wiiware game just tobad its not likely to be out this year
now if we can just get bloodlines and castlevania 64 my collection will be complete
Instant Download and I have not even seen the screenshots!
Awesome! Great choice for the Rebirth series!
I have been waiting patiently for this news... awesome!!
Ill skip this; never could get into castlevania but I tried. I like gradius though.
This is really great news, cannot wait!
cool, would think it looks like the snes, going gameboy would make more sense for the dsi (if at all)
i love me some castlevania. this may be the only rebirth game i download.
I'll probably pass. I never did like the awkward jumping from the old games.
@Drake
Oh, I just misread. For some stupid reason (early morning pre-coffee?), I thought you were saying that this announcement was one of several new revelations by the ESRB, but you were just referring to all the things that have been revealed this way in the past.
Here's the descriptor, just in case they take it down (which happens sometimes):
Castlevania the Adventure ReBirth
Platform: Wii
Rating: Teen
Content descriptors: Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence
Rating summary: This is a side-scrolling action game in which players battle against monsters in Dracula's castle. Players use a chained whip to fight their way through halls and dungeons filled with zombies, skeletons, flying eyeballs, and bats. The enemy creatures frequently shoot projectiles and attack players in hand-to-hand combat. If players sustain too much damage, they keel over and emit a burst of red blood. Some rooms in the castle also have spikes or spears stained with red, blood-like splotches.
Yes, if they actually do release a classic style Castlevania game onto Wiiware it will be my first Wiiware game that i buy i love the classic Castlevania games (from NES & SNES), Too bad Castlevania Judgement turned out to be a mediocre fighter with an "unusual" art choice.
YES!!! My favorite video game franchise is coming to WiiWare!!!
I hope they fix the title.
God if they remix music from the original 2 GB games I'll be the happiest guy ever. Some of the finest music around on those games...especially stage 4 on the original and Cloud Castle from Belmont's revenge.
I guess we'll see. The ReBirth games are turning out to be short. I'd like to see at least a semi-lengthy adventure.
YESSSS!!! I would pre-order this if it were possible.
Saw it coming from a mile away, but it's still great to see it confirmed. Hopefully it will look and sound as good as Contra ReBirth.
First NewSMBWii, then Project Needlemouse, and now this... great stuff all around.
I plan on downloading this 5 seconds after hits the Wii Shop channel.
Please include a save feature. That's my biggest problem with Contra ReBirth.
Was never a huge Contra fan, so Contra Rebirth doesn't seem like something I would buy, but this sounds awesome.
Huzzah! wait, no roleplay-elements, Damn, still its a castlevania
what do they mean with "If players sustain too much damage, they keel over and emit a burst of red blood"?
In my eyes Konami pitched Gradius ReBirth and Contra ReBirth perfectly, both were so true to their respective franchises, that they were a real treat bit of fan service.
Those games took the concept of 16 bit visuals and sound, with just a few added bells and whistles, such as graphical effects that may not have been possible on the SNES or Mega Drive.
I would place my money on this 'Castlevania the Adventure ReBirth' being based mainly on SNES Castlevania IV, possibly with a hint of Mega Drive The New Generation/ Vampire Killer/ Bloodlines or if we are really lucky the PC Engine Super CD-Rom Dracula X: Rondo of Blood.
I feel as though Konami are making these ReBirth games just for me at the moment. They could not turn out any more ideally suited to my taste, even if I was at Konami's Japanese HQ with a huge A4 notebook wish list, including sketches and instructions for everything I wanted them to include. lol.
what do they mean with "If players sustain too much damage, they keel over and emit a burst of red blood"?
...they die, and blood pops out.
Just please make it epic in size , push the wii to it's limits.
Great news but why not remake a better Castlevania like Dracula's curse? The original gameboy game was awful. This better have more than five stages too. Hey Konami, Why not give us Rondo of blood while your at it? Americans are dying for it dammit!
Can't wait to see some screenshots...
oh my god YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Make one NES style and I'm golden but with game boy graphics and gameplay? No. I was disappointed when I saw it was the game boy line of castlevania games. Definately thought it was gonna be a 8-bit revival once I saw the title before the pic scrolled down afterward. I think they blew an opportunity to be honest.
Good news Wiiware
HURRAY!
This is fantastic news!
Very very very excited.
Words cannot express how giddy this news makes me. Konami... I love you guys so much right now.
I CALLED IT!
I hope it is out by Christmas.
Castlevania won't be the same without Michiru Yamane
Not the same maybe but I think they can do something just as good.
A lot of people seem to be assuming that this is going to be a straight remake of the (pretty poor) Game Boy original. Aside from the rather clumsy title, we've seen nothing to indicate that this will actually be the case.
I'm guessing that the core story will remain but the rest of of the game will be retooled entirely, with new levels, enemies, music, etc. In fact, I'd put money on this having very little in common with The Castlevania Adventure, aside from its name.
Better still, the game might include elements from other titles, hopefully the second GB Castlevania. Let's not forget that Gradius ReBirth was a glorious mixture of 8 and 16-bit Gradius elements. This could be the same.
I much prefer good stage based design over these large sprawling maps where you can often get lost and not know what you are supposed to be doing next, especially if you haven't played the game for a while.
It's one of main reasons I rarely play the likes of Zelda/Castlevania/Metroid games for more than a couple of hours at most, and then never really play the games again, because at some point I inevitably get lost and frustrated and just can't be bothered playing the game any more.
It's why I will always prefer the level based structure of game like Mario/Contra/Goldeneye etc.
Hopefully the new game will just be a retelling of the Castlevania Adventure story. Because the game itself is actually quite bad. The game features very few of the trademark enemies and overall it lacks Castlevania atmosphere. There are only 4 stages, and the power-up system seems to be borrowed from the Goemon series.
Well, Konami can´t fail if they aim at making the game better than the original Regarding titles, Europe has 3 different games simply named Castlevania (NES, GBA, PS2) so the name Castlevania Adventure Rebirth doesn´t have to indicate anything at all...
Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth? Please think of a better title. Please.
I'm a huge fan of the series but not the Adventure games so much. Hopefully if it is a remake of the Game Boy original, it's a Metroid Zero Mission quality remake, as in it's so different that it's only the same game in name only. Hopefully we'll get to see and hear more on this game soon.
I must have this.
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