Castlevania: The Bloodletting

From Sega Retro

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Castlevania: The Bloodletting
System(s): Sega 32X, Sega Saturn
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Planned release date(s):

Sega 32X
Spring 1995[1]

Sega Saturn
1995-11[2], 1996, 1997

Genre: Action
Number of players: 1

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Castlevania: The Bloodletting for the Sega 32X and Sega Saturn is an unreleased entry in the Castlevania (Akumajou Dracula in Japan) series of games by Konami.

History

One of the earliest announcements of the game was page 40 of the December 1994 issue of Game Players magazine which lists "Castlevania" for 32X as fairly definite for US release[3]. Production on the game began after the success of Tokimeki Memorial, which was released in 1994 and had Koji Igarashi as a developer. Due to the success of Tokimeki Memorial, Koji Igarashi was given the right to work on any game he chose, of which he chose Castlevania.

Little is known about the 32X Castlevania, only that it would have taken place chronologically some point after Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (Castlevania: Rondo of Blood) and would have starred Richter Belmont, Maria Renard and an unknown "rival" character.

Only three sprites from the 32X game have been released to the public; each a pose for the three aforementioned characters. Richter's sprite would be re-worked and recycled in Symphony of the Night, while the rival sprite is based on Richter's appearance in Rondo of Blood.

Originally set for release in 1996 and possibly even 1997, it was quietly cancelled and a PlayStation/Sega Saturn version was announced instead.

The game was ultimately reworked into Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The PlayStation version was developed by KCET and released, and another team (KCEN) was assigned to work on the "enhanced" Saturn port some time after the PlayStation games release.

Some of the development team are known to have moved to the project after the release of Tokimeki Memorial for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² (released May 1994). Following the game's cancellation, good chunks of the team were put on the Symphony of the Night project, which eventually debuted in March 1997.

Info from Konami CES 1995 brochure poster (regarding Saturn version)

  • An all-new adventure capturing the spirit & gameplay from the classic series.
  • New techniques: magic demons & new items.
  • Blood-chilling suspense combines with Alias & SoftImage rendered 3D characters.

Magazine articles

Main article: Castlevania: The Bloodletting/Magazine articles.

Gallery

References



John Morris sprite Castlevania games for Sega systems
Sega Mega Drive
Castlevania: Bloodlines (1994) | Super Castlevania IV‎ (unreleased)
Sega 32X
Castlevania: The Bloodletting (unreleased)
Sega Saturn
Akumajou Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku (1998) | Castlevania: The Bloodletting (unreleased)
Sega Dreamcast
Castlevania Resurrection (unreleased)