In each of the previous articles of this series, we’ve examined the history of the Castlevania series almost chronologically, through the titular first game up to the most recent Lords of Shadow series. The plots may be lacking in places and the timeline is a bit confusing, but the characters are always interesting. Konami must have thought so too, because over the years there have been a few Castlevania spin-offs and cameos in other games. In this article, I’ll cover the two most prominent examples of this: Kid Dracula and Konami Wai-Wai World. I’ll also briefly discuss the namesake for this article, the cancelled Dreamcast title, Castlevania: Resurrection.
Let’s begin with Konami Wai-Wai World. This Japan-only game is a fun foray into the world of various Konami characters. The player begins the game as Konami’s mascot, aptly named Konami Man. Konami Man has a partner called, Konami Girl. They’re on a quest (or something) to stop some evil by uniting Konami characters like Simon Belmont, Mikey from Goonies 2, one of the stone Moai heads from Gradius and Goemon from the Goemon/Mystical ninja series.
The game is like a remix of games like Castlevania, Mystic Ninja (Goemon), Gradius and other Konami favorites, with Mega Man’s (Capcom) stage select thrown in for good measure. It’s fun, but incredibly difficult. Konami man once appeared all over Konami’s games, including cameos in Goonies 2 and Castlevania as a treasure.
1993’s Kid Dracula, released for the Nintendo Game Boy, is actually a shortened version of a Famicom game called Akumajou Dracula Special: Boku Dracula-kun, which according to VG Museum is roughly translated is Demon Castle Special: I’m Kid Dracula. Akumajou Dracula (Demon Castle) is the name of the Castlevania series in Japan.
Kid Dracula is tremendous fun. It takes all the action and adventure from the first few Castlevania games and rolls it into a game that is both charming and difficult. Kid Dracula himself is an adorable chibi (little) style character who plays like Alucard from Dracula’s Curse. Kid Drac starts the game in the Castlevania Castle and follows a path that takes him to the sea, a city, the desert, up a mountain and eventually into a final battle that I won’t spoil for you here. It’s an interesting experience for fans of the original Castlevania games and is certainly a bit of an outlier in the series.
Aborted Resurrection
The last bit of lost Castlevania history, to my knowledge, is the cancelled Castlevania: Resurrection. Resurrection, a cancelled Dreamcast title (pictured at top and right), was supposed to be a vehicle for Sonia Belmont and brand-new character, Victor Belmont. It would have been a fully 3-D game, focusing on Sonia and Victor battling the forces of evil in more of an action game, eschewing RPG and exploration elements in favor of a classic feel. However, a curse hung over its production and the game was cancelled right as the Sony PlayStation 2 was announced. A fascinating treasure trove of information about Resurrection can be found here.
More recently, Simon Belmont has been featured as a character in the Nintendo Switch game, Super Bomberman R. While it is neat to see some love for the older characters, I would much prefer to have a new game featuring them or, perhaps, continuing the original series plotline.
Castlevania – Journey Through the Years
That about covers the entire series, so will conclude the official journey through the years. We hope you’ve enjoyed this installment of our journey and be sure to check out the other five. Coming soon: a review of the Castlevania Netflix anime, a feature on the music of Castlevania and one or two surprises down the line.
