Whether you were eating wall chicken in 1987, farming the Crissaegrim in the Forbidden Library of the Inverted Castle (sorry, for the spoiler on a game that is 30 years old) or you’re waiting for jump into the franchise with Evil Empire/Motion Twin’s interpretation of the franchise which is coming out in roughly a month. Castlevania fans certainly have something to celebrate as the franchise hits its 40th anniversary and the franchise’s caretaker is looking to help fans celebrate with a slew of celebratory actions.
The first is a trailer which kicks things off. We see 8 bit Simon kicking things off before we transition to a timeline which details some of the franchises’ major releases (Alas Castlevania Judgement was absolutely ignored) and include its upcoming release. Then we see Simon enter ascending a familiar staircase into a corridor featuring four paintings which includes the Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse image crafted by Katsuya Terada as well as art from Curse of Darkness, Lament of Innocence and Lords of Shadows. Some on the internet have speculated these portraits detail upcoming releases as we know Belmont’s Curse is coming in mid-October and the franchise has seen several compilations. Simon’s journey ends when he arrives at Dracula’s throne room where various heroes from various titles greet him and even his long time foe appears to to present a birthday cake and to wish Simon a happy birthday. It’s a very charming clip and I appreciate the team at Konami putting this together.
The publisher also revealed a slew of initiatives including offering the first title of the franchise for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for free until October 24th. Fans can save up to 80% on digital releases of titles and compilations on the PlayStation Store and Steam through early October. Castlevania Black and Red, a compilation of the music of the franchise will be made available on streaming services starting on September 26th. However if you want to experience the music of the franchise live and in person, I hope you are in either London or Los Angeles as those are the two locations where Castlevania 40th Anniversary An Orchestral Concert will be taking place. Dates have not been confirmed, but it will take place in 2027.
Konami has been a great steward of their iconic franchises and this initiative certainly shows they are very committed to sharing their historic output to future generations of gamers. Here’s hoping years from now, folks will still be interested in going vampire hunting!
Castlevania 40th Anniversary Celebration | KONAMI | ESRB
