*Past Updates*
**************
12/7/12- We begin to wrap up yet another year at Mr. P's Castlevania Realm with tidings and a yearning for 2013, which brings promise of new, evocative Castlevania experiences--particularly two new entries in the 
series of legend. I say this, of course, as the perfect cover to distract you from the lack of content you're about to "experience" below.

So what've we got? Contributors to the rescue!

- There's a new Castleography entry in Other Similarities for Wygol Village (Order of Ecclesia) and The Lost Village (Dawn of Sorrow), which, as Fernando F. shows us, are very convincingly one and the same.
- Artist The Demon Guest is back with two new sketches.
- The "High Score" section now includes Boss Rush times, born from the efforts of Bernandes, who provides times for Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness.
- New to the "Hacks" section of Homebrew is Zappsoft's "Castlevania Character Hacks," which currently alters Simon's form to his Simon's Quest skin and will in the future offer additional transformations.
- Character-model creator Mark returns with a special set for "The Frankenstein's Monster & Hunchbacked Man" from Castlevania. Dig the shine.
- The homebrew title Castlevania: Horror of Dracula has been updated a final time; changes include new Simon sprites plus more-difficult bosses.
- Though it should have been there already, I finally added the "Key" to the sub-weapon section and into the proper category on the game pages (where before I had it listed as merely an "item"); in following, I 
added a description for the Key to the Item Crash page.
- Stoneheart pumps up his Final Fantasy - Operation: Demon Castle Dracula album with four new tracks.
- The previously mentioned Demon Guest also sent in some official art: Three pieces for Aria of Sorrow, two for The Dracula X Chronicles, and one for Lament of Innocence. New pieces are of course always listed last.

I should mention that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate now has a solid release date (March 5th, 2013) and a pre-order bonus available from GameStop, which you can read about here. As is the case with the 
other Lords of Shadows titles: I'll decide how it fits into the site's layout (in terms of storyline, weapon listings, character bios, and such) after the trilogy has been completed.

In the meantime, everyone enjoy your holiday of choice!

8/28/12- I've been making some tweaks to the site, which you might have noticed, in an effort to manufacture a somewhat-different feel after more than a decade of this place looking the same. For everyone's 
convenience, here's a list of what's been altered:

- All hub pages for the "The Cast" (Dracula, Heroes, The Bosses, and Lesser Enemies) have been spruced up a bit with imagery. Their sub-pages, like recurring bosses, have seen the same treatment.
- The imagery for the "Games"-section hub has been blown up to accommodate larger logos and "preview scans." All of the game pages, themselves, have been updated to include developer/publisher information (inspired 
by the work of Anonymous!), expanded release/re-release information, and more facts in general. The "Weapons / Items" listings, for instance, now have direct links to relevant pages in the Weapons section.
- The Stages, Reviews and Codes hubs have, like all other sections, expanded tables, which forces a new look in terms of the game-selector GIFs.
- As part of my Operation: No Red Text campaign, I've greenified all text in the Castleography section (as well as everywhere else site-wide--at least those I remember). If pages with red text still exist, the 
problem will be remedied just as soon as a stumble upon them. I've also increased the font size on the text for the "Castle Keep" and "Other Similarities" pages.
- The selection trays for in the Multimedia section now have larger text and no visible table borders, which hopefully makes them easier to sort through. The contents of the MP3 "Fan Remixes" subsection has been 
broken up into individual pages, since it was otherwise becoming cluttered.
- The Links page has seen the expected expansion, and I've cleaned out the dead links plus updated existing links for redirected sites. If your site was deleted, it means I couldn't find your new URL (if you 
haven't shut down completely), so you might want to resubmit with updated information.
- The largest change I've made: I've redesigned the individual pages of the Weapons section. The "Sub-Weapons" and "Magical Items" pages feature a new look, their separate categories broken into individual 
pages, and the "Striking Weapons" page has seen a pretty big overhaul, with a new design, more-concentrated information, rewritten descriptions, and accompanying images for all weapons.
- The general section logos (like the one atop this page that displays "Mr. P's Realm") have been enhanced as have other such graphics site-wide.
- And, of course, I've changed the site's background image to a more-colorful version of the previously existing black-and-gray job. I might darken the image a bit depending upon feedback for how it affects 
viewing of the text; you can let me know about your experience via e-mail or through the message board.

As for other site happenings:

- I've added a page for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate. There's not much beyond logos and general information, but I did scan in its Nintendo Power cover, which can be seen under "Media." Since 
the game has been delayed till next year, it'll be a while before the page sees a significant update.
- After a long while, I've finally added a new poll. The topic for these next few months is "What is the series' best portable game?"
- I've added more video endings for games.
- The first part of the fan fiction Darkness Never Dies has grown by a few chapters.
- The cameo-page-inhabiting Orecabattle now features updated information plus new images.
- Sr. Lan Belmont has provided some new art pieces.
- For the first time in ten years, there's been an addition to the MIDI page. Composer Bernades has submitted a tune for Lament of Innocence.
- Stoneheart's MP3 collection now includes a new remix and a new album.
- As a yearly request, I'm still looking for FAQs and walkthroughs from anyone who would like to contribute them (since the site currently features next to none) plus Youtube video endings (or any other types 
of files that can be embedded) for the games the are lacking their inclusion.

For the near future, I'll continue to be making cosmetic changes and expanding information where I can. You can help in the effort by letting me know about pages that feature unreadable red text, dead links, 
typos, and such. As a helpful tip for those who find the games pages to be too cramped: Remember that you can right-click on a link and have its associated page open it in a whole new window rather than having 
it confined to a small frame. This issue will be addressed in the inevitable table-based redesign, which will require much-more-updated tools than the ones I use now. That could be a year from now or maybe 
three-plus years, but I at least have something in mind.

7/26/12- So E3 has been in the books for several weeks now, and we're pretty much in the same spot: We knew that the boys from Mercury Steam had a 3DS title lined up and that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, 
the trilogy's capper, was an inevitability. There's no Koji Igarashi in site and no clear lead on where the series goes from here. The future has never been more unclear.

But let's not fall into the pit of doom and gloom. Let's for a moment talk about beginnings: That is, we here at Mr. P's Castlevania Realm are happy to announce our first (and only!) hosted site: Please help 
us make it a warm welcome for A Metroidvania Website, created by the splendiferous Anonymous, with whom readers of these updates should be familiar. A Metroidvania Website is an extension of the 
Metroidvania-themed articles you've read in our Essays section and a study on the beloved genre partially made popular by the modern Castlevania titles. While the site's design is mine, the content therein is 
all attributed to Anonymous (or "Anon," as those in "the biz" refer to him). Bear in mind that the site is still under construction and will continue to take form right before your eyes. Think of it like 
the Death Star in Return of the Jedi: While it may look incomplete, it's highly functional and ready to blow you away.

And then there was relief as I made a long-time-coming site update: I always felt bad about not including the Kid Dracula games on my games list, instead assigning them for duty on the cameos page. The 
problem, back then, is that I didn't have any real interest in covering the non-canon games. This has since been remedied with the addition of a "Spin-off" category, which includes the likes of Judgment and 
the Japan-only arcade titles. This change left the underappreciated Kid Dracula games out of place on a "cameos" page, from which they've finally been rescued. Long story short: Both the Famicom and Game Boy 
versions of Kid Dracula are now present in the games section, with the usual information, enemy lists, stage listings, and other accoutrements. I'll leave its entry in the cameos section, albeit altered a 
bit, for the preservation of the written material.

Now on to other business:

- While most of us were sleeping, Konami (and not Koji and his gang of bandits) sneaked in another entry in the Pachi-Slot spin-off series. It's this time Pachi-Slot: Akumajou Dracula III, for which I have 
some information.
- There's a new cameo entry for Orecabattle, which is another of Konami's Japan-exclusive arcade games and not surprisingly includes Castlevania elements.
- After a long absence, Sr. Lan Belmont returns with a new remix of Black Knight.
- The new-and-improved Part 1 of Darkness Never Dies is a few chapters richer.
- Stoneheart's collection of tunes grows larger thanks to more album entries and general remixes.
- Justin MK provides a new custom banner for my site.
- Aya79 continues to run away with the competition as his Castlevania collection continues to balloon.
- Newcomer The Demon Guest shares with us two pieces of artwork.
- In regard to the slight redesign seen on this page: I did away with the "To-Do List," since most of the stuff there had already come to fruition; it's been replaced by the "News Wire" link, which before 
might have been easy to miss.

6/3/12- It is said that every 180 days, the forces of complacency and apathy converge and call forth the awakening of a three-lettered rascal who will thwart their unholy convergence and bring balance to the 
grayish, messy void . Or, maybe, the idiot who runs this place didn't realize how long he's gone without an update. Hi!

So here we stand on the eve of E3, where we'll likely see the true unveiling of not one but two new Castlevania titles from the Lords of Shadow continuity. First discovered was Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - 
Mirror of Fate (not Faith, as reported on my newswire); this 3DS-exclusive title follows the side-scrolling blueprint of the IGAvania titles previously seen on portable devices but now in 2.5D! Also confirmed 
via trailer was the expected Lords of Shadow 2, which shows quite an interesting transformation for our hero Gabriel Belmont, who now faces a host of new challenges. Though the trailer's content was mostly 
ambiguous, the next few days will hopefully bring a slew of new, pertinent information--enough so for me to do some "New Game" write-ups.

As for what's been going on over the last six months (in order of submission/completion):

- I've added Otomedius Excellent to the "Borrowed Elements" page of the cameos section.
- Berit Jurda's art collection has seen a pretty huge boost, with an extra page and dozens of finely crafted art pieces.
- Pop'n Music Portable 2 has been added to the "References" page of the cameos section.
- Also added to the "References" pages is Rock of Ages, a downloadable title that takes some time to pay respect to our fine series.
- Musician Stoneheart continues his album, The Ainaveltsac Medley, with several new mixes.
- The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies has seen a change in format (including a title change to its "Part 1" and rewritten chapters); too, his work on Castlevania Legends continues.
- Reader Grant S. provides the complete translation of the "extra page" for PS1 Books version of Symphony of the Night.
- A new challenger named Wis approaches and vies for placement on Castlevania's high-score list.
- In honor of the series 25th anniversary, Justin Gildow has provided a large collection of poems to drive up his previous selection to an even 100. You can see them here or access them through the Castlevania 
25th Anniversary page.
- After a long absence from the site, sculpture Mark has returned with a new work--a three-piece set dedicated to the seductive Succubus.

I'll hopefully be back before early July to make listing of all the E3 fallout and whatever personal updates/contributions appeared since then. Truly the series now having a second, self-contained continuity 
is going to provide me new challenges, and placing all such games on a "Tales of Gaiden" timeline isn't going to cut it; more redesigning of several site sections will be necessary. Whatever the case, the next 
six months should be very interesting. So stay tuned and remember to party all the time.

12/18/11- Though it's by now probably obvious to any longtime visitor, I've finally given the site's front page a new look--an extension of the castle theme that was already present as index for "The Cast." 
It's still a little rough (I'm not fully happy with how certain elements turned out, like for instance the current look of the Symphony chapel towers that serve as the castle top's filler), but it'll be 
tweaked over time to hopefully match the original vision. In the short term, I'll add some more animation, like the figure of Simon Belmont that approaches the castle when you point your cursor at the main 
halls. The decade-old home page, if you for some reason hold nostalgia for it, can still be accessed from the site's index, which has also been tweaked a bit with some new graphics and better organization. 
Since the page is wholly image focused, the notification of when the site was last updated will now be found in your browser's title bar whenever you visit the front page (the blue bar atop the browser will 
read "Mr. P's Castlevania Realm - Last Updated: [Whenever])."

As started last month, I've completed all of the old game pages' transformation over to the new design. To make it more than cosmetic, I've added more imagery for "Japanese/European Differences" and filled 
out the pages' weapon/item lists with unique images/animations in place of the previous condensed listings (which had, say, a single-color money bag representing all of their kind rather than actual point-
totals). Check Castlevania, Symphony of the Night, and all the rest to see for yourself.

I have to cite one unpleasant experience: While collecting the necessary screenshots for Castlevania: Bloodlines, I had the sudden urge to give full play to its European version, with which I previously had 
limited interaction. I was horrified at how butchered the game truly is (and I don't know how you guys in Europe put up with it) compared to the information I had on display, which was poorly presented and 
sadly incomplete. I'm happy (sad?) to have remedied the situation, which you can assess by checking out its "General Info."

If you haven't yet familiarized yourself with the new game-page design, remember that the three arrows seen atop each page aren't mere decoration and serve a clear purpose--the left and right arrows allowing 
you to navigate the games section in order of chronological release, and the down arrow opening up more space in the right frame.

Other pages with updated looks include the multimedia section's index, whose icons are now larger and more colorful, and the CV Library, which now includes word links for those Firefox users whose browsers 
won't display alt-tags.

As for the rest:
- Unsatisfied with merely replacing "select" character images (mainly the heroes and enemies) from Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness, as mentioned last update, I've done the full job and included 
the respective supporting casts; that is, I could no longer stand what were terrible captures. You can check them out here and here.
- Artist RonNYCity, not pleased with the big fat nothing Konami has offered for the series' 25th anniversary, has created a special "Castlevania 25th Anniversary" logo that you can view on, of course, at 
the 25th Anniversary special. It can also be viewed on the user's art page.

Starting around Friday, I'll be taking a short break until the new year (which would be a better time to contribute material, since I won't be home until then). I'll then resume the redesigning of certain 
pages, the mission ever-continuing, as we await news about and activity for our favorite series.

I don't have any gifts to dole or holiday speeches to give, so instead have a look at this "Mechanical Walkthrough" for Simon's Quest I never finished. Orphan files get lonely when they go unlinked for ten 
years.

11/15/11- I've been recently making a lot of changes to the site, little by little trying to improve the look and navigability of it. Here's what's been going on:

- I'm trying out a new design for the Game pages--this to better organize the material combined with a design aesthetic I've been looking to squeeze in somewhere (mainly Dracula viewed in the background, 
his cape blowing in the wind). The change has already been made for Castlevania and Vampire Killer. The other 20-plus games will of course follow, but not all at once, since it takes a lot of work to redo 
these pages; one or two a week is more likely, depending upon how boring a given Sunday is. If there are any broken links or unexplained glitches, contact me with whatever feedback you have.
- I've reworked the Boss section as to give each boss its own page. The main listing has atop each page a large "boss selector" (which may be a little large, since I didn't realize there were that many 
bosses), which will do for now but may be changed later to a "framed" presentation. As of a result of this change, the "Next Generation" subsection is gone, since there's no longer any reason to keep them 
separated.
- Likewise, I've removed the "Next Generation" subsection from the Lesser Enemies section, instead placing all such baddies on the normal listing. I had the 2D and 3D enemies separate due to my dislike of 
how sprites and ugly 3D cutouts looked when placed together, but another site happening made the recombination more natural. That is...
- Thanks to a little friend called PCSX2, I was able to go back in to the PS2 games and recapture select character images--the images now cleaner and much more representative. Pages where this is apparent: 
Lament of Innocence heroes (right-click and "View Image" to see the full form), bosses, and lesser enemies; and Curse of Darkness heroes (Hector and Trevor), Dracula forms, bosses, and lesser enemies. 
Additionally, all of the PNG-character files now have transparent backgrounds, meaning they no longer have to be stuffed into tables to hide their nature.
- Bravenet decided that I no longer needed a guestbook, since, I guess, I hadn't logged into their site in many months; as such, all of the old messages are gone. So I created a new guestbook, from where 
you can post your thoughts on the site. Note: I hadn't checked the old guestbook since the end of August, so I'm unaware of any messages that were posted since then; if you had used that space to ask me a 
question and never got a reply, please post it again, in the new guestbook, and I'll be sure to respond. Otherwise, the poll page is gone, and I never got to tally the results of the last poll ("How should 
Konami go about continuing the storyline?"), nor do I remember the answers I provided. I'll probably drop this feature, since it doesn't draw much interest.

After finishing the redesign for all of the game pages, I'll probably be looking to create a new front-page design, as the current one is a mess. As for the rest of the updates:

- Zappsoft has provided the series-related music tracks for Wai Wai World and Wai Wai World 2, and a completed soundtrack for Harmony of Despair.
- The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies has yet again grown chapters richer; its author, The Crossman, has also prepared a new short story titled Castlevania Sorrow: End Game.
- Berit Jurda's art page is home to a whole host of new sketches.
- The enemies Werewolf and Harpy now have respective recurrence pages/blocks, due to my combining of the 2D and 3D character lists.
- Though without accompanying images, I've set up boss and Dracula form pages for the cast of Castlevania: The Arcade. Its bosses have also been added to the expected form pages: Death, Bone Dragon King, 
Dullahan, Minotaur, Water Dragon, Werewolf and Harpy.
- Stoneheart's has upped his musical portfolio with some now mixes.
- Nick "Bonkers" Perry was kind enough to let my site play host to Vampire Variations--a 19-track album created to pay tribute to the Castlevania series and its 25th anniversary. Check the link to find 
out more information on the project.

For now, I'm beat. Catch you next month (I hope)! 

10/9/11- Before listing the contents of this long-overdue update, I'd like to mention that the Ocean City Trinity--a video-game marathon team--will be running a 48-hour-plus Castlevania-themed marathon 
on October 14th. The group will be playing 12 specially chosen games (and more if time demands) in the name of collecting donations for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. You can find out more about the 
show at the Ocean City Trinity website. If you'd like to watch the stream from this site, for whatever reason (if, say, you consider left-clicking a mouse button more than two times to be too much work), 
you can visit this page on the day of the event.

And now for the updates, which I'll list in order of submission:

- Sr. Lan Belmont has kept busy with the creation of new MP3 arrangements/remixes and artwork.
- Optomon's selection of homebrew-related MP3s has been reorganized and updated with rips from another of his games.
- D-Boy's art page has more in the way of digi-art.
- Zappsoft has re-remastered the soundtracks for Castlevania: The Adventure, Belmont's Revenge, Legends, and Castlevania: Dracula X.
- Model-creator Mark has some new specimen, the Wall Widow, to share. Too, Mark makes his CV Library debut with the fan fiction Just Another Day at Hammer's Shop. And his animated sprites page is 
infested by two new baddies.
- Both parts of The Crossman's fan fiction Darkness Never Dies are several chapters richer.
- New fierce collector Frank Belmont shows off his wares.
- RadarRaider supplies rare artwork and phonecards for Simon's Quest, Aria of Sorrow and Curse of Darkness.
- Super Castlevania IV's "Japanese Differences" has been updated with information for the games' title-screen differences. Also, Dracula's Curse's "Japanese Differences" have been neatly arranged and 
list an additional difference in terms casket-related bosses.
- The "Castlevania Comes to GameTap" press page has been updated, quite belatedly, with information pertaining to the games' permanent removal from the service.
- There's a bit of new information on the Supervision release of Castlevania, thanks to Sallong Sword.
- Thanks to the same contributor, I've begun adding sprites and screenshots to the Dracula X Chronicles game page plus its listings.
- Berit Jurda digs into the archives to bring us more of his variously styled artwork.
- Guinness record-holder Ricardo Granda has some fun with Order of Ecclesia.
- Stoneheart joins the fan-remix party with some DJ-style arrangements and Stereo Mixes.
- The Crossman presents a new short story in the form of fan fiction Fate of the Dracul.
- The "Castlevania 20th Anniversary" page becomes the "Castlevania 25th Anniversary" page, where we can continue to celebrate the series with the odd tribute piece. Newly present is the Death Got PHAT 
show's Simon Belmont tribute.

While I admit that there's not much in terms of personal site updates, I'm hoping that the series' 25th anniversary will bring about news that might breathe new life into this site--be it the 
announcement of a game or word of any planned celebration (assuming Konami still cares about the pre-Lords of Shadow era of games). May the next update be a matter of weeks rather than months.

5/15/11- It's been a bit busy around here lately, so I warn that this update is a giant cluster of mostly unrelated happenings. So once again, here's a giant listing of submissions and general site 
events:

- I've begun the major updates for Lords of Shadow, which includes basic information, character lists, and its story (filed under "Tales of Gaiden"). I'll be focusing on adding character profiles in 
the early going.
- I've written up a review for Castlevania: Order of Shadows.
- Kev has updated his "Castlevania Enemy Origins" project to include Lords of Shadow's cast.
- An anonymous sender has provided scans for Santa Lilio Sangre ~Akai Yuri~ Ayami Kojima Art Works--a production from the former series artist whose newest art book features some related artwork.
JPCVFAN also contributes to this effort.
- There are new promotional phonecard scans for Chronicles, Harmony of Dissonance, and Curse of Darkness (check under "Scenes, Packaging Scans...")
- Solar Boy returns with translations for Castlevania: The Arcade and Castlevania: The Medal.
- D-Boy's art collection is a few pieces richer.
- The Crossman's fan fiction Darkness Never Dies continues.
- JPCVFAN checks in with some high-quality scans: A Pachi-Slot II store pamphlet, Harmony of Despair's soundtrack, Pachi-Slot II's soundtrack, Pachi-Slot II official artwork, the soundtracks Akumajou 
Dracula Tribute Vol. 1 and Akumajou Dracula Tribute Vol. 2, Castlevania: The Arcade official art plus a bonus item, and Harmony of Despair official art and official comic strips.
- JPCVFAN also helps in providing information for a series cameo in the Japanese version of Scribblenauts.
- Greg MorningStar shares some scans for the Official Nintendo Player's Guide and the NES Game Atlas, both of which cover the NES Castlevania games.
- Christopher M. contributes some "Unused Elements" (Castlevania, Simon's Quest, Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania: Dracula X, Symphony of the Night, Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow) and a 
glitch for Castlevania. There's information on debug menus and such for those interested.
- Castlevania Fighter, based off the popular M.U.G.E.N. engine, has joined the ranks of homebrew games.
- The prolific collector Aya79 continues to pad his lead with more games and items.
- Frank Belmont joins in the fun with his collection of goodies.

If you've noticed, I've made two changes to the whole of the website: First, I've edited all game names to match their proper titles (Super Castlevania "IV," for example), where I'd previously been 
using numbers in place of Roman numerals or some type of shorthand (like "Castlevania Adventure" for Castlevania the Adventure. Too, I've changed all instances of "Akumajo Dracula" to the more 
accepted "Akumajou Dracula." These are just things that have been bugging me for years. Though, for purpose of alleviating confusion, I'll be keeping tags like "64" and "X68000," which help 
differentiate similarly titled games.

I remind everyone that upcoming is E3 (scheduled for June 7th), which usually implicates Castlevania in some form. Will Koji return with a traditional series title for Nintendo's new 3DS? Will 
Kojima and pals return for a sequel to Lords of Shadow? What other new game systems or prolific platforms are worthy of our fine series? We'll find out in a mere three weeks.

3/1/11- Welcome to year number 12 in the existence of my ever-bloated Castlevania Realm (time hasn't been kind to this boy). It's true that things remain slow as we continue to tread forward in 
a period where my access to the series is limited, but the contributions of the wild bunch never cease. Here's what's been appearing, in order of submission, since that last update so many eons ago:

- Though it turned out to be an aborted effort, there are some enemy sprites for Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth. When the means for producing higher-quality sprites become available, these 
lists will be completed.
- Sr. Lan Belmont's MP3 selection has grown a tune richer.
- There are few new Harmony of Dissonance Fun Facts, including transparency manipulation, a man-eating glitch, and Alucard's (possible) favorite resting place.
- The Zappsoft Empire has provided the soundtrack for Lords of Shadow.
- Download information for Stranger's Requiem, the sequel to the professionally made Scarlet Symphony, has been added to the Homebrew section.
- There are two new Fun Facts for Portrait of Ruin. Those interested in torturing zombies and trashing delis will find enjoyment.
- Zappsoft has remade the soundtracks for Vampire Killer, Super Castlevania IV and Symphony of the Night (whose track listing has been combined with its Saturn cousin's); the songs are generally 
longer and of higher quality.
- D-Boy's art collection now features some specially made "Digi-Art."
- Zappsoft strikes again to put a finishing touch on Order of Ecclesia's soundtrack, which now features the "CD tunes" that replace the game's area themes with classic NES music.
- Solar Boy contributes a translation file for the Master Librarian "hints" as seen in the Japanese manual for the "The Best" release of Gekka no Yasoukyoku plus translated Japanese-manual 
stories for Akumajou Dracula X68000, Castlevania: Dracula X, Legends, Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the Night, Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, 
Aria of Sorrow, Lament of Innocence, Dawn of Sorrow, Curse of Darkness, Portrait of Ruin, Order of Ecclesia, Castlevania Judgment, Adventure Rebirth and Lords of Shadow.
- RadarRaider pops in at the last minute with a "Rare Sticker" for the Japanese version of Castlevania Chronicles.

Maybe if I get on the ball, I'll whip up some painfully long reviews for Order of Shadows and Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth. Tune in next time to discover whether the preceding threat was 
real or if this filler text was just an illusion.

11/21/10- Did I die? Did I stop caring about the series? Is the Video Game Museum closing down? Why in my dreams are vacation destinations just giant-sized versions of my old houses? These are 
the topics being discussed on message boards Internet-wide. The truth is that I just simply don't want to force updates where the amount of content is clearly lacking, which would explain the 
near-three-month absence. Yeah--that's it.

So Lords of Shadow has been out for more than a month now, and people seem to be enjoying it on different levels. Is it what the series needed? Does it present a viable new direction for the 
stagnating Castlevania brand? That remains to be seen. I couldn't form my own opinion, since I don't plan on playing it anytime soon due to time and budgetary constraints; however, I will in 
the future be working with site contributors to supply material where I can (which is admittedly difficult in some areas, like "Stages" and "Castleography," since it's hard to establish a 
context without playing the game). For now, I'll stick to improving/updating the site in other areas.

There's no real theme to this month's updates, as the content is random, so I'll try a slightly different format in place of the usual numbered list:

- Contributor Kev starts the ball rolling with scans for Lords of Shadow's European casing and manual (X-Box 360 version).
- I have two new "Fun Facts" for Aria of Sorrow. One examines its save rooms while the other links it directly to Harmony of Dissonance.
- Sr. Lan Belmont returns with more MP3s and an art piece.
- Bleeding Plague's "Fierce Collection" has been bolstered a bit.
- Quite interesting is the Super Achievement by Rikardo Grando, whose dedication to the Castlevania series has earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
- Crystal Moon has cooked up a new fan remix of Wicked Child.
- I've added a new "Custom Wallpaper" subsection to "Artwork," a category of which is "Smart Phone Wallpaper."
- From Zappsoft comes the "Sound Effects" track for Oretachi Game Center Zoku - Akumajou Dracula, which represents Haunted Castle's soundtrack.
- Berit Jurda has a batch of new artwork for his page.
- Aya79 continues to pile on the goods as he bolsters his world-leading Fierce Collection.
- Newcomer Jamil Jam the Man joins the custom-sprite-creating party.
- Mirror Wave provides an image for Heart Refresh sprite on Symphony's weapon page.
- Top-modeler Mark has a new set of Harmony of Dissonance-related works waiting for us in a new subsection on his "Models" art page.

And now we head toward the holidays and year number 12 of this now-ancient website. What surprises await us in the new year? On what system will the series appear next? Who's going to be 
making the games? The way things move in Konami Land, the answers we seek are never elusive. Until then, have fun, stay safe, and, above all else, make sure to keep on doing the Puppet Dance.

8/30/10- As the Castlevania series explodes all over the video-game world, I find myself with little in the way of content for the recently (or soon-to-be) released titles. Being enjoyed at 
the moment is Harmony of Despair, for which I have some basic information, enemy lists (including minor enemies, bosses and Dracula forms), and the official soundtrack, courtesy of MrAndrew. 
Help me bolster its game page, and those for titles like Castlevania: The Arcade and Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night, by contributing to the official information threads on my message 
board.

