Konami 50th Anniversary Collection (PC, PS4, Switch, XB1)

Armenius

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Konami announced a series of video game collections coming out this year to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. There were 3 collections announced:
  • Arcade Classics (https://www.konami.com/games/50th/ac/arcade/us/en/)
    • Scramble (1981)
    • Gradius (1985)
    • TwinBee (1985)
    • Life Force (1986)
    • A-JAX (1987)
    • Gradius II (1988)
    • Haunted Castle (1988)
    • Thunder Cross (1988)
  • Castlevania (https://www.konami.com/games/50th/ac/castlevania/us/en/)
    * Update released on June 18 added the Japanese versions to the collection.
    • Castlevania (1987, NES)
    • Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1988, NES)
    • Castlevania: The Adventure (1989, GB)
    • Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1990, NES)
    • Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun (1990, FAMICOM)
    • Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (1991, GB)
    • Super Castlevania IV (1991, SNES)
    • Castlevania: Bloodlines (1994, Genesis)
  • Contra (https://www.konami.com/games/50th/ac/contra/us/en/)
    • Contra (1987, Arcade)
    • Contra (1988, NES)
    • Contra (1988, FAMICOM)
    • Super Contra (1988, Arcade)
    • Super C (1990, NES)
    • Operation C (1991, GB)
    • Contra III: The Alien Wars (1992, SNES)
    • Super Probotector: Alien Rebels (1992, SNES PAL)
    • Contra: Hard Corps (1994, Genesis)
    • Probotector (1994, Mega Drive)
Arcade Classics has a release date of April 18, while the other 2 are scheduled for "Early Summer 2019." Each collection will be available digitally for $19.99 and also include an e-book containing interviews, design documents, history, and soundtrack selections.

Seems odd to me that they would include Belmont's Revenge over Simon's Quest in the Castlevania collection. Perhaps it is one of the unannounced titles.

I guess Konami are going to continue to milk peoples' nostalgia. How's that pachinko business strategy going?

EDIT: Changed Salamander to the English release name Life Force.
EDIT2: Added full Castlevania lineup. Release date is May 16.
EDIT3: Added full Contra lineup. No released date announced as of May 29.
EDIT4: Content update for Castlevania was released on June 18 and added the Japanese versions of each game in a bonus menu.
 
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their old stuff was good their stuff since everything went 3d has been shit, I'll buy all three
You shut your filthy mouth. Castlevania 64 is the best game ever.

But seriously, I did like 64 for what it was and would be happy if it was one of the unannounced games in the collection.
 
They need Chi no Rondo and Symphony of the Night to round out the Castlevania collection. I'd buy it then. I actually have the original discs for both, but it would be cool to launch them all from one spot. (assuming they do their emulation well, and provide plenty of options)
 
They need Chi no Rondo and Symphony of the Night to round out the Castlevania collection. I'd buy it then. I actually have the original discs for both, but it would be cool to launch them all from one spot. (assuming they do their emulation well, and provide plenty of options)

Was about to say, surprised Symphony of the Night wasn't already mentioned in the list.

Still though, Castlevania IV on SNES is my favorite. Man, when that music hits and the gates go up at the start of the game, awesome stuff!
 
Indeed, SCIV has some great atmosphere. I love the level with the ghosts flying up, the rotating hallway, etc. Rondo was the first with fully branching levels though, and had beautiful levels like the pirate ships. Actually, these three are my favorites, followed closely by all GBA and DS ones. I hope Ritual of the Night is good.
 
Konami announced a series of video game collections coming out this year to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. There were 3 collections announced:
Arcade Classics has a release date of April 18, while the other 2 are scheduled for "Early Summer 2019." Each collection will be available digitally for $19.99 and also include an e-book containing interviews, design documents, history, and soundtrack selections.

Seems odd to me that they would include Belmont's Revenge over Simon's Quest in the Castlevania collection. Perhaps it is one of the unannounced titles.

I guess Konami are going to continue to milk peoples' nostalgia. How's that pachinko business strategy going?


Simon's Quest gets a lot of hate but I thoroughly enjoy it. It is one of my top favorite Castlevania games.
 
Was about to say, surprised Symphony of the Night wasn't already mentioned in the list.

Still though, Castlevania IV on SNES is my favorite. Man, when that music hits and the gates go up at the start of the game, awesome stuff!

They have been threatening an HD remake of SOTN off and on. It's also been republished several times. That said I wouldn't be surprised if it's a later reveal. Also Chronicles and Bloodlines.

Simon's Quest gets a lot of hate but I thoroughly enjoy it. It is one of my top favorite Castlevania games.

There's a hilarious bit of information about Simon's Quest that is passed by. Most people think SoTN drew from Super Metroid... that's not really true. SoTN was actually a direct sucessor to CV2 and they have admitted that without CV2 SoTN would not exist. That's where they got all the ideas from, though the sprites and art style came from Rondo. SoTNs lead inspiration was CV2 and Zelda 2 of all things. There were a lot of games in that style back then which just weren't as well known, or loved, as Super Metroid, such as Faxanadu.

