The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: Nagumo on June 27, 2019, 03:06:49 AM
Title: The reason why Haunted Castle is a "remake" of the original Castlevania
Post by: Nagumo on June 27, 2019, 03:06:49 AM
Recently, I ended up contacting one of the people who worked on Haunted Castle, Masaaki Kuniko. I already knew that he was open to answering questions about games he worked on. Despite him not having a main role in the game's development, I tried asking him if he knew why Haunted Castle is considered to be a remake of CV1 despite being a completely original game. His reply is as follows (my translation):
Quote from: Masaaki Kuniko
About 30 years ago, I was creating another dot-painted racing game at the time, and another team was developing a horror action game different from Dracula. At that time, the graphics of the game were too low quality, so it was decided by the company to redraw all the graphics in one month, and it was decided to make the game in the style of the Dracula series at that time. So it's not so much a remake, as it is a game with a similar atmosphere and theme. I wasn't involved in planning, so I wanted to spend more time creating a better game.
So it seems the game got retooled from an orignal IP into being a Castlevania game as a last minute rush job. Undoubtedly, it was done because of brand recognition. Since they were pressed for time and likely didn't care, they changed the game into a "remake" of CV1 instead of making it an unique entry in the series with a new protagonist.
Title: Re: The reason why Haunted Castle is a "remake" of the original Castlevania
Post by: The Puritan on June 27, 2019, 04:29:08 PM
Good find. There've been lots of instances where some game was gonna be its own thing before it got retooled into an existing series, but I never thought Haunted Castle was one of them.
I guess that would explain the game's underlying "not quite Castlevania" feel.
Title: Re: The reason why Haunted Castle is a "remake" of the original Castlevania
Post by: LuxKiller65 on June 27, 2019, 07:22:51 PM
Even the finished product still doesn't feel or look much like Castlevania.
So is this why the international versions had a game title that has no relation to Castlevania? Was it released overseas first, then released in Japan? Or did they just think the game was just too different, so they didn't release it as Castlevania overseas? I think that makes sense.
Sort of like the Mega Drive Hokuto no Ken who was released as something else overseas (for other reasons though).
Title: Re: The reason why Haunted Castle is a "remake" of the original Castlevania
Post by: Nagumo on June 28, 2019, 01:18:56 AM
So is this why the international versions had a game title that has no relation to Castlevania? Was it released overseas first, then released in Japan? Or did they just think the game was just too different, so they didn't release it as Castlevania overseas? I think that makes sense.
Based on an interview Kukino did a couple of years ago, it seems to be the latter. It's also possible Haunted Castle was the original title for the project, but I'm not sure if the original setting for the game even involved a castle.
Now I'm curious if the same thing happened with other "remakes" like SCIV and Dracula X. Although I'm sure nobody would deny those games feel like legitimate entries in the series. Dracula X does have that "rushed" feel to it, though.
Also, The Adventure defintely feel different enough to have possibly been a retooled game. A lot of the deviating elements have been attributed to the hardware restrictions of the Game Boy, but I wonder if there's more to that story.
Title: Re: The reason why Haunted Castle is a "remake" of the original Castlevania
Post by: Super Waffle on June 28, 2019, 04:08:06 AM
So Haunted Castle was the original Lords of Shadow?
Title: Re: The reason why Haunted Castle is a "remake" of the original Castlevania
Post by: LuxKiller65 on June 28, 2019, 04:08:28 AM
I feel like Castlevania IV, Dracula X and Adventure have always been Castlevania... Haunted Castle though... well it's good to have confirmation from one of the staff members (forgot to thank you for the info you got from him).
I remember when Lords of Shadow was first teased to the audience, it was NOT advertised as a Castlevania (I have a press kit that has absolutely no mention of Castlevania on it). Later it was announced it would be a Castlevania game, so I thought Konami had changed their mind during development, but in fact it was revealed that it was always meant to be a Castlevania game. Well, that's what a friend of mine said (at the time I still thought it was a non Castlevania game retooled to be one).
It would be amazing if something of the original Haunted Castle remains, like graphics, backgrounds, or even just text information. It's a funny entry in the series, marketed as Castlevania in Japan but as a unique game overseas. It's a great insight into the early years of the series, where marketing and development was super messy and a bit random. I miss those years where Castlevania wasn't such a big deal.
Title: Re: The reason why Haunted Castle is a "remake" of the original Castlevania
Post by: AlexCalvo on June 28, 2019, 05:59:17 AM
I feel like Castlevania IV, Dracula X and Adventure have always been Castlevania... Haunted Castle though... well it's good to have confirmation from one of the staff members (forgot to thank you for the info you got from him).
I remember when Lords of Shadow was first teased to the audience, it was NOT advertised as a Castlevania (I have a press kit that has absolutely no mention of Castlevania on it). Later it was announced it would be a Castlevania game, so I thought Konami had changed their mind during development, but in fact it was revealed that it was always meant to be a Castlevania game. Well, that's what a friend of mine said (at the time I still thought it was a non Castlevania game retooled to be one).
That's actually not the whole story. While it was initially pitched as a Castlevania game, Konami gave it the green light as its own new IP. It was not until Hideo Kojima saw a later build and said "This should be Castlevania." That it was given the IP back. This is likely why such large swathes of the game feel so distinct from Castlevania, while others fit as a new interpretation.
So calling Haunted Castle the original Lords of Shadow is a kind of of fair, if not perfect comparison.
Title: Re: The reason why Haunted Castle is a "remake" of the original Castlevania
Post by: crisis on June 28, 2019, 07:14:15 AM
is my favorite review of haunted castle
Title: Re: The reason why Haunted Castle is a "remake" of the original Castlevania
Post by: Spooniest on July 05, 2019, 08:29:00 PM
I could not watch more than about 12 seconds of this. That guy has a naturally grating voice, but also seems to know less than nothing about mixing a vocal track. Ugh. It burns!
Ah, and speaking of 'getting p---y' like it's a thing that is so terrific... I dunno about you but the rest of the female anatomy/psychological makeup is kind of interesting to me as well?
That's a hard pass. OPINIONS
Title: Re: The reason why Haunted Castle is a "remake" of the original Castlevania
Post by: JR on July 05, 2019, 11:10:40 PM
Hahahaha, Jedite. I forgot about that guy. He got mysteriously swole really fast.