Vs. Castlevania Emerges From The Lost Catacombs
Hamster Co. has been doing great work converting both classic and obscure arcade titles to the Nintendo Switch. More recently they’ve been resurrecting Nintendo’s little-known “Vs” series of arcade cabinets. Between the days of direct arcade involvement (Donkey Kong, Punch-Out) and passive bone-throwing (Playchoice 10, Super System) we got a hybrid of sorts where the company would release “arcade” versions of upcoming NES games to test them in the market.
These games weren’t the same as their home console counterparts…they often had adjustments to make them more “arcadey,” or sometimes new graphics or levels. The Vs. series hasn’t been seen since the arcade glory days, and they’ve never been officially released for consumer purchase before now.
Today, Hamster presents Vs. Castlevania — a game that, despite its title, has no two-player mode. Where it differs from the NES Castlevania is in challenge….Vs. Castlevania is a lot more difficult, in an effort to part kids from their quarters. The time limit per stage is shorter. Enemies can take you out in fewer hits. Extra lives are much harder to find. Some people dig super-hard games, and some don’t….if you want a really tough version of Simon Belmont’s original quest, here it is.
Vs. Castlevania is available now on the Switch eShop, for $7.99. The game is also out for Playstation 4.