Castlevania Dominus Collection - Just Released

[yagamikun]

Something that dropped unexpectedly today is the Castlevania Dominus Collection - it's out on everything, not just Switch. Packaged by M2, so the emulation and presentation is top-notch. Includes the three DS Metroidvanias with really cool screen layouts and button controls instead of touch-controls in Dawn of Sorrow. Includes both US and JPN region rom sets. All the music was remastered so it sounds so, so good.

A neat bonus is a complete remake of the arcade Haunted Castle. More than just a pixel art update, M2 worked their magic and basically took the core tenants of Hunted Castle and created the arcade Castlevania we should have got in the first place.

Baller collection. Got it on Steam, so I can't comment on the quality of the other versions. But so far so good - and no noticeable input lag either. Pretty fucking chuffed right now.

edit: well, shit. Guess this was in the Switch thread. Well - discuss game specifics here. lol

 

[BlackaneseNiNjA]

I’m especially glad to see Order of Ecclesia get a second lease on life. I’m ready to Reppuken and Raging Storm enemies as Shanoa all over again

 

[terry.330]

Thank god it's not a Switch exclusive.

Will definitely get this at some point, I hate the DS and always wanted to play these.

 

[Azathoth]

Strange that this skipped the PS4. I'm shocked it came out on the Xbox in any capacity.

I guess MS has some retarded shit about forcing a Series platform version so you can't even release a regular Xbox One game anymore.

 

[Tron]

Strange that this skipped the PS4. I'm shocked it came out on the Xbox in any capacity.

I guess MS has some retarded shit about forcing a Series platform version so you can't even release a regular Xbox One game anymore.

This has released for the PS5 i did check earlier through there store front.Either way i'm buying this collection asap.

Castlevania Dominus Collection

Three games from the Castlevania series have finally returned

store.playstation.com

 

[LoneSage]

OK, wow, a Haunted Castle remake that fixes its problems？Big news if true because that game could have been a classic. I still play through it once a month or two (save states of course! Impossible otherwise). Very interested in seeing what M2 did.

 

[Tron]

Thank god it's not a Switch exclusive.

Will definitely get this at some point, I hate the DS and always wanted to play these.

Ditto i passed on the ds since i outgrew portables by that point it's great the ds castlevania can be played on consoles now.

 

[Viewpoint]

Yeah I'm getting this also. Fuck me sideways.

I'm very happy these games aren't forever trapped on the DS.

Also fun lil fact about OoE. The strategy guide for the game was written by Adam Deats. I knew him & his brother Sam Deats back when he was still in High School. Him and his brother are friends of mine from years ago. They're part of the team that did the Castlevania series on Netflix. Small world.

 

[yagamikun]

OK, wow, a Haunted Castle remake that fixes its problems？Big news if true because that game could have been a classic. I still play through it once a month or two (save states of course! Impossible otherwise). Very interested in seeing what M2 did.

Graphics, controls, enemy sprites and patterns, animation cycles, level layouts, boss and set-piece changes, Simon's sprite - it looks like a retro Konami game with chunky sprites and the like but it plays as a Castlevania game should. I'm quite impressed. Definitely worth checking out.

 

[Dr Shroom]

the haunted castle remake is more or less a new game. some stage layouts have changed quite a bit, the other weapons you could get a gone (sword, mace), the whip has two levels with a temporary third one which runs out after a while or till you get hit by something, the bomb is gone, no stopwatch, the cross is more like screen cleaning weapon, the knife and axe are back, falling into pits or water won't kill if you got enough health left, it resets you on the nearest platform unless the damage would have killed you anyway. it's also much easier and you get can quite a few extra lives in this. feels a lot like a lost rebirth game.

or just watch this

 

[Hattori Hanzo]

Order of Ecclesia was the last good Castlevania.

 

[greedostick]

I played through Aria/Dawn of Sorrow back to back last year. Dawn of Sorrow has to be one of the best metroidvania's in the series. I still have my DS copies, but I'm going to snag this for sure in hopes M2 keeps putting high quality ports.

Has a physical been announced? I don't remember them mentioning that in the direct.

 

[yagamikun]

I played through Aria/Dawn of Sorrow back to back last year. Dawn of Sorrow has to be one of the best metroidvania's in the series. I still have my DS copies, but I'm going to snag this for sure in hopes M2 keeps putting high quality ports.

Has a physical been announced? I don't remember them mentioning that in the direct.

