Castlevania Collections Bundle

Genre: Compilation / Action-Platformer / Metroidvania

Players: 1

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Review:

Castlevania Collections Bundle, released in 2024 on Nintendo Switch, is a Compilation containing every Castlevania game released on Nintendo Switch thus far, collected in three Compilations previously released separately.

I have separately reviewed these games. Here is what I thought of all of the games in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
Castlevania Anniversary Collection	Compilation / Action-Platformer	1	A-
tl;dr Castlevania Anniversary Collection is a collection of Action-Platformers that includes eight of the great games from early in the series (well, six great games plus two crappy Game Boy games). This collection gives players a wealth of options and bonus content, and is… actually pretty ideal for a collection of some of the best Action-Platformers ever made. This title is a must for fans of the genre.
Castlevania Advance Collection	Compilation / Metroidvania / Action-Platformer	1	A
tl;dr Castlevania Advance Collection is a Compilation of Castlevania: Dracula X, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. While Dracula X and Harmony both have their flaws, they’re both still solid games well worth playing. However, Circle and especially Aria are absolutely fantastic Metroidvania games that are must-play entries in the genre. Add to all of that a wealth of extra content and options and a wonderful $20 price tag, and you have a collection that is a must-buy for both Castlevania fans and Metroidvania-lovers.
Castlevania Dominus Collection	Compilation / Metroidvania / Action-Platformer	1	A-
tl;dr Castlevania Dominus Collection is a Compilation containing three Metroidvania-style games in the Castlevania series from Nintendo DS, along with the arcade Action-Platformer Haunted Castle and a brand new remake of that game, Haunted Castle Revisited. The original Haunted Castle is clunky and dated, but everything else here ranges from good to outstanding, with Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow being one of the best games in the franchise. This collection does a good job with the dual-screen and touchscreen elements of the original games, and adds a bunch of features and bonus content, overall making for a great package that’s a must-have for any fans of Metroidvania games and the Castlevania series specifically.

In short, wow there is so much great Action-Platformer and Metroidvania action in this bundle. Overall, I do think Castlevania Advance Collection edges out the other two bundles in terms of consistent quality, but there aren’t really any weak links in this chain. In fact, in this collection of seventeen games, the only stinkers are Castlevania Anniversary Collection’s two Game Boy games, and Castlevania Dominus Collection’s original version of the Arcade game Haunted Castle. That leaves a whopping fourteen games here that are well worth playing.

Those games include every Castlevania game (and spin-off) released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS, plus the two aforementioned Game Boy Games and one Arcade game, as well as a much-improved remixed version of that Arcade game. For fans of Metroidvanias, you have the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS games, and for fans of more traditional Action-Platformers you have everything else.

If we wanted to nitpick, there are still some major releases in the series that are missing in these bundles. The big one is, of course, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but we’re also missing the beloved Castlevania Dracula X, the excellent PlayStation 2 games, the divisive cult classic Nintendo 64 games, and the solid Castlevania: Lords of Shadow series, just to name a few. However, while this massive compilation may not be comprehensive, it is nevertheless still massive, and absolutely filled with great games. It’s hard to complain too much here.

That brings us to the question of value, and at $58 this bundle will save you $7 off the price of buying the games separately. However, you’ll want to be mindful of sales, as two of the three included bundles regularly drop in price drastically enough that it may be better to buy these games separately on sale. This bundle, meanwhile, has not yet gone on sale, so it’s hard to draw a comparison there.

With this being the case, all I can say is that Castlevania Collections Bundle is an absolutely massive collection of amazing games that is absolutely worth getting. And while you’ll still need to compare the price of this collection to the sale prices of the three included collections to decide the best deal for you, I still highly recommend you get these Castlevania games one way or another.

tl;dr – Castlevania Collections Bundle includes three bundles of Castlevania Action-Platformers: Castlevania Anniversary Collection, Castlevania Advance Collection, and Castlevania Dominus Collection, collectively containing seventeen Action-Platformers and Metroidvania games. The overall level of quality here is extremely high, with very few stinkers, and overall this bundle represents an absolutely massive amount of great gameplay. However, definitely compare the price in this bundle to the sale prices of the individual Collections contained within, as you might get a better deal getting the individual games, depending on the current sale.

Grade: A-

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