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 stages of the 1986 classic. A 2.5D approach has been used to maintain the feel of the original, and the moody lighting - which the developer admits they're not 100 percent happy with yet - really adds to the atmosphere.

Konami appears to have turned its back on the Castlevania series but has been quite aggressive when it comes to shutting down fan-made projects like this, so we may not see this particular endeavour get much further.
In the meantime, fans of the franchise have Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night to look forward to, a title by former Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi, which has now been delayed until 2018.
Image credit: Rusty Shackles
[source gonintendo.com]
Comments 38
It looks like it has great potential, but yeah, the lighting makes it's a little to difficult to see what's going on for a platformer.
These guys need to just keep their projects secret till they're finished.
Do Simon's Quest - and get rid of the day/night transitions!!!
Would be the best!!!
I agree I wish they'd wait till they are done. Cause I'm sure the dogs of konami are hunting them down..
Now THAT is a good test to see how deep Konami's sleep actually is: how long will it be until the devs get a cease and desist letter?
This looks wrong and generic. If it was done right it could be great.
This looks awesome, I would pay good money for this if it was an actual thing. You hear Konami?
If it's not a pachinko machine, Konami calls the lawyers. But then again, they wouldn't need to crowbar zombies in unnecessarily as they're already there - so there is that at least!
Damn it Konami... How could you kill Castlevania like that?!
You miserable little pile of Pachinko makers!
They went a little overboard on some of the lighting effects.
I like how the moon shines through, but its a little to dark. Still really cool though
Saw this like six months ago, I just never spill the beans as I don't want Konami to notice as they could easily flag the video. Now that you guys gave it much publicity, it wouldn't surprise me if Konami came along to flag it soon.
@vitalemrecords
What's wrong with the Day and Night Transitions? Night is the best time for gathering hearts.
I don't really like it. It looks bad. Simon moves weird and the lighting makes it hard to see. Plus I'm personally not the biggest fan of 2D.5.
The textures etc are fine, but the character animation looks like its from 1986.
@Clownshoes "Only two or three are actually worth playing"
In your opinion. I'm sure plenty of other people would enthusiastically disagree, myself included!
This looks amazing. I love that music, but I'm not sure this should be remade. I love the iconic 8 bit look better. Maybe its because I can beat it with my eyes clothes. Who am I kidding, I'll eat this up.I would love this and twice on Sunday. I would also love some bonus levels. I just want a new Castlevania. The GBA/DS versions were the best. I didn't like the 3DS Demo , but maybe I'll give it a whirl.
@Clownshoes Blasphemous. I own 14 Castlevania games and I love all 14 in a different way. Bloodstain cannot come sooner, but it won't be the same. Castlevania has been a staple in every console generation. It is to bad it went out with a fizzle.
Hmmm. Well, it's definitely fun to see such a massive graphical overhaul of an ancient game. But considering that the original Castlevania had some of my favorite 8-bit art/graphics and character sprites, I actually think the game loses all its charm when you move it out of its original style.
in a way, it look impressive and seems to have potential, on the other hand, it also look pretty clunky right now, and «where are the bats for the bat skip» i heard me saying while watching this...
worst part tho, was the Boss animation, it started well with the bat coming from the background, but then, it just looked ridiculous during the fight...
and like many have said already, i'm torn by the fact that i'm happy to learn about those fan projects, but i'm also scared that those articles will put some of them in jeopardy as they are bring to light...
This looks horrible. It's like an instructional video on how not to make a Castlevania game.
I'll beg to differ. This looks (and sounds!) amazing and way better than what we've seen of Bloodstained. Just needs a lighting adjustment so we can see Simon a bit more consistently. But I do like the concept of creatures moving from the dark and into light; very fitting for Castlevania.
My initial reaction was that all the charm was gone but the attention to detail and the clever interpretation of the stairs in the 2.5D rendition and the strict adherence to the original level design started to win me over. This isn't the typical "let's see what it would look like with modern graphics" remake, so I respect that.
The original Castlevania is at once colorful and expressive while being moody and atmospheric. It has a pretty unique style that is definitely lost here (and in many of the sequels). I always enjoyed the classic monster ensemble game like the most ultimate crossover movie but expressed in an 8-bit video game. So much fun back then, but not as novel now and the later sequels slowly lost most of that charm and transformed into something I find more boring overall. There are highlights in the series that got more interesting, but whenever that dingy, dark, Gothic look that is so generic gets applied it brings the series down in my eyes.
Anyways, this is still pretty cool and I'd love to see some further iterations in the look, lighting and approach.
EDIT: Hadn't looked at Bloodstained in a while. It's looking pretty good! Funny how it kind has that colorful expressive but moody and atmospheric thing going. It has my attention again.
I don't understand fan remakes of games without permission. It seems naive to spend all this effort and time creating something that will inevitably be banned. It's like plagiarizing your favorite book with better binding. Why not just make an original game in the spirit of castlevania? They obviously have the talent and passion. As for the game, it's too dark and the bat boss looks like a cheap Halloween prop hanging from a string.
It's pretty janky, but reminds me just how much I'd love to see the entire CV franchise re-done in this way. Like Ducktales: Remastered.
Lighting looks great here. Not sure what everyone is complaining about.
#noluckkonami
Now THIS looks like a fantastic fan project! A remake with fresh interpretations of atmosphere and with few condescending nostalgic elements. The new arrangements of the music are very well done, too (very rave-like, yet still preserving that gothic organ feel). 9/10 on the impressive scale. Please finish this before Konami and their current "NO GAMES ALLOWED!!!!!" policy destroys it!
@Clownshoes
If that were the truth then the franchise wouldn't have survived well into the 2000s.
I can think of at least eight Castlevania games I find worth playing. And I know of a few more others seem to like a lot. Cool to see what fans can do and what can be done in Unreal Engine. The lighting being so dark isn't so great for what is still a 2D game. Also not a fan of so many foreground objects obscuring the view of the playfield. There's a point where realism must give way to game design. Regardless, cool to see what was done here.
@Clownshoes Almost completely disagree with you, but it seems you've been made a target of hatred by so many for your dissenting viewpoints, so don't let the hordish silencers get to you.
The effort put into this is impressive, but for my own personal tastes i think it looks horrible.
That actually looks pretty impressive, much better than the Zelda ones that drain the life out of the game.
i agree with @the_shpydar
also bald is correct.
@Tempestryke People don't like the fact that the game pauses while the transition takes place. I never found it that annoying but I also have rose tinted nostalgia glasses on when I play this game.
I don't understand people who say they hate something yet take the time out of their day to read and comment on the subject. I do not like Microsoft so I don't read articles about their products or comment. Why if a person hates something so much would they take the time out of their day to read and comment. I realize that many of them are little kids trying to troll but get a life.
@Tempestryke sry
transitions are good
the time it takes for them to happen - is bad
woops
@hendie001
Ah.
@vitalemrecords
Well I can understand that. I do alot of eye rolling at the phenomenon known as loading screens.
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