Enjoy a Terrifyingly Interesting Dive into Castlevania in the Latest “Runtime” Podcast

June 25 2021

 

By Jeremy Parish, Media Curator


This month, the Limited Run Games podcast Runtime dives into one of our biggest, most exciting releases ever: The Castlevania Anniversary Collection for PlayStation 4 and Switch. Compiling eight classic games plus a ton of bonus features for one of the most beloved franchises of all time (and just in time for the 35th anniversary of the series’ debut!), the Anniversary Collection is also noteworthy for kicking off a string of other related Limited Run releases, including a collection of the “Dracula X” games (Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night) and an anthology of Castlevania’s sibling series, Contra. We even hired Tom duBois, the original cover artist for many of these games, to paint an all-new cover for our release! 

 

What I’m saying is that Castlevania Anniversary Collection is a pretty big deal. To mark the occasion (and discuss some of our LRG E3 announcements!), I’ve connected with one of the internet’s top Castlevania experts: Kurt Kalata, who launched the original Castlevania fan site (The Castlevania Dungeon) nearly 25 years ago. Over the course of this episode’s running time, we discuss the series’ place in history, the most interesting elements of each game in the collection, and what we can look forward to with some of the other upcoming releases.


So what’s on the collection, you may ask? No less than eight classic Castlevania games:


  • Castlevania [NES]
  • Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest [NES]
  • Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse [NES]
  • Super Castlevania IV [Super NES]
  • Castlevania: Bloodlines [Genesis]
  • Castlevania: The Adventure [Game Boy]
  • Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge [Game Boy]
  • Kid Dracula [NES import]

  • The collection also includes Japanese versions of several games (whose differences we discuss here), as well as a massive digital history and art book. 

     

     

    You can listen to the episode by clicking this link, or just subscribe to the show by adding the XML feed to your favorite podcatcher. And you can buy the game in a variety of different formats to suit your particular tastes here:


    [Switch: Standard Edition ($34.99) | Classic Edition ($59.99)
    Bloodlines Edition ($59.99) | Ultimate Edition ($174.99)]

    [PS4: Standard Edition ($34.99) | Classic Edition ($59.99)
    Bloodlines Edition ($59.99) | Ultimate Edition ($174.99)] 


    As always, give the show a listen, and don’t miss the collection, available at Limited Run Games now through June 27.