In something of a surprise move, Konami has taken three of its classic Castlevania games and ported them to all major platforms. What’s even more surprising is that these are all titles that were, until now, exclusives to the Nintendo DS, which made their reappearance all the more unlikely in the eyes of fans. Yet,port them Konami did,and fans can enjoy them all and more right now on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch.
Castlevania Dominus Collection includes three titles from the DS: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. There are also two bonus games for fans to enjoy: Haunted Castle and Haunted Castle Revisited. The former is the original arcade version of Castlevania, and the latter is a modern redesign of it. Accompanying all of these are several quality of life features, an encyclopedia and a music player complete with the ability to make playlists from their favorite songs.
Players can adjust and customize how each game’s dual screens are presented.
As fans play through each game, they’ll have access to a few tools that weren’t available in the originals. For starters, players can quick-save and quick-load whenever and however much they want, ensuring that they either don’t lose progress or don’t have to wait for very long before trying boss fights again. A rewind function has been added too, allowing players to quickly take back mistakes or accidental inputs.
Players can quick-save and quick-load whenever and however much they want.
The dual-screen displays are also customizable, enabling players to make use of them as they see fit. Above, below, side by side, map with stats or map alone, players can choose how much they want to see and where. Former touch-screen functions have also been mapped to the controller, ensuring that all features remain intact and usable. In other words, extras aside, it seems some real effort has been put into ensuring these are faithful ports.
So yeah, DS games can, in fact, be faithfully ported to platforms without touchscreens. Hopefully this will start a trend.
For those unfamiliar with these one-time DS exclusives, here’s a brief overview of each.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (originally released in 2005)
Taking place one year after the events of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, this game follows the travels of a boy named Soma Cruz. He’s somehow found himself at the center of a plot to bring back Dracula, and he must find a way to stop the cult behind it for good.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (originally released in 2008)
The sudden reappearance of Dracula’s castle puts the world on edge again, but something is different this time. Instead of the Belmonts, two adventurers, Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin, take it upon themselves to enter the castle and learn more about what’s happening.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (originally released in 2008)
Three glyphs rumored to be powerful enough to defeat the legendary vampire himself have been stolen by dark forces. It’s up to Shanoa, a member of the Order, to recover them and destroy their dark master for good.
Haunted Castle (originally released in arcades in 1988)
The original arcade version of Castlevania follows Simon Belmont as he journeys to Dracula’s castle to rescue his fiancee and free the world from the vampire’s influence. The original game was notoriously hard in its day and has been brought forward for modern fans to enjoy. The new version, Haunted Castle Revisited, offers both new visuals and a more refined and rebalanced experience.
Castlevania Dominus Collection is available now for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch.
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