Konami is a legendary game studio that may not be held in the highest regard at the moment, but it has a collection of classic series throughout its 50 years. In celebration of its recent anniversary, the company is releasing collections of fan-favorites, including Castlevania Anniversary Collection. This week, the studio shared which titles are coming to the collection and we highlight the definitive entries that serve as the foundation for Castlevania’s success.
Castlevania Anniversary Collection was already known to feature Castlevania, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge, and Super Castlevania IV. The last four titles revealed for the collection are Castlevania: Bloodlines, Kid Dracula, Castlevania: The Adventure, and Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. Castlevania: The Adventure and Kid Dracula are games that collectors will cherish as part of their collections, but Castlevania II and Bloodlines are pivotal experiences that hardcore fans or those remotely interested in the series can’t afford to miss. Fans of Netflix’s hit Castlevania series can try out of the games responsible for bringing that story to life.
This particular game is one of those gaming treasures that required a good chunk of change if you wanted it in your collection, until now. Castlevania: Bloodlines released on the Sega Genesis in 1994 and was the only entry in the franchise to release on that console. It’s a highly cherished story in the Castlevania world, being a rare occurrence where a Castlevania game cast players as someone outside of the Belmont family.
You play as John Morris and Eric Lecarde as they attempt to thwart the revival of Dracula. To give you an idea of the game’s rarity, there is a new copy of the game selling for $270 on eBay and the lowest price on Amazon is $72 for a used copy. Those sellers will have to wait a bit longer for hardcore collectors now that Castlevania: Bloodlines is available to the masses as part of Castlevania Anniversary Collection.
The first Castlevania is undoubtedly a classic that birthed a long-running franchise but the experimenting that the developers did with the sequel were also important for the growth of the series. Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest released in 1987 for the NES and is less straightforward than the first game, putting additional focus on players exploring and figuring out the game themselves and it is supported by an iconic soundtrack.
Of course, the game where it all started is a definitive entry in the franchise. Turn on the 1986 classic Castlevania and step into the action-adventure that kicked off the story of the Belmont clan.
For all the historic relevance of the other games found in Castlevania Anniversary Collection, Super Castlevania IV is the absolute best of the bunch from top to bottom. Some of the best visuals and music lay the foundation for some of the best gameplay in the Castlevania series and round out a solid collection of games.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.