Otherwise, consider this music month for Mr. P's Castlevania Realm. Joining the Harmony of Despair's are the official soundtracks for Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night, Pachi-Slot: 
Akumajou Dracula 2, and the Amiga version of Castlevania. New entries to the "Special Soundtracks" section include Akumajou Dracula MIDI Collection and Dracula Music Collection; additionally, 
Dracula X Remixes and MIDI Power Pro Vol. 6 have been moved here. Joining the "Fan Remixes" section are the soundtracks for the original and 3D versions of the homebrew creation Castlevania 
Quest. Sr. Lan Belmont chips in with a few new remixes/arrangements. And there are some miscellaneous music tracks: A special tune for Akumajou Dracula Best Music Collections Box and the 
death jingles for Adventure and Legends.

There are some other goodies: Phil H. Smith provides a "Password Generator" for Simon's Quest (found on its game page, also, down near "Text Documents and Help Files"). A "Fun Fact" for Order 
of Ecclesia credited to Amar Youkai.

6/27/10- As expected, the month of June, and especially E3, was a very newsworthy time for our favorite series. There was much news on Lords of Shadow, including a new trailer (and I'll 
have more on the game when Konami provides screenshots that aren't captures of cut-scenes from the trailers). Harmony of Despair and Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night were officially 
revealed, and I've got some quick previews of both. And just recently announced was Pachi-Slot: Akumajou Dracula 2, sequel to last year's Japan-only arcade title; its game page and the news 
wire are home to information regarding the game.

Site-specific updates: All of the Order of Shadows character sprites have been replaced by those from the high-res version of the game (as seen here). Zappsoft has provided the soundtrack 
for Dracula New Classic. MrAndrew chips in with two unused Adventure Rebirth tracks. We've got a new "Fun Fact" for Harmony of Dissonance that highlights overlooked Skeleton Cave cameos. 
And there's a new cameo entry for "Borrowed Elements"--the upcoming Otomedius Excellent; for now, there's only an official art piece.

As for multimedia: Sr. Lan Belmont is back with more MP3 goodness. Mark's got some tasty new character models as well as some animated sprites. The Crossman has updated two of his 
fan-fiction titles: Darkness Never Dies and Castlevania Legends. Aya79 adds to his chart-topping collection. And Berit Jurda brings some new hotness to his art collection.

As I've stated in previous updates, there's a good chance I'll be unable to adequately cover all non-portable Castlevania titles (including all those mentioned in the update's first 
paragraph) as they become available, because I don't possess the means necessary. So I'm going to need some help. What I propose to do is create individual threads on my message board and 
use each as a source of information for a given game; you can help by heading over to the forums and contributing to such threads as they eventually appear (you'll start seeing by, say, 
mid-July).

Until then, keep on jammin'.

5/11/10- And now for a traditional monthly update, if you can believe that.

I'll start with the offerings of super contributor JPCVFAN: (1) The page for the Dracula X-related radio drama (Tsuioku no Yasoukyoku) has been updated to include information on an 
official release plus scans. (2) There's by extension updates for Akumajou Dracula: Radio Chronicle, which has also seen an official release; its scans can be found here. (3) Castlevania: 
The Adventure Rebirth's official soundtrack has been made available, the scans present here. (4) The purchase of the previous three items, lumped into one order, earned customers a bonus 
item, which is out of stock but can otherwise be viewed here. (5) There's some Lords of Shadow official art. And (6) there's a new cameos entry for "Castlevania References"--Pop'n Music 18 
Sengoku Retsuden, a recent Japan-only release.

The Zappsoft Empire has been busy in the lab, this time cooking up a new homebrew project titled Castlevania: Prelude of Darkness, a challenging ROM hack of the original Castlevania. 
The group's other contributions include a new Crystal Moon MP3 and Castlevania 64's version of the Watchtower stage theme. Too, Zappsoft provides four new, separate MP3 arrangements on 
behalf of Unchosen Paths, whose original works are already available here. Also added to the homebrew section is Super Mario Crossover, a new hit Flash game in which Simon joins forces 
with other video-game heroes in order to save the Mushroom Kingdom.

Courtesy of LuxKiller65 comes a PDF file illustrating the entirety of N64 Magazine's special Castlevania 64 guide; its quite the effort and certainly worth a view. On the topic of 
Castlevania 64: A site visitor needs a little help in identifying this poster, which is believed to be taken from an issue of EGM or another of the more prolific magazines; if anyone has 
any information as to its origin, please post it on the forum or e-mail me the information directly.

I've set up an aptly described placeholder page for Lords of Shadow, which will see dedicated coverage following E3.

I'm aware of the rumors pertaining to an X-Box Live exclusive titled Harmony of Despair, said to be a multiplayer sequel to an existing series entry. Since no real information 
exists--only a collection of suspect screenshots--I've refrained from giving it any coverage and will continue doing so until any such revelation is made through official Konami channels.

4/14/10- All's slow on the Castlevania front as we look toward E3 for our first hands-on experience with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I can hopefully in the meantime supply some 
goodies to help keep everyone occupied.

This month's biggest update is the addition of assets from Castlevania Best Music Collections Box, the 18-disc soundtrack compilation. Thanks to the efforts of Leon Scott Kennedy 
and vgmdb.net, you can now find casing scans, Michiru Yamane's unique works, and the soundtracks to Castlevania: The Medal and Castlevania: The Arcade. Also in the area of music 
is the soundtrack to Castlevania: Chorus of Mysteries, the fan-created ROM hack of the original Castlevania.

Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth's game page has been updated with basic information and some new images; associated pages include stages, codes, lesser enemies, bosses and 
Dracula forms (though without illustration of any kind, since I don't have the means to capture images/video from the current consoles). Also, its lesser enemies and bosses have 
been added to the respective main listings, and its recurring bosses have found their way to the appropriate pages: Phantom Bat, Bone Dragon King, Succubus, Frankenstein and Death. 
Otherwise, in light of Rondo of Blood's Virtual Console release, I've updated its game page with "Port Differences."

In the way of multimedia: (1) Vorador has typed up the complete text of the Castlevania: Worlds of Power novel; the text is available in notepad and Microsoft Word form. (2) Lan 
Belmont returns with more remixes/arrangements. (3) The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies is two chapters thicker. (4) Prof. Bean's collection has grown. (5) And the first Adventure 
Rebirth high score has been posted, the unchallenged MrGamer1 holding the crown.

Finally, I've added to my Request List an item concerning stage/area maps, which I'd like to use in supplement to my four-screenshots setup. I do have maps available for some of 
the earlier games, but they're too small and of poor quality (mine was merely a limited-by-space AOL/Xoom website in its early days, so I would tend to shrink images to save 
precious kilobytes). So if you were to look at the list, then that ... would be ... nice.

2/16/10- Yeah--I'm a bit late to the party. So what? Things happen. Terrible things: People go hungry, wars ensue, deadly diseases spread, IGN writes editorials--this is stuff no 
one should be made to endure. What you should endure, though, is another helping of hot Castlevania action, by which I mean the usual abbreviated update and the accompanying fluff.

Since my personally created material is lacking, amounting to roughly none, I can only resort to grouping together all contributions and citing each within the Giant List of Death: 
(1) Kev returns with an update to the "Castlevania Arsenal" CV Library feature, which now includes more items from Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia. (2) Zappsoft provides the 
inaugural entry in its "endings videos," the series beginning with Circle of the Moon. (3) Sr. Lan Belmont serenades us with more remixes and arrangements. (4) The long-running fan 
fiction Darkness Never Dies continues. (5) New information for Castlevania 64's "Unused Items" is available. (6) Aya79 and Prof. Bean pad their respective collection lists, the 
former taking his place atop the Fierce Collector heap. (7) Berit Jurda supplies more artwork, one of which is a timely Valentine's Day piece. And (8) The Request List has been 
updated with a few new items, marked as such.

Since I have some time available, I'll be able to spend a few more hours with Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth and in the process begin filling its game page. So look for that 
soon. I would have had more material for Castlevania Judgment, but, uh, the cat ate it.

Remaining viewer check.

12/4/09- OK--so it's been deemed that we're not quite ready to experience the old-school flavor of Castle the Adventure Rebirth. While Halloween seemed like a safe bet, things 
didn't work out as such. So, then, they've got to be holding it back to position it as a surprise release for, say, Christmas, right? Right? Sure--let's go with that.

This month's biggest additions are the soundtrack for Pachi-Slot: Castlevania and Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth (I'll get to properly naming its tracks after I've played it), 
which can of course be found in the MP3 section. Of lesser importance is Order of Ecclesia's consideration for "Mr. P Castlevania Awards." While, not surprisingly, it didn't garner 
any awards or even earn a single nomination (since, like its direct predecessor, it doesn't offer much in the way of new content), it did manage to earn Top-15 placement in the Top 
Games listing. I hope to soon work in Order of Shadows, which I've yet to review.

Ready to bring the content are JPCVFAN and friends, who return with the following contributions: (1) Official art for Castlevania, Simon's Quest, Dracula's Curse, Adventure, Super 
Castlevania 4, Belmont's Revenge, Rondo of Blood, Akumajo Dracula X68000, Bloodlines, Castlevania: Dracula X, Symphony of the Night, Castlevania 64, Circle of the Moon, Lament of 
Innocence, Dawn of Sorrow, Curse of Darkness and Order of Ecclesia (newest entries, as always, placed toward the bottom of each table cell). (2) Scans for Famitsu's Castlevania 
Adventure guide. (3) Scans for a Bloodlines strategy book. (4) Scans for the official Dawn of Sorrow guide. And (5) scans for the official Order of Ecclesia guide.

And this month's multimedia entries: (1) Berit Jurda has more sketchwork for us. (2) Sr. Lan Belmont supplies more in the way of art and music. (3) Aya79 continues to build a nice 
collection. (4) Belmont Yang joins the cast of collectors with another impressive assortment of items. And (5) RonNYCity starts a new art page whose first entry is Lords of 
Shadow custom box-art.

10/26/09- So it's Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth week, the game set to launch in Japan in a few short hours (though, we still have no release dates for other regions), which 
means that it's about time I set up a for-now-meager game page and provide a short preview. If you've been keeping up, there have also been a few news blurbs relating mostly to 
media but not without a dash of speculation as to potential Koji Igarashi involvement. I have no clue when the game will see release in the U.S., but the situation--being close 
to Halloween and all--certainly creates an expectation of a Nov. 2nd release. This is of course speculation on my part.

As promised in the last update, the Heroes, Supporting Cast and Dracula Allies pages have seen a slight redesign--a frame-based presentation that indexes what are now individual 
character biographies; this will allow me to separate the original-timeline characters from the "Gaiden" assortment in place of forcing them all together on a giant list. Special 
thanks to Belmontvlad, whose custom-made banner (part of it, at least) serves as background to the top frame.

And now for our always-special "Contributions from JPCVFAN" category: (1) Scans for the operation manual of the Japanese version of Haunted Castle. (2) Updated scans for the 
Haunted Castle inserts. (3) Scans for Brady Games' official Lament of Innocence guide. (4) Information on THE-BishiBashi, a new entry in the cameos section. (6) Information on 
Oz / Sword of Etheria, a new entry into the cameo section's "Borrowed Elements" page. (7) An update to the Ganbare Goemon 2 entry, which actually has a second cameo. (8) Updated 
information on the Rondo of Blood "Unknown Items." And (9) the correct and/or full names of collectibles have been supplied.

Normal site updates: (1) I've put up my first Castlevania Judgment profile (Simon Belmont) in addition to a "How to Play" write-up. This will hopefully motivate me to finish 
properly covering the game (or to at least finish incrementally at about, say, a character profile per month). (2) "Lake Bridge" is the name of the newest entry to the "Other 
Similarities" page in Castleography. And (3) Scarlet Symphony joins the list of homebrew projects.

And then our usual multimedia contributions: (1) Sr. Lan Belmont is back with more MP3 remixes/rearrangements. (2) Mark's model collection is plus one by way of the Mudman's 
debut. (3) The Pumpkin also joins the field of artists. And (4) Berit Jurda's art collection grows by two--one piece appropriately Halloween-themed.

9/16/09- What do you do when you're at the helm of Konami's enduring Castlevania series and you inadvertently create one of the most despised sequels ever made? Why, you look 
for redemption. Rather, your predecessors pick you up with Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth, a new downloadable title coming to Nintendo's WiiWare service this year. While 
details are scarce--all sources listing only basic information and no definitive proof that this is actually a Castlevania Adventure remake--we should have more to sink our 
fangs into following the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. Too, we'll find out if the project's staff includes the thought-dismissed Koji Igarashi, whose name appeared in the credits 
of Contra Rebirth, a similarly aimed title. I'll have more on this when solid information becomes available.

Not even word of a new title can halt the momentum of Music-Mania, which dominates another month's worth of updates. New to the MP3 section is the aforementioned "Special 
Soundtracks" page, which is already home to Dracula Perfect Selection, Dracula Battle Perfect Selection Vol. 1 and Dracula Battle Perfect Selection Vol. 2. Also new to the MP3 
section is the "Related-Game Soundtracks" page, which currently covers Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula-Kun (Kid Dracula) and the canceled Castlevania: Resurrection.

Several original soundtracks have been updated; these include Castlevania (OST-exclusive tracks), Vampire Killer (OST-exclusive tracks), Simon's Quest (OST-exclusive tracks), 
Dracula's Curse (OST-exclusive tracks), Castlevania Adventure (OST-exclusive tracks), Super Castlevania 4 (OST-exclusive tracks), Rondo of Blood (OST-exclusive tracks), Akumajo 
Dracula X68000 (OST-exclusive tracks), Symphony of the Night (OST-exclusive tracks), Nocturne in the Moonlight (additional original tunes), and Circle of the Moon (an unused 
track).

There's nothing worth mentioning in terms of normal site updates except that Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is coming to cell phones (in Europe only). More nformation 
(mainly Youtube videos) on this can be found on the newswire.

And then there's the usual round of Contributors' Corner: Aya79's collection has seen another boost. Newcomer Prof. Bean debuts high up on the collector's list. Berit Jurda 
provides more artwork. Anonymous' Metroidvania article will be of interest to those looking to further explore the genre; his new art page is also ripe for viewing. Sr. 
Lan Belmont returns with more MP3s, artwork and two high scores (Portrait of Ruin and Ecclesia).

I hope by next update to have better organized the heroes, supporting cast, and Dracula's allies pages--mostly due to Lords of Shadow resetting of events but otherwise to 
separate the characters from the canon and gaiden titles. It'll be a simple job but a sign of things to come.

8/13/09- It's another month of Music-Mania thanks to the mighty Zappsoft Empire. I have to preface the mention of new entries by noting that I'm now listing OST-exclusive music 
tracks in a sub-category--a separate table for each game appropriately labeled "OST-Exclusive." Of course, there are sometimes multiple soundtracks dedicated to a given game, 
so I'll be listing the specific OST in the "From" column.

New entries include: (1) Three Akumajo Dracula X68000 OST tracks. (2) An unused/hidden Dracula X Chronicles track plus four OST-exclusives. (3) Nine Lament of Innocence OST 
tracks. (4) A Dracula's Curse OST track. (5) Two Curse of Darkness OST tracks. (6) A Haunted Castle OST track. (7) A Harmony of Dissonance OST tracks. (8) Two Castlevania 
Chronicles OST tracks. (9) Two Nocturne in the Moonlight normal tracks. And (10) an unused Symphony of the Night track.

Additionally, the Akumajo Densetsu and Castlevania: Dracula X soundtracks have been re-recorded for higher quality. Though no time-period has been set, the Dracula Battle: 
Perfect Selection soundtrack will soon be appearing in the new "Special Soundtracks" subsection (it won't be this week, for sure, since I'll be away until at least August 20th).

Contributor Kev returns with an update to his fan-favorite "Castlevania Enemy Origins" feature, which now covers the unique enemies from Order of Ecclesia; too, his 
observation has led to the update of the Castleography instance "Pendulum Swing." Simon's Quest "Unused Elements" page has a new addition, courtesy of Amar Youkai. And Sr. 
Lan Belmont brings us a fun fact about Portrait of Ruin's "Stella and Loretta" mission (in an entry titled "Bloody Tears").

New to the Multimedia section is a memorabilia subsection called "Legacy Items," whose main entry is "Trade Shows," which features images of Konami's trade-show booths and 
any associated artwork; since it fits well, I threw in a link to the already present Captain N CV Library piece. Other non-collectible items and exhibits will be placed here.

Other multimedia updates include: (1) More MP3s and artwork from Sr. LAN Belmont. (2) The Ouija Table, Mark's newest model. (3) A new custom-made sprite page for JCLBelmondo. (4) 
The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies continues. And (5) a new art page for Cassio Macedo, the former Zead the Undead.

To address the rather cryptic comments from last month's update: The easiest thing to say is that my console-gaming days will continue to be, as they've been for the last 
several years, rather limited. I have no desire to own any other (or future) consoles, which is more a change of life-path than an issue of money. Quite simply: I just 
don't have the time or the will to play through these increasingly complicated games and supply what I feel is the proper coverage; months of work are needed to meet the 
ridiculous criteria I've set, and I'm so beyond bored of doing it. This of course poses a problem in the case of Lords of Shadow, which is hardly a new "starting point" 
and a sure sign that this series will quickly grow into something more "hardcore" than it already is and a far cry from the shift to the more simplistic style of gameplay 
I've been hoping to experience. When in a past update it was said that I would probably miss a few games but eventually catch up, I didn't think the series had a future 
outside of portables and download services, which aren't bad places to be. Lords of Shadow will fall victim to my complete lack of interest, and this will leave a void I'll 
be unable to fill.

Since this site has become largely fan-driven, I can only ask for more of your help in supplying at least a modicum of quality coverage for future console games. Should you 
have the means to create such, I could use casing scans, character snapshots (for the hero and enemy lists, mainly), screenshots, a script file to help me work out the 
storyline, and other information for which you'll receive full credit. I'll eventually update my "Request List" to reflect these statements.

I'll of course always be here to post your regular contributions and do what I can to increase the coverage of the existing titles--something I enjoy much more than forcing 
myself to play each new game out of some insane obligation to which I've made myself captive. And, well, you know.

7/22/09- Well, it's been more than a month since the much-anticapated E3, whose happenings have left us with plenty of lingering questions: How will the newly announced 
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow reshape the franchise? Can you successfully reboot the Castlevania series without alienating longtime fans? Will such an approach bring in new 
players? Does doing so leave Koji Igarashi in the dust, his current projects doomed to cancellation? Will my brain explode trying to figure out how to reconfigure the site 
in response to all of this? We'll get most of our answers in 2010. Until then, check out some early information on the new games page.

Let's liven the mood with some musical happenings: The Zappsoft Empire has for the final time re-recorded the Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse soundtrack. Also, in an 
effort to leave no tune unutilized, Zappsoft has also supplied the following: The complete "Arranged" Portrait of Ruin soundtrack (from disc 2 of its official soundtrack) 
to complement the normal version, Legacy of Darkness' unique "Menu Screen" music, an OST-exclusive Akumajo Dracula X68000 track (titled Load BGM), and an unused 
Castlevania 64 track plus three tracks exclusive to the game's official soundtrack.

Also new to the "Fan Remixes" portion of the MP3 section is the ambitious Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse Remix Project, a remixed soundtrack created by the musician/
artist Goat and composed under his Unchosen Paths label. Sr. Lan Belmont, too, returns with some entries to his growing collection of tunes.

Regular site updates include new official artwork and soundtrack scans for Pachi-Slot: Akumajo Dracula (courtesy of JPCVFAN), new official artwork for Castlevania: The 
Arcade (from the same contributor), and some "Fun Facts" for Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin.

And our final list is for multimedia submissions: (1) A new fan fiction from Agent Orange titled Our Holy Mother. (2) A fan-fiction piece from Jerkofwonder titled 
Castlevania Apocalypse. (3) Fierce-collecting champ Phil Belmont's cache continues to expand. (4) Berit Jurda provides some new artwork. (5) Aya79's collection has seen a boost. And (7) Dracula Fan's collection has also grown.

Since I'm currently short on time, I'll wait until the next update to address the future of this site and the current obstacles that threaten to limit its future growth.
Stay tuned.

5/31/09- Let's start wrapping things up for Order of Ecclesia. Finally added are its story, its heroes, its supporting cast, its assortment of weapons (with the Glyph 
imagery to be finished, again, when layer-management tools are implemented), and its placement in heroic evolution.

The MP3 section is completely up to date, now covering all game-specific soundtracks; despite an earlier statement, Order of Ecclesia's soundtrack has been added (the 
Zappsoft people worked something out). The newest additions are Castlevania: Curse of Darkness and two additional soundtracks for Akumajo Dracula X68000, which featured 
three (depending upon the MIDI plug-in you selected at the start). Updated soundtracks, in terms of sound-quality, include Castlevania (Japanese and American), Vampire 
Killer, Haunted Castle, Simon's Quest (Japanese and American), Dracula's Curse (Japanese and American), Legends and Order of Shadows.

Other updates: (1) Dance Dance Revolution Universe information has been added to the "Castlevania References" portion of Cameos, with it an MP3 of its exclusive tune. (2) 
I've added an enemy list for the related Konami Wai Wai World as well as a music file. (3) I did the same for Wai Wai World 2 (though, I couldn't get the boss-battle tune, 
Black Knight, due to the sound effects, and I only know how to record directly). (4) The "Fun Facts" pages for Castlevania and Dracula's Curse have some new additions. 
And (5), on a smaller note, I moved X68000's "Mirror Creature" boss over the doppelganger forms list, where it seems more at home; I'll over time be making more such 
changes in order to keep the main boss list manageable and avoid redundancy when possible.

And there of course contributions: (1) Phil Belmont's collection continues to grow, now placing atop the list at 155 random items. (2) Sr. Lan Belmont has more remixes 
and arrangements for us. (3) A whole new part of The Crossman's fan fiction Castlevania: Darkness Never Dies has begun. (4) Dracula9 makes his debut in the custom-sprite 
section. And (5) Sr. LAN Belmont makes his move for high-score placement in Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia.

I wanted to get this update out before E3 madness begins and no doubt brings news of future series happenings. I'm expecting some type of follow-up to last year's 
Symphony-sequel trailer (though, even years later, I'm still unclear as to why the original masterpiece needs a sequel or why there's call for it) and perhaps more. 
Buckle up.

4/28/09- "A dual-update month? No way." I try to space these things apart and allow for this page to be a checklist for a month's activity, but I've gathered a huge 
amount of content since the last update. The most exciting "addition," which I'm guessing is the readers' most desired, is the return of the MP3 section, complete with 
all existing soundtracks up to Castlevania Judgment (outside of Order of Ecclesia, which due to Konami's request will not be appearing, and Curse of Darkness, which 
will be added soon). This is all thanks to the Zappsoft Empire, which has made it possible to again enjoy these tunes. (Note: Uploading is still in progress; the 
existing pages will be complete by Wednesday.)

I might as well go ahead and add a new sub-category of update specially tailored for JPCVFAN, who again comes through in a big way. He's got the following for us: 
(1) New cameo appearances, including Konami WaiWai Sokoban, Eternal Knights 2 plus a new entry for "Castlevania References" in the form of Pop'n Music 15 ADVENTURE. 
(2) The Lament of Innocence cell phone comic. (3) The Symphony of the Night radio drama. (4) The Konami Style Castlevania Judgment Simon Belmont figure. (5) The Akumajo 
Dracula: Prize Collection series. (6) The official Curse of Darkness comic series (now with samples and translations for Vol. 1 and Vol. 2). (7) The box and manual for 
Hai no Majutsushi. (8) Samples for the Order of Ecclesia official strategy guide. (9) Judgment soundtrack scans. (10) The Judgment store pamphlet. (11) Magazine-
exclusive Dracula X Chronicles comics (added to the existing comic-strip page). (12) Covers for already existing Judgment strategy guide page. (13) Information and 
scans for Akumajo Dracula: Kabuchi no Tsuisoukyoku. (14) Character profiles for the Akumajo Dracula novel. And (15) the Konami Style Special Edition release of Order 
of Ecclesia, which has bonus material including a soundtrack, a special notebook, and more.

As for original material: (1) I've added a page for Pachi-Slot: Akumajo Dracula, home to basic information, a store pamphlet, a cabinet image, official art, and 
official comics. (2) A code page for Order of Ecclesia. (3) A finished stage page for Ecclesia. (4) Screenshots for Portrait of Ruin's game and stage pages. (5) The 
"Bloody Road" section of Castleography now includes Dawn of Sorrow (originally excluded), Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia. (6) Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait and 
Ecclesia's "castle keep"s have been added. (7) A code page for Dracula X Chronicles. (8) Another "Castlevania Reference" for GuitarFreaks & DrumMania V6. And (9), 
most noticable, a newer "Mr. P's Castlevania Realm" logo; though it's a little jagged (due to being compressed into a same-named GIF to replace the previous logo, 
where the other option is to visit all 1,000-plus pages and paste in a high-quality version [not happening]). It'll do for now--until I come up with something else.

Other submissions include MP3s for cameo titles Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3, Dance Dance Revolution SUPERNOVA 2, Pop'n Music 15 and GuitarFreaks & DrumMania V6 
(from separate contributors). Phil Belmont's fierce collection continues to grow. Model-maker Mark brings Symphony's Schmoo and Blade Master to life. And Sr. Lan 
Belmont brings us more artwork and remixes/arrangements.

Since I'm in hustle mode, it shouldn't be long before I finish up on Order of Ecclesia basics with the story, character profiles, and weapons. Wild.

4/3/09- Hello? Anyone there? Yeah--it's been an uneventful two-month period as I desperately try to rekindle my interest in the series. I'll continue working on that. 
For now, it's all about you, the greatly appreciated contributor.

Starting with Judgment, we've got scans for the Japanese-version packaging (casing and manual), artwork exclusive to the official Japanese player's guide, and more 
official comics.

I've expanded my games page to include such spin-off titles as Castlevania: The Medal and Castlevania: The Arcade, though information is limited. As soon as I can 
find solid info on the newest spin-off, dubbed "Castlevania Pachi-Slot" by fans, I'll begin covering that, too. What I know about it is covered on the news wire.

Game-specific updates include the following: New Rondo of Blood "Fun Facts" dealing with the system-card demo and the PC boot-up warning. Official artwork for 
Castlevania: The Arcade. New and updated (read: corrected) tips/codes for Rondo of Blood and Castlevania: Dracula X, them sharing the useful "Turn Jump." Contra: 
Hard Corps' version of the song Vampire Killer. I've put up a new poll for the hell of it: "How should Konami go about continuing the storyline?" And my "Request 
List" has been updated in the area of scans.

And then we have our usual multimedia: Phil Belmont makes his debut with a collection whose growing presence threatens to soon displace the current leader. Another 
collector, Aya79, also makes an impact. Sr. Lan Belmont has more in the way of MP3s, artwork and custom sprites. The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies sees one part 
end and another begin. And sculptor extraordinaire Mark instead offers an art piece featuring the succulent Succubus.

Now if I just figure out a way to bring back those MP3s. Hmmmmm.

2/5/09- Welcome to year number ten of this never-ending voyage. We start out not so much with a bang but with hope of many a future explosion.

Here's the deal: As one of the few people who was willing to give Castlevania Judgment a chance, I gave it ample playtime and was terribly disappointed find that 
the product is indeed, as warned, of middling quality. It also features complicated controls and is the type of fighting game I generally avoid. I'm going to once 
again try to get into it, since any future coverage of the game depends upon it, but I can't promise that updates in regard to Judgment will be timely. In the 
meantime, enjoy some casing and manual scans plus official art and comic strips.

On the Order of Ecclesia front: Contributor Kev provides casing and manual scans for the European version, and the rest of the translated comics have been added. 
I hope to find time enough to finish up on its story and address other neglected areas (codes and weapons, mainly).

