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Castlevania

Konami

Castlevania is Konami's long-running Dracula cycle: whips, cursed bloodlines, baroque monsters, and castle corridors full of monsters. The early games are disciplined action-platformers about committed jumps and enemy placement, while the later handheld line leans into maps, gear, spells, and RPG growth. Its story chronology spans centuries, so release order and in-universe order are very different.

SINCE 1986 · 17 GAMES

▶ WHERE DO I START?
  1. 1980s

    Castlevania

    1986 · NES

    The original whip-and-stairs template: stiff, readable, and still brutally fair when the level layouts click.

    Classic action

    3 releases & editions

  2. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

    1987 · NES

    A strange early action-RPG where Simon hunts Dracula's remains through towns, mansions, and infamous riddles.

    Classic action

    3 releases & editions

  3. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

    1989 · NES

    The NES-era peak: Trevor Belmont recruits allies, routes split, and every staircase feels planned to test you.

    Start hereClassic action

    3 releases & editions

  4. 1990s

    Super Castlevania IV

    1991 · SNES

    A lavish SNES retelling with eight-way whipping, huge mode-7 moments, and one of the series' defining soundtracks.

    RemakeClassic action

    3 releases & editions

  5. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood

    1993 · TurboGrafx-16

    Classic Castlevania at CD scale: rescue routes, hidden stages, Maria as a second play style, and Richter at his peak.

    Start hereClassic action

  6. Castlevania: Bloodlines

    1994 · Genesis / Mega Drive

    The Genesis entry takes the vampire war across Europe with two weapons, fast pacing, and a stranger World War I backdrop.

    Classic action

    3 releases & editions

  7. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

    1997 · PlayStation, Sega Saturn, PlayStation 4

    Alucard turns Dracula's castle into an RPG maze of secrets, gear, transformations, and an upside-down second act.

    Start hereCastle exploration

    5 releases & editions

  8. 2000s

    Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

    2001 · Game Boy Advance, Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

    A launch-window GBA castle crawl with card-based magic and a harsher, moodier feel than the later handheld games.

    Castle exploration

    7 releases & editions

  9. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

    2002 · Game Boy Advance, Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

    Juste Belmont gets a brighter, stranger GBA castle with spell fusion, dual castles, and heavy Symphony influence.

    Castle exploration

    7 releases & editions

  10. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

    2003 · Game Boy Advance, Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

    Soma Cruz enters the castle in 2035 and absorbs enemy souls, turning every drop into a possible new move.

    Start hereCastle exploration

    7 releases & editions

  11. Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

    2003 · PlayStation 2

    A PS2 origin story that explains the Vampire Killer whip and casts Leon Belmont at the start of the curse.

    Classic action

    3 releases & editions

  12. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

    2005 · Nintendo DS

    Soma returns on DS with tighter combat, craftable weapons, and touch-screen seals that mark it as very 2005.

    Castle exploration

    3 releases & editions

  13. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

    2006 · Nintendo DS

    Jonathan and Charlotte tag-team through Dracula's castle and painted worlds, giving the DS era its most playful structure.

    Castle exploration

    3 releases & editions

  14. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

    2008 · Nintendo DS

    Shanoa fights with glyphs in one of the toughest exploration-era Castlevanias, split between villages and the castle.

    Start hereCastle exploration

    3 releases & editions

  15. 2010s

    Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

    2010 · PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

    A full reboot that turns Gabriel Belmont into the center of a darker action-adventure origin myth.

    Lords of Shadow

    5 releases & editions

  17. 2020s

    Castlevania Advance Collection

    2021 · Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

    A modern bundle of the GBA Castlevania run, with rewind and extras that make the portable era easy to revisit.

    CompilationCollections

    4 releases & editions