Undead, with a dark soul and a penchant for sucking the blood from the young – but hey, that’s enough about Konami, because we’re here to talk about one of the series that made this once-great company’s name.
I’m talking about Castlevania, of course, which, as part of a run of releases as Konami celebrates its 50th anniversary, saw a compilation release last week on Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. And it’s a decent one, at that – a sizeable step forward from the merely adequate Arcade Classics Collection that launched last month.
You can put part of that down to M2’s involvement this time out, which isn’t so much a slight on Hamster’s ports in the Arcade Classics Collection and more an acknowledgement that M2 remain the masters at this line of work. The Castlevania Anniversary Collection isn’t quite the measure of M2’s very best work – it lacks the detailing seen in the Sega Ages games, and feels relatively functional – but these are excellent versions of exquisite games.
They really are exquisite too, and that comes from a personal perspective not tinged with nostalgia. I’m a relative newcomer to Castlevania, for my sins, and this is a fantastic way to get acquainted with the foundations of the series. What’s more, they are – for the most part – still incredible to play, rich with atmosphere, well-engineered action and absolutely killer soundtracks.