The Best Castlevania Games, All 30 Ranked From Worst to Best
27. Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
Another less than stellar 3D outing for the series, Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness had some interesting ideas it didn’t quite capitalize on. Like its predecessor, the title brought players back to a 3D version of Dracula’s Castle with a fantastic sense of atmosphere and terrifying enemies.
Likewise, it placed players into the role of Cornell, a man with the ability to transform into a werewolf and rend through monsters as he sees fit, as he tries to stop his sister from being used as a sacrifice for Dracula’s revival.
Unfortunately, the game suffered from much the same problems as the series’ first 3D title, with the controls and camera working against the player constantly. It remains an interesting experimental outing for the series, but also one which players wouldn’t be blamed for if they skipped.
26. Castlevania: Dracula X
Of the many ports that Castlevania: Rondo of Blood saw over the years, Castlevania: Dracula X was the worst. A version of the game that was redesigned heavily for play on the SNES, it lost much of what made the original version of the game special. Enemy and level design were uninspired, with castle sections and corridors blending together the longer players made their way through the game.
The low difficulty left little for players to feel challenged by, and compared to the SNES’ other Castlevania offering, Super Castlevania IV, it felt like it underutilized the hardware.
The end result was a Castlevania game stripped of all but its most base components and gameplay. Diehard fans could still glean some enjoyment from the title, but as a whole it was better to pass this poorly made port over for the original PC version or one of the later remakes of the game.
25. Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
After the success of Castlevania, Konami aimed to build upon what they had created by expanding on the core gameplay with more challenging enemies, a more devious castle and threats which would have the player on edge at every turn. The result was Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, an admirable if flawed second attempt to put down Dracula and his dark intentions for good.
Featuring the same side-scrolling exploration and platforming that the first game did, Simon’s Quest also offered NPCs to interact with that would provide hints to puzzles, many integral to progressing through the game.
Unfortunately, these NPCs proved too cryptic and deceptive in their hints to be helpful, and that was only in the Japanese version. The English translations of these characters’ dialogue was so bad that many found themselves unable to solve the game’s puzzles, or that they’d solved them randomly in ways that hadn’t been hinted at.
It made for a frustrating experience that many players had to struggle through, and dwarfed the admittedly challenging bosses in terms of how much frustration it caused those who played through the game.