And now our regularly scheduled helping of random goodies: (1) ReyVGM, one of the chief overlords of The Video Game Museum, contributes the complete Order of 
Shadows soundtrack and helpfully provides the song names as provided by the game's creators. (Might this be a precursor to the MP3 section returning as was?) 
(2) From the same overlord comes a document, found hidden on the Saturn version of Symphony, that deals with the game's development process (Chinese translation 
will be needed). (3) Rey has also provided information for the "Port Differences" for the cell phone version of Aria of Sorrow (found on its game page), 
including a fully depicted ending sequence. (4) The "Glitches and Fun Facts" pages for the following games have been updated: Dracula's Curse, Rondo of Blood, 
Bloodlines, Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin. (5) Lan Belmont returns with more MP3 remixes, artwork and custom sprites. (6) Two new 
artists, Darch Angel and John, join the ranks. (7) Sam Mills shares some opinions on Judgment via this essay/editorial. (8) The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies 
gets two chapters richer as it heads for the home stretch. And (9) Amar Youkai surges into the lead-scoring position for Bloodlines.

So as an entire decade of this life rolls off, I can only look back on this journey (which began with an ill-fated attempt to indoctrinate Final Fantasy II's 
Zeromus into the ranks of Dracula's army) and hope that this now-out-of-control website has succeeded in its continuing mission to (a) entertain and enlighten 
by supplying a painstakingly gathered breadth of content; (b) eventually seek out intelligent life on any GameSpot message board; and (c) boldly go where no 
man would, like, ever want to go.

12/23/08- If another year is about to wind down, it could only mean that it's once again time for one of those always-exciting pre-holiday updates! Well, it 
could mean that, but it probably doesn't. Nonetheless, I have some items to clear off the docket before next year refocusing my efforts.

For Order of Ecclesia: After spending a large amount of the time with the game, I've completed my review. (If only all reviewers weren't bound by deadlines 
and could write up reviews based on deep retrospect--you'd see a greater appreciation of lower-budget titles and a lot less of this industry trend where 
perfect 10s are being handed out, one after another, to any game with an immediate sensory impact and a marketing campaign behind it.) I've also finished 
adding to the main list all of its bosses. And its one recurring boss, Death, has been added to the Grim Reaper forms list.

Random updates include the following: (1) Five new models (most Ecclesia-based) for Mark's art page. (2) For Castlevania Legends a new "Glitches and Fun 
Facts" page, whose first entry is a hidden sound test. (3) Three new chapters in The Crossman's fan fiction Darkness Never Dies. (4) Translated Order of 
Ecclesia and The Dracula X Chronicles comics (with more to come). (5) Several new works for Lan Belmont's art page and MP3 remixes. (6) The debut of fierce 
collector Bleeding Plague. And (7) high-scorer Dante DJ tries his luck at Aria of Sorrow and Circle of the Moon.

There's still of course much work to be done for Order of Ecclesia (starting with its story, the heroes and the supporting cast), and I should, if things 
work out as planned, soon own a copy of Judgment. Too, I might finally learn a thing or two about the new arcade titles and start providing the proper 
coverage. See everyone next month, and happy holidays to all! 

11/18/08- Castlevania Judgment will be arriving imminently, so it's the perfect time to update on the site's activities, starting with Order of Ecclesia: 
Its game page has been filled with information, including but not limited to casing and manual scans; the unique lesser enemy, boss and cast lists; 
Dracula's morph; the game's endings; official art and comic strips; and glitches and fun facts. Also, I've begun adding the game's minor enemies to the 
"Lesser Enemy" section's database, which of course better explains the new foes, in more detail than on the unique list; several existing profiles, too, 
have been updated, since Ecclesia's enemy selection has much crossover. The "Bosses" section will soon get the same treatment, with much more content to 
follow.

As for other happenings: (1) I've updated Aria of Sorrow's game page to include the cell phone version, which has been available for a while. (2) Sr. Lan 
Belmont supplies some new art pieces and MP3 remixes. (3) Mark's newest model, "The Absorber" from Belmont's Revenge, has been added to his art page. (4) 
I've put up a (skeleton) page for Castlevania Judgment. And (5) I've been asked to bring attention to a petition that asks Konami to remake Castlevania 3: 
Dracula's Curse as part of the Chronicles sub-series.

About Judgment: I've been distracted lately and don't have the time or will to play video games, so it may be a while, if ever, before I can start adding 
material to its page (though, it seems like a good item to suggest as a Christmas gift when they start pestering me about such nonsense). Also, due to 
Konami's recent pressuring of fan sites, there's a good chance that mostly all of the MP3s ripped directly from the games, which includes just about all 
soundtracks, will be disappearing from this site.

10/7/08- Order of Ecclesia month is upon us, which means it's time to start preparing the site for its arrival. For the moment, some official art pieces 
and comic strips will have to do.

Thanks to MrGamer1, I've been able to fulfill a large part of my mission to add to each ending page a complementary video. Ending videos (Youtube-style, 
of course) are now available for Simon's Quest, Adventure, Super Castlevania 4, Belmont's Revenge (European version, as seen in Konami Game Boy Collection 
Vol. 4), Akumajo Dracula X6000, Bloodlines, Castlevania: Dracula X, Legends, Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness, Harmony of Dissonance, Lament of Innocence 
and Aria of Sorrow (all souls collected). I'm of course still seeking contributions in this area.

And then there's the giant list of random death: (1) Zappsoft's Simon's Quest MP3s have been re-recorded, and Lament of Innocence's soundtrack has been 
added. (2) Contra: Hard Corps and Dance Dance Revolution: SuperNOVA2 have been added to the "Castlevania References" page in Cameos. (3) There's a new 
Castleography "Other Similarity" instance titled Time Stoppers. (4) The Crossman's Darkness Never Dies fan fiction sees two more chapters. (5) Sr. Lan 
Belmont's art page, sprite page, and MP3 remix section feature some new works. (6) Abee's art page has a new wallpaper. (7) Justin's poem collection is 
plus two. (8) There's a new FAQ file for Portrait of Ruin dealing with Eric's quests. (9) And Luxkiller65 takes the lead in Haunted Castle high-scoring 
and in creative screenshot-taking.

I'll be back with updates soon after Order of Ecclesia's release. Until then, keep checking the news wire for any major happenings.

8/6/08- We'll start this update with music. Added to the MP3 section are the soundtracks for Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, Castlevania: 
Chronicles and Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, all courtesy of the Zappsoft Empire. Sr. Lan Belmont also contributes three random rearrangements, as 
found in the remixes subsection.

All other updates are unrelated, so I'll group them together in the ever-overused Giant List: (1) Sr. Lan Belmont ups his site presence with new pages in 
Artwork, Custom Sprites, and Custom Banners. (2) The same contributor provides me my first ending videos for Dawn of Sorrow--and I'm still looking for 
Youtube (or other video-site) users who would like to contribute ending or intro videos. (3) There's a very interesting Doug R. essay/study titled Rusty 
Rondo, which looks at a possible Rondo of Blood inspiration--a game whose design entails more than one major coincidence. (4) New fun facts for Dawn of 
Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin. (5) Berit Jurda's art page has grown considerably. (6) Mark's art page is plus one in sculptures--this time Portrait of Ruin's 
Moldy Corpse. (7) Berit Jurda also sends in some scans for the European version of Konami Krazy racers (box and manual); back box cover and cart scans are 
still needed. (8) I've put up a code page for Order of Shadows. And (9) Sr. Lan Belmont takes the top place in Portrait of Ruin high scores.

The aforementioned contributor Berit Jurda needs your help, Castlevania fans, in figuring out the origin of this comic. If you have any idea of what it is, 
where it came from, or who made it, contact me at MrPerfectn@aol.com and I'll relay to him your findings.

On a final note: Come Saturday, I'll be leaving for a while and won't be back until at least August 19th, so I'll be unable to make site updates; I will, 
though, be able to respond to e-mails thanks to AOL's guest feature. So be patient if you contribute an item and don't see it show up right away.

6/29/08- It's complete madness this month, as Order of Ecclesia's big unveiling is upon us, a new Castlevania fighting game has been announced, and I 
hurry to keep the site as current as possible. But first I must mention the biggest addition to the site--a huge contribution by way of the Zappsoft 
Empire: Thanks to the studio's ripping and remastering talents, my MP3 section has better emerged with the soundtracks for 20 games (22 if you count the 
Japanese versions of Simon's Quest, Dracula's Curse, whose compositions are enhanced via Konami's own VRC6 chip, and Castlevania, which has one extra tune).
 More are on the way. All associated stage listings have in kind had their music links updated.

For now, it's time to play catch-up in regard to the recently released, starting with Dawn of Sorrow. Updated for our premiere DS title, mostly in terms 
of images, are the following: Lesser Enemies, Bosses, Weapons (only equippables, for now), Codes, and Glitches and Fun Facts.

For Portrait of Ruin: Lesser Enemies, Bosses, Dracula Forms, Supporting Cast, Codes, Glitches and Fun Facts, and Credits. A handful of them (like Rahab) 
will be replaced with better versions when layer management tools become available. As a result of these new additions, the following pages have been 
updated: Recurring bosses (Frankenstein, Death, Phantom Bat, Medusa, Mummies, Water Dragons, Dullahan, Legion, Doppelganger and Other Recurrences), the 
main lesser enemy list and the main boss list. I still have much to do in terms of grabbing screenshots for the two game pages,the text-only stage 
listings, their storylines, etc.

Waiting to be seen are Order of Shadow's story (under "Tales of Gaiden"), its hero, and its stages; I'm of yet unable to put together a fair review, 
since I can't get the music and sound effects to work properly. It'll appear eventually, and a code page should follow.

The homebrew page's Rearrangements is plus one, as newcomer Castlevania: The Bloodletting (named after the canceled series title) joins the list; the 
game's creator/author makes a request, about which you can read in the description. Also, artist Berit Jurda debuts on the Fan Art page with promise of 
an ever-growing collection of works.

On a final note: I'm not sure what I'm going to do about endings, which I haven't done since Aria of Sorrow (discounting the PS2 titles, about which 
I'm unhappy due to poor quality of screenshot). It seems silly to spend hours snapping screenshots of long conversations and trying to capture sequences 
that demand more, especially now, when we're in the era of flash video. As such, I'm interested in setting up a Youtube-like deal where I can embed video 
on the ending pages so that the content can be better appreciated. As I don't seem to have the aptitude for creating video, I'm open to suggestions on how 
I can pull it off.

5/10/08- It's been a while since anything exciting has happened, but it looks like things are going to soon pick up like no one could have guessed; 
between the news of some new patents being filed and all of the recent rumors that have been swirling, there exists the potential for a range of new 
titles being announced for multiple platforms--the DS, mobile phones, and all current consoles. Such announcements could be imminent (now - E3).

More within my control is Castlevania: Order of Shadows, whose presence on the site is now ever-increasing. You can find/view information on the following 
pages: The game page, supporting cast, Dracula morphs, Dracula's allies, lesser enemies, bosses (regular and unique list), recurring bosses (Medusa and 
Twin Bats), Castleography (Castle Keep), and high scores. Soon to be appearing are entries for heroes, a review, a stage listing, and so on.

In considering the nature of its story, which the developers coin a "gaiden or side story," I'm of course unable to fit it into the storyline as 
currently constructed. As a result, I've added to the storyline page a separate listing called "Tales of Gaiden," under which all context-free titles 
will be listed; this allows me to chronicle a game's story without disturbing an already clustered series lineage.

As for other happenings over the last two months: (1) Stalker's art page features some new pieces. (2) There's a new collection page for Belmont X, who 
also makes his debut on the achievements page. (3) Two new glitches for Castlevania. (4) An Order of Shadows review by the same Belmont X. (5) Listed on 
the homebrews page is a new Flash game titled simply Castlevania Flash Game. (6) A game-reset code for Circle of the Moon ("Memory Wipe"). (7) A Rondo of 
Blood glitch called "Showstopping Number." (8) The debut of kappareign on the high score list via Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow, and (9) a fun fact 
for Harmony of Dissonance called "Crystal Methodist."

Since these updates are only meant to coincide with the listing of site updates, stay tuned to my News Wire for any series-related announcements.

3/7/08- There's no specific theme to this update, so the usual overly thick random list will have to suffice.

In order of submission: (1) Konami Man and his better half join Aria of Sorrow's unused elements. (2) Its "Fun Facts" page, too, has some new additions. 
(3) Courtesy of Protogem comes promotional posters, cards, tapes, and other in-store paraphernalia for Aria of Sorrow, Harmony of Dissonance, Symphony, 
Dracula X Chronicles and Curse of Darkness (check under "Scenes, Packaging Scans, etc." for quick links. (4) The same contributor provides information 
and scans for VHS help videos for Haunted Castle and Simon's Quest. (5) Too, he supplies information for the Supervision re-release of Castlevania. (6) 
Upcoming DS title New International Track and Field has been added to the cameos section. (7) Three items, as found by Soldjermon, have been added to 
Symphony's unused elements page. (8) Up for display is Stalker's custom banner. (9) Zead the Undead debuts in the artwork section with a piece dedicated 
to Dracula's Curse and in random sprites with, naturally, random items. (10) Kev provides casing and manual scans for the European release of The Dracula 
X Chronicles. And (11) Portrait of Ruin's "Fun Facts" page has been bolstered thanks to several new additions.

After waiting out its year, Portrait of Ruin has gained eligibility for the Mr. P Castlevania Awards. The verdict: It didn't take home any of the 
awards, but it did displace Dracula's Curse to gain a nominee spot for the "Best Story" award. Now archived, as a result, are past nominees, which can 
be seen by clicking the "Past Nominees" links where available.

In a bit of sad news: Any aforementioned items as submitted by Protogem might very well be the last we see from the master collector, who has decided 
that it's time to move on in life and focus on more important matters. Since Protogem is now selling off his collection, he has requested that his 
"Fierce Collector" page be removed (to which I respond by archiving the list in a new category as seen on the very same page).

It's kind of sad, also, as we near the release of a certain title that this poll turned out to be nothing but wishful thinking--a part of many a 
childhood fantasy, including mine, squashed in the process. We can only hope, then, that maybe--and just maybe--ol' Solid Snake will carry the torch 
for his DMTV counterpart in battling that ultimate contest of manliness: Snake vs. Captain Falcon. Be there!

1/22/08- Slow times to start year number nine of this site. I hope to this year give more attention to the recently released Order of Shadows, but it's 
difficult to do when I'm unable to play the game or figure out just where its storyline fits (the developer's blog gives me no hint). In the meantime, 
I've got for it some official art and some MP3 tunes, which in itself gives birth to a new category in the music section.

The "Glitches and Fun Facts" pages for Castlevania, Symphony of the Night, Harmony of Dissonance and Portrait of Ruin have been updated with some new 
goodies. Aria of Sorrow, too, will soon have such a page.

More contributions include (1) scans for the U.S. version of the Legends manual; (2) a big update for Protogem's collection page; (3) four new chapters for 
the fan fiction Darkness Never Dies; (4) a custom-sprite page for Zead the Undead, who shows off the assets for a new fan-made game; and (5) some new 
strategies for Symphony's "Galamoth Help" file.

A heads up to for anyone who likes character battles or Castlevania characters in general: Youtube user Solesurvivor is running a contest to determine the 
top ten series bosses. Follow the link and read the page's sidebar to catch up on the rules. There should be enough games out there to keep everyone busy 
until the Developer's Game Conference (GDC) in March, when business should pick up and real information might start surfacing.

Until then, stay wild.

12/6/07- There's a lot of new coverage of The Dracula X Chronicles: Its game page is filled with basic information. I've got casing, manual and bonus 
material scans for the U.S. version and the same for the Japanese version: Casing, manual and bonus material (only available for the Limited Edition). 
Its character lists, though image-less, are up: Lesser Enemies, Bosses, Dracula Forms and Supporting Cast. Up, also, is its stage listing (though still 
a work in progress, since I'm still hunting down CDs and learning about any differences in stage design compared to the original). I've written a review. 
Soundtrack and official guide scans were contributed. And more official artwork and comic strips were added.

Separate from this is a "Guide to Maria," which I've placed on the Chronicles page; it examines the abilities of the newly playable Renard as controlled in 
the newer version of Symphony. Also as a result of Chronicles' release: Two other game pages have seen updates: The Rondo of Blood and Symphony pages now 
feature a new category called "Port Differences," which notes any changes made for the PSP versions.

Other sections affected by this are the main boss list, whose Maria Renard description has been revised, and the recurring boss list, which now has a 
Succubus page. The Hydra, one of the Rondo remake's new bosses, is now also present on the main boss list.

Two notes: For anyone who wasn't paying attention, Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest was recently for Wii's Virtual Console. I would have had screenshots of the 
menu screens, but Windows Vista, which was preinstalled on this relatively new computer, doesn't seem to like my capture equipment. Otherwise, I've finished
 removing all glitch- and observation-based entries from the separate code pages in favor of giving each game page a "Glitches and Fun Facts" file; those 
newly updated in the process are Symphony of the Night (the biggest recipient) and Circle of the Moon.

Filling out the rest of last month's updates: (1) Protogem's collection page has grown considerably, giving it more than a little breathing room. (2) 
Alucard173's sprite page has some new animations. (3) There are new codes for Symphony including more name-entry options and a tip dubbed "Twice Scorned." 
(4) Supernatural124's sprite comic page has been redesigned thanks to a new category of "Power Point Presentations." And (5) Symphony's "Galatmoth Help" 
file now has two additional strategies courtesy of Mr. Paoshin and Jazzexe.

10/21/07-  Not as much an update but a reminder that The Dracula X Chronicles will be arriving soon (October 23rd). You have only a short time left to 
pre-order if you still want the bonus item--a "Free 8-bit Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest Simon Belmont figure," as listed. The Japanese consumer is 
getting the better of the deal with a much more enticing bonus package, about which you can find out more on the News Wire (along with a new Koji interview).

Some updates have occurred: (1) The Order of Shadows page has been bolstered with a lot of new information, including an overview, character and item 
listings, a General Information help file, and some sprites where available. Special thanks to Congo Joe for supplying a huge amount of information. 
(2) Kev's "Castlevania Arsenal Origins" CV Library feature has expanded to include Portrait of Ruin. (3) For those interested, the "Castlevania cell 
phone version #2" page has been updated to include information on the American release. (4) A Symphony of the Night poster/advert from Dengeki 
Playstation Magazine has been submitted by Megamedia; it can otherwise be accessed from the Symphony page. (5) In light of glitch-type entries being 
out of place on the typical code pages, I've begun adding to the individual game pages files called "Glitches and Fun Facts," the first of which is for 
Symphony of the Night, which already has to it some new entries. Look under "Text Documents and Help Files" for these. (6) There's a new tip for Circle 
of the Moon titled "Nathan's Sensitive Touch." (7) There's another for Bloodlines called "(Satis)factory Rewards." And (8) there's a solo entry for 
Miscellaneous Sprites from Zappsoft: Castlevania's map edited to reveal Stage 4's true structure.

Updates for The Dracula X Chronicles will begin soon after its release. Up first is scans followed by a review, the posting of any new artwork, and 
the addition of unique code and stage pages if need be. Publications haven't exactly been raving about the game's arranged mode, but who cares, really? 
This is all about the original work, a superior title that didn't even need a makeover. To those long-sufferers who have for years been deprived of the 
masterpiece best known as Rondo of Blood: We know you won't be disappointed.

9/10/07- Skake-ups and realities are the themes for this update. In what is the most bizarre announcement in a long time, Konami this past week 
announced the arrival of an original series title on of all things cell phones--this following its dabbling on the platform with three iterations of 
the NES classic Castlevania. If you haven't been keeping up with the site, I have the breaking news on Castlevania: Order of Shadows, a preview, and 
a game page with for now just a logo and basic information. It sees release September 18th.

This is a problem for me in that I don't have the means to actually play the game, as there's no way I'm purchasing a whole new cell phone for this 
purpose. So I'm going to need some help--I'll need for someone who has access to the game to supply me information on the characters, stages, weapons, 
codes and the like. This may very well be the site's immediate future; the continued scattershot release of titles for multiple platforms is an 
unfortunate reality that will prevent me from following the series past this point, since I can't possibly purchase every console, portable, and mobile 
phone on the market. That said, everything will work itself out in time, and I will one day play these games (be it even years from now) when they 
appear as ports or should they work their way into classic compilations and such. So as promised, this site will continue on as an extreme long-term 
project--there's really no reason to rush, as I'll one way or another over time come to fully cover these games.

Not much else going on this month as we await another title in the form of The Dracula X Chronicles, which from the looks of the official Japanese site 
will come packaged with some extras (an art book, for sure). New this month: The homebrew Java game Castlevania: Serenade of Chaos has seen a major 
gameplay update (link provided). Mark provides a new sculpture in the form of Disc Armor Lv.2. And I've finally started adding more enemy sprites to 
the Dawn of Sorrow list (I'd like to do this at a faster rate, but this thing kills my computer's virtual memory).

With the Tokyo Game Show and others in the line of useless trade shows upcoming, there may soon be more news, which could include information on a new, 
as "promised," DS entry or Mr. Igarashi's console plans, which will no doubt not include the console on which a series title would actually sell.

8/13/07- Slow times as we inch toward the end of summer and witness what's becoming an odd occurrence for the video game industry: The release of 
actual games! If you told these nits that there were nine other months in the year, they'd look at you like you were a two-headed creature.

E3 came and went without much in the way of series-related unveilings and a largely unnoticed presentation of The Dracula X Chronicles, which I didn't 
expect would happen; this left us with only some new videos and and a few screenshots. There was also no word on whether or not a series character would 
be appearing the ever-upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl. With the desired selections now completely obvious (fans want Simon, Alucard or the surprisingly 
popular Soma Cruz), as shown in the poll results, I've replaced the current poll with a new one that asks the following: "Which genre type should the 
Castlevania series next conquer?" I'd like to one day see a Final Fight-style tag-team beat-'em-up, which would be the solution to IGA's ambition to 
broaden the series' appeal while creating action-oriented titles.

It's all you this month: (1) Sculpting master Mark directs your attention to some photos of the NECA-created toys/figurines; seen are Simon Belmont, 
the Succubus, Count Dracula and Alucard. (2) Balsamicosu provides more official art for Rondo of Blood--listed last on the list, as usual. (3) The 
same contributor has for us also a Rondo magazine ad. (4) Justin Gildow's poem set has been organized into one neat little page and updated with several new 
pieces. (5) The fan fiction Castlevania: Dracula's Curse The Movie moves past the prologue with its opening chapter. And (6) the long-running fan fiction Darkness
Never Dies sees its own latest chapter.

Symphony of the Night, if you haven't been following my little news outlet, was digitally re-released for PS3 and its handheld counterpart.

On a special note: I've been informed by Press Start's own Ed Glaser that Robert Belgrade, who voiced Alucard in the western version of Symphony of 
the Night, will be starring in (or "speaking in," as it were) the latest episode of Bonus Levels (which you'll remember provided us Symphony of the 
Trite). You can check it out starting August 31st by visiting the site linked above.

6/30/07-  The year speeds by but the days move slowly as we await the arrival of The Dracula X Chronicles and no doubt much in the way of series-
related news via E3 (which I wish would just go away so that these companies would stop holding back the flow of information in favor of waiting for 
these useless trade shows).

Let's start the festivities with more from the The Chronicles of JPCVFAN: (1) Scans for the box and manual for the Asian-version release of Curse of 
Darkness for X-Box. (2) Scans for the limited-edition release of Castlevania (Lament of Innocence). (3) Two Circle of the Moon guides: NTT-PUB and 
Shinkigensya. (4) Two Harmony of Dissonance guides: NTT-PUB and Futabasya. (5) An Aria of Sorrow guide. (6) Three Lament of Innocence guides: NTT-PUB, 
Shinkigensya and Futabasya. (7) A strange "alternate" manual for Dracula 2: Noroi no Fuiin. (8) A Legacy of Darkness guide. (9) Scans for the Konami 
Dendo Selection re-release of Castlevania (Lament of Innocence). (10) Scans for the Konami the Best re-release of Sougestu no Juujika. (11) Scans for 
the Konami the Best re-release of Yami no Juin. And (12) scans for the Curse of Darkness official comic series: Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3.

I've been told that these represent the last of the submissions that we'll see from this particular contributor. If so, I think I speak for many in 
this information-starved and collector-rich community when I offer many thanks to JPCVFAN for what has been tireless work. The site is ten-times better 
than what it would have been without these offerings. (Of course, repeated thanks, also, to all others who have contributed over the years.)

The rest of the update (no surprise) belongs to that very group: (1) First is the must-play hack Chorus of Mysteries, which is a completely remade 
Castlevania featuring a new story and an atmosphere related more to Symphony and the current handheld titles. (2) Retro G shows off an impressive 
collection of games/items. (3) Crunkman has a reader review for Portrait of Ruin. (4) Zappsoft's MIDI-remix collection is two songs richer. (5) Zappsoft 
in between creating MIDIs strives to achieve. And (6) Balsamicosu sends in some Rondo of Blood official art (last images on the list, as usual).

I'll keep that (now-year-long) poll up one more month, which should cover for E3, where we may get our answer as to whether or not a series character 
will be appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Simon Belmont, Kid Icarus and Mega Man: Will the N-Team reunite this holiday season?

5/20/07- There has been a lot of material pouring in over the last three weeks, so let's get to it. We'll start by adding to the update list an 
honorary category: "The Chronicles of JPCVFAN," who continues to amaze with the sheer amount of updates.

From the man called JPCVFAN: (1) The Japanese-version Tiger Handheld release of Simon's Quest. (2) An ad for Simon's Quest. (3) A Dracula's Curse novel. 
(4) The Wai Wai World 2 box and manual. (5) The Wai Wai Racing box and manual. (6) The All-Series Scorebook collectible. (7) The original (untranslated) 
version of the Gekka no Yasoukyoku comic. (8) Official art for Aria of Sorrow and Curse of Darkness (newer entries are always placed in the bottom rows, 
of course). (9) The Lament of Innocence soundtrack. (10) The Japanese box, manual and pack-ins for the PS2 version of Curse of Darkness. (11) An update 
for what was actually "Bonus Material" for this specific release (and not a "promotional comic," as I had it). (12) There's the Akumajo Dracula Best 2 
soundtrack in two forms: First-release and re-release. (13) A Legends guide. (14) A Castlevania Chronicles guide. (15) From Konami's "The Best" 
re-release line for GBA titles in in Japan is the packaging for Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow. They share the same 
pack-ins. (16) Two Curse of Darkness guides: Konami Official Guide and Brady Games Guide. (17) Three Symphony guides: 
NTT-PUB, Futabasya and Shinkigensya. (18) Four Castlevania 64 guides: NTT-PUB, Futabasya, Shinkigensya and Millennium. (19) Scans for Konami Game 
Music Vol.1, which features Haunted Castle tunes. (20) The Akumajo Dracula Best first-release version. (21) Update for the Symphony official 
soundtrack and remixed soundtrack pages. And (22) a large update to the GBA Collection soundtrack page.

More is on the way.

Other contributors have also sent in some stuff: (1) There's the Dracula's Curse The Movie fan fiction, authored by Mike Nigrelli. (2) A new art 
page for Einhander. (3) Two B. Busta MIDIs: Poison Mind from Rondo of Blood and Prologue from Castlevania 64. (4) Crushwill does some for high-
scoring Castlevania and Dracula's Curse. (5) A Richter sprite sheet for the Saturn version of Symphony. (6) Connor Coburn adds "Red Richter" to his 
custom-sprite page. And (7) the start of a Dracula's Curse boss-strategy help file that may or may not grow larger.

5/1/07- Well, it looks like our favorite series has hit its first plateau: May 1st of 2007 marks its 20th anniversary. It was this date in 1987 
that Castlevania arrived on the NES and captured the heart of many a player; it has since resonated strongly across multiple platforms, spawning 
over twenty sequels--such entries include those titles that are considered to be some of the greatest games of all time. For such a tiny space, 
there's too much to say, which is why I've set up a new "special" in my multimedia page that reflects upon the series' twenty-year history. If you, 
the reader, have anything you'd like to contribute in celebration, send it in and I'll set up a page for it.

