|
|
CASTLEVANIA
: SHIN DRACULA
X ( PSX?
PSX2? DREAMCAST? ) |
 STATUS :
Unconfirmed
RELEASE DATE(S) :
Japan -
2001? (rumored)
In Japanese, "Shin"
can either mean "new" or "true" (depending
on the kanji) so this is left entirely open to interpretation.
Is it a true sequel to Dracula X? Or is it perhaps a remake
of the original 1993 PC Engine game (Dracula X : The Circle
of Blood), since Konami was getting huffy over the
distribution of the ISO ROM image distribution (while not being
such over ROMs of other CastleVania titles)?
Who knows?
|
  What does seem certain
about this game, however, is that it stars Richter Belmont, the
star of both the original ’93 PC Engine title and its ’95
SNES sequel/remake, who went on to make an appearance in the
’97 hit title, CastleVania : Symphony of the Night, opposite
Alucard, the son of Dracula first seen in the NES title CastleVania
III : Dracula’s Curse and later in the Nintendo Gameboy
title CastleVania Legends.
A recent issue
of PSM has indeed confirmed (apparently) this game, though
hasn’t said much other than the fact that it will indeed
be more like the old-school CastleVania titles. On the flip side,
Silicon Magazine just mentioned that the said screenshots
were a hoax. In the area of "Hopeful Hearsay," it is
rumored to be coming out in Japan during the 3rd quarter of 2000
on both the 32-bit Sony Playstation and 128-bit Sega Dreamcast.
 As yet, apparently no word from the Konami
camp on any of this.
|
|
|
CASTLEVANIA
: RESURRECTION ( DREAMCAST? ) |
 STATUS : Indefinite hold
RELEASE DATE(S) :
U.S. -
Sep. 9th, 2000 (last known release date), 2000?
Formerly in development
for the 128-bit Sega Dreamcast by Konami of America exclusively,
now confirmed to be either cancelled or put on hold indefinitely
(depending on how you want to look at it, one could suppose),
though with the caveat that it could be moved to an alternate
platform (the PSX2 or Nintendo "Dolphin," or perhaps
if graphically toned down, the original PSX or N64).
|
  Similar
to the backstory of the N64 title Nightmare Creatures, sources
say the story is set in 1666 (the year of the Great London Fire;
also convenient because of the triple sixes and significance
to the "mark of the beast"). Assuming that storyline
bit holds true, it is the year 1666 that acts as a "neutral
ground" for which two summoned new descendants of the Belmont
Clan from two different eras meet to complete their bloodline’s
manifest destiny against a single, all-too familiar evil.
|
  The stars this time around are Sonia
Belmont, the "origin" of the Belmont power last seen
in CastleVania Legends on the Nintendo Gameboy in the
late 1400s (conjecturedly the mother of Trevor C. Belmont from
the 1990 NES title CastleVania III : Dracula’s Curse/love
interest of Alucard), and Victor Belmont, a vampire hunter from
the 1800s. Via time travel, these two Belmonts are summoned to
take care of the evil that both the Grim Reaper/Death and a new
Countess (or is it Bartley?) attempt to bring back into the world...
namely, Dracula, and his Demon Castle kingdom - CastleVania.
The CastleVania:
Resurrection homepage, off www.konami.com.
|
|
|
CASTLEVANIA
II : SIMON’S
QUEST ( CGB
) |
STATUS
: In final
stages of development; awaiting release
RELEASE DATE(S) :
U.S. -
Spring 2000 (um... 20001? Konami...?)
 Coming soon for the 8-bit Nintendo Color Gameboy.
The NES classic redone for Color Gameboy. CastleVania II :
Simon’s Quest, when released on NES in 1988, was a game
that took the CastleVania series down uncharted territory - RPG
territory.
|
In the classic
game (for which there was even a children’s novel written),
items were gathered, experience gained, levels raised on a quest
that took Simon across various parts of Transylvanian Romania,
gathering up the slain Dracula’s body parts over night and
day before doing his final battle with the Count in the crumbled
remnants of CastleVania itself and lifting his curse off both
himself and his beloved homeland... this was the game that set
the foundation from which the 1997 hit CastleVania : Symphony
of the Night flourished.
This game is
now apparently confirmed, as "CastleVania II" is on
the Color Gameboy games list at www.nintendo.com viewable here (it isn't clear, however, whether Nintendo is
referring to the 1988 CastleVania II : Simon's Quest on
NES or the original 1991 CastleVania II : Belmont's Revenge
for which "CastleVania II" they mean). Spring 2000
is the given release date.
|
|
|
CASTLEVANIA
: SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT
SPECIAL EDITION
( PSX? PSX2? ) |
 STATUS
: Rumored
RELEASE DATE(S) :
Unknown
Rumored for the 32-bit
Sony Playstation in Japan (then possibly US). This game, while
keeping the transparencies and other graphical enhancements the
expanded Saturn version lacked and original PSX version bore,
gives the PSX version the extra foozles the Saturn release featured
(i.e., Maria, extra levels, etc.), plus possibly even more stuff.
For now, let’s just relegate this game to the realm of "wishful
thinking."
|