The hate directed at CV2 was largely due to a botched translation effort, and even then it was a success.
 
They have been threatening an HD remake of SOTN off and on. It's also been republished several times. That said I wouldn't be surprised if it's a later reveal. Also Chronicles and Bloodlines.



There's a hilarious bit of information about Simon's Quest that is passed by. Most people think SoTN drew from Super Metroid... that's not really true. SoTN was actually a direct sucessor to CV2 and they have admitted that without CV2 SoTN would not exist. That's where they got all the ideas from, though the sprites and art style came from Rondo. SoTNs lead inspiration was CV2 and Zelda 2 of all things. There were a lot of games in that style back then which just weren't as well known, or loved, as Super Metroid, such as Faxanadu.

The hate directed at CV2 was largely due to a botched translation effort, and even then it was a success.

Oh man, Faxanadu. What another great title. I still play through at least once a year.
 
They need Chi no Rondo and Symphony of the Night to round out the Castlevania collection. I'd buy it then. I actually have the original discs for both, but it would be cool to launch them all from one spot. (assuming they do their emulation well, and provide plenty of options)

Was about to say, surprised Symphony of the Night wasn't already mentioned in the list.

Still though, Castlevania IV on SNES is my favorite. Man, when that music hits and the gates go up at the start of the game, awesome stuff!
https://www.konami.com/games/castlevania/us/en-us/page/history_2018_x_son_rob
 
Nice! So the work is already done pretty much.
Unfortunately Konami said they're not bringing them to any other platform but the PS4, so I wouldn't expect to see either in the OP collection.
 
Unfortunately Konami said they're not bringing them to any other platform but the PS4, so I wouldn't expect to see either in the OP collection.

Well, since I still have them, that's not too big a deal, but it would have been nice. I like tidy little collections. :D I suppose I could sneak it onto my son's PS4. Introduce him to a bit of culture.
 
No Lifeforce? Blades of Steel? I wouldn't mind playing some OG CV from the NES. That was among one of my favorite games next to Rygar and Ghost N' Goblins, Metal Gear. I wonder if the code will still work in Contra and others?
 
No Lifeforce? Blades of Steel? I wouldn't mind playing some OG CV from the NES. That was among one of my favorite games next to Rygar and Ghost N' Goblins, Metal Gear. I wonder if the code will still work in Contra and others?

Salamander is Life Force. (difference in Japanese and US naming is all)

Rygar is Tecmo. ;)

(sorry arcade nerd...)
 
I did not know that Salamander was Life Force, but I did know Rygar wasn't Konami. ;) Just spouting about my fav games. Learn something everyday.

Duh, I should have realized that. Ghosts N' Goblins slipped right by me. :D
 
They need Chi no Rondo and Symphony of the Night to round out the Castlevania collection. I'd buy it then. I actually have the original discs for both, but it would be cool to launch them all from one spot. (assuming they do their emulation well, and provide plenty of options)

No way those are being inserted. They already have Requiem which fulfills that need.

I'm guessing the remaining 4 are going to be

Castlevania 2, Castlevania Bloodlines, Castlevania Chronicles, and Castlevania Legends. (The only other 8 or 16 bit games that exist are Vampire Killer (pre Castlevania) and Adventure (the most hated Castlevania)).
 
No Lifeforce? Blades of Steel? I wouldn't mind playing some OG CV from the NES. That was among one of my favorite games next to Rygar and Ghost N' Goblins, Metal Gear. I wonder if the code will still work in Contra and others?

going on what others said, ghouls and ghost is capcom, as for metal gear the original nintendo ones were highly bugged and broken and is hated by Kojima. The MSX versions are really the only playable ones.
 
It'll be interesting to see which games end up using the NES/SNES versions vs. the arcade versions. While the arcade ports will certainly look better, they were usually shorter and more simplistic.
 
A Steam version of SOTN (that, presumably, worked correctly) would be an instant buy for me. I know they re-released it for download on PS3 awhile back but I didn't have a PS3. Haven't played it since PS1 but I do listen to the soundtrack from time to time.

I still remember playing a Contra coin-op arcade machine way back; it was sitting next to a Bubble Bobble machine near the entrance at a local dept store, next to a bunch of those old school gumball machines...
 
Konami announced a series of video game collections coming out this year to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. There were 3 collections announced:
Arcade Classics has a release date of April 18, while the other 2 are scheduled for "Early Summer 2019." Each collection will be available digitally for $19.99 and also include an e-book containing interviews, design documents, history, and soundtrack selections.

Seems odd to me that they would include Belmont's Revenge over Simon's Quest in the Castlevania collection. Perhaps it is one of the unannounced titles.

I guess Konami are going to continue to milk peoples' nostalgia. How's that pachinko business strategy going?

EDIT: Changed Salamander to the English release name Life Force.