Konami celebrates the day (or the eve) by re-releasing the original title for Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console. I've got some screen captures for 
those out of the loop.

Other site updates: (1) The homebrew page has been bolstered a bit thanks to the additions of "Hacks" Orchestra of Despair and Bloodmoon plus 
"Rearrangements" Castlevania Quest and Dracula's Shadow. (2) There are slew of guide scans, courtesy of contributor Luv, for various titles 
including Vampire Killer, Dracula's Curse, Super Castlevania 4, Castlevania: Dracula X and Lament of Innocence. (3) Zorkwiz sends in a most 
interesting item: An interactive map for Symphony of the Night (made with the X-Box Live Arcade release in mind); Microsoft Excel users can get 
a glimpse of the future of game-mapping. (4) Thanks to JPCVFAN, there's a healthy dose of new material for Konami Wai Wai World, including the 
box and manual scans, the Konami-Pub guide, the Tokuma-Syoten guide, a special art book, and a trading card that came packed in. (5) The same 
contributor sends another rare goodie: The Syousetsu Akumajo Dracula novel, which was discontinued after one issue. And (6) there are now new 
box covers for the U.S. version of Legacy Darkness plus scans of a pack-in survey.

Multimedia stuff: The MIDI section now has a "remix" sub-category as currently occupied by label Crystal Moon (otherwise known as Zappsoft); six 
pieces are currently available. And newcomer Crushwill takes first place in high scoring for yet another Game Boy title.

4/17/07- I'll start off by mentioning the addition of my new Homebrews page, as placed in the games section. The featured title is Castlevania: 
Remix, which rearranges the NES classic Castlevania and provides for it some new challenges. Also moved onto this page are CastlevaniaRL, the fan-
made Java game, and the Flash titles that previously resided (and were definitely misplaced) within the links section.

Otherwise, it's a whole big ball of randomness that I'll neatly separate into two lists. Starting with normal site additions: (1) Contributor Kev's 
special feature "Castlevania Enemy Origins" (including its Demons sub-feature) has been updated with entries from Portrait of Ruin. Also, guest 
contributor B. Busta provides entries for Headhunter and Schmoo. (2) There are scans for the Portrait of Ruin official soundtrack. (3) Scans for 
Portrait's U.S. strategy guide. (4) Haunted Castle's arcade items have been sorted out onto two pages reserved for its Japanese and American 
counterparts (credit is needed for some forgotten contributors). (5) JPCVFAN provides a Dawn of Sorrow promotional sticker. (6) Too, he sends 
calendar shots for Curse of Darkness, Lament of Innocence and Chronicles. (7) Plus he expands upon previous Protogem contributions--the Super 
Castlevania 4 and Simon's Quest guides--and adds in scans for an Akumajo Dracula guide.

Now for multimedia entries: (1) The same JPCVFAN expands upon Protogem's Akumajo Dracula novel contribution. (2) There are a ton of new entries 
on the official art pages--for Castlevania, Simon's Quest, Dracula's Curse, Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the Night, Castlevania 64, Legacy of 
Darkness, Circle of the Moon, Harmony, Dawn of Sorrow, Curse of Darkness, and Dracula X Chronicles. (3) From Protogem comes some special character-
shot art that was used in the creation of Portrait of Ruin's recent Nintendo Power cover (as all new entries go, they're on the bottom of the 
listing). (4) Protogem's record-breaking collection page has also seen new updates. (5) The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies has a new chapter. (6) 
The "Toys and Hardware" sub-category of multimedia has been activated thanks to a keychain item as submitted by JPCVFAN. (7) Crushwill takes the 
high-scoring lead for Belmont's Revenge. (8) An anonymous contributor sends a special Japanese comic that was used in the promotion of Curse of 
Darkness. And (9) Zappsoft provides four new MIDIs for Akumajo Dracula X68000.

Brought to my attention is that certain contributors have continued to pluck items off of other sites and send them in as original works (going as 
far as to slightly manipulate the item to pass it off as something new). I'll need help, since you can see from my updating that I don't have the 
time to police the entire Castlevania community. If anyone spots such items, let me know so that I can give proper credit or remove the files 
entirely.

3/16/07- Sorry for the long delay--the Video Game Museum was in the process of a server change, and I've been swamped with submissions on an 
overwhelming level (plus I've been finishing up on games like Hotel Dusk, Sonic and the Secret Rings, and others). To answer guestbook entrant 
Anagntyr: Yes--any members from the previous message board will have to register a new account; it wasn't my decision, as I have no say as to what 
goes on with VGM's activities outside my hosted site.

On a quick news note: Symphony of the Night has finally seen its X-Box Live Arcade release, and it goes for 800 points. I don't have the system, so 
it would be appreciated if someone could send in captures of the related menus (as I've done with Super Castlevania 4, for example.)

Starting with normal site updates, in order of submission: (1) There are a bunch of new Rondo of Blood codes, which may be of heightened interest 
to those planning on purchasing the imminent re-release. (2) From Protogem comes random guide scans for Simon's Quest (via the game page) and Super 
Castlevania 4. (3) Protogem sends in, also, images and information pertaining to the unique choose-your-own-adventure Akumajo Dracula novel. (4) In 
the "Neglected Information" department: There's a tip for Legacy of Darkness on how to fight the Frankenstein Gardener as a boss, which is also 
mentioned on Franky's recurring boss page. (5) I've got some official art for the upcoming Dracula X Chronicles. (6) Kev supplies for the European 
version of Portrait the casing, manual (almost complete) and pack-in poster scans. And (7) Slogra's entry in the "Enemy Origins" Library feature 
has been updated with another possible connection.

Multimedia entries: (1) Protogem's collection has been twice updated, making the perennial collector once again the leader of the pack in light of 
a seemingly insurmountable front-runner. (2) Author Justin provides a new fan fiction titled The White Mages: A Celtic Woman/Castlevania Story. (3) 
There's a new custom-made sprite page for Connor, who sends us "The Nemesis" as he might have appeared in the canceled Bloodletting plus more. (4) 
There's a new sprite comic page for newcomer Supernatural124. And (5) Dan V. earns high-score placement in Rondo of Blood.

Aside from digital re-releases, which will include Castlevania's appearance on the Virtual Console, we're as far as new content all clear until 
September and the release of The Dracula X Chronicles (as if people haven't tired of the video game industry piling all big releases into a three-
month period, forcing consumers to miss many of their favorites). In the meantime, I'll be finishing up on Portrait or Ruin while continuing to 
upload your submissions.

2/1/07- So they day has finally come that Dracula X: Chi no Rondo has been announced for worldwide re-release. The lost PC Engine 
masterpiece returns as part of Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, which like the previous Castlevania Chronicles is a remake of a lost title; 
you can read about it on my New Game page or check the main source on my News Wire. In addition to the untouched original version of 
Rondo, included in the package is Symphony of the Night, which upon The Dracula X Chronicles' arrival will be its second 2007 re-release. 
While it's good to see that Konami has finally settled any legal entanglements and has finally decided to provide a series pillar that should 
never have gone unnoticed, I can't say that I'm happy about its system of choice.

Some Portrait of Ruin goodness while I'm here: (1) Its complicated tale has been added to the storyline section. (2) Its heroes have been 
added to the main heroes sub-section. (3) Its supporting cast has representation. (4) Dracula's allies appear all the same. (5) The Heroes' 
Evolution subsection has been redone (and not a moment too soon), revised completely in light of the official timeline. And (6) its stages have 
been listed, with descriptions, enemy listings, boss links and such (but of course without images). The review will appear sometime in the 
following three days. It should be noted, also, that the bios and story elements for all series characters have been rewritten/revised with in mind 
both Portrait of Ruin's enforcement of new canon and the official timeline that came packaged.

Contributions since the previous update include the revision of Sam Mills' essay The Best and Worst of Castlevania (which places Portrait of 
Ruin); the bolstering of Eric Roman's art page thanks to a new batch of works; and a new sculpture from Mark--the Peeping Eye, as seen in 
multiple titles.

1/11/07- Welcome to year number seven in the history of this site. How 'bout a couple of little changes to celebrate? In light of the release of 
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and more specifically the official timeline, I've had to reconsider and revise both the stories of Dracula and the 
Belmonts. So to clean things up a bit and restore some order, I redesigned both the Story of Dracula and Storyline sections--a frames-based 
approach that splits individual chapters (some rewritten) into single pages; some new graphics are included. As you can see, I'm still very 
much intent on continuing to include Sonia Belmont, whose inclusion only serves to muddle things up; still, I do my best to make sense of 
her appearance while making it conceivable under the current timeline.

As for Portrait of Ruin itself: In addition to the basic descriptions (the lesser enemies, bosses and supporting cast) as linked to from the game 
page, its enemies have found their way to all of the main lists, including lesser enemies, bosses and Dracula morphs. Updated, too, are the 
recurring boss pages for Death, Frankenstein, Medusa, Mummies, the Werewolf, Legion, Doppelganger and a new individual page for Dullahan. 
(Images, of course, will have to wait until a pixel-perfect solution arrives.) Also available is, yes, more official art. The game's story-related 
aspects will be updated once I have time to play through Portrait's main mission a second time--this so I can pick up all the little details. And 
then codes, reviews and other goodies will start pouring in.

Regular site updates: (1) Thanks to contributor Protogem, the pages detailing the computer-version ports of Castlevania have been fully fleshed 
out, with scans and information for all versions; solved, finally, is the mystery surrounding the Commodore Amiga version, which was thought to 
come in two versions. (2) I've corrected all discrepancies surrounding the character Camilla, who I had listed twice on the boss list (one for a 
basic appearance and another as wrongly mixed in with Castlevania: Dracula X's Skull Sorceress). Said Sorceress is now stand-alone while 
Camilla's entry has been made more generic in light of her debut on the Other Recurrences page. (3) Official comic strips for Curse of Darkness 
have been added. (4) In the area of magazine coverage, Protogem supplies an advertisement scan for Simon's Quest that came packaged with 
an issue of Nintendo Fun Club News.

And, finally, there are two bits of multimedia: Protogem's massive collection page has been updated with some recent items and others of rare 
distinction, and Dreamchaser becomes the first to super-achieve in Portrait of Ruin and as an extension score high.

12/26/06- As mentioned in the temporary mini-update last seen in this space, Portrait of Ruin updates have begun. Its game page is filling up 
with information, and its basic character descriptions will soon be completed. Of importance, too, are the pre-order bonus contents and the 
game's casing and manual. There are also more pieces from what seems like a never-ending string of official art and comic strips. Finally, for 
the Japanese version (Gallery of Labyrinth), comes the following scans from JPCVFAN: The casing, the manual, and the special calendar. 
There's obviously much more to come, including a heavy dose of site-wide revision in terms of the heroes' and Dracula's tales.

Super Castlevania 4 saw a Christmas-day re-release for the Virtual Console, so I went in and grabbed some screenshots of the Shop Channel 
previews. Since I have no plans to buy the game, as I already own it, I've made a request for anyone who has purchased it and can supply 
screen captures for the game's on-screen manual. Other site updates include scans for the official soundtrack for Aria and Dawn of Sorrow, 
and the Curse of Darkness castle comparison in Castleography. I've also cleaned up the links section, removing dead links while adding some 
new; if your site was one of those deleted but still exists at a new location, it means that I couldn't find the new one. You'll have to contact me 
with the new address.

Multimedia updates: (1) There's a new art page for previous game-dialogue supplier Sonia Tang. (2) There are new chapters to a few of The 
Crossman's fan fiction entries, including Darkness Never Dies, Castlevania Bloodlines and Castlevania Legends. (3) Sam's essay Best and 
Worst of Castlevania has been updated to include Portrait of Ruin. (4) There's both a new model and a special art piece on Mark's art page. 
And (5) Ninja Turtle 892002's collection page has some new additions.

And since it went without response, I'll repeat the request made in the last mini-update: Would the person who recently sent me an e-mail titled 
"other similarities" please re-send it--I got a little click happy and accidentally deleted it.

12/3/06- It's about time for a little pre-Portrait of Ruin update to clear the slate. As far as the Japanese version goes, I've added more official art 
and the special comics. Updates for the U.S. release of the latest DS title (mainly scans of packaging materials and basic information) should 
start appearing on its page around December 6th--that's if GameStop comes through for me, on which I wouldn't bet. For now, though...

Since it's basically a mess of random items, I'll condense all of this month's updates into one big numbered list: (1) From Guillaume the Castle 
Lord comes box cover and manual scans for the European version of Castlevania Double Pack. (2) The very same Guillaume supplies also the 
German and French manuals for Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge. (3) In addition, Guillaume flexes his collecting muscles and becomes by 
far the fiercest of collectors in a display that can't be missed. (4) Zappsoft has sent along more MIDIs--this time for Bloodlines and Castlevania 
64. (5) There's a new "Other Similarities" entry in Castleography, courtesy of Kev, for the Underground Waterfall. (6) B. Busta supplies a 
single MIDI from the FDS version of Akumajo Dracula. (7) Mega Matt now has his own animated sprite page. (8) The fan fiction Darkness Never 
Dies grows by another chapter. And (9), as a news request, the Java-based game CastlevaniaRL has seen another phase of evolution.

It should be noted, in light of October's GameTap announcement and Symphony's future XBLA appearance, that Castlevania's expansion into 
the digital world continues as of last night and the Japanese launch of Nintendo Wii, whose Virtual Console is home to the Super Famicom's 
Akumajo Dracula, which we know as Super Castlevania 4. No word yet on when it will see western release or if other series titles are to follow.

11/9/06- Since not much has been going on as we continue to wait for Portrait of Ruin (scheduled for a December 6th release), I should mention 
the biggest news story, which has the PC title Konami Collector's Series Castlevania & Contra coming to GameTap; you can read more about 
that on the story hosted on this site. Also of importance is the surprising boost given to Portrait or Ruin's pre-order package, which now 
includes an art book, a special stylus, a game case, and a long-overdue series timeline. The rest is your usual collection of Koji interviews 
and related wackiness, which you can locate here.

There are three site-related updates. First is the promised update to the Mr. P Castlevania Awards, which in light of the one-year waiting period 
now recognizes both Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. While neither managed to supplant a current award 
holder, both have made their way onto certain nominee listings; whether or not it's for due praise or scorn is for you to find out. Also addressed 
is the abnormality of having a "Ten Worst" list where appearing are rather good games; I've done away with the top-ten lists altogether (not 
simply in spite of there being more than twenty games) and have separated the groups into "Top Games," where any number of titles will find 
residence as long as they're within the cutoff point (usually at the 3½-out-of-5 range), and "Hall of Shame," where the obvious subjects will face 
eternal damnation.

Due to a unique submission by SiWoods, an old Gamefan review for Castlevania: Bloodlines, I've also added a "Magazine Coverage" category 
to each game page where necessary (like for those that host game guides). It's given me an excuse to remove from the "Scenes, Packaging 
Scans, etc." tables the Nintendo Power covers and such that were previously out of place. Finally, I've begun adding official art pieces for 
Portrait of Ruin; more will be added as soon as it becomes available on its official sites and when I begin scanning the pre-order art book (if 
GameStop doesn't screw up my order).

And now the multimedia entries: (1) From Zappsoft, a company whose talents include music composition, comes a whole lot of MIDI love. To 
hear their work, simply head to the MIDI page and listen to any file credited to Zappsoft; as per request of their creators, I've used the MIDIs to 
fill in unlinked song names on the respective stage pages. I'm told that a whole lot more music is on the way. (2) The collections of both 
Protogem and Ninja Turtle 892002 have been updated. (3) The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies is another chapter richer. And (4) there's a lot of 
activity on the High Scores page for the following games: Castlevania, Super Castlevania 4, Castlevania: Dracula X and Dawn of Sorrow.

It's been tough deciding whether or not I should include all of these Portrait of Ruin trailers on the newswire, since there are so many of them, 
but I've decided that it would be a good idea to start featuring such videos on the game pages themselves (which in the past was a no-no since 
video files were too large). Now thanks to the powers of YouTube, it can be pulled off without nary a megabyte wasted. So look out for those in 
the near future.


10/7/06- As we gear up for the release of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, series director Koji Igarashi makes the rounds and visits the usual array 
of enthusiasts and knuckleheads. If you haven't been keeping up, you can take it all in by visiting the News Wire. Other items include the 
opening of the Japanese Portrait site (soon to host official artwork and other goodies), a pre-order bonus soundtrack via GameStop, and the 
arrival of MSX titles on Nintendo's Virtual Console (with Vampire Killer its main implication).

Thanks to the response from Protogem, I was able to deal with some computer issues and get running my TV Wonder, which has allowed me 
to populate my newly added Curse of Darkness weapons page with Innocent Devil images and items related; other entries, like the weapon 
avatars, will like Lament of Innocence's have to wait until there exists a more potent method of capturing for next-gen systems. (I'd like to refrain 
from using the overly blurry snapshots that result from using the current method.) Additionally, Curse of Darkness' castle keep has been added 
to the Castleography section. Last on the agenda is to go back and grab some map images and display them on the code page and 
furthermore the Castleography section for a Dracula's-castle examination.

The rest of the updates are rather mixed, so I'll make a nice little list: (1) There are new Fierce Collector entries from Andrew Inge and 
Castlevania Enemy/Weapons Origins author Kev; updating his collection is the aforementioned Protogem. (2) There's a new art page for 
Yukiroche, whose first piece is a hand-drawn portrait of Curse of Darkness' Isaac; also, artist Mark sends in another impressive sculpture--the 
Blue Venus Weed from Symphony of the Night. (3) Sam Mills' existing essay Best and Worst of Castlevania has seen an update in light of 
some latest releases. (4) The Java-based game CastlevaniaRL, as linked to from here, has seen another update. (5) I had for the Saturn version 
of Dracula X: Nocturne the Playstation-version credits; this has been corrected via contribution, and the Saturn version now has its own credits. 
And (6) since there's too much to mention, I'll simply say that there are a load of new entries for and a lot of movement on the High Scores 
page. It's getting rather competitive.

In closing: The folks over at PressStartMovie.com were nice enough to send along a link to latest episode for Press Start: Bonus Levels (a 
monthly cartoon series that spoofs video games). This episode titled Symphony of the Trite lampoons our favorite series and does so in 
hilarious fashion. Guest starring as the voice of Lord Vlad is David Humphrey, who did the voice of Shadow in the original Sonic the Hedgehog 
titles. Series fans will enjoy it.

8/27/06- Thanks to the Leipzig Gaming Convention and other recent events, there's a whole lot of news making rounds. You can catch up 
with all of the latest events on my News Wire, whose recent updates include a lot of Portrait of Ruin goodness plus some surprising news. 
That is, while searching Konami's Japanese site for updates on Portrait, I stumbled across Konami's mobile subsite, which features for cell 
phones some new releases: The Japanese versions of Dracula's Curse and Kid Dracula plus Konami Wai Wai World. Since the pages are in 
Japanese, you can instead read about them on my site: Akumajo Densetsu, Akumajo Dracula Special: Boku Dracula-kun and Wai Wai World. 
We should expect, as Konami's site tells us, even more re-releases of classic games for cell phones.

Now for site updates: (1) I've added a page for Portrait of Ruin, which, as usual with prereleases, is pretty baron. This will of course change 
once the game comes out in November. (2) I've always felt that missing from the site was song listings for the games' respective soundtracks; 
this has been corrected, as each game page now features soundtrack information with links to already existing pages. Listed, too, as an aside 
are links for game credits. (3) A Curse of Darkness code page has been added, sans maps (I'll explain this in a bit). (4) Available for Lament of 
Innocence and Curse of Darkness is game dialogue via text files. And (5) the Evolution Skateboarding entry in cameos has been updated with 
new pictures of secret character Simon Belmont in action.

There's some multimedia madness raging about: (1) The "Fierce Collector" two-person race between Protogem and Stacy is now a three-way 
battle thanks to the arrival of Dreamchaser (up until then a high-scorer and achiever). Not to be outdone, Protogem responds with another 
collection update. It's highly recommended that any 'Vania fans check out these pictures, as they feature very rare items that might ignite that 
collector's itch. (2) There's a new fan fiction from Sam titled Legend of Sonia, its subject-matter obvious from the title. (3) The fan fiction 
Darkness Never Dies sees the addition of two new chapters. And (4) there's a new high scorer in the form of Nick L., who takes the Gold in 
Castlevania and the silver position in Castlevania: Dracula X.

Finished soon will be my Curse of Darkness weapons page, which is at this point about 75% complete. My ATI TV Wonder USB Edition has 
decided that it no longer wants to work (with the message "The TV player failed to initialize the video"), so I'm unable to grab shots of the 
Innocent Devils and such. This is especially frustrating, since the pages look so empty without them. If any technical wizards out there can 
help me to fix it, it would be greatly appreciated. All contact information can be seen atop this page.

8/4/06- I'd like to start by announcing a new addition to site called the "The News Wire," which you can see listed above. Since these, the 
site-enhancement updates, come infrequently and can thus leave holes where series-related news is concerned, the news wire will help fill the 
void to notify readers and Castlevania fans in general whenever news (like a Koji interview, an announced re-release, or anything of real interest)
 is released..

The first major story is that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night will be coming to the "X-Box Live Arcade" service in the first quarter of 2007. 
You can read about by going here and clicking the appropriate link. Concerning updates: Since it's become impossible for me, alone, to keep 
up with the ever-increasing flow of news, it would help if you, the site readers, were to drop me a line whenever a news item pops up so that I 
might get the word out (just as long as the item is not taken from any of those "rumor" sites that make stuff up).

As for site update: As the first step in the healing process of my "stage" section, I've eliminated the animated-GIF screenshots that decorate 
each page and have replaced them with slideshow-like presentations that feature four screenshots per stage (with the exception being three 
screenshots for stages/areas that are too truncated or too uninteresting, with "uninteresting" pretty much describing both castles in Harmony 
of Dissonance, whose whole listing gets this "special" treatment). I'll do this for the two N64 titles as soon as I can figure out why certain video 
plug-ins won't work with my Direct X setup. The non-N64 3D titles will have to wait a bit longer--until a certain means for pixel-perfect capturing 
presents itself.

The rest is multimedia courtesy of you, the readers: (1) Stacy's fierce collector page has been updated with many more items. (2) Not to be 
outdone, Protogem responds with even more tasty goodies for his collector page. (3) Not far behind is Luxkiller65, whose page has also been 
updated. (4) New collector Ninja Turtle 892002 joins the fun. (5) Dreamchaser's Circle of the Moon super achievements have now expanded to
 the Shooter and Thief modes. (6) Alucard's sprite-sheet page has depicted several new shots of his death animation, courtesy of Mega Matt. 
(7) Thanks to the efforts of GunBlade847, there's a new Gold leader in High Scores for Castlevania: Dracula X. And (8) the home-brew Java 
game CastlevaniaRL (listed in the links section) has seen its latest update, which you can find here.

7/3/06- Our most important item this month is Oretachi Geasen Zoku Sono 15: Akumajo Dracula, the Japan-only re-release of what we know 
as Haunted Castle. Provided by master collector Protogem are scans of the covers, the disks, the manual, the special guidebook and a lot 
more in the way of bonus material. Those of us in the west and in Europe will have to wait a whole lot longer if we're to experience the arcade 
classic on our home consoles.

Other site updates: (1) The Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse ending page (which I'm going to expand upon) has been updated with the "alternate 
credits," which you can earn by defeating the game with a special starting-name code (as seen listed on the code page as "Hard Mode"). (2) 
On the "Castlevania References" portion of the cameo section is a new entry for Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix. (3) I have for the European 
version of Curse of Darkness the promo CD and casing scans. (4) From the same Protogem comes an alternate casing scan for the Famicom
 version of Kid Dracula. And (5) after a long while, I've put up a new poll that asks which series character should appear in the upcoming Super 
Smash Bros. Brawl should Konami participate past the contribution of Solid Snake (who, incidentally, fought alongside a Belmont in DMTV: 
World Fighters, which would hint that he's bound to do so again). As for the previous poll, the majority of site readers would like to see 
Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse remade as a Chronicles' title.

In the way of multimedia: (1) There's a new essay from Sam Mills titled The Holy Grail of Castlevania. (2) The Crossman's fan fiction titles 
Darkness Never Dies and Castlevania Legends have some new chapters. The author also shares with us a new tale titled Castlevania 
Bloodlines. (3) There are more Mega Matt sprite comics. (4) MarcKal's Castlevania Rock fan fiction has been updated. (5) Protogem's Fierce 
Collector page has some new photos and thus newer items, which moves him to the top of the chart. (6) Coinciding are a new high score and 
special achievement for Aria of Sorrow, these by Cyberdragon. And (7) joining the Aria of Sorrow fun is Anonimus91136 with his own special 
achievement.

5/21/06-  There are a lot of new additions to mention, starting with Kev's "Castlevania Arsenal Origins" feature, which has seen its latest 
update; it now features weapons and items as found in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. Sam Mills provides the X-Box-version casing and CD 
scans for Curse of Darkness. Mark has sent in the manual scan for the U.S. version of the Castlevania Double Pack. And there are a few new 
bits of information for Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (of which you can see more via videos at sites like IGN and GameSpot).

I'll group up the rest in the usual numbered list: (1) There's a scanned placard for PlayChoice-10: Castlevania. (2) I've expanded upon Elisabeth 
Bartley's profile with some Japan-only details (as per request), and I've also added a profile for Drolta Tzuentes in light of some new findings. 
(3) There's a new tip/code for Symphony involving the game's very media, a fairly-well-known tidbit you'll find here under the name "Liberal 
Media." (4) The JP Bone Pillar represents the latest sculpture by Mark. (5) There's a new Fierce Collector in the form of Drac Fan. (6) Mega 
Matt shows off some more sprite comics. (7) Manuel De Jesus tells us of his Super Achievement for Dawn of Sorrow. (8) The very same 
Manuel also attains gold status for his top score in Castlevania: Dracula X. (9) James Haley, who owns a site to which mine links and vice 
versa, has requested that I mention an update to said site. And (10) as a previous oversight and relatively minor note, I've added the Phantom 
Bat to Castlevania's lesser enemy list. I usually refrain from doing this when a boss later becomes a minor enemy and does so unchanged, 
but there is an obvious difference in that the final-stage Phantom Bat spits fireballs.

Now that the E3 craziness is over and done with, I'd like to get back to a more normal schedule, which includes new material for even long-
forgotten (by me) site elements like the poll and Question of the Month (now-year, I guess). In the meantime, why not join discussions like 
these on the hopefully growing message board? We'd like to hear from you.

4/21/06- So the next series' entry, rumored to be "Dual Moons starring Julius Belmont," will instead come to us as Castlevania: Portrait of 
Ruin starring Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Orlean. This will be another Nintendo DS entry, following the acclaimed Dawn of Sorrow, and it's 
said to be on pace for a 2007 release. I've got some early tidbits on the New Game page.

This month's biggest update comes from contributor Kev, whose "Castlevania Enemy Origins" CV Library feature now has a sub-feature 
titled simply "Demons." From Protogem comes a scan for a 3.5-inch floppy disk (as opposed to the 5.25-inch disk) for the IBM PC version 
of Castlevania. Bryant has supplied two new MIDIs for Dracula's Curse. There are three new chapters to the Crossman's fan fiction Darkness 
Never Dies. Mega Matt's sprite comics page has some new material. And the same Mega Matt is now a fierce collector.

I should also note an update to the Curse of Darkness page, which as the series' first true multiplatform release has unique to it a new 
category: The obviously named "Multiplatform Differences." The information is courtesy of Sam Mills, who owns both the PS2 and X-Box 
versions. As soon as I can find the motivation, I'll finish up on Curse of Darkness' code and weapons pages.

