Konami is marking the 40th anniversary of Castlevania with a free game and a series sale.
The original Castlevania was released on the Famicom Disk System on September 26, 1986, meaning Saturday marks its 40th anniversary.
To mark the occasion, Konami has released a mobile port of the original game, which is available on the iOS and Android app stores under the name Castlevania 40th Anniversary.
The app is completely free, but will only be available until October 24, after which it will be delisted from the stores. Players who claim it before then will be able to continue playing it.
As well as offering the original for free, Konami has also launched a sale on the PlayStation and Steam stores, where it’s heavily discounting titles from the Castlevania series.
The discounts confirmed are as follows:
PlayStation Store (until October 7)
- Castlevania Anniversary Collection – 80% off
- Castlevania Dominus Collection – 50% off
- Castlevania Advance Collection – 70% off
- Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood – 70% off
Steam (until October 1)
- Castlevania Anniversary Collection – 80% off
- Castlevania Dominus Collection – 50% off
- Castlevania Advance Collection – 70% off
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Ultimate Edition) – 80% off
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (Digital Bundle) – 80% off
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Revelations DLC – 80% off
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate HD – 80% off
The next Castlevania set for release is Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, which will be coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC on October 15.
A demo for the game will be released on October 1, with players able to copy their save file over to the full game.
VGC recently went hands-on with Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse and came away impressed, suggesting that it didn’t appear to revolutionise the Metroidvania genre in any major way but didn’t necessarily have to when it was so engaging to play.
“There’s nothing to say it has to reinvent the wheel,” we wrote. “If ever there was a series that has earned the right to deliver a game that simply offers a familiar but solid Metroidvania adventure, it’s the one that co-coined the term in the first place. And so far, based on the first hour at least, familiar but solid absolutely sums it up.”
