Known in Japan as Ganbare Goemon, this fun little action game with RPG elements was released shortly after the Super Nintendo launch. Ganbare Goemon is a very popular franchise in Japan, although it’s mostly unknown here. Only four games in the series have been released over here, including this one. Players took control of Kid Ying and Dr. Yang (In 2-player games) as they travel Japan to rescue princess Yuki. Players can explore the town, buy equipment, and play minigames (including the first level of Gradius), then travel through 2-d platforming style levels in order to beat the area’s boss. There is a lot of humor in the game, although a lot of it was lost during the original translation. Even so, this is still an excellent game for all ages. It’s available on the virtual console now, so if you didn’t blow your points on Bonanza Brothers, then download this.

Sony has teamed up with veteran gaming monopoly Konami, and vested its efforts into releasing digital distributions of Konami’s video game music library. Song from Castlevania to Silent Hill, and from Contra to Gradius, will all be digitally released by Sony’s BGM Entertainment.

“Music has been at the foundation of Konami’s games for decades, and now consumers will be able to enjoy these classic tunes on their own”, quotes Konami’s music manager of Digital Entertainment Michael Rajna. Music will be availible for purchase from places such as iTunes and Rhapsody, as well as for mobile-phone download.

Seems like a bit of a stretch to me for Sony and Konami alike, seeing as how most of these VG tunes can be downloaded for free either by fansites or from torrent downloads. I suppose only sales will tell whether or not it’s an actual money-making venture. Konami’s music has been a keynote of it’s games for over two decades, and something like this is only just now being released? Kinda slow on the uptake if you ask me, but that’s just my humble opinion.

Slow news days make for great little snippet updates.

Seems the boys over at Project 51 Productions have been brainstorming quite a bit, and have some exciting news. There’s not to be just one animated Castlevania movie – but three! A trilogy of animated movies, all telling the extended take of Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse. While this might not be what some fans had in mind, as I know I can hear some saying “But why can’t they just make separate movies for each game in the series?”, I can only say this – you want it done, or do you want it done right?

It also appears that series head, Koji Igarashi, is also involved in the movie as well. Of course, he was also supposedly ‘involved’ with the Castlevania comic books too, and those only got half-hearted reviews. Again, more news as it develops on that one.

Oh, and just as a smaller note – Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP will now be released in September.

As promised, a bit of new news in regards to the Castlevania action figures being produced by NECA, this time featuring close ups of not only Alucard, but also a sneak peak at the Succubus figure as well (minus the wings). Of course, from the back I can’t tell which version of the Succubus it will be – Lament of Innocence or Symphony, but either way should be sure to please. The series 4th figure – Dracula – will most likely be the next to be seen.

…and yet despite the detail being put into such figures and the news being put out about them, the boys at Figures.com *and* MovieManiacs.net can’t seem to get the spelling right for ALUCARD. Nice try guys, really.

Seems that news regarding the PSP-exclusive upcoming chapter of the Silent Hill mythos kinda slips by unnoticed recently. However, it seems a bit of new info and new additions to “Origins” has hit the web for Silent Hill enthusiasts to decend upon.

As a recap, Silent Hill Origins is a prequel to the rest of the games in the series, particularly numbers 1 and 3. Until now, only some character information has been sprinkled about, with some screenshots of over-the-shoulder gameplay, ala Resident Evil 4. Now, it seems the SH team scrapped that concept in favor of the oldschool 3rd person. In this game, you play as newcomer Travis O’Grady, whom finds himself in the misty town of Silent Hill after saving a mysterious girl from a burning house. (series fans should pick up on this right away) After which, Travis tries to investigate what happened to the little girl, only to be thrown into the chaos that permiates from deep within the town itself.

According to Game Informers, despite the smaller screen size, the game itself is no less creepy than it’s large-screen predecessors. Gameplay is simple, with some new features thrown in such as being able to charge your attacks and the ability to lock onto several targets and toggle between them.

Have we mentioned the creepy?

Silent Hill Origins is slated for release in fall of later this year.

If you haven’t read on numerous other sites such as Bites & Bytes before, then you need your eyes checked. However, we’re reporting it here as well. (mainly because I feel ashamed in having not reported on this sooner as toys isn’t my usual domain)

It seems that NECA will be producing its own line of Castlevania action figures, starting with releases of traditional Simon Belmont (not Chronicles version), as well as Alucard from Symphony of the Night. This will just be the Series 1 releases, which leads the reader to believe that there will be other series releases as well. Castlevania fans haven’t seen anything of this calibur since a few homemade figures were once featured at the Castlevania Dungeon. (which have mysteriously vanished….weird o.O) More news will be brought up about this as I run into it.

[EDIT – Crazy: Just wanted to mirror the two pictures that surfaced in this post. See below]

 

Xbox Live Arcade is on a roll. This week was TMNT. Last week was Worms. Before that we had Alien Hominid. What release could possibly trump 3 of the best games to hit the service so far?

Oh yeah. Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night. This classic from the 32bit era allows you to literally go medieval as you smash through giant bosses and explore the finer pits and dungeons of Romania.

Unlike your standard NES Castlevania where you took the role of one of the Belmont clan and brandished a whip, Symphony of the Night lets you use knives and stabbing weapons from the hand of Dracula’s own son, Alucard (which just happens to be “Dracula” spelled backwards!).

This is the biggest Live Arcade release yet, coming in at a whopping 96 MB, so make sure you’ve got your hard drive ready, this ain’t fitting on your 64MB memory card. All that space is of course taken up by the lovely English voice acting (“Die monster! You don’t belong in this world!”)

GameScore Blog Press Release

Ever since Symphony of the Night, the Castlevania series has taken a heavy inspiration from Nintendo’s Metroid, particularly the portable entries. Even though they are all cut from similar cloth, the exploration-heavy format manages to keep itself fresh throughout each entry. The first DS entry in the series is no different. Springing from the events in 2003’s Aria of Sorrow, the game stars Soma Cruz, who must take down a cult out to resurrect Dracula. Once again players make use of the soul stealing system, which allows them to gain new attacks by stealing them from enemies. After beating a boss, players must quickly draw a arcane symbol in order to seal its power. If this isn’t done in time, then players must battle the enemy again. While this mechanic seems added in as an afterthought, it’s a fairly decent application of the DS’s touch screen capabilities. By now Castlevania fans will have made their way through this game’s sequel, Portrait of Ruin, so this review is dedicated to newer Castlevania players. This game is another solid entry in a solid franchise, but I long for the day when the series brings back the level-based format of the previous games.