3/18/06- No real progress made on my part (as my leisure time continues to decrease rapidly), but contributed are scans for the casing, 
manual (poster included) and pack-ins for Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. Its release in Europe is recent, contributor Kev informs me, 
which in considering other late European releases of its kind tells us that the video game industry still doesn't get it. Also from Kev, in the 
area of Curse of Darkness, comes an update to one of his two superb CV Library features: Castlevania Enemy Origins. I'm told to expect a 
similar update for the game's weapons (in the Weapons Origin feature).

As for the rest: (1) The CV Library entry Castlevania: The Family Tree has been restructured thanks to two new illustrations (speculative, like 
all the rest) from contributor Belmont Yang. As a result, the page is now broken up into two frames, which allows the viewer access to 
individual files at a time. (2) Mega Matt's sprite comics page has been updated with seven new works. And (3) the creator of the Java game 
CastlevaniaRL, which can be found by following a link in links section, is proud to announce an update to his game. On the subject: I'm 
thinking about making a new category in the games section for fan-created Flash/Java games, which seem out of place in the links section 
(as targets of links, that is).

Finally, while I don't speak in favor of or against the new Castlevania movie, I've been asked to provide a link to this petition, where expressed 
can be discouragement as to the circumstances surrounding its creation. Click the link for more information.

2/25/06- I know--it's been too long. It's tough to get back into this after being away for a month. To celebrate, I have ready for Castlevania: 
Curse of Darkness a review and entry into the storyline section. I hope to have at least a code page ready by the next update (the weapons' 
page is going to take a ton of work).

The rest are items sent sent in by you: (1) There are new sprite sheets ready for the characters of Kid Dracula plus updates to the enemies of 
Rondo and the enemies of Symphony. (2) From the composer B. Busta comes three new Castlevania 64 MIDIs. (3) There are some new 
official comics for Dawn of Sorrow. (4) A new fan fiction from MarcKal titled Castlevania Rock. (5) Updates to the fan fiction Darkness Never 
Dies. (6) The same for fan fiction Castlevania Legends. And (7) a new fierce collector in the form of Chris Keef.

If anyone, from anywhere in the world, has recently picked up the the Castlevania Double Pack, you could help beef up these updates--there 
are still items to which I'm without access. Hurry over to the Request List and see if you could help a brother out.


1/19/06-  This is an abbreviated update for a reason I'll explain at the end. Most notably, I've split the second game page (originally reserved 
for Chronicles' entries) into two categories: The remaining Chronicles and "Compilations." Listed under the latter is Konami Collector' Series: 
Castlevania and Contra and the latest release--Castlevania Double Pack for the GBA, which for now is represented by contributed box scans; 
related scans are still under request. You can still reach the compilation pages on the normal game pages for Castlevania, Simon's Quest, 
Aria of Sorrow, and the like.

The rest is made up of contributed material: (1) The sprite sheet for Julius Belmont (Dawn of Sorrow) is up. (2) There's a new custom-made 
sprite page for Mega Matt. (3) There are more character shots in Dawn of Sorrow's official art. (4) There are five official comic strips (written in 
Japanese) for Dawn of Sorrow . (5) The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies has seen another update. And (6) from the same author comes yet 
another new tale titled Castlevania Legends.

Just a note to anyone who's planning on sending something in: I'm going to be away for the week of January 20th, so no one will be around 
to receive e-mail, and it may expire from going unread for so long. It would be best to hold off sending anything until the 28th. So if four or five 
sequels are announced during that time, don't worry--I'll get word of it.

1/7/06- Another year gone already? Wasn't that update about "the decade being half over" just a couple of weeks ago? If you care, please 
click here.

Because of all the holiday craziness, I'm having trouble getting back into the swing of things in regard to Curse of Darkness, but everything 
promised in the previous update will be delivered upon once things settle down. For now, I switch back to Dawn of Sorrow, from which there 
are a scant number of sprites ready thanks to contributor Olrox Shade. You can find these on its game page, its unique supporting cast page, 
Dracula's allies, its code page, the Alucard page, Dracula morphs, the boss page (and here), and a few other places. Also of interest are sprite 
sheets for the following characters: Soma, Yoko, Julius, Arikado, Celia, Dario, Dmitrii, Evil Soma, Hammer and Mina. Some, like Hammer's, 
will naturally expand in time.

There's a big addition to the multimedia section's "Random Sprite" page in the form of sprite sheets (or updates to existing pages), which 
can be found for the following characters: Soma, Julius, Juste, Maxim, Trevor, Sypha, Grant, Alucard, Simon, John Morris, Aria's supporting 
cast, Simon's Quest characters, Super Castlevania 4 enemies, Castlevania: Dracula X enemies, Rondo of Blood enemies, Aria of Sorrow 
enemies and Camilla. There are also pages for the weapons of Dracula's Curse and Circle of the Moon cards.

Also in the way of multimedia: There's a new entrant in the Fierce Collector race. Curse of Darkness makes its debut on the High Score 
page. And there's a new fan-made custom banner by Vampire Killer X.

The GBA double pack, featuring Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow, arrives on January 10th. I'm probably going to have to change 
the second game page--which was to be reserved for entries into the Castlevania Chronicles sub-series, which seems to be on hold--to a 
compilation listing. Though, since I have no plans to buy any version of it, I'm going to have to request that someone contribute the scans 
and whatnot. This, and any other contributions, would be a gigantic help. For now, I'm all Castlevaniad out.

12/15/05- I've been a little burned out on games lately, so pardon the long absence. Too many games in such a short stretch has a way of 
adversely affecting the enjoyment of all games. You probably didn't come here to read that, so let's get underway with the newest Curse of 
Darkness additions from the last thirty-plus days: Its game page is almost complete (I just need to receive word on Japanese/European 
differences). Its heroes (Hector and Trevor) have been added to the appropriate pages. The supporting cast (and here) and Dracula allies 
have been added; imagery for these characters will come soon. Its bosses now appear on the Next Generation boss list, on the game's 
individual boss list, and on the available recurring boss pages; there's a new page for Minotaurus thanks to its appearance here. Its minor 
enemies have been listed; they'll eventually start appearing on the "Next Generation Lesser Enemy" list, too. Images have been added for 
Dracula's morphs. Its stage page is up. Provided are scans for its official soundtrack. And, in case I didn't mention it last month, its two intro 
sequences and its ending are present.

There's a lot more to come. Expected next should be a storyline update and my personal review followed later by a very detailed weapons 
page, codes, Castleography instances, and much more.

As usual, there are other new additions: (1) As per request, I've tweaked the Official Art pages to separate character shots from desktop 
wallpaper. While they're still active, I went to Konami's separate sites and finishing collecting all of the different-sized versions so that there's 
more than one choice. Of course, there are plenty of new art pieces present as a result. (2) The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies has a couple 
of new chapters. (3) Its author also brings you a new tale titled simply Castlevania. And (4) contributed by Belmontvlad is a new custom-made 
banner.

For those who don't know, Konami will early next year be releasing a GBA double pack that combines into one cart Harmony of Dissonance 
and Aria of Sorrow--the two titles made by the former KCET. To celebrate, you can view this YTMND that I wasted time making. Also, blue 
shells are the scourge of existence. Discuss.

11/12/05- I don't have much for it yet, but updates for Castlevania: Curse of Darkness are under way. Its game page has been filled in with 
information. Its PS2 casing and manual have been scanned. There are a couple new official art pieces. And there's the first character update 
in the form of Dracula morphs. Much more, including a whole slew of images, will be available by the next udpate.

Continuing with Dawn of Sorrow coverage: I've posted a review. I put up an intro page, which is as far as I could get with actual screenshots; 
though, it won't be long before I can start snapping more important shots. A weapons page (or "pages") has been added, detailing the soul 
system, the equippable weapons, "Soul Synthesis," the "Library" entries, and soon the seals. There's a code page. Kev's "Weapon Origins" 
CV Library feature has been updated with its weaponry (plus some other weapon updates). All of the game's dialogue has been typed out by 
Shadow of Jaster. And JPCVFAN brings you scans for its Japanese casing and manual plus some samples from its official Japanese guide.

I finally got to finish Alucard's storyline mission in Nocturne in the Moonlight (Sega Saturn version, obviously), so I have a few minor 
updates in this area: (1) Its "Japanese Differences" category (on its game page) has been updated with screenshots of the two Japan-
exclusive familiars; and since they also appear in later Playstation versions, you can see them, also, on the Symphony weapons page--
with descriptions. (2) The Maria boss description is better described now that I've seen it. (3) Its "exclusive weapons and items" page has 
been updated with weapon locations. (4) There are shots of Alucard using the exclusive weapons on his sprite page. And (5) there are some 
more general screenshots--one for the Maria battle, naturally.

And there's some random stuff: The European manual scan for Legacy of Darkness has been contributed. There's a scanned pamphlet for 
the FDS version of Akumajo Dracula. There are some new official art pieces for Circle of the Moon. There are new high-score entries for 
Castlevania and Aria of Sorrow. And due to recent events, my "Requests" and "To Do" lists have been updated.

Finally, there's the Castlevania movie of which the 'Vania community is probably well aware. In case you've been living in an abyss (or a 
subterranean hell), here's the official news: http://playstation2.joystiq.com/entry/1234000763066483. (Thanks to P.K. for the link.) You just 
hope that it isn't dismissed by critics and movie-goers as "another Van Helsing," which kind of stole its thunder in a bad way.

10/27/05- It's a Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow blowout, and there's plenty of new material to read through and view. I'll used a numbered list: 
(1) Its game page is largely complete, with all-around information provided; the character "lists," too, have all been supplied descriptions. 
(2) Its heroes have been added/updated. (3) The Heroes Evolution page has seen a resulting update, with some corrections made to the 
whole "absorbing Dracula's powers" issue. (4) Its supporting cast members have been noted. (5) The Dracula's Allies page has seen the 
same treatment. (6) Dracula's story has been updated--a new chapter titled "Demise of the Soul"--to accommodate storyline elements 
from the two recent titles. (7) The Dracula forms page is home to Soma Cruz' transformations from "Julius Mode." (8) Alucard's page now 
covers his Dawn of Sorrow exploits. (9) Its bosses can now be found on the main boss list. (10) Its recurring bosses are listed on the 
appropriate pages. (11) Its unique minor enemies have worked their way onto the main lesser enemy list. (12) The story section now 
documents Soma's latest adventure. (13) The descriptions for the stages 

is complete. (14) Contributor Kev has updated his Enemy Origins feature with Dawn of Sorrow's selection in mind. (15) Its U.S. manual 
and box cover have been scanned. And (16) there's some new official art, taken directly from Konami's Japanese site.

Coming soon will be my review and a tip-filled code page, with a lot more to follow. And, of course, imagery (sprites, mainly) will be 
supplied when the means for creating them become available. I have one question, though, for U.S. Dawn of Sorrow owners: Did your 
copy come with a poster or some type of pack-in? I ask because I for some reason got two instruction manuals.

There are other updates: The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies is now three chapters longer. The High Scores page has been updated 
with the first entry for Chronicles. And there are two super achievements for Dawn of Sorrow--one for the conventional attaining of Level 
99 status, and another for a similar feat in "Julius Mode."

For those interested in exploring further the unknown relationship between Matthius Cronqvist and Dracula: Reader Congo Joe points to 
this official art piece of Soma Cruz, wherein he's wearing the very same Crimson Stone. It's through this find that Koji and the gang's 
storytelling starts to make more sense. If Soma Cruz was able to become the "Dark Lord," Dracula's successor, through the absorption 
of his powers, then Vlad Tepes had to have done the same to Matthius, who was the original "Dark Lord." So, in a way, Dracula could 
be the 800-year-old they've made out to be if all that counts is his source of dark power.

So Castlevania: Curse of Darkness will be arriving November 1st. Combined with a confirmed follow-up for the DS, a promised "next-
generation" title, and the upcoming animated series celebrating Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse, it promises to be a busy time for our 
ever-growing series. In closing: Please endure another quick plug for my Castlevania Awards feature, for those who missed it.

10/15/05- At long last, the "Mr. P Castlevania Awards" have finally been handed out. If you feel so inclined, you can read through the 
feature (located in "Essays and Specials") to find out which games I think are the best--both in terms of individual categories and in 
comparison to each other. You'll hopefully be entertained by what was a lot of fun to make.

I got Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow a little late, so I've been lagging a bit. I'll reserve my judgment until I've had a chance to completely 
finish the game and write up a review. In the meantime, its game page will slowly find itself filled with information, a process that has 
already started. There's a lot of work to be done. I should note, though, that those trying to avoid spoilers should stay away from this site's 
Dawn of Sorrow-related pages.

We're entering a new age where these games are being played on more and more advanced hardware, so the capturing of images is 
becoming an increasingly difficult task. It may be quite a while before I can nab quality sprite-rips from Dawn of Sorrow or even the 
upcoming Curse of Darkness--that is, not until I can play them on a computer. The same goes for Lament of Innocence, whose pages I'm 
not touching again until this is a reality. In due time, however, I'll have this material ready.

Some other quick bits: (1) There's a new "tip" available for Symphony of the Night; it's called "Malpractice Makes Imperfect," and it looks 
at a transformation abnormality. (2) The fan fiction Darkness Never Dies has been updated with two new chapters. (3) There's a first entry 
for a Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse high score. And (4) there's a new silver-medal holder for high scores in Castlevania.

9/24/05- Not much going on as we await the arrival of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, which has so far been getting rave reviews. The 
official date is Oct. 4th, which means it'll be arriving here on the 6th or 7th. Is it as good as advertised, or is at work the gaming populace's 
Castlevania-automatically-equals-greatness mantra? I can't wait to find out. For the meantime: Xzimondorf has quickly readied and 
supplied scans for the European version of Dawn of Sorrow; we have the front and back box cover, the a manual scan, and a pack-in 
poster.

A couple of other little bits: (1) There's a new fan fiction by Angel Santiago titled Castlevania: The Movie, which even features its own title 
poster. This type of unique touch is always encouraged. (2) There's a new "tip" for Castlevania: Bloodlines called "Mindless Slaughter," 
which warns us not to underestimate even decapitated harpies. And (3) in the form of Anonimus91136, there's a new Gold leader in high 
scores for the already present Castlevania: Dracula X and the newly listed Haunted Castle and Bloodlines. Also, the sender takes the 
Silver position in Castlevania.

Things will start picking up around here when Dawn of Sorrow arrives. It will surely demand a lot of work.

8/26/05- Well, Dawn of Sorrow is now playing to Japanese audiences. Frequent contributor Sam Mills has imported the game and has 
supplied this early review (spoiler warning) for the reader review section. In short, the reviewer calls it "the best game since Symphony 
of the Night." Dawn of Sorrow will arrive here in October.

As for traditional updates: The cameo section, by way of "Borrowed Elements," is now home to another related game--Pyuu to Fuku! 
Jogger Byuu to Deru! Megane-Kun, the ridiculously named GBA title from Konami. Several game pages now feature Japanese translations 
for the manuals' stories; these include Castlevania, Simon's Quest, Dracula's Curse, Super Castlevania 4, Bloodlines, Castlevania 
Adventure, Belmont's Revenge, Vampire Killer and Haunted Castle (a tape, in this case). Only by reading the translations can we 
understand that the storyline is a lot more interesting and coherent than western localization would have you believe. The page for the 
canceled title Castlevania: Resurrection has been updated with a few new videos (look under "Official Site Updates"). The fan fiction 
Darkness Never Dies has been updated with two new chapters. And there's a new fan fiction by Sam Mills titled The Planting.

In the way of multimedia: (1) There's more in the way of official artwork for Dawn of Sorrow. (2) There are three new reader views for the 
respective GBA titles--Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow. (3) The "Fierce Collector" section has a new 
champion in the form of Stacy. (4) There is on Mark's art page a new sculpture--the Melty Zombie from Harmony. (5) Dreamchaser's 
Circle of the Moon "Super Achievement" entry has been updated with proof of maxed-out stats for the more difficult Fighter and Magician 
modes. And (6) the Question of the Month has yet another new entry.

8/4/05- There are a lot of multimedia additions to mention, but I'll start with traditional site updates: The "Other Similarities" portion of 
Castleography has a new entry--"The Meeting Room," which highlights one of the more obvious connections between Symphony and 
Harmony. The Aria of Sorrow weapon listing (its second page, specifically) now features screenshots/animations for Enchanted Souls, 
where available; these can be seen by clicking the word links. And the fan fiction Darkness Never Dies has grown by two chapters.

As for multimedia: (1) There's a scanned soundtrack cover plus manual and spine card for the Japanese version of Castlevania 64. (2) 
There are also such scans for the Japan-only compilation soundtrack for Rondo, Akumajo Dracula X68000 and Bloodlines. (3) There's a 
whole bunch of new official art for Harmony, Lament and Akumajo Dracula X68000. (4) There are first entries for Super Castlevania 4, 
Symphony and Harmony in "High Scores." (5) The scan for the comic The Belmont Legacy #5 is up. First-time reviews are still welcome 
for this issue and the two previous. (6) Mark's art page has seen the addition of a new model--one for the dreaded Nova Skeleton. (7) 
There's a new reader review for Aria of Sorrow. (8) The "Question of the Month(s?)" has a new response from the famed Sam Mills. And 
(9) there's a new entry for "Custom-Made Sprites"--the unique Hall of Vampires, a page for level-editing contributor Seiryu.

Finally, as requested, I'd like to mention this petition by two concerned fans. This movement is meant to encourage Koji Igarashi to take 
what he feels is a risk. In his words, he doesn't want to "put out the lights" as to the side-scrolling future of the series and would like to 
produce such titles on even the mega-powerful consoles; though, he has reservations about making such a commitment due to perceived 
economic factors, not to mention sad displays of gamer superficiality. If you're so inclined, you can show our friend that his vision for 
excellent 2D and 3D works side by side is not, indeed, a pipe dream.

7/2/05- To start the parade of randomness, there's more in the way of game dialogue; included in the fray are Simon's Quest, Dracula's 
Curse, Belmont's Revenge and Castlevania: Dracula X.

I've whipped up temporary logos for the two upcoming titles, Dawn of Sorrow and Curse of Darkness. For Castleography (Other Instances, 
specifically), there are two new updates: A completely new entry called "Hall of Mirrors," and an addition to "The Expanded Entrance" in 
the form of Aria of Sorrow. In addition to my biyearly editing of the most pronounced written material (as seen in the story section and in 
"heroic evolution"), I supplied to the Supporting Cast and Dracula's Allies pages a small graphical update. Small changes are always 
being made, as you may have noticed for the table backgrounds site-wide. And my links page has been cleaned up--there are some new 
entries, and dead links have been cleared away.

In the area of multimedia: (1) There's a new gold-crown leader, Mat, for all available categories in High Scores; these include Castlevania, 
Super Castlevania 4, Castlevania: Dracula X, Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow. (2) The scan for the comic Castlevania: The Belmont 
Legacy #4 is up. And (3) there are new answers for the Question of the Month.

So this year's half over already? Didn't I just ask something like this recently? Scary.

6/9/05- It's another of those in the line of random updates. The biggest addition, this time, is contribution in the way of game dialogue. 
Supplied to the relevant pages are text files that transcribe character conversations. These are available for Castlevania Legends, 
Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness, Symphony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow. Lament of 
Innocence should definitely see the same treatment, and there may be one for Simon's Quest, too.

In the way of site improvements: It's an unfortunate instance when misinformation is present, as it was for the Game Boy and Game Boy 
Color versions of Konami's compilation packages, which included entries for Adventure and Belmont's Revenge. The Konami Classics and 
Konami Game Boy Collections were available to only Japan and Europe respectively. This has been fixed for all four instances, and each 
version can now be found on separate pages with updated screenshots. Also, I fixed up the N64 weapons page a bit, and it now features 
screenshots for Legacy's exclusive sub-weapon power-ups. Additionally, the two N64 titles' game pages now showcase complete 
localized logos/title screens.

The rest is multimedia: (1) The scan for the comic Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy #3 is up. (2) I've activated the "High Scores" page 
with two of my own entries; the page features a bit of a crossover in terms of the RPG title achievements that also find residence under 
"Super Achievements," and it's all explained within the link. (3) Protogem, the supplier of most of the site's rarest items, shows off a 
"Fierce Collector" photo, which represents the largest collection to this point. (4) There's a new Ray banner. (5) There's a new art page 
for the contributor Joe Torres. And (6) there's a new answer for the "Question of the Month."

5/18/05- I can't hold off the update any longer, so let's just say that the newest Kev-created CV Library feature, "Castlevania Enemy 
Origins," is in just-about-finished form. Needless to say, the contributor offers another topnotch presentation.

On the news front: The new DS title Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow 2, as it was known, now has an official name: Castlevania: Dawn of 
Sorrow. All references on the site have been changed appropriately. Also, for some reason, Konami is now bringing Castlevania: Curse 
of Darkness to the X-Box. Great job, yes--bring the game to two consoles whose fanbases will ignore it.

There are the usual random updates: (1) There are two new additions to "Other Similarities" in the Castleography section--these include 
Cerberus and collapsing-bridge themes. This subsection now stretches to three pages in the process. (2) There are new codes for 
Akumajo Dracula X68000 / Chronicles, which include wyrm-taunting and a secret room. (3) A couple of new codes for Symphony, 
whose page has seen an increase in accompanying screenshots. And (4) a new official art piece for Curse of Darkness.

And there's some in the way of multimedia: (1) Two answers for the Question of the Month ("How would you take the series into 3D?"). 
(2) The scanned cover for the comic Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy #2, which is accompanied by a review from its very same 
contributor. Additional reviews are welcome. (3) The Crossman's fan fiction, Darkness Never Dies, has seen its latest update. 
(4) MarcKal supplies the first game-related reader review, and it's for Symphony of the Night. (5) MarcKal's sprite comic page has also 
seen an update. And (6) the "Super Achievement" page for Castlevania Masters has an addition for Circle of the Moon--another in the 
line of maximized heroes.

4/14/05- I'd be remiss if I didn't start off by mentioning the addition of "Castlevania Arsenal Origins," a new Castlevania Library feature 
brought to you by the studious contributor Kevin. You'll within this excellent feature find information and imagery for the weaponry found 
in the RPG-based titles (Symphony and the like). I'm told to expect a similar feature for the series' many enemy characters.

There's a page set up for the new comic book series, Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy, which entails a reader review, a cover scan, 
and a "writer interview" (also via scans). It'll be broken up into separate pages as more information becomes available. This page can be 
found in both "Comics" and in "Reader Reviews."

The rest is random: (1) I put up a page for Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. There's obviously very little in the way of information, but 
present are eight screenshots. (2) There's (finally) a new "Question of the Month," which asks how you, the Castlevania fan, would bring 
the series into 3D. (3) I've put up a new poll that asks what game, besides Rondo of Blood, should be up for a Chronicles remake. The 
winner of the old poll, which asked for the readers' favorite series other than "Castlevania," was The Legend of Zelda; this isn't a surprise 
considering its popularity. (4) There's a new Sam fan fiction titled Turn Back Now, which tests Simon Belmont's mental state as he 
battles against possibly his greatest foe. (5) There's a new entry onto the "Castlevania Masters" list--a super achievement from Sven 
in regard to Aria of Sorrow. And (6) a sprite comic from MarcKal, which heads up a new category on the "Random Sprites" page (a quick 
warning, though, that the comic features mature content).

3/25/05- "More random stuff?" you ask. Why, yes. There's a whole new batch of official art, with anywhere from one-thirty new pieces for 
the following games: Simon's Quest, Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the Night, Legacy of Darkness, Lament of Innocence and Curse of 
Darkness. In order to accommodate this now-large and slow-loading selection, I've had to split one page into two. The latest entries, as 
always, are last on the list.

I'll put everything else in the usual giant list, for neatness' sake: (1) The Akumajo Dracula X68000 (and Chronicles) regular and breakable-
brick secrets are just about finished. There will eventually be more in the way of "Second Quest" secrets. (2) An American version of 
Castlevania has been released for play cell phones--it emulates the Japanese second iteration. You can find information on how to 
download and play it on this page, where I've provided links. (3) The Classic NES: Castlevania manual (U.S. version) has been scanned 
and contributed by JPCVFAN. (4) From the same contributor comes an update to the Rondo of Blood guidebook page, which has been 
supplied sample shots of the Official Guide Book that accompanies the strategy guide appendix. (5) The Belmont's Revenge code page 
has been updated with all the remaining breakable-brick secrets and a new tip called "Holy Light." (6) A pack-in ad for the European 
version of Lament of Innocence has been contributed. (7) The Crossman's fan fiction, Castlevania: Darkness Never Dies, has been 
updated with a new chapter (all of page three, in short). And (8) there are new entries onto the Super Achievement page, by way of Vlad 
Cyodar Belmont, for Symphony of the Night and Lament of Innocence.

Some closing notes: I'll soon put up a page for Curse of Darkness, however bereft of material it may be. Also, I'll try to give life to my 
forgotten (by me) poll and Question of the Month, which is more a Question of the Year. And, eventually, I'll finish up on my "Castlevania 
Awards"--hopefully before Aria of Sorrow 2's release. What's fun in idea is sometimes very boring to produce.

3/14/05- This update features more randomness. I'll start with the lone scan entry: The contributed manual for the European iteration of 
Classic NES: Castlevania for the GBA.

As for the ongoing site improvements (or "Operation: Eliminate Suck," as I call it) and fact corrections: (1) I've gone over the respective 
game pages and have rewritten the objectives and overviews, the Japanese/European Differences, the hero limitations, and anything else 
that was lacking. (2) The Alucard page, too, has been rewritten. (3) The CV Library's Credit's List has been restructured, and I hope to 
supply pertinent information to accompany the credits; one "Special Note," spurned by the newest listing for Castlevania: Legacy of 
Darkness, is already listed, and more will follow. (4) The individual weapons pages (like Symphony's, for instance) have been spaced out 
and updated to include all of the weapon/item locations and drop points that were previously unlisted. In relation, the unobtainable item 
"Skull Key" has been moved off of Aria of Sorrow's weapon page and onto its Unused Items page. (5) Story information for Rosa (from the 
N64 titles) has been updated site-wide because I missed--or, rather, forgot about--the events following Reinhardt's ascension to the clock 
tower's top.

And then there are other additions: There's a new "Other Similarities" Castleography instance for the recurring dungeon, and the "Outer 
Ruins" instance has been updated to accommodate Aria of Sorrow. I've begun adding "breakable brick" treasures to the Akumajo Dracula 
X68000 code page (and to Chronicles, for that matter); more will follow shortly. Mark's art page has been updated with some excellent new 
models (a merman, corpseweed and a tombstone, specifically). The Crossman's fan fiction, Castlevania: Darkness Never Dies, has seen an 
update. And there are more entries into the series of Ray banners.

In closing, I'd like to note, as I have on the message board, that the Castlevania series now has its own official comic book, which you can 
learn more about by clicking the link (thanks to DarkCode for this information). As is usual in the case of new media, any cover scans would 
be appreciated--that is, as long as they're personally made and not taken from other websites.

2/27/05- It's not much right now, but I set up a page for Aria of Sorrow 2. It's mostly official screenshots and some links to the already 
noted artwork. I'll put up a page for Curse of Darkness as soon as more media becomes available.

Since the rest of the updates are completely random, I'll present them in giant list form: (1) The full Dream Mix TV: World Fighters manual is 
up. (2) Supplied is the back box cover for the European version of Dracula's Curse; also, an alternate (French) front cover has been accepted 
and posted because there's a slight difference. (3) There's a whole slew of new official art for Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness, which 
includes some rare pieces and characters who never made it to the final versions. (4) Since I was given the game Van Helsing (PS2 version) 
as present, I captured two shots of the library, where the Belmont name is referenced. (5) There's a new Sam essay titled Taking the Easy 
Road for Castlevania, which examines why the author feels that system exclusive are unwise. (6) There's a new collection photo page for 
Fierce Collectors, this from Malte, and it contains any number of random items. (7) There's a new art page for artist J Cade, who 
contributes four well-done comic-style pieces. (8) Theare are more Ray banners. And (9) MarcKal's fan fiction The Rather Pointless 
Castlevania Adventure has been updated with a new chapter.

