YouTuber Claims To Have A Copy Of Cancelled Castlevania Game
It's another blast from the past, as a cancelled Castlevania game from decades ago has apparently spread its wings all over again. Back in 1986, Konami released Castlevania for the Famicom Disk System and inadvertently kick-started one of its best-selling franchises.
Over the years, we've seen plenty of adventures from House Belmont and its various clashes with Dracula, which has led to a complicated timeline of expanded mythology and even time travel. Although several projects have fallen by the wayside, Castlevania: Resurrection is the most famous.
While the Castlevania franchise was in its prime around the late-90s and early-00s, production on Castlevania: Resurrection was spectacularly stopped in its tracks. The title was going to be a wholly new story set in the lore of Konami's series and was planned for the SEGA Dreamcast. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast's struggles and the runaway success of the PlayStation 2 led to the mythical Castlevania entry being a casualty.
What is the cancelled Castlevania game?
According to a new YouTube video, the copy of Resurrection predates its reveal at E3 1999, where industry insiders got to try out a demo. Featuring a simplistic approach, Resurrection follows in the footsteps of the 3D Castlevania that hit the Nintendo 64 in 1999. The basic premise was going to follow new protagonist Victor Belmont, teaming up with Sonia Belmont - who first appeared in 1998's Castlevania Legends on the Game Boy. Even though Resurrection was canned and Victor Belmont was axed, he ironically popped up many years later in 2014's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.
In Resurrection, Victor was going to take his vampire-hunting skills of the 1800s back to 1666. Here, he'd meet Sonia and the pair would tackle a female villain. The video shows the unfinished game as Sonia travels through two of five planned stages. The video is simply titled "Castlevania Resurrection exists" and looks like it's the real deal. But what happened to Resurrection?
In a 2007 interview with Castlevania Dungeon, Art Director Greg Orduyan said that negative press surrounding the demo came following the cancellation - insisting that it was pulled due to "some people within Konami who had their own agenda". Expanding on what went wrong, Orduyan concluded it was a number of factors: "Everyone loved the demo. It looked and played better than most of the titles for the Dreamcast at the time. The game was cancelled the same day that Sony announced the PS2. The reality is, Sony was very secretive about the PS2. Then they said OK, this is a definite date we're releasing the PS2. This did not affect just Castlevania, it affected every single DC game Konami was developing worldwide".
What happened to Castlevania games after Resurrection was cancelled?
Sadly, the cancellation of Castlevania: Resurrection so many years ago means it'll never see the light of day. In general, the Castlevania name has hit something of a stumbling block and was last seen in Lords of Shadow 2. Even then, the Lords of Shadow line was a reboot of the OG Castlevania series that started in 1986. These days, Castlevania is known for the Netflix anime series of the same name, while game producer Koji Igarashi left Konami to work on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night as a spiritual successor.
Since Lord of Shadows 2, Konami has shied away from developing current and next-gen titles, meaning the disappointing Castlevania is something of a milestone. Despite being consigned to the crypt, there's still a lot of love for Castlevania and hopes Konami could revisit the franchise. Alongside Silent Hill and Metal Gear, Konami has been accused of sleeping on its biggest IPs. Thankfully, there are continued rumours the developer is planning a big return to form. Then again, there are opposite claims Konami is in serious trouble. Either way, we're still thirsty for the lifeblood of Castlevania and hopes it'll get its own "resurrection".
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