Cognition Dissemination: Castlevania DS Title Ports Are Not Impossible

Konami has been releasing retro collections featuring the older Castlevania games over the last few years. The first Castlevania Anniversary Collection featured games released on NES/Famicom, Game Boy, and one Super Nintendo title (Super Castlevania IV) and Sega Genesis title (Castlevania: Bloodlines) each. The positive reception through the solid emulation and inexpensive price led to Konami releasing the Castlevania Advance Collection, which included the three Metroidvania titles released for Game Boy Advance on modern platforms. Konami’s done plenty of, well, not-great stuff over the last several years, but the M2-produced collections were among their better moves.

Yet, it seems like they might stop there. It would be nice if the three Castlevania games released on the Nintendo DS were ported, all well-done entries at the very least. I’d put Dawn of Sorrow on par with Aria of Sorrow and Symphony of the Night as one of the best Metroidvania Castlevania (aka “IGAvania”) games. Portrait of Ruin isn’t quite on par with them, but remains a solid entry. Order of Ecclesia, the final IGAvania title, was nearly on par with the most superlative installments. But they’re impossible to port thanks to the DS’ dual-screened setup.

Except… that’s not true. It’s very possible to port both games. They would simply need more effort.

Dawn of Sorrow would need the most work of them all, thanks to the required touchscreen use. The DS’ stylus was used for the mundane task of breaking ice blocks, but most notably drawing seals to defeat bosses. Drawing seals was easy enough at the game’s start, but became extremely annoying as they increased in complication near its end. Failure to draw the seals would result in bosses regaining a bit of their health until they were drawn successfully, the difference between life and a Game Over for tougher bosses. It was not a well-liked mechanic, which is why mods exist to remove these features entirely.

Konami, with perhaps M2 as their development partner, could adjust those for a port. It should be easy enough to have the ice blocks be destroyed by melee and subweapons as they can be in the superlative Julius Mode, while the seals could be automatic.

The subsequent DS titles, the aforementioned Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia, didn’t depend on anywhere near as much touchscreen usage for their main modes. The Sisters Mode in PoR made extensive use of it, which would need readjustment. But it was only an extra mode. Few would complain if it couldn’t be done in a port, or if it was only reserved for the Switch and PC/Steam Deck versions. The same could apply to Albus’ teleporting in OoE’s Albus Mode. Having the maps perpetually available simultaneously with the game on the dual-screened platform was very convenient, but that could be adjusted through a toggle option.

The very thing that makes these unlikely is how the ports would take effort to adjust for TV play. Doing so would cost more resources and time for the development company (again, likely M2) to handle, which means Konami would have to pay more money for the job. Whether they can justify it will depend on how well the previous Castlevania collections sold. Just don’t let anyone say it’s impossible.

It would be exquisite if the DS titles were indeed ported. All three have been unavailable legally for several years now, but every single one is superlative enough to deserve a port to modern platforms. Sure, people like me could simply dig our DS’ out of storage and replay the titles, but it would be nicer to use the current platforms to play them. I’d be excited at the mere prospect of playing the games on the television, or having the option to seamlessly switch between console and handheld modes. They’re also playable through emulation, but an effort to port the DS titles would be one I’d like to support.

On the topic of ports: It would be even easier, and more obvious, for Konami to port the Castlevania Requiem collection around. The collection, which includes the localized version of the original Rondo of Blood and the relocalized version of Symphony of the Night, was only released on PlayStation 4 in 2018. It has yet to be released on anything else, presumably due to the original versions being released on PSP. But there has to be some way to release these games on other platforms, if there are any stipulations at all. On that note, a port of the Rondo of Blood remake originally released as part of the Dracula X Chronicles would be nice too, a version that’s remained stuck on PSP for 16 years.

The Castlevania Port Possibility Well (sorry, that’s the best I could do now) has far from dried, and I didn’t even get into ports of the 3D games, even if their quality was iffier. The point here is that ports of the DS Castlevania games are not impossible as some communities like to make them out to be ostensibly. They simply would be more challenging than those before them, leaving the question regarding whether Konami will attempt to have them ported. At least other options exist if they never pursue them.