Additionally, I rewrote all of the descriptions for the hero characters, which was well overdue. It's all a part of my continuing effort to replace 
the rushed and lazily-thrown-together written work residual from the early years of this site. Though, the stage descriptions, which are 
particularly tragic, will have to for now suffice until I'm able to restructure the entire site section and make better use of the mapped-out 
images.

2/3/05- I don't have enough information to start individual pages for the two upcoming titles (all of the available screenshots and videos can 
be found at IGN or GameSpot, but I don't like using logo-branded media), but there is some official artwork for both Aria of Sorrow 2 and 
Curse of Darkness.

There a lot of new scans to be seen, all contributed: (1) The GBA box cover for Classic NES 12: Castlevania, which is the European 
version. (2) The Japanese back box cover for Castlevania Adventure. (3) The Japanese manual for Castlevania Adventure. (4) The Japanese 
back box cover for Belmont's Revenge. (5) The Japanese manual for Belmont's Revenge. (6) The Japanese box cover and cart for Legacy of 
Darkness. (7) The Japanese manual for Legacy of Darkness. (8) The casing and CD for the related Dream Mix TV: World Fighters. (9) And 
its relevant manual pages, which may increase in number. It just keeps whittling away.

There are some other site improvements and additions: First is a new addition to the family tree CV Library entry--a more family exclusive 
but illustrated version to complement the existing text version (this has been contributed by Belmont Yang). There are a lot of improved 
sprites and new additions (which I've overlooked) to the unique lesser enemy lists for all games, with the concentration on Symphony, 
Bloodlines and Aria of Sorrow. In the way of multimedia, there's a new Ray banner. And, finally, in an effort to keep the naming of 
characters more accurate, I've started the process by changing all references to the Dracula X "Raging Bull" to its rightful name: The 
Behemoth (as seen on this page).

1/24/05- This is a "news" update, as such things can't be ignored. From Carl comes news of another new game coming to the PS2: 
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. Details can be found on the "New Games" page (screenshots and general information). I would have had 
more on this yesterday, but these games are getting so confusing in premise that it's better to wait. A "Devil Forgemaster"? Right. In short: 
"Following the adventures of Trevor Belmont" is the frightening placement, Lament's formula seems to be center stage, and the heroes are 
indeed white-haired. I did have more to say about this latest development--none of it too kind--but I decided, at the behest of the very same 
Carl (who should own half this site considering his enormous contributions) that I want to give Konami one last chance to prove to me that 
its games aren't becoming casual tripe.

Three quick site updates while I'm here: (1) First, there are contributed casing scans for the original release version of Symphony of the Night. 
(2) I've broken up the cycling "title screen" images on each game page and have separated them from the others (as "localized title screens"), 
which makes for easier viewing (like on this page, for example). Games with no foreign equivalent, like Rondo and Akumajo Dracula X68000, 
won't get this treatment for obvious reasons, and it's course all unfinished until I can capture the Japanese title screens of Castlevania 64, 
Legacy of Darkness and Lament of Innocence. And (3) upon request, I've added two sprites of "Zombie Trevor" from Symphony of the Night, 
which Fake Trevor becomes when Fake Sypha resurrects him.

A final note on inquiries as to why the text descriptions for Lament of Innocence enemies have gone unfinished: To start, I have to say that I'm 
very unhappy with the quality of the captures (of both screenshots and characters), and I can't even bear to look at them. Even after conferring 
with the heads of other Castlevania sites, I've found that there are just no methods, currently, that'll allow me to attain pixel-perfect captures. 
So until I find a way (and I will, eventually, because I'm "psycho," as some foreign link referrals call me), I'm not going further with anything 
Lament-related outside of written material. To be perfectly honest, that's to say not until PS2 emulation reaches the point where it'll allow me 
to play the game on my computer. As I've said many times: This site is made with the extreme long term in mind, so I can show more than 
enough patience. And I'm sure that the few visitors that this site has wouldn't want anything less than the best possible effort.

1/20/05- It's a good time to point out all of the updates that have taken place over the last eighteen days, starting with those items that have 
been contributed: (1) Two contributors bring you the box and cart scans for the GBA's Classic NES: Castlevania. (2) Not only have the missing 
pages of the Adventure manual been supplied--the entire manual has been replaced with scans of superior quality. (3) Contributor Mark sends 
in pack-in ads for both Adventure and Belmont's Revenge. (4) There's a new fan art page for Neil Edwards, who brings you a Symphony of the 
Night piece. (5) The Crossman brings you a new fan fiction (at least to this site) titled Castlevania: Darkness Never Dies. And (6) MarcKal 
updates his unique work, The Rather Pointless Castlevania Adventure.

The rest is what we'll call "site enhancement": I polished up the games selection page a bit; it's a much more neat and more colorful 
presentation. Also, the tables reserved for the final grading of reviews have been beefed up using, as usual, graphics from the many games 
(as showcased on, say, this page); the new look allows me to expand on previous closing comments. Finally, I added some sprite-work for 
the spells from Symphony of the Night.

Closing note: Sometimes AOL's e-mail system doesn't allow me to receive e-mails that contain certain tags, and, conversely, some e-mail 
responses aren't properly sent due to random "fatal errors." So if you've sent an e-mail and haven't received a response, it's not because the 
mail is being ignored--I would never ignore an e-mail unless it contained something really stupid (like someone asking me if I'll "ever have 
sprites" on my site). If you've ever failed to receive a response, don't hesitate to re-send.

1/2/05- So this decade's half over already? Damn. The 90's took forever, it seems. Speaking of things in the 90's, you may already be well 
aware of the series' next sequel coming to the Nintendo DS in 2005. The first media was released yesterday, in large part thanks to Electronic 
Gaming Monthly, and it includes screenshots and general information for Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow 2. On my New Games page, I've put up a 
quick preview with links to the information. In addition, I have more to say in the final paragraph of this update.

In the usual list form, the updates are: (1) The Japanese Famicom Mini: Castlevania scans are up, courtesy of Carl. This includes box 
covers (with some comparison photos) and the manual. (2) From Pesmerga comes the U.S. Legacy of Darkness manual scan. The Requests 
List continues to shrink thanks to everyone's effort. (3) I've created a new "Soundtrack Scans" section in multimedia, for easier viewing of the 
material. I've removed any links to any compilation soundtracks from the individual game pages and made them exclusive here. (4) I've mostly 
rewritten the Heroic Evolution page, which, like the story section before it, was largely a mess of ideas; now it's much more current, and any 
Lament-caused misinformation has been corrected. (5) There's a whole new batch of official art, thanks to Pesmerga, for Castlevania 64 and 
Legacy of Darkness--most of it from the old official sites that have since disappeared. (6) I've spiced up the Reviews, Stages and Codes 
selection pages with a Rondo animation. Other selection pages, like "The Heroes" and "Dracula," now make use of the orphan backgrounds. 
(7) There's a new fan fiction from Frost Dragon titled Castlevania: Prelude to the Night, and it's still in progress ("To be continued...," that is). 
(8) There's a new code for Circle of the Moon: A one-time glitch, called "Gone But Not Forgotten," that allows you to disappear off the map.

I have to admit that I'm very disappointed with the information regarding Aria of Sorrow 2. What I've built up for months looks to be another 
cookie-cutter sequel for a system that hardly calls for it. Koji Igarashi admits that the features won't be used in anything but unimaginative
terms where instead there exists a golden opportunity. I can't say that a forced "versus mode" makes me interested in the whole wireless 
scene, especially if it's of the short-distance variety. There are plenty of better ideas here, but change, to Koji's group, seems to represent 
"compromising a vision." What's most distressing, therein, is that they're using it as an excuse to make the same game again; there's 
absolutely nothing more that can be done with this formula by repeating it, and I don't know that I can keep justifying spending $30-40 for 
something I already own four-five times over. "Why not," I ask them, "just make it for the GBA and charge $14-20?" I'm sure that the DS, 
like any new system, needs some name-value in the early going, but please--don't do us any favors.

12/14/04- Here's a very interesting item: Complete scans of the official Dracula X: Rondo of Blood player's guide, courtesy of contributor Peter. 
It holds some nice surprises. Individually, they're pretty large files, so it's the usual click-here-for-larger-image setup. I'm expecting scans of the 
Famicom Mini / NES Classic GBA series to start coming in soon thanks to usual scan master, Carl.

And there are a few multimedia entries: (1) Two new full models for Mark Patraw's page, these inspired by Circle of the Moon. (2) New "Fierce 
Collector" photos from newest entrant Vampire Reaper. (3) More Ray banners. (4) More custom-made sprites from Dark Wing. And (5) there's 
the last entry to the DS "Question of the Month" (or six months, as it may be)--provided by trigames.net's own Mr. Chup0n--before I come up 
with another.

On the correction side of things: Reader "The Baron" has supplied additions/corrections for Circle of the Moon's DSS card system. Besides 
two error corrections, now listed are additional dropping points for the actual cards. Also, Legacy of Darkness' stage page has corrected enemy 
listings.

May the light of Aether shine on everyone. I guess.

11/12/04- It's real boring around this time of year, with everyone's attention aimed elsewhere, so I'll mention some scant updates and then 
pad things a bit by adding some related thoughts. First, most interestingly, there's a new addition to fan art section in the form of sculptures; 
the contributor, Mark, brings you models of several Symphony enemies and the Angle Mummy from Belmont's Revenge. There are a couple 
of new Ray banners. And there's the first of what may be many custom-made sprites from Dark Wing.

The six-month poll yielded an interesting result, with Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow emerging as the majority's favorite series' games. Typically, 
Symphony of the Night cleans up easily on such a poll, which makes Aria's popularity all the more surprising. Since I've been asked: I didn't 
put Harmony of Dissonance in there because it's too similar to Aria, and it would have taken space away from other unique entries (which got 
0% anyway, but that's not the point) and their separate visions. Now there's a new poll running, and I'm trying something a bit different; this 
time, I'm curious as to what is your other favorite series besides Castlevania. Overall, I'd like to get a sense of whom my visitors are and where 
their tastes lie. I've spread out the choices to field as many different genres as possible.

And as we near the holidays, I'd like to bring to everyone's attention many superb games that are either available now or will be available 
soon, like Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and Jak 3 (if they fixed the 
double-jumping). Please don't let these games go underappreciated if not completely ignored because other games are getting waaaaay more 
attention than they actually deserve. As is, my faith in the video game industry is dying, and I dread the troubling times forthcoming; the market 
in Japan continues to crash, as you may have been reading, due to oversaturation and obscene superficiality displayed by consumers, and,
 concurrently, the early-mid stages of that exact same trend have already begun here and will become increasingly evident starting in January. 
Obviously, I've learned, no one seems to care. Since I've tired of trying to reason with people who will never know the ability to think (read: 
those on message boards), all I can ask is that you, the levelheaded reader, keep this in mind: When it comes to games, there's no "mature," 
there's no "kiddy," and "high sales figures" will never be a synonymous term for "great"--quite simply, there are "good games" and there are 
"bad games," and that's it.

I hope to be back soon with some new scans and more in the way of multimedia.

10/14/04- Random stuff this time--mostly contributions. First from my end: In addition to the recently rewritten reviews, I've also largely 
rewritten the story section, which was until now a complete disgrace. It's probably not the last time I'll say that, but, for now, it's more 
presentable. Also, both the supporting cast and Dracula's allies pages have been rewritten, padded nicely, and, as a result, the artwork 
has been blown up. The About the Author page, too, has been rewritten, with more coherent thoughts and a broader viewpoint. And, finally,
 there are new screenshots for two separate iterations of the cell phone versions of Castlevania--the first and the third.

From the contributors: (1) There's a new response to the DS-related "Question of the Month." I'll have a new question up by next month, and 
maybe a new poll, too. (2) An interesting FAQ for the Sega Saturn version of Nocturne in the Moonlight that looks at its porting over from 
the Playstation. (3) A new MarcKal fan fiction titled The Rather Pointless Castlevania Adventure. (4) An update to MarcKal's Interviews fan 
fiction. (5) A new photo from Oblivion for the "Fierce Collectors" part of the multimedia section. (6) About four new Ray banners. And (7) some 
custom-made sprites from MarcKal.

To finish up, I want to address a certain guestbook entry that's been lingering. Entrant The Rathe tells me, "Lament of Innocence is a lot 
better than your review." Well, no--it's not. Lament of Innocence is a "good" game, and that's it. However, if you disagree, I have a multimedia 
section called "Reader Reviews" where your opinion could be better represented. That's an open invitation to any and all whom lack the outlet 
to get their views across.

9/21/04- Not much going on lately. So while we wait for the U.S. re-release of Castlevania for the GBA and information on the new title for 
the Nintendo DS, I can note the existence of some new contributions:

(1) From Carl comes the Japanese and European cart scans and manual scans of Kid Dracula for the original Game Boy. These can 
otherwise be found linked to in the cameo section. (2) A couple of new Aria of Sorrow MIDIs. (3) The extra "Crazy Mode" ending screenshot 
from Lament of Innocence, which I have no intention on replaying until I can extract higher-quality images than the ones present. (4) Two 
new fanfics, both entries into the continuing Dragula series. (5) Some custom-made Reinhardt sprites. And (6) some new Ray banners on 
what is now a two-page entry.

Concerning my "To-Do" list, I finished up the revisions/rewrites of Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow and Lament of Innocence. In doing 
so, I've finally said everything I wanted to say, and, as in the case of other reviews, I've assigned what will remain final scores. Also, while in 
action, I touched up each and every other review with expanded, more coherent thoughts. I've done this before, yes--but, again, I finally say 
what I really meant. This also moves my "Castlevania Awards" feature to the status of imminent.

Finally, I'll make this the final chance to add your thoughts to whole Castlevania-DS issue before I either try a new question or abandon the 
whole concept altogether.

8/19/04- Many in the Castlevania community are already aware of it, but I'd like to bring to everyone's attention a new movie called 
Castlevania: Prelude to War (site link), an independently made film dedicated to one of our favorite series. It's already available on DVD 
as we speak--please refer to the site link for details. We're not really sure about what Konami thinks of the film, but we do have an opinion 
from Sam Mills, who through repeated contact with the director has a deeper understanding of it. You can find that movie review right here, 
in a new part of the multimedia section called "Reader Reviews."

In the future, this new subsection will also be home to sent-in reader reviews of the series' many games.

Another new addition to the multimedia section can be found under "Custom-Made Sprites." I've added a new category called "Create-a-
Character Models." There already exists one entry. Also, "Other Collectibles" has been activated with its first entry, the novel Worlds of 
Power - Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest. The page contains basic information, scans, and, soon, text documentation.

As for the rest: (1) Legacy of Darkness and Aria of Sorrow have new unused elements pages. (2) Castlevania 64's unused elements page 
has been updated. (3) The information for Gokujou Parodius cameos has been updated with more information and screenshots. (4) In 
addition to the movie review, there's a new Sam essay titled Best and Worst of Castlevania. (5) And there's also a new Sam fan fiction titled 
Cornell and Coller: A Castlevania Tale. (6) There's yet another entry into the Ray banner collection. (7) There's a fan fiction by newcomer 
Phillip the Great titled Castle of the Dead. (8) And, finally, the "Question of the Month," in regard to the DS Castlevania, has another answer. 
I'm going to leave this question up for at least one more update to see if I can draw in other responses.

7/27/04- My cameos section has seen another update: It now has a new page that looks at "Castlevania references." Its first two entries are 
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters and Van Helsing (for PS2 and X-Box). Also, the normal list has a new entry in Ganbare 
Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shôgun Magginesu, where one of our Castlevania friends makes an appearance. Also, the fan fiction Interviews With 
Countless Castlevania Characters has been updated.

There are a lot of new contributed scans to mention: (1) The Japanese Legends manual scan plus its missing cart scan. (2) The Aria of 
Sorrow artbook's missing pages have been supplied. (3) The Symphony of the Night PS1 books CD case scan plus other materials. (4) 
There's a new Japanese Adventure front box cover scan. (5) The Japanese Belmont's Revenge front box cover scan. (6) A Legacy of 
Darkness front box cover scan. (6) The Akumajo Dracula X68000 missing disk scan has been supplied. (7) The front CD case scan for 
the Akumajo Dracula Best soundtrack. (8) The front CD case scan for the Symphony of the Night original soundtrack. And (9) the 
damaged pages of the U.S. Castlevania manual scan have been replaced. The "Request List" continues to whittle down quickly. Excellent 
job by all those who have responded to it.

Final notes: First, the "Question of the Month" regarding the potential Nintendo DS Castlevania is still ongoing. There are two entries to 
check out, and, hopefully, there are more on the way. And, finally, Castlevania for cell phones has since found its way to Europe, which 
means it's not far off from arriving here. I've added some information about that release here.

7/8/04- I finally took the initiative in starting up my "Question of the Month" feature, which has been, until now, a dormant part of my 
multimedia section. The very first question is in regard to rumors of a new Castlevania for the Nintendo DS. So scoot on over there and 
start in motion what I hope will be some interesting discussion/debate. Since I can never predict what kind of response I'll get, I can't say 
that this will truly be a "per-month" deal--but we'll see what happens.

It's random stuff update-wise: (1) Since I've since learned that there's really no such enemy as "The Gardener" in the foreign versions of 
Castlevania 64, I've eliminated the image from all of the enemy lists where it had been residing. Instead, there's now an "Unused 
Elements" page for Castlevania 64 that explains what the chainsaw-armed character was really all about. (2) There are contributed scans 
of the Castlevania 64 soundtrack. (3) There's a new Sam fan fiction titled The Origin of the Master Librarian. (4) There's a new "Tip" for
 Harmony of Dissonance that explains how to pull off Juste's secret item-crash. (5) There's a new Ray banner. And (6) the missing pages 
of the scanned U.S. Super Castlevania 4 manual have been supplied.

On a final note: I just read on a couple of different sites that the original NES Castlevania will be re-released in Japan as part of the third 
lineup of the "Famicom Mini" series for the Game Boy Advance. Akumajo Dracula, to be released August 10th, will be "Volume 29" of the 
lineup. (Thanks to Morgoth for the date.) No word on if this third batch of titles will be released outside of Japan. Finally: A note to the 
latest anonymous guestbook entrant: I can't respond to your question if you have my account blocked.

6/23/04- My presentation of the "canceled" Castlevania: Bloodletting is now complete. This feature gives a general history of the nature 
of the 16-bit machines and their CD-based add-ons and provides some sprites. The catalyst in all of this is newest contributor JPCVFAN, 
who possesses a wealth of knowledge about the Japanese versions of these games. Also, in light of these contributions, the Symphony 
of the Night extras page has been updated with "Unused Sprites" and some screenshots.

Of course, I've heard about the "new Castlevania game coming to the Nintendo DS" rumors, which are supposedly direct from Koji 
Igarashi, but I'm not entirely convinced. Actual translation of what he said only suggests an interest in developing for the system. If it's 
true, I look at two things: The bad news is that consumers will once again be forced to spend $200-plus if they want to simply keep up 
with this series. But the potential good news is, as I said in an e-mail response, "Maybe this is what Konami needs. The DS' unique 
configuration might actually force the application of new ideas to the series. At this point, I'd find any convention to be infinitely more
 positive than another formula game." We'll see where this goes.

There are also more updates: (1) Again from JPCVFAN comes the complete scan of the Japanese version of Castlevania 64's box cover 
and manual. (2) And because the manual is filled with art, I ripped some of it out and supplied the following sections with new material: 
Supporting Cast, Dracula's Allies and Official Art (full-sized versions). (3) There's a new fan fiction titled Interviews With Countless 
Castlevania Characters, by MarcKal. (4) There's an update to the Symphony of the Night PS1 Books manual--some of the text has 
been translated by the Masters of Castlevania. (4) The Game.com Symphony page has been updated with a photo of the actual system. 
(5) And worth noting is that I've begun to designate some game pages with their own "Walkthroughs and FAQs" categories, specifically 
Aria of Sorrow (which already had a misplaced FAQs file) and Symphony of the Night. I'm hoping that this is the start of something good.

6/11/04- Mighty big update this time around. To start, the cameos and canceled games pages have grown: The newest entry into 
canceled games is Symphony of the Night for the ill-fated handheld that was called Game.com. In cameos, you can now find two new 
entries--Battle Tryst and Dream Mix TV: World Fighters--and a whole new page called "Borrowed Elements," which deals with games that, 
obviously, borrow elements other than characters; its first entry is Evolution Skateboarding. Additionally, two games already covered, 
Konami Krazy Racers and Wai Wai World 2, have an upped number of screenshots, and Kid Dracula now has a box cover and manual 
scan thanks to Carl. The canceled Castlevania: Bloodletting will be tackled next.

My newest entry to the Castlevania Library is up, and it's my own personal look at Clash of the Titans, which is in part a Castlevania 
inspiration. Captures show such favorites as the Ferryman, Medusa, Cerebros and more. In the future, I may do features on such movies 
as The Monster Squad, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Van Helsing.

Then there's the usual random contributions: (1) The twelve-page Japanese Aria of Sorrow artbook has been scanned and sent in. (2) 
There's also a look at its official guide. (3) A contributor found some hidden artwork on the Castlevania Chronicles CD and sent it in. (4) 
The Japanese Simon's Quest disk casing scans have been updated, with an actual disk scan added. (5) There's a new Sam essay titled 
Old School Castlevania vs. New School Castlevania. And (6) there are some new photos for the Japanese version of Haunted Castle; 
these shots are of the operator's guidebook and the help video.

5/23/04- OK--while I wait on aforementioned contributions, I have some of my own material to share. First, you'll find that the games 
section has been updated in two ways. First, I've added a section for "canceled games," and it already has one entry to its name--
Castlevania: Resurrection. On this page, you'll find some history, an explanation of what it was, screenshots, a link to some videos, 
and more. I'll also, one day, take a look at Castlevania: Bloodletting, which was supposed to appear on the Sega Saturn as a direct 
sequel to Rondo. If anyone has information on this (I know that there was an article in a gaming magazine about it), let me know.

Also, the cameo page has seen a slight redesign to accommodate two new games--Hai No Majutsushi and Gokujou Parodius. Other 
games have an increased number of newer or better screenshots and information, too. The cameo page can now be accessed from the 
games section as well as the heroes section.

I also have a new poll up. Well, actually, I have an old poll up--I'm redoing the first poll ("What is the series' best game?") because, at
 the time, the vote caster only held five selections. The new version has ten choices, which allowed me to spread it out a bit so that all 
systems are represented in a way. As for the previous poll ("What does the series need to do to survive?"), it's clear, at least to visitors 
of this site, the majority consensus is that the series is doing fine on its present course, and they'd like future games to be in the vein 
of Symphony of the Night. I can't say that I agree with that, but I'd rather have Symphony-inspired games that anything resembling 
Lament of Innocence.

There are two other things: (1) Hunter Forbidden has sent in a lengthy fan fiction titled Good and Evil: Battle Between Long Lost 
Siblings. This adventure further highlights the relationship between Alucard and Trevor. And (2) the Japanese/European differences for 
Castlevania have been updated with more information and screenshots.

5/14/04- I didn't want a whole month to go by without one of these. I'm still waiting on a lot of things, so in the meantime, I have a 
couple of tidbits to share:

(1) In Japan, there's a yet another upgraded version of Castlevania available for cellphones, via the i-Mode service. This one, as I note, 
has a graphical look that stresses Akumajo Dracula X68000 combined with Harmony of Dissonance. There are only two screenshots 
currently available. (2) Carl sent in the rest of the Lament of Innocence European manual. We forgot to put up several pages of this beast. 
(3) He also sent in a cart scan for the European version of Castlevania to go along with its box covers. (4) There's a new Sam Mills fan 
fiction up, titled The Uknown. (5) The Simon's Quest and Dracula's Curse's Japanese/European differences have been updated with new 
information. (6) There's a new banner for Ray's art page. (7) The FAQ page has been updated with a question regarding an issue 
surrounding my Recurring Boss sub-section. And (8) finally, Lament's code page has been updated with a contributed code called 
"Crystal Rage," which notes an alternate use for the crystal sub-weapon.

To close, I have two requests: First, someone recently e-mailed me looking for a movie file of the Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest 
commercial from the 80's. If anyone knows of a link to a page or a file, let me know so I can pass it on. Also, AOL just decided to again 
think for me and delete a saved e-mail that had a link to information regarding Castlevania: Resurrection, which I've decided to cover in 
some form; so if the Master of Morgonomics is reading this, I'd appreciate it if you could refresh my memory. Thanks in advance.

4/15/04- This is a small update before a bigger update which will make for a huge update upon the next update which comes after this 
update. Everyone got that? Good. First I've got contributed scans of the 1993 Famicom version of Castlevania, from Carl: There's the box 
cover and cart and then the manual. There's also a CD scan for the "PS1 Books" version of Symphony of the Night from Sam. Carl will 
soon be supplying CD case scans for this re-release and whatever else he sees fit.

Spurned by Wolfgang Brewmeister's guestbook entry from a while back, I updated the Dracula's Story page. It's a pretty lengthy rewrite 
in terms of the "The Living Days" chapter, and there's more of a connection to Castlevania characters like Mathias. Doing research on 
the topic is very difficult, because you can never get solid facts on Vlad Tepes' life--it amounts to a jumbled history that's not easy to sort. 
But I fleshed it out as best I could, being concise as possible as to not make it novel-length.

Also, I added to the top of this page my "To-Do List." It's just something to keep people up to date about what's coming in the future. 
As new projects pop up and I remember old ones, they'll be added to that list with the expected status listed.

Now for some random thoughts and other things that need addressing: (1) I recently wrote a lengthy article for trigames.net, a site 
dedicated to the love of video games, about my feelings on casual gamers and other issues surrounding the industry. Here's a direct 
link to the article. See if you agree/disagree. And you know where to send any hate mail/death threats about the article. Yep--to them, 
of course. (2) To Guestbook visitor Hazzar: Not to worry--this site will around for as long as there's a VGMuseum.com/Internet. I'm in this 
for the long haul, even if there are lapses in motivation for prolonged periods. And (3) whatever the hell this is that I made, which has no 
relevance to anything. Please, also, direct any death threats about this image to trigames.net. Thank you.

3/28/04- Let's see what we've been able to rustle up. I'll start with contributed multimedia: There are several new additions to the official 
art page, all from Ray, which covers multiple games, including Castlevania, Dracula's Curse, Super Castlevania 4, Rondo of Blood, 
Bloodlines, Castlevania: Dracula X, Legends, Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness, Aria of Sorrow and Lament of Innocence. Because 
of all the new entries, I had to redo the page with reference links and such. Also added are some new banners to Ray's personal art page. 
Last is another new fan fiction from Sam Mills, titled Future of Darkness.

Random stuff: (1) An contributed update to the Aria of Sorrow code page that shows you how to do even more tricks while in bat form. 
(2) A new Symphony code, called "Cheating Death," that allows you to keep your strongest weapons at game's start instead of losing 
them after a meeting with Death. (3) A new link that takes to a homemade Flash game, where you battle Dracula in classic fashion--it's 
called Castlevania Xtreme: The Game. And (4) I fixed an error in the link on the multimedia page, so if you've been trying to reach me 
using that link, your e-mails wouldn't reach me. Sorry for that.

Finally, I'd again like to direct your attention to my Guestbook, where you'll find entries from "Adrian" and "Mr. X." The folks over at 
GameFaqs.com are putting together a campaign to get Dracula X: Rondo of Blood remade for the current consoles. If you'd like to 
support them, please follow the instructions as given. Also, I'd like to address the entry that challenges my story page in regard to 
Mathias. I'd like to point out that I leave a couple of theories, one of which hints that he is one in the same Dracula. But there certainly 
isn't any proof--only coincidental parallels to the Bram Stoker version of Dracula. Until Koji comes out and says it, I can't imply anything; 
I can only speculate, like I tend to do the Heroic Evolution page.

