The Castlevania Collection was released on Nintendo's digital market last night. I messed around with it for a while.
The 'Book' that came with it was a real trip. Fun to read. Only thing that annoyed me was the interview with Adi Shankar. Don't get me wrong, I have professed my great appreciation for the Castlevania animated series on Netflix but I wanted a look at CLASSIC Castlevania and even though he's adapting Castlevania III, I really hoped they'd either interview some other people that were a part of the franchise in the earlier years or just not include the interview at all. But the rest of the book is laid out like an early issue of Nintendo Power or an old game manual. It was an imitation of a legit old school strategy guide but it was charming nonetheless.
It sounds as though the Castlevania III is the US release with the inferior soundtrack, unless I'm hearing it wrong. Very disappointing. Konami had a chance to really make this a special release by including multiple versions of the same game and so forth. If there's a sound select option in there, I didn't find it.
This is bare bones. If you're already playing these games on EMU, the only real reason to get it is the localized release of Kid Dracula. And even then, I'm sure you've already found a fan translated version out there somewhere. I haven't played Castlevania II on this collection yet, but I have no doubt that it's just a ROM of the old US NES version. Play the homebrew version with the better translations, built in world map, selectable whips and save states instead. It's the game Simon's Quest shouid have been and turns it from one of the worst entries in the series into one of the best.