Ever since 2010’s Lords of Shadow, the Castlevania franchise just hasn’t been the same. Seeing as how Konami is currently making some questionable moves, Koji Igarashi is hard at work creating a spiritual successor to the franchise. This game will adopt the ‘Metroidvania’, or as he calls it ‘Igavania’ style of gameplay that was made famous by titles such as Symphony of the Night, Portrait of Ruin, and Dawn of Sorrow. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a 2.5D action platformer in the vein of SOTN. Playing as a young girl named Miriam, you investigate the appearance of a mysterious castle in a world controlled by an organization known as the Alchemist Guild. The gameplay will feature a crafting system, upgradable weapons, and special abilities. The art style (right down to the logo as seen above) evokes memories of Konami’s classic franchise. Iga even recruited longtime Castlevania composer Michiru Yamane to do the soundtrack. Seeing as how Koji has gone indie, he’s turned to Kickstarter to secure funding for the title. While he was only asking for $500,000, He managed to raise over 3 times as much (as of the time of this article). With the funding, Iga has secured several stretch goals such as new characters, and voicework from David Hayter (that’s the former Solid Snake) to those who don’t know. The game will be developed by Inti Creates, who are currently working on Mighty No. 9, a spiritual successor to Mega Man. It’s clear that this title will be to Castlevania what Mighty No. 9 is to Mega Man. Perhaps next we should get someone to create a spiritual successor to Contra? Igarashi is hoping to release the game on Mac, PC, Linux, Xbox One, and PS4 in March of 2017.

Command and Conquer is one of gaming’s most respected RTS franchises. While it isn’t as complex as a Starcraft or as grandiose as a Total Annihilation, Command and Conquer set the standard for classic 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate) RTS gameplay. The collection contains every C&C game released up until now, along with expansions. You’ll get the classic C&C Tiberium Dawn, the goofy Red Alert games, the realistic Generals, and even the FPS shooter Renegade. If you’ve never experienced this series before, this disc will give you the chance to witness the evolution of the classic RTS franchise. Although some of the games may have compatibility issues on newer hardware, it’s still worth the price of admission.

Age of Empires 2 is one of the most influential entries in the real time strategy genre. Combining Civilization-style world building with traditional 4X strategy gameplay, AOE 2’s game mechanics still help it remain popular among gamers to this day, even more so than it’s HD remake.
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Before Halo, Call of Duty, Doom, and even Wolfenstein 3-D, there was Catacomb 3-D, a prototype of the first person shooter. Catacomb 3-D is the third of a series, although it is the first using a 3-D engine. Playing as a nameless wizard, you descend into a catacomb to battle orcs, goblins, and other creatures with a variety of spells that you find throughout each level. The game was later followed up the Catacomb Fantasy Trilogy, which wasn’t developed by ID, although they use a similar engine and gameplay. These three games introduce new levels, and the third part even introduces sci-fi elements. You can get the entire series for only $6 at GOG.com. You’ll want to check it out and witness the birth of one of gaming’s most popular genres.

Created by 3D Realms, Shadow Warrior is another entry from the glory days of the first person shooter. Although it’s caught serious flack for its stereotypical potrayal of Asian culture, it was fun to play and it had some features that were ahead of its time such as secondary fire for the weapons and vehicles players could drive. As ex bodyguard Lo Wang, you are out to assassinate your former boss after he summons demonic creatures in a bid to conquer Japan. Wielding several weapons including a Katana, sticky bombs, a rail gun, and Uzis, you blast your way through his minions in order to stop him. There isn’t much more to it than that, and that’s what made games like SHadow Warrior, Doom, Wolfenstein, and Rise of the Triad fun. The game will be receiving a remake which aims to correct some of the un-pc aspects of the original. Speaking of the original, you can grab it, along with its expansion packs from Steam or Gog.com.

You can be forgiven for thinking that Oniken is a lost NES title. Brazilian developer Joymasher’s indie title is a tribute to classic hack ‘n’ slash platformers like Strider and Ninja Gaiden. If this title came out 25 years earlier, it would be one of the best selling titles on the NES. As Zaku, you are on a one-man mission to bring down a corrupt regime in a post-apocalyptic world. You’ll encounter several enemies and bosses, and you’ll obtain several power-ups. The difficulty can be brutal, but classic NES gamers wouldn’t want it any other way. You can purchase it from Desura, and it’s on Steam Greenlight. Check out the group’s next entry, Odallus, a game that has Castlevania and Metroid influences. Joymasher is a group that fans of classic action games will want to keep an eye on.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was the first Castlavania game for the Game Boy Advance. On a personal note, when I got my Game Boy Advance, COTM was the first game I picked up. The game adopts the exploration heavy formula of Castlevania Symphony of the Night. Despite a few nagging problems, and the fact that its storyline is considered non-canon, COTM is a classic entry in the long standing franchise.
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Before being outsourced to other developers and turned into a first person shooter, Metroid was one of Nintendo’s most celebrated franchises of both the 8 and 16-bit era. Come to think about it, it’s still one of Nintendo’s most celebrated franchises even after being outsourced to other developers. Its exploration heavy gameplay has made it a hit among gamers, and its heroine Samus Aran is one of the most recognizable female protagonists in gaming. Super Metroid represented the series at its best.
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