2/26/04- It's a light load today. Let's start with more Lament of Innocence elements from the European version, all sent in by Carl "The 
Gargoyle": There are scans of its box cover and its CD. Its fully scanned manual. Some new official art. And updated is the "Japanese/
European Differences," on its game page, which explains what's missing compared to the Japanese and U.S. versions.

The rest is random: (1) Two new fan fictions, which continue the infamous tale of Dragula and the parodied world of Castlevania--these 
are Part 2 and the Prequel. (2) In "Fan Art," in the multimedia section, I've added a new category called "Custom Banners." This is for 
any banners people have made in tribute to my site or any banners made by webmasters who may want to showcase about their own 
sites--in a way, it's a sort-of second links section. The first entries include my usual banners and an art piece by Ray. (3) And speaking 
of Ray's contributions, there's a new "Tip" on the Symphony code page that deals with manipulating animations.

I've read the latest entries in my guestbook, specifically about updating my facts about the life of Vlad Tepes, and I promise to respond 
to them shortly and follow up with any necessary updates. There's not much else going on, since I'm struggling for material right now. 
Yes--just now. It's been, what, almost five years of this? Where did it go?

2/7/04- I've got some rare goodies to share, all contributed by the Connoisseur of Castlevania, Morgoth: First, there are multiple scans 
for the LCD Wristwatch version of Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest--these include game scans, the packaging, its manual and the pack-in 
ad. Plus the regular Simon's Quest LCD handheld page has been updated with full scans of its two-sided foldout manual. Also, there's 
now a page dedicated to the LCD handheld version of Symphony of the Night, and this entails a game scan, its cover art and its 16-page 
manual. Next, there are scans of the "PS1 Books" version of Symphony's manual that differ from its normal Japanese manual. Finally, 
there are two more additions to the Lament of Innocence official comic strip page.

Otherwise, I've got some more multimedia: (1) A new Ray banner. (2) A new Sam Mills fan fiction entitled Simon the Vampire: Fact or 
Fiction. (3) Six new poems by newest contributor Justin Gildow. (4) And a new poem by the mysterious Shadow.

As for me, I've finished up rewriting my Circle of the Moon review, with a better overall look at my thoughts. Also, I somehow skipped 
Castlevania: Dracula X, so I went back and fixed up that one, too. Next will be Harmony of Dissonance, which could be finished at any 
time. For now, though, I'm going to concentrate on finishing up my awards feature, which may wind up taking longer than I thought.

1/20/04- Now that I'm all Mario Karted and Ratchet and Clanked out, it's time to get back to business.

It's more randomness: (1) A contribution of rare scanned documentation, an owners manual, from the VS. Castlevania arcade unit. (2) A lot 
of new information and imagery in regard to the Japanese and European differences in some games--Bloodlines and Castlevania: Dracula X, 
most notably. This leads to a minor update on the Castlevania: Dracula X unique enemy list--the cross-branded tombstones that were 
replaced by the demon tombstones in the U.S. version. (3) Some scans from the packaging of the combined Harmony of Dissonance and 
Circle of the Moon soundtracks. (4) All Lament of Innocent boss descriptions have been updated with information about their differences in 
"Crazy Mode." These can be found on the next-generation list, Reaper forms, Medusa forms, Doppelganger forms and Other Recurrences. 
(5) A Japanese Lament of Innocence comic strip, direct from the official site. (6) A couple of more screenshots of the arranged cell phone 
Castlevania. (7) Ten new poems for the "Essays and Specials" portion of the multimedia section. (8) Another addition to the Phil King art 
page--custom-made box art.

I'll soon be finished with my own "Special," a little awards feature, in a few weeks. I hope to make it a fun read. And I still have yet to finish 
rewriting all of the reviews--I left off at Circle of the Moon, which, maybe along with others, should be finished by the time of the next update.

12/23/03- It's with holiday cheer (or "fear" of overly talkative relatives?) and an empty wallet that I bring you my final update for 2003. And 
it's more of my now-patented "random stuff." I'll again start with items spurned on by the Request List: Box, manual and calendar scans 
for the Japanese version of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. Box cover scans for the European version of Castlevania. A manual scan for
 the European version of Dracula's Curse. And a newer scan of the Simon's Quest handheld game--I hope to get additional shots of the 
game in action.

And the rest: (1) A large batch of contributed official art for the following games: Circle of the Moon, Chronicles, Harmony of Dissonance, 
Aria of Sorrow and Lament of Innocence. (2) A better look at the "Japanese Differences" of Super Castlevania 4, with screenshots. (3) A 
text file explaining the special attacks of the unique weapons from Nocturne In the Moonlight. (4) Two new pages for "Random Sprites": 
Wai-Wai World Simon and Other-Version Simons. (5) Another addition, a new banner, to Ray's art page. And (6), on a minor note, I gave 
Chronicles its own code page that's not just a blurb on the Akumajo Dracula X68000 code page.

12/17/03- It's more random stuff this week, just about all contributed. I'll start with items that are a reaction to the Request List: The casing 
and CD for the regular soundtrack of Symphony of the Night. The casing and CD for the remixed soundtrack for Symphony of the Night. 
The casing, manual and CDs for Castlevania Chronicles. And the casing, manual and CD for a soundtrack entitled Akumajo Dracula Best, 
which is a collection of the soundtracks of the three NES games; you can get to these scans, otherwise, from any of those three game 
pages.

As for the rest: (1) A very nice item: Contributed screenshots of the beta version of Castlevania: Bloodlines, which included unused sprites 
and stages. (2) Two new Castleography entries under "Other Similarities." These suggested locales include a new look at the "Ruins" and 
how they connect between Castlevania and Dracula's Curse, and the town of Jova from Dracula's Curses's perspective. (3) Screenshots of 
the attached desktop themes for Akumajo Dracula X68000. (4) Official art for Simon's Quest in the form of its "Trading Card" series. (5) Some 
unknown items for Rondo of Blood. (6) A tip for Rondo on how to pull off an extended-whip attack, brought to light by the Castlevania Corner. 
(7) A single art piece from Rondo's player guide. (8) Some text additions for the Japanese Differences of Symphony of the Night. I'll soon 
have more about its two unique familiars.

Some final notes that might be of interest: First, word has it that Castlevania will soon be arriving for play on U.S. cell phones, for what has 
been only Japan-exclusive up until now. And Castlevania: Symphony of the Night has been re-released in Japan under its "PS One Books" 
collection--I'm looking for scans of its contents if anyone can supply them. And, finally, rumor has it that one of the launching titles for Sony's 
"Playstation Portable" will be a port of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

12/5/03- I've got a bunch of random stuff this week: (1) More unused elements for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. These include mostly 
contributed unused animations, unused weapons, and secret rooms, like the entrance to the Underground Garden that they never took out. 
(2) Unused sprites for the Saturn version, all contributed. (3) Weapons exclusive to the Saturn version, on their own weapons page. (4) In 
doing this, I fixed up all of the game-specific weapons pages a bit by blowing up the weapon/item images and eliminating the borders. (5) 
An increased number of screenshots for the following games: Adventure, Super Castlevania 4, Belmont's Revenge, Rondo, Akumajo Dracula 
X68000, Bloodlines, Castlevania: Dracula X, Symphony, Legends, Circle of the Moon, Harmony and Aria. (6) Secret rooms and breakable-
brick treasures for Belmont's Revenge. (7) I restructured the "Next Generation Lesser Enemies" list into categories. The Lament additions 
are still lacking for descriptions, since I'm still not happy with the quality. (8) Contributed scans for the front box cover and CD for the original-
version Symphony. (9) Sprites of Juste Belmont using his different whip extensions, found on his Heroes In Action sprite page. (10) Three 
more banners for Ray's art page. And (11) another poem from 
Sam.

Not a lot new on the review front: Everything up to and including Castlevania Legends is now finished. I'm calling them "final revisions" in 
terms of score and overall viewpoint. Nothing will change except for elaboration on unfinished thoughts and the fixing up of any grammatical 
errors.

Also, I'm trying to clean up the site a little more: I've added a "request" link atop the page, listing all of the things I still need. This is mostly 
stuff I'll never be able to find on my own. Someone in my guestbook requested that I add "walkthroughs," so this is the biggest area of 
concern. If anyone has written walkthroughs or any other type of FAQ for any of the games--especially you many GameFaqs contributors--I'd 
like to display your work; for my site, it would go a long way in improving upon what's otherwise nonexistent.

I'm also going to try to provide more reading material, if they ever stop making games for a damn half-year period. I'll soon have a feature 
on Clash of Titans, one of my favorite movies, and how it relates to the Castlevania series, and, as per request, a "Top Castlevania Games" 
essay--which is sort of my own personal "awards ceremony." On a final note, since the links in the CV Library are always changing, I have 
and will continue to paste the material into text documents with links to the source; this way, it'll eliminate broken links. So anything 
involving mythological creatures will soon change, too.

11/24/03- We're getting close to wrapping up Lament-a-mania: It now has its own weapons page. Included within are the items, weapons, 
orbs, and a description of the skills. The charts are unfinished, but that'll take care of itself in time. There are thirty-five screenshots of Leon 
using the orb-plus-weapon combinations and then seven more for Pumpkin's orb usage on the last page. All of its bosses are also up, spread 
throughout two pages: The now two-page Next Generation Bosses and Other Recurrences. I'll eventually replace them with better boss
 images. Pumpkin's ending is up. And, finally, there's a contributed tip/code for those having trouble completing 100% of the castle with 
Joachim. There are a few things left to do: I'm going to split the "Next Generation Lesser Enemies" list into categories like I did for the 
sprites, and I'm going to increase the amount of art. The rest is minor.

As for the rest: (1) Vampire Hunter D has been on cable again recently, so I snapped my own captures to replace the old ones in the 
"What is Castlevania?" feature. There are at least 14 shots. (2) A contributed manual for Haunted Castle, which I guess they delivered to 
the arcade owners along with the cabinet parts. This is an extremely rare item. (3) Thirteen new banners added to Ray's art page. (4) A 
contributed tip for Symphony of the Night that affects Metal Gear Solid. And (5) a revision of the "Dracula's Story" page. I didn't feel that I 
captured a proper medium between the real and fictional versions of Vlad Tepes Dracula, thus the change. Additionally, any history involving 
Lisa has been updated--her supporting cast info mainly.

As I do once a year or so, I went back and read some of my reviews, and I'm absolutely appalled at the nonsensical, garbled junk that I 
passed off as writing (I usually expect a higher level of junk, thank you). So, you'll find, the reviews are all being largely refined if not outright 
rewritten, with more focused thoughts. Now that I've had time to play all the games fully and better understand the systems and the games' 
backgrounds, I can provide a lot more information. Almost everything up to Symphony has been changed. Rondo, Castlevania 64 and 
Legacy of Darkness are next.

11/12/03- It's Lament-a-mania: I've got its full story up. The story section has been expanded to four pages to accommodate its entry. 
I wrote a review. I gave it a stage page, with two shots per area due to there only being eight; some bosses are already linked up. It has 
a code page with maps, the "Boss Rush" mode, secret boss locations, name-entry codes, and more. Leon has been added to the main 
heroes. Its other characters can be found on the supporting cast or Dracula's allies pages, or the complete list on its exclusive cast list. 
There's contributed artwork that I've added to the "official art" page, one of which is the Walter shot from an aforementioned page. The 
Heroic Evolution page has been updated accordingly, and, as with most pages with Lament additions, Sonia's history has changed 
somewhat. This goes for the Story of Dracula page, too. I've added Death to the Grim Reaper forms page. Four shots of its castle 
keep have been added to that page in the Castleography section. And, finally, Leon's crystal sub-weapon has been added to the mystic 
weapons page.

There are a lot of other goodies: (1) Three pages have new additions called "unused sprites." These are characters, items or 
animations that were found by contributors on the paks and CDs but were not used by the developers. You can find an unused 
Simon's Quest zombie, six unused Castlevania items, and Richter's spinkick from Symphony. (2) I've got a batch of contributed 
Castlevania Legends official art. I've used some of these to replace my own shots. (3) I've upped the number of screenshots on some 
pages, mainly Castlevania and Vampire Killer; I also grabbed intros for both since I had the screenshots. (4) I gave Vampire Killer a 
code page (one contributed), and I updated its stage page with better screenshots. (5) I gave the Doppelganger boss its own forms 
page. (6) And there's a new art page up featuring contributor Ray's first work, a sprite collage.

As for what's left for Lament: I'll fill in the descriptions for the bosses and lesser enemies and add these characters to the rightful 
lists. I'll give it its own weapon page. I'll add Pumpkin's "ending." And I'll do some more Castleography comparisons.

11/2/03- Quick addition to yesterday's Lament update: I did decide to post those endings, sans Pumpkin's, which will come 
eventually. Look for the story next.

11/1/03- Let's see what we've got for Lament: Its game page has been updated with my own screenshots, hero images, some 
weapon/items, and a lot of general information. It also has its own lesser enemy and boss lists (no descriptions yet). I've got more 
official art for it. If anyone knows where Konami has stored the rest of the artwork--mainly Joachim, Walter and Mathias--let me know. 
Its intro is up. And I've added its logo to the index animation; I'll add Leon to the banner when a certain hurdle is cleared, and that is...

I'm not really happy with the quality of the TV-tuner captures, which is why I haven't yet done endings, why I've put up 
sometimes-cut-off captures of the enemies, and why other elements are unfinished. When I can find a way to get better-quality 
captures, I'm going to go back and replace everything. So, for now, I'm going to concentrate more on the written elements, like the 
main story, Heroic Evolution, Story of Dracula, etc.

I've got more contributions, too: (1) Yet another Phil King piece, a new wallpaper. (2) Aria of Sorrow official art. (3) A Harmony of 
Dissonance calendar, sent in by Carl. (4) Some of the Lament of Innocence official art that I mentioned above. (5) A new poem in 
the essay portion of the multimedia section. (6) An update to the credits list in the CV Library in regard to Lament of Innocence. 
(7) New weapon shots for the N64 games, on both game pages and their personal weapon page.

10/24/03- I got my copy of Lament of Innocence a day later than expected, so I'm about 80% complete as far as navigating the castle. 
Its game page has a long way to go, but I've got some viewing material: Its box scan which includes packaging scans of its bonus 
music CD, and its manual scan. After I finish the game, I'll get some fresh screenshots, its true American logo, and then the fun 
begins. Thank goodness the game has an enemy list.

Until then, I've got some other assorted goodies: (1) Character shots of the N64 heroes on the "random sprite" page. There are 
five-eight shots at most. They are Reinhardt (Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness), Carrie (Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness), 
Cornell and Henry. (2) Castleography additions for Aria of Sorrow. I mapped out its main halls, even though I didn't want to include this 
version's offering, and I did a castle comparison. (3) An update to the contributed credits list in the CV Library in regard to Aria of 
Sorrow. (4) On request, I scanned a NES Game Atlas map for Simon's Quest. (5) A contributed Castlevania poem has been added to 
the "essay" portion of the multimedia section.

I'll be back soon enough with lots of Lament goodness and some other stuff, as my backlogged e-mail can attest to.

10/17/03- Alucard's "sprite sheet," if you want to call it that, is up. The page contains over one hundred shots, which includes him 
with his shields, his throwing items, bombs, swords and fist weapons. Since I was there, I picked up shots of the demons that can 
be summoned to your defense when you use the Sword of Dawn; you can find this on page three of the Symphony weapons page. 
Also, Richter from Symphony, too, has a Hero In Action sprite page.

The rest was contributed: (1) The rest of the pages of the European Bloodlines manual, which was incomplete as of last update 
because I didn't finish reading my mail. This thing is over sixty pages, and its own now-two-page coverage contains insight from the 
sender. (2) Another new fan fiction from Sam Mills called Dracula's Quest. (3) Yet another addition to Phil King's art page in the 
multimedia section. (4) A couple of new codes for Dracula's Curse involving color-changing attributes and out-of-reach candles. (5) 
Tips for Castlevania: Bloodlines--mostly breakable-brick treasures.

I want to re-correct something from the last update: Lament of Innocence arrives on the 21st, which means that I'll have it by 
Wednesday. I'd expect updating for it to begin then.

10/05/03- Time to get caught up. This update comes to you by contributors since there wasn't much I could do over the last forty 
days. See the last update for details. The first offering is a European manual for Bloodlines, known there as New Generation, of 
course.

The rest is all multimedia-related: (1) A new essay from Shadow called Sub-Trilogies which looks at strange series' trends. (2) Two 
more additions to the Phillip King art collection, showcasing the Bloody Countess. They're not for younger kids, by the way, like any 
parents actually monitor this site. (3) A rather brilliant new fan fiction by Sam Mills and Boogie Man called Castlevatrix, which puts 
our favorite characters in a Matrix-like world. (4) Two new animated sprites for Alucard173's page, including Maria and a Rondo cut-
scene Dracula. (Note: Ignore last update's request to resend these--I found them.) (5) A clean shot of Leon from Lament of 
Innocence on the official art page. This is from AOL member VeryFreaky8.

Lament will be coming out on the 28th, instead of the 10th of next month, so much of November's content will be dedicated to that. 
It'll be the usual routine: Packaging scans, screenshots, bosses, lesser enemies, heroes, stages, a review, codes and a whole lot 
more.

In the meantime, I'll be starting to gather a large sprite collection for Symphony Alucard, and I'll finish up on Aria of Sorrow, mostly 
in regard to Castleography. More contributions are also on their way.

10/04/03- OK--that was an interesting month. I have to ask any contributors to please scan your files beforehand to make sure that 
you're not sending me any viruses. I wasn't prepared with virus software, and I paid the price. I'm not saying the viruses solely 
caused my computer to implode, rather an internal problem that caused the thing to overheat and continuously shut down without 
warning, but they contributed.

I'll be back today or tomorrow with new material after I back up all of my files to make sure that this doesn't happen again. I don't 
remember all of what I did before September, but I'm sure it includes John Morris and Eric Lecarde sprites, more cellphone shots 
for the Akumajo Dracula upgrade, an animated Dracula sprite and more Phillip King art.

One request: Could alucard173@lycos.com resend that last batch of animated GIFs. When the computer was returned to me, 
these files were gone. If I put anyone else on hold, it's safe to start sending again.

Thanks for waiting if you've stuck around.

8/22/03- An unexpected workload has left me very busy lately, so I'm a little late. Let's get to it: I've got a lot more sprites for the 
games' heroes. In order, they are Simon Belmont (Simon's Quest, Super Castlevania 4, X68000, Haunted Castle, Chronicles and 
Vampire Killer); and Maria Renard (Rondo of Blood and Nocturne). John Morris will be next, followed by an upgrade for Eric Lecarde. 
Then I'll get the Symphony/Nocturne version of Alucard with all the weapons before moving on to the N64 heroes.

I've added a second sprite of Dracula's second form in Akumajo Dracula X6000 and Chronicles to the morph page. And I've also 
corrected the Legacy of Darkness code page, which had a lot of misinformation based off of the European version of the game.

The rest is contributions: (1) Morgoth has contributed a lot more information on the 1990 PC compilation of the computer versions 
of Castlevania. It includes the contributor's explanation of the product's existence and some new photos and scans. There's also 
an ad for the game on the appropriate page. (2) A new essay, which deals with Dracula X games for the SNES and PC Engine and 
the quagmire they cause. (3) A new fan fiction. (4) Sam has given me the first entry into the "Fierce Collector" portion of the 
multimedia section. Included are two photos of the Castlevania master's collection. Does your collection match up? Let us know.

Remember that even though these text updates show up infrequently to summarize a week or month's worth of work, the actual 
updates can be seen almost daily.

8/04/03- There are several new "Hero In Action" sprite sheets present in the heroes section. The most prominent addition is Soma 
Cruz, whose page has regular sprites and those showing him using all of the game's equippable weapons. Alucard from Symphony 
will also be getting this same kind of treatment. Other sheets include: Sonia Belmont, Trevor Belmont, Grant Danasty, Sypha, 
Alucard (Dracula's Curse), Christopher Belmont (Adventure and Belmont's Revenge), Simon Belmont (Castlevania), Juste Belmont, 
Maxim Kischine, Nathan Graves and Julius Belmont. Many more of these are on the way. Note: If anyone wants to add onto these 
sheets with missing sprites, send them in using any of the means mentioned atop this page.

There are more contributions: belmontvlad@hotmail.com sent in a Castlevania Legends Player Guide cover scan, a Castlevania 64 
Player Guide cover scan, a Nocturne In the Moonlight Player's guide cover scan, and a Maria Doujinshi. There's also a new fan 
fiction in the Library, and it's a satirical look at the series.

The rest is random stuff: (1) A new poll that deals with the future of the series and what you think it needs to survive. (2) Sprites for 
the Ability Souls portion of the Aria of Sorrow weapons page. (3) A new Drago capture for Castlevania 64 and Legacy. And (4) a lot 
of new links, the newest of which, as usual, can be found at the bottom of the list.

I should be back soon with more essays, manual scans, codes and sprites, and I'll try to tie up as many loose ends as possible 
before Lament of Innocence arrives.

7/24/03- First I'll start with the contributions: (1) The scanned manual of the Castlevania PC Compilation from 1990. Needless to 
say, this is rare item. (2) A Richter Belmont sprite sheet. I'll explain this further in a moment. (3) More fan fiction. (4) A complete 
set of Castlevania animated GIFs for the random sprite page. (4) More tips/codes: A layering tip for Castlevania: Dracula X, and a 
spike-walking tip for Simon's Quest.

I've got my own additions: (1) More Lament of Innocence official art. While I was at it, I put up a Japanese logo and a box preview 
in the appropriate areas. (2) I've redone the random sprite page to show categories. It'll now be home to sprite sheets, animated 
GIFs and miscellaneous sprites. Most of its newer entries were mentioned above. I'll be using the sheets to continue creating a 
new feature called "Heroes In Action." If you go to main heroes portion of the heroes section, you may see a link under a character 
description that reads "Click here for (the hero) in action." This will take you to a page of that character in many poses. Right now, 
you can see this for Richter and Eric Lecarde. I'm looking for more of these if anyone can make them. (3) Four new similarities for 
Castleography section: The swinging pendulums, the extended entrance, the cursed prison, and the waterway. I had to make this 
part of the section two pages because of the large amount of screenshots.

In light of what I said about Bloodlines in the last update, I've refined my system of scoring the games in my reviews--I've taken 
the movie-critic approach. It still measures from one to five for overall score, but it uses half-Medusa heads for ten possible ratings. 
This brings Bloodlines up to a more respectable level while separating it from the likes of Legends, Castlevania: Dracula X and 
Castlevania 64. Only four of the games' scores were really affected by this. I also gave Chronicles its own page for its mini-review 
so I could score it.

I'm a little backlogged at the moment, so updates may be coming more frequently. I'll soon have more scans and frequent 
contributor Carl's now-famous "Castle Influences" essay, customized for my site. Maybe I'll do something with the "Question 
of the Month" (if I'm capable of generating that kind of feedback). I'll also have a new poll and most likely more contributions.

7/15/03- It's almost all contributions this time: (1) A scan of the Japanese Symphony of the Night manual. (2) Two different 
Japanese Symphony box covers--one for the regular version, and the other for its "Playstation: The Best" series entry. This 
also includes its music CD scan and a link to its art book cover. (3) Three new fan fictions, which can all be found in the CV 
Library. There's a lot of good material here. (4) Two new "custom sprites" from Alupaer on that personalized page. (5) Two 
game-specific scans: A "Playstation Magazine" cover that features Symphony, and an Aria of Sorrow calendar. Check the 
bottom of the pages for those. (6) More breakable-brick secrets for Dracula's Curse and other general info, and one music-
related tip for Castlevania.

I've started up the "Random Sprite" portion of the multimedia section with some miscellaneous captures. I'd be interested in 
using any random sprites you may have that pertain to the games. If anyone has made spritesheets, especially of the heroes, 
I'd like to display those, too. Also, I've revised my Nocturne In the Moonlight review in regard to its slowdown and other previously 
unmentioned graphical details. I'm always making changes such as these to the other reviews as I discover more about the 
games, which could possibly effect how I score them. For instance: I'm this close to bringing Bloodlines up to a solid "4," but 
I just can't find the justification as of yet. Maybe something can tip the scales.

I'm still waiting on a lot of things, most of which have been mentioned in past updates, and others that should breathe some 
life into the "Essays" portion of the multimedia section. I'll be back with these and more next time.

7/02/03- It's mostly about Nocturne In the Moonlight this week: I got the correct names and info for all of the enemies 
and bosses (thanks to j_eggleton2 for this info), most of which have found their way to the main lists--here for lesser 
enemies, here for bosses. I've added its areas to the Symphony's already-existing stage pages. I gave it its own review. 
I added a code page which features a "Guide To Maria," detailing her moves and play experience, and new castle maps. 
I also added Maria and Richter's intros and endings. Its game page's information has been updated with more screenshots, 
corrected "Japanese Differences," and heart-consumptions for mystic weapons. There are other, minor, additions to the 
mystic and striking weapons pages. The equippable weapons will have to wait for now.

I've updated the item crash page with a "No Item" category that showcases a contributed tip for Circle of the Moon and 
Richter Belmont's flame whip attacks.

The rest are all contributions: (1) The first "Essay" is up in the multimedia section. This deals with the Game Boy Player 
and how it affects the gameplay experience of the system's three Castlevania titles. (2) There's that code for Circle of the 
Moon, which is shown in more detail on its code page. (3) There are random codes for the following games: Castlevania, 
Simon's Quest, Dracula's Curse and Super Castlevania 4.

I hope to get more essays to motivate myself to activate the "Question of the Month" feature. If not, I'll be back with more 
Nocturne goodness in regard to Alucard, who seems to be neglected on my page. Also, if I can find time, I just might 
finish off that Mechanical Walkthrough for Simon's Quest that's been rotting on the server for about two years.

6/23/03- "Hallelujah!" is all I can say. After over two years, I've finally gotten Nocturne In the Moonlight up and running. 
Immediately, I've split the Symphony page into two--two separate pages to accommodate both versions of this game. The 
Saturn version has its own screenshots, with special links leading to shots from the two extra exclusive areas; it also has 
its own hero shots with updated information. A lot of things have "coming soon" where descriptions should be--these will 
be filled in over the next two weeks.

So I was able to finish off the Symphony enemy list with its Nocturne counterparts thrown in; they reside on page four 
of the list, which can be reached from any of the preceding three pages. Also, its one exclusive boss has been added 
to a second page of its boss list. Since the names are written in Japanese, I had to make up my own names for now. 
If anyone knows the correct names of these characters, or if I'm missing any enemies, please let me know. Finally, its 
heroes have been added to the main heroes page, with Richter's alternate outfit being the only noteworthy addition.

There are many other things I'll be putting up in regard to this game: (1) I'll have new intros up, mostly for Richter and 
Maria. (2) Its endings. (3) I'll make its presence known in the stage section. (4) Its own review. (5) Some tips/codes. And 
(6) its unique weapons.

I'm short on time right now, so I only have two other things: Screenshots of an updated version of the cell phone 
Castlevania (Akumajo Dracula) that was recently released (thanks to Morgoth for this information), and some contributed 
tips for Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest. For now, most of my attention will go to Nocturne In the Moonlight.

6/18/03- Let's see: I got around to redesigning Circle of the Moon's weapons page. The ten-by-ten chart is gone, replaced 
by an Aria-like presentation. You'll now find a better card selection and all of the possible sprites of the DSS card 
combinations. You know--I really underestimated the depth of the this game; I've found combinations within this card 
system that show that not only was KCEK paying attention but that Koji and his team borrowed many of these in creating 
their own "Tactical Souls" system. Once such area of concern was its item crashes, which you can instead find mapped 
out on the item crash page; this page has also been updated recently with more Dracula X crashes. Lastly, I've supplied 
images of the "Become a Bear" tip to Circle's code page.