The last two collections got physical releases from Limited Run, so I would put money on this at least for Switch.

 

[Neo Alec]

I don't have time to play this.

I just bought it.

 

[GhostSeed]

I've run out of time twice right at a end boss in the Haunted Castle Revisited. I guess I'm playing too slow.

 

[BlackaneseNiNjA]

Has a physical been announced? I don't remember them mentioning that in the direct.

I know it’s LRG, but for those interested their preorder on this one opens on September 13

 

[Neo Alec]

I know it’s LRG, but for those interested their preorder on this one opens on September 13

View attachment 77991

Pre-order something that's already out? Unless I can pick up the physical release on launch day, it's solely for physical media goobs.

 

[LoneSage]

Wow, Konami really is still alive. Just watched a longplay of the Haunted Castle remake, which feels like a direct sequel (look and sound-wise) to the Wiiware Castlevania. I honestly think this game was supposed to get its own release and Konami figured they'd include ports of the DS games to entice anyone who was on the fence about buying this.

Interesting that they kept practically the same sprite for the best boss fight in the game (Frankenstein's Monster), yet also added a very cool twist.

Just like the 2009 Wiiware game, this one also has sound effects that just don't sound right in the game. Weird how 15 years have passed between these two games but the sound effects still feel wonky in a Castlevania.

Only two other complaints aside from the sound effects:
-it was a pity they removed one of the most "WTF was that?" moments in this series, which was being teleported to another dimension to fight harpies. I saw the Greek-styled building in one of the paintings so they referenced it at least. Must have axed it because there would have been too much work to create a background for just one or two scenes and not re-use those assets.

-it was a downright shame what they did to the last stage. It was an incredible level from the original and it's one I replay very often, usually to kill time on my commute. They could have definitely captured that spirit of tension and not ever stopping but for whatever reason they chose not to. What an incredibly wasted opportunity to not have the bridge continually collapse and being constantly on edge with Heart of Fire playing in the background.

That aside, what a ballsy move of Konami to do the unthinkable and remake one of their most notorious games. They clearly didn't have faith in it selling on its own, otherwise why put the DS games along with it and turn the whole thing into a collection. But I might just mail a letter to their office and say thanks anyhoo.

 

[terry.330]

That aside, what a ballsy move of Konami to do the unthinkable and remake one of their most notorious games.

Not the first time, they did that with Rondo on the PSP and the X68000 Castlevania on PS1.

 

[LoneSage]

Those games are masterpieces though. Honest to mao masterpieces of video games, especially X68k.

Haunted Castle on the other hand is a hot mess. It got ported to the PS2 and came with a 'Superplay' video...where the player died at level 2 or 3 and that was it. Says everything about the game right there.

It's reassuring to see Konami still has talent to do this. If you told me this game came out in 2010 for Wiiware I would completely believe it, and that's not an insult.

How bitchin would it be to get a Gradius remake.

 

[Taiso]

I picked up the collection and am really enjoying the Haunted Castle revision. Maybe because I consider it playable now.

There was a time when I felt it a badge of honor that I could beat the original Castlevania without taking a single death. Same with Ninja Gaiden on the NES.

These days, when I've seen more sunsets than I'm going to, I just want to enjoy my trips back down memory lane.

Never finished Order of Ecclesia. Looking forward to that.

 

[Neo Alec]

Well done , but waaay too easy. I set it to Hard mode, and still you don't die when you fall and you continue right where you left off. What the hell kind of Castlevania is that?

 

[Taiso]

All valid criticisms but it is my speed so I am content with it. I have the old ones if I want to feel like my balls are in a vise.

 

[GohanX]

Well done , but waaay too easy. I set it to Hard mode, and still you don't die when you fall and you continue right where you left off. What the hell kind of Castlevania is that?

View attachment 78012

A Castlevania for the modern video game reviewer.

 

[Lagduf]

I think I only played the first Castlevania DS game where you had to like use the touch screen to draw runes to defeat the bosses or something like that? Must’ve been back in like ‘04 or ‘05.

This seems like a perfect game for the Steam Deck.

What’s funny is I’ve been playing V Rising (a Vampire Survival Crafting game) and it has Castlevania Crossover DLC (mostly cosmetics) but it added Simon Belmont as a roaming high level Vampire Hunter boss, lol.

Anyway…I don’t need to buy this right now but like Neo Alec I did anyway.