I am still of the #FUCKKONAMI crowd since the cancellation of Silent Hills, the annexation of Kojima and team, and their general disdain for people who love anything other than Pachinko and gambling arcade machines in Asia. Fuck them. Konami is sitting on my favorite franchises of all time and knowing we will not see any full releases from them for another Metal Gear, Silent Hill, or Castlevania that isn't a blatant cash grab is depressing.
 
I am still of the #FUCKKONAMI crowd since the cancellation of Silent Hills, the annexation of Kojima and team, and their general disdain for people who love anything other than Pachinko and gambling arcade machines in Asia. Fuck them. Konami is sitting on my favorite franchises of all time and knowing we will not see any full releases from them for another Metal Gear, Silent Hill, or Castlevania that isn't a blatant cash grab is depressing.

Iga, the man behind SoTN left Konami and is publishing CV games under the Bloodstained monkier. One came out last year and one is coming out this year.



 
The full Castlevania lineup was revealed, with a release date of May 16. The games were added to the first post of the thread. The last 4 games include:
  • Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1988, NES)
  • Castlevania: The Adventure (1989, GB)
  • Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun (1990, FAMICOM)
  • Castlevania: Bloodlines (1994, Genesis)
 
The full Castlevania lineup was revealed, with a release date of May 16. The games were added to the first post of the thread. The last 4 games include:
  • Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1988, NES)
  • Castlevania: The Adventure (1989, GB)
  • Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun (1990, FAMICOM)
  • Castlevania: Bloodlines (1994, Genesis)

Hell yes to bloodlines
 
They have my money for all three.

Now, let's hope they do a Part 2 of the Castlevania collection. I'd even be willing to spend $50/60 on the collection if it featured the right games. As, that's a lot of gameplay if done correctly.
 
They have my money for all three.

Now, let's hope they do a Part 2 of the Castlevania collection. I'd even be willing to spend $50/60 on the collection if it featured the right games. As, that's a lot of gameplay if done correctly.
Would love to see the N64, GBA, and PS2 games in one collection. I have a craving to play through Curse of Darkness again after watching season 2 of the Netflix series since I've forgotten almost everything about it.
 
Would love to see the N64, GBA, and PS2 games in one collection. I have a craving to play through Curse of Darkness again after watching season 2 of the Netflix series since I've forgotten almost everything about it.

They could do a 2D one with the GBA/DS/SOTN style and then a 3d one as well, there was a dreamcast CV
 
Pairing Symphony of the Night with the 3 similar DS games seems logical to me. They're all pretty similar to one another and are fantastic games.

Of the classic games, I liked all of them except Simon's Quest. That game feels like a giant ploy to sell strategy guides. The things you have to do range from esoteric to just plain ridiculous. As far as actual gameplay went, there wasn't much to it, either. 3 was extremely tough, but was otherwise a pretty good game. The SNES one might be my overall fave, though.
 
Pairing Symphony of the Night with the 3 similar DS games seems logical to me. They're all pretty similar to one another and are fantastic games.

Of the classic games, I liked all of them except Simon's Quest. That game feels like a giant ploy to sell strategy guides. The things you have to do range from esoteric to just plain ridiculous. As far as actual gameplay went, there wasn't much to it, either. 3 was extremely tough, but was otherwise a pretty good game. The SNES one might be my overall fave, though.

Honestly, if they included a new translation, I'd say Simon's Quest would enter a lot of peoples "misunderstood Classics." It's a victim of a poor translation. Granted, some of it's gameplay is still janked.

It'd be great to get the GBA - DS titles in one package. That's a lot of gameplay. A lot.

Circle of the Moon is my personal favorite...other than the last boss fight.
 
Which of the DS castlevania games was best and also which of the gba was best?
 
DOS and POR are straight SOTN style. OOE mixes it up a bit and is harder. HOD is the best of GBA hands down.
For those not familiar with the acronyms or titles:

DOS = Dawn of Sorrow
POR = Portrait of Ruin
OOE = Order of Ecclesia
HOD = Harmony of Dissonance

In my opinion, Portrait of Ruin is the best title on DS. I was never crazy about the characters or setting in the Sorrow series, and I particularly liked the gameplay gimmick in Portrait. On the GBA, Aria's misstep was boss souls not being guaranteed drops, which was rectified in Dawn.
 
For those not familiar with the acronyms or titles:

DOS = Dawn of Sorrow
POR = Portrait of Ruin
OOE = Order of Ecclesia
HOD = Harmony of Dissonance

In my opinion, Portrait of Ruin is the best title on DS. I was never crazy about the characters or setting in the Sorrow series, and I particularly liked the gameplay gimmick in Portrait. On the GBA, Aria's misstep was boss souls not being guaranteed drops, which was rectified in Dawn.

I wasn't that down with the gimmick. For me OOE stands out as being the only SOTN style CV that was actually hard. The rest are too easy to just be with no deaths the first time you ever play them and are some of the easiest games out there. OOE actually upped the difficulty a bit.
 
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