I've also finished Harmony of Dissonance's extensive armor list, which helps to finally bring my weapons section up to 
date in preparation for Lament of Innocence. Another such upgrade goes to Aria of Sorrow's ending: I've updated the 
"good ending" portion of its ending page by supplying the slightly alternate version that has extra dialogue for collecting 
all of the souls.

The two final updates are contributions: (1) A Japanese manual scan for Castlevania: Bloodlines. I've used some of its art 
for better character representations in the hero section and its cast page (only Drolta here). And (2) the other half of the 
"Saving Maria" tip for Castlevania: Dracula X. If only I'd known about this "saving Maria" part earlier. Also, all of the game's 
breakable-brick treasures are now listed.

I want to soon begin activating the "Essays" and "Question of the Month" portions of the multimedia section. If anyone has 
ever written an essay (ex: "There are too many games," "There aren't enough games," "There's a connection between heroes 
that everyone missed," "The games should be made with this idea in mind," etc.), you can kick it off for me if you'd like to 
submit it. In the meantime, I'm going to finish off the Aria of Sorrow updating while I await those rare manual scans.

6/7/03- It's more Aria of Sorrow as I rapidly finish out all of its site-wide updates: (1) Its supporting cast has been updated 
in three areas: (a) the regular supporting cast in the heroes section; (b) "His Allies" in the Dracula section; and (c) Alucard's 
bio in the Dracula section. (2) Its weapons page is complete, detailing the soul system, with images for all of the Bullet 
and Guardian powers. There are also minor additions to the striking weapons, item crashes and the mystic weapons. (3) 
I have some Castle Keep shots and a description for that page in the Castleography section. (4) I updated the "Heroic 
Evolution" page accordingly, with some interesting facts and opinion. Look under "Full Circle" for that. The family tree itself 
will be updated when its maker finds the time.

I received some official art and a control panel picture for the upcoming Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, so, with 
nowhere to put them, I made a page for it in the games section. Its largely incomplete, as you'd suspect, but I snagged 
more images from Gamespot and cut out a temporary U.S. logo to flesh things out. Another contribution is a manga from 
the Japanese Symphony of the Night; you can find this from its game page or from the Comics portion of the Multimedia 
section. Also, someone pointed out some Japanese differences for Symphony of the Night that you might find interesting. 
The last contributions for this update are codes from Castlevania, Dracula's Curse and Super Castlevania 4.

It appears that I'll soon be able to play my copy of the Saturn Nocturne In the Moonlight; when I do, I'm going to split the 
Symphony page into two separate pages so that it doesn't get any more confusing. In the meantime, I'm also going to
 finish off Harmony's weapon list and slightly redo the Circle of the Moon weapons in regard to the DSS system.

5/29/03- More Aria of Sorrow coming your way. (1) I've got my own personal review on the game. (2) Its stage page is 
up. (3) In order to complete the stage page, so that its links all work, I added all of the game's bosses to the main list. 
(4) It has its own code page. (5) Its heroes are now listed, increasing that portion of the heroes section to four pages. 
(6) I updated the main lesser enemy list in order to accommodate this installment. (7) I have contributed scans of its 
Japanese box cover and cart. (8) Its Japanese manual scan is also included. (9) I added a little Aria flavor to the index 
logo. The new Webring animation is really slowing up that page, so mind the loading time.

I have one of the rare manuals mentioned in the previous update, contributed of course: The original Akumajo Dracula 
X68000 manual. The contributor hopes to have more rare manuals coming soon.

The Aria of Sorrow updating will continue as planned. Up next should be the supporting cast followed by the weapons, 
which I hope to represent in a big way.

5/19/03- It's all about Aria of Sorrow this week. Firstly, it's game page is mostly complete, and a lot of the stuff below can 
also be accessed from this page. Here's what you can find: (1) The scanned box cover and cart. (2) The scanned manual. 
(3) Its unique lesser enemy list. (4) Its solo boss list. (5) Its Dracula forms, even though they're not technically "Dracula." 
I have to split this page in two in the future. (6) Its supporting cast. (7) All of its endings. (8) Death's forms in the recurring 
boss section. (9) The game's Legion boss added to a newly added "Legion" portion of the recurring boss pages. The 
"Legion (Saint)" from Harmony has been taken off the main boss list and added exclusively to this page.

I've also taken time to update the story page accordingly; the section now spans three pages to accommodate the ever-
growing tale. The epilogue is updated, too. I'm dreading the release of the new PS2 game in that sense that it's going to 
force me to change everything in regard to the story and the Belmont lineage.

I lied--I have some other stuff, all of which is contributed: (1) More MIDI files--three for Aria and a lot more for Harmony. 
(2) The first Castlevania secret aimed toward the Amiga version. (3) A scan of the VS. Castlevania coin insert. (4) A scan 
of the three disks from the PC Compilation from 1990. (5) The first FAQ of any kind on this site, made for Aria of Sorrow. 
You can also view it on the game page. Hopefully, it'll encourage others to send some of their own FAQs/walkthroughs.

There's a lot more Aria of Sorrow coming up. I'd expect the immediate updates to follow this order: The completion of its 
game page, stages, a review, codes, the addition of its enemies to the main lists, the heroes, the weapons, and then 
many miscellaneous additions to such pages as "Alucard," "Heroic Evolution," "Story of Dracula," "Castleography," etc. 
If all goes as planned, I'll also have some scans of some very rare manuals.

5/14/03- I would call this more a "pointing out" than an update. You've all probably already heard about the new Castlevania 
game being unveiled at E3. In case you haven't, you can see some easy-to-view screenshots on my new game page, with 
all the current information to boot. Yep--it looks like another white-haired hero in another wackily-subtitled game. What else 
is new? As for right now, Aria of Sorrow is my focus; I haven't finished it yet because it arrived at my house about three days 
late. I will say that I'm impressed with its depth in the story department and how it relates to all of the items you collect. 
There are some pretty major twists, I'd say. So it's definitely worth it on that end.

Some other stuff before I go: (1) Contributed scans of the European Aria of Sorrow box cover and manual. Also included 
is a pack-in poster. (2) The two-page Aria of Sorrow intro scene. (3) New (better) screenshots for Castlevania Chronicles. 
While I was at it, I grabbed additional shots and gave Chronicles its own version of X68000's stages. Click here for that 
listing. (4) A contributed Harmony pack-in poster. (5) Two redone captures for the boss section: Akumajo Dracula X68000's 
Skeleton Dragon, with a larger version on its boss list, and the N64 games' Death.

After I finish Aria, I'll begin putting scans of its U.S. box art and manual. Knowing my usual routine, I'll follow it up with
the story update, stage listing, a review and then the enemy lists. Since I have till November, I'm going to take my time 
with the rest.

5/5/03- Aria of Sorrow has seen its Japanese and European releases, and it's about four days (six for me because of 
Fed-Ex) away from arriving here. I know I said that I'd be working off the Japanese version, but I didn't even know that 
it was out--I thought that May 9th was its Japanese release, so it kind of snuck up on me. So I played the Japanese 
version a bit, and I have some early notes: (1) The characters are a lot smaller than Harmony's selection, but there's 
a lot going on in each of the backgrounds. (2) It borrows a lot of sprites and detail from Symphony, but they changed 
up some others, like skeletons and zombies, as to not be too redundant. (3) The enemy list features the sprites in 
motion rather than still shots, which will help picky sprite-captors such as myself. It tallies about 120 enemies. (4) The 
controls are kind of tight--Soma is sometimes late to react after executing an attack. I don't know if this changes once 
better weapons are equipped, but it is a concern. (5) Right from the start, you'll know that you're playing a more difficult 
game than Harmony.

Overall, it looks pretty good. I've got some early information to share on the game: (1) Its main game page has been 
updated with a Soma sprite and his weapon, and there's a correct translation for its Japanese counterpart. Its 
Japanese and English logos are also now present. This page will fill up over time, including newer screenshots. 
(2) It's unique lesser enemy list already has some entries. (3) Its boss list, too, has one early entry. (4) I added its 
U.S. logo to the animation in the index.

I don't want to play any further until I get the US version, which is important because there's a lot of talking in this 
game, and it's very easy to get lost if you don't read what they're saying. All in all: It should be around two weeks 
before the page starts filling up with Aria of Sorrow goodness.

4/23/03- PickCook has posted to my board links to a screenshot and some scans from the new PS2 Castlevania. 
For the translation on what's being said on the scan, check this post from the general VGMuseum forums. Thanks 
also to the other twenty or so people who pointed all of this out to me. The gist is that the game is not "a blend of 
2D and 3D elements" as we were led to believe; instead, the game will be fully based in the third dimension. Koji 
assures us, the fans, that it's nothing like the N64 games. To back up his claim, some have noted its similarities 
to Capcom's Devil May Cry series. I don't know, since I haven't played any of those games--it's definitely a wait-and-
see prospect. Oh, and its story plays out in the eleventh century, which now makes this the first in the lineage, before 
the adventures of Trevor and Sonia. Whatever.

A couple of updates to throw out while I'm at it: (1) A contributed scan of the Japanese Simon's Quest manual, from 
the Famicom Disk System. (2) Contributed endings from the same Japanese Simon's Quest. These are slightly 
different than ours. (3) A new custom sprite page in the multimedia section, courtesy of Alupaer. (4) Random new 
sprite additions to the unique lesser enemy pages of Bloodlines and Super Castlevania 4.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow will be out by early next month (May 9th), so things should start picking up again around 
here soon enough. It looks interesting enough in the preview in the newest issue of Nintendo Power, which also gives 
you a fairly accurate timeline starting with Sonia. Of course, they ignore all non-Nintendo-console games, and they 
list Super Castlevania 4 as a third adventure for Simon, even though it isn't. Other than that, it's good stuff. Well, the 
new PS2 game certainly isn't going to make the story any more coherent.

4/4/03- The majority of this update is brought to you by my overworked contributors. They come bearing many 
goodies: (1) A complete Japanese manual scan of Vampire Killer, which is extremely rare. (2) A Japanese manual 
scan of the Famicom Disk System Castlevania from 1986. (3) A box scan of a strange PC compilation from 1990 
that included all of the home computer versions of the original Castlevania. I hope to have more on this in the near 
future, including screenshots of the real Amiga game. (The one we've been playing seems to be a licensed remake.) 
Check its page for more on this. (4) Two more screenshots of the cell phone Castlevania, which includes the title 
screen.

They've also sent in many secrets for the codes section. (1) All of the "maneuvering" secrets from Castlevania's 
first and second quests. Also, all of its breakable-brick treasures from the first and some from the second. Did 
you know that there were "1-Ups" in Castlevania? Neither did I until I saw it for myself. (2) All of the breakable-brick 
treasures from Dracula's Curse. And (3) All of the breakable-brick treasures from Super Castlevania 4.

My only personal additions are improved shots of some of the Legacy of Darkness characters--mainly Vampire 
Oldrey, the Warewolf and the Were-Cougar. Check the Next Generation and its game-by-game boss list for those. 
I've also added many more links in the last few months. Many new sites have been popping up.

I'll be back soon with even more box and manual scans, some custom-made sprites, and anything else unfinished
 that I've mentioned in the last couple of updates.

3/21/03- A quick update today. I'll start by mentioning that I finally took the time to get rid of the few 
remaining N64 character images from Konami's European site and replace them with my own captures. With the 
exception of maybe two or three characters, its now all my own content--some of which has been improved with 
better-looking shots. This is prevalent on the following pages: (1) Next Generation Bosses. I also split up 
the were-beasts and gave each its own description--instead of lumping them together. (2) Castlevania 64 bosses 
and lesser enemies. And (3) Legacy of Darkness bosses and lesser enemies.

Two other things: (1) First is a contributed bundle of European Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance scans: A 
box cover, a manual scan, and two pack-in posters. The posters are some great scan-work from the contributor, 
if I do say. (2) I've given each game's game-by-game boss list its own set of "Information" boxes, mostly to 
balance out the pages a little more and make its look a little more unique compared to the lesser enemies and 
supporting cast pages.

For the immediate future: I'm still waiting on those Kid Dracula scans, and I'm going to increase the amount 
of screenshots on Vampire Killer's stage page. This will be combined with any other wacky things I can come 
up with during that time.

3/15/03- I don't have much of which to make note, but I don't want to neglect the site for a long period, 
especially since Aria of Sorrow's U.S. release will most likely precipitate two months after its Japan 
release. Since I'm less than enthusiastic about the game in terms of having to wait, I'll probably cave in 
and work off of the Japanese version.

I've been playing around with the Castlevania logo atop each page, as you've probably noticed. The one I had 
looked pretty dull, so I spiced it up with classic Castlevania colors and some cosmic-looking subtitles. I 
didn't want to put my name in it, since the site isn't about me, but it wound up looking more interesting 
than just a boring logo floating atop the page.

As for notable additions: (1) I've updated Legacy of Darkness' intro page, showing more action. (2) Dracula's 
Curse's stage page has more screenshots via animations. Vampire Killer is probably the last stage page that 
will be getting this treatment. (3) The striking weapons page has been filled up with more imagery, most 
notably in the way of the N64 games. (4) The selection slots of the boss and lesser enemies pages have been 
made into true animations rather than silly-looking still shots. (5) The supporting cast and Dracula's allies 
pages now have more character shots. I'm not finished in this area quite yet. (6) And, finally Castlevania's 
code page has been updated with a hidden secret that was pointed out to me--this for a hidden money bag on 
the final stage.

I'll be back with more scans soon enough, which should include a contributed Kid Dracula manual.

2/22/03- I've made a little cosmetic change on the main heroes page--I decorated each page with artwork for 
an alternate look at the characters. In a similar vein: Since I gave each game its own supporting cast list, 
I've condensed the supporting cast and Dracula's allies pages a bit; all characters in those sections are now 
represented by head shots rather than sprites, and I'll be adding some artwork to them, too. Also, the cameo 
page has been updated a bit with more screenshots.

I've got a couple of more scans: (1) A European Vampire Killer box cover and cart. (2) A European Castlevania 
64 manual. (3) A Japanese Castlevania 64 box cover. (4) A European Circle of the Moon manual. (5) A European 
Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge box cover and cart.

On some game pages, I've added scans of ads, from game magazines and such, and pack-ins, those documents that 
come with the games. These are for the following games: Simon's Quest, Dracula's Curse, Adventure, Super 
Castlevania 4, Belmont's Revenge and Bloodlines. Since I never collected any magazines other than Nintendo 
Power, I'm limited in what I can do here. So if anyone (including a lot of new visitors who found their way 
here via a link from those kind bunnyheads at the Dungeon) has any old magazines laying around that have ads 
for 'Vania games, or anything related to the games, I know that I can find nice little home for them here on
 my site.

The rest is random stuff: (1) I've updated the stage pages of Rondo of Blood and Haunted Castle with more 
screenshots. (2) I've added title screens from the Japanese and European versions of the games to their pages. 
These are also done using animation. (3) I've redone Adventure's ending page. (4) More Dracula sprites have 
been added to the morph page. (5) Symphony's intro page has more screenshots. And (6) some ending pages, like 
Simon's Quest's, now feature MIDIs of their ending themes.

I'm about at a point where I've run out of things that I'm able to do. Except for some minor changes you may 
encounter before Aria of Sorrow's release in May, the bulk of any updates until then will consist mostly of 
contributed material, if any.

2/15/03- Large amount of stuff to get to, as I continue in get-things-done mode. First, I'll mention the 
changes I've made in some of the weapons' pages. I've cleaned things up a bit and added a new look to the 
following pages: Magic Items, Mystic Weapons and N64 Weaponry. All that's left to do here is modify the 
striking weapons page and finish off Harmony's armor lists. As a cause effect, I had to change the table 
designs for the main heroes page, which made it easier to fit in the N64 heroes without shrinking them.

I went back and changed up many elements of the N64 games that I was unhappy with: (1) The endings pages for 
both games have updated substantially. Click here for 64's ending and here for Legacy's--I hope you guys have 
cable modems. (2) I added more screenshots to both of their game pages. (3) There are new stage snapshots for 
most areas for Castlevania 64 and Legacy. (4) The Next Generation boss list and the game-by-game boss lists 
have many new, cleaner images. (5) The same goes for both games' unique lesser enemies lists, with some new 
additions to the lists.

I've changed things up supporting cast-wise. From each game page, you can access individual lists with short 
descriptions for each character. I did this mainly to accommodate the N64 games, whose images look out of 
place scrunched into smaller tables. Here's a direct link to one such page, for an example. Each list has 
some new additions, too, that otherwise have gone overlooked. I'll be working on changing the normal 
supporting cast (and Dracula's allies, to a lesser extent) pages--I'm thinking of replacing the sprites 
with headshots of the characters since people seem to like that. Or maybe something else altogether.

As for the rest: (1) As you may know, there were many incomplete Symphony of the Night sprites site-wide. I 
went in and grabbed completed sprites. Most of these appear on its unique lesser enemy list, like the Spectral 
Swords and Wargs, with a new Shaft thrown in to its boss pages and such. (2) I've got that promised "Credits 
List," a new CV Library entry which lists all of the known creators and staff of each game. This list is great
 for comparisons between the games, and from the looks of it, it took a long while for the contributors to 
create. (3) I've made Harmony's presence known on the Castleography page, with the usual breakdown of the 
heroes' path through the castle.

I'll be back next time with more scanned manuals and perhaps a new supporting cast page as the To-Do list 
continues to rapidly shrink and I get the site where I want it to be. Remaining entries on the list, some of 
which will take care of themselves over time, look like this: (1) As always, try to find a way to play my 
Nocturne In the Moonlight CD in order to update the site's Symphony elements accordingly. (2) Use my new TV 
Tuner to grab some snapshots of Dracula movies, Captain N and others for the CV Library pages. (3) Get some 
text walkthroughs for each game. (4) Continue to grow the multimedia section.

2/10/03- To start, Uncle5555 has posted, on my message board, a scanned article from OPM that confirms a 
new Castlevania for the PS2 and what it may entail. It sounds like a bold new venture from out friends at 
Konami.

In the site updates department: My new approach to presenting lesser enemies is finally complete. I've 
consolidated the list into categories for easier maintenance. It's just one of many things I'm getting up to 
speed in time for Aria of Sorrow's release. Another thing that has seen its completion, thanks to numerous 
contributions, is the Symphony of the Night weapons page--all of its missing items have been filled in, 
including Karma Coin sprites, and a new category called "Shield Spells" is now up.

I've got more contributed scans: (1) A Japanese Harmony of Dissonance box cover and manual. (2) A Japanese 
Circle of the Moon box cover and manual. (3) A Konami Game Boy Collection Vol. 1 box cover and cart, aimed 
towards Castlevania Adventure. (4) A Konami Game Boy Collection Vol. 4 box cover and cart, aimed at 
Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge. (5) A European Castlevania Adventure manual and box cover. (6) And a 
Japanese Adventure cart.

As for the rest: (1) I've updated Simon's Quest's unique lesser enemy page with the different-colored versions 
of the skeletons, knights, two-headed creatures and all the rest. (2) I updated the Simon's Quest stage page 
with additional screenshots via animations. (3) I've updated the Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse game page 
with more Japanese differences; additionally, I added the Japanese Leviathan to its game-by-game boss list. 
(4) I've added a new image of Granfaloon's tentacle portion on the appropriate boss lists.

Next I'll be giving certain weapons' pages a new look. Also, I'll be putting up a "credits list" in the CV 
Library, a contributed painstaking project that lists every name that has worked on the individual games. 
This will help answer a lot of questions that people have about which teams and people worked on each game.

1/29/03- I've begun preparing the site for Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow's arrival by giving it its own page in 
the games section. Of course, there's not much on it right now other than preliminary information. The only 
real additions to its page are some screenshots and a lot of official art, taken from the usual sources (IGN, 
Gamespot, Gamespy, etc.). There's a ton more to get to:

The newest upgrade goes to the lesser enemy section, which I've started work on. Each of the unique lesser 
enemy pages have been updated with new table designs and information on each enemy; the same thing goes for 
the next generation lesser enemies. The only thing left is to condense that huge "slot" list by sorting it 
out into categories. Another upgrade goes to the stage section, where many of the individual pages now have 
more stage images via animations.

With games and official art in mind, there are a lot of new Akumajo Dracula X60000/Chronicles additions: (1) 
I've finally updated the original's ending page with more images. (2) The boss section and its own game-by-
game boss list have been updated with new and better boss sprites. (4) For Chronicles, I updated its "Art 
Gallery" page with some of the artwork I had previously missed. (3) And, as mentioned, its stage page has 
more images.

Oh, there's more: (1) Most importantly, I've got more contributed manuals/boxes. These include a European 
Vampire Killer manual (!), a European Castlevania manual and a European Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest manual 
and cart. (2) Since I was unhappy that I had foes on the supporting cast page, I took them out and moved them 
to a new page in the Dracula section called "His Allies." With it comes some new additions. (3) I gave 
Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness their own unique lesser enemy pages instead of lumping them. (4) The 
boss list is home to many new images. (5) I've got even more of Phillip King's art on display.

That's about it in the update department. I've mostly been running some maintenance--correcting code pages, 
fixing reviews and righting some factual errors. I'll be finishing up work on the lesser enemies section and 
then move on to improving the weapons section. Since I'm also in the process of installing new capture 
software, I may be able to take snapshots from movies and such that hold relevance to the Castlevania world.

1/17/03- What's that you say? A new Castlevania game? Well, so much for my "taking a few years to refine their 
series" theory. So it looks like Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, the inevitable futuristic Castlevania and boldest
 step forward since the N64 games, will appear on the Game Boy Advance come May. I've got the early details 
and some screenshots courtesy of the usual sources. And there's also a rumbling of another new game for the 
PS2 sometime in the near future. Hey--why not?! While you're at it, how about throwing the name on twenty-
eight more games to capitalize (read: continue to whore) off of the name's past success? Why not bring us 
Castlevania: The Tony Hawk Adventure? Or perhaps Castlevania: Ocarina of Vice City? Oh well. I'll play it and 
probably like it very much, anyway, so whatever.

In any event, I've got a load of stuff to get to: (1) Harmony of Dissonance's equippable weapons page is 
now up. It's largely incomplete image-wise, but that'll take care of itself over time. (2) Each of the stage 
pages have been given a new look, with more "atmosphere." The newest inclusion to these pages is the MIDI 
stage music that you can listen to while you read the descriptions and link to the bosses. (3) Contributed 
photos of the arcade machines of the Arcade versions of Castlevania are up. (4) I've nabbed some images 
from Konami's official site of Castlevania for--get this--cell phones. As usual, I'm probably the last to 
know about this. (5) I've got two more works of art from Phillip King on display. I'd pay more attention to 
these other parts of the sites if they'd slow down with the games. (6) I've fixed up the Next Generation boss 
page. (7) I've got a new poll up, asking which was your favorite read on my site. The regular visitors agreed 
that the winner of the last poll ("Which is the most underrated game?") was Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest. 
(8) On a minor note, I've scanned the cart for Harmony 
of Dissonance and the CD for Castlevania and Contra.

I'll have more manual scans up by the next update, and, since I'm in get-things-done mode, I'll finally 
do something with that mess of a "lesser enemy" section. I'll also, hopefully, have more screenshots of 
Capcom--I mean Konami's newest 'Vania games. 

1/4/03- I've got more of Carl's contributed scans to offer: A Japanese Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse 
manual, a Japanese Castlevania: Dracula X manual, a European Castlevania Legends manual, and an Italian 
Super Castlevania 4 manual. The rest are miscellaneous scans (bear with me): An Akumajo Dracula XX cart, 
a European Castlevania Chronicles CD case and disc, the back box covers for the European Castlevania 64 
and Legacy of Darkness, a European Dracula's Curse box cover and cart, a European Legacy of Darkness cart, 
a Vampire Killer MSX2 cart, Japanese and European Super Castlevania 4 carts, and, finally, a Vampire Kiss 
cart. If this isn't enough, there are even more on the way.

On the music front: Another tune for Harmony of Dissonance has been added to the MIDI page. It goes under 
the name "File Select." If all things work out (and the person ever gets back to me), I may start an MP3 
section for the site that's hosted under another server. I don't really know if it's that important, since 
you can probably find any song you want on the web these days, but I guess that some music-makers prefer this 
method to MIDI.

For what's coming up, simply refer the To-Do lists in the previous two updates. The only thing I'd expect 
real soon is a new look for the games' stage pages--new tables that'll offer more enemy information and 
direct links to MIDI files.

12/19/02- As an early Mr. P Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) present, Carl "Da Gargoyle," the very 
overworked contributor you've heard of many times, will be bringing you manual and box cover scans from both 
the European and Japanese versions of the games. Already present on the site are the European Castlevania 
Chronicles, European Castlevania: Dracula X and Japanese Super Castlevania 4 manuals; also, you can find a 
European Castlevania: Dracula X and a new European Bloodlines box cover. When I'm given the OK to upload 
other such scans, I'll update them here in bulk. As always, you can also locate these boxes and manuals 
through the games' individual pages.

For you art people, there's a new addition to Phillip King's personal page in the multimedia section--this 
is the creation of a new female vampire using the artist's real-life inspirations.

I'll start paying more attention to the site starting next year, when I hope to be making a lot of 
improvements while tying up a lot of loose ends; these include finishing up on Harmony's missing elements, 
a better "lesser enemies" section, more "Mechanical Walkthroughs," regular text walkthroughs, more art and 
music, and countless other projects.

Stay tuned.

11/22/02- It's been a month already? I don't have much, but what I have is significant. I've finally received 
Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania and Contra. Each of the three Castlevania games is true to its NES 
roots, from what I've seen so far, 100% emulated with absolutely no changes. First, you can see its box cover 
here or by accessing it on any of three games pages: Castlevania, Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest and Castlevania 
3: Dracula's Curse. Its manual is actually present on the CD itself, so I've opened it in an art program and 
made individual images; you can view those here or, again, on the aforementioned game pages. Because of this, 
I've updated each of those game pages with the appropriate re-release information.

The only other update is in the multimedia section, where there are even more contributed MIDIs--these from 
Circle of the Moon and Rondo of Blood. I couldn't get to the other things mentioned in previous updates for 
two reasons: (1) Mainly due to time constraints, what with the holidays coming up and all. (2) Metroid Prime. 
From what I've learned, a lot of Castlevania fans, like me, also cherish this series. I urge you to buy it 
now before the holiday rush. Don't be worried about the 3D element--unlike Castlevania 64, this one gets it 
right. Another one to look out for is Rygar: The Legendary Adventure, a personally long-awaited sequel to 
the NES and arcade game.

Metroid and Rygar? I'm finally home!

When I finish up with all of this stuff, things should be getting back on track. I'd still expect a new look 
for the lesser enemy pages and maybe the whole stage section. I'll also update the official art for Harmony, 
and I'll be adding more MIDIs and maybe some walkthroughs.

10/24/02- I'm almost finished with all of the Harmony updating thanks to the following additions: I made its 
first page in the weapons section, which covers the "Spell Fusion" system. As noted: I plan to wait a while 
before adding its equippable weapons because it's a painstaking task. The first page was the easy one, I 
think. Also, the mystic and striking weapons pages have been updated to include its listable elements. Next: 
Its heroes have been added to the appropriate page. Lastly, I drew some comparisons to its design in the 
Castleography section: This includes the main hall, castle keep, and another similar area.

The rest is random stuff: (1) I made big changes to the main heroes page, with better descriptions and more 
weapon information. (2) On behest of my host site, I made endings for the alternate versions of the original 
Castlevania; these include the Commodore 64, PC, Amiga and Vs. Castlevania endings. On that note: I also 
updated some of the already-existing endings: Rondo of Blood, Bloodlines, Legends and Castlevania: Dracula 
X. I plan to get better ending images for Akumajo Dracula X68000 real soon. (3) Fourteen more contributed 
MIDIs have been added; included are tunes for Rondo of Blood, Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance. 
(4) Some new questions were added to the FAQs page--nothing too big here.

There's some stuff I didn't get around to doing in time for this update--I'm still trying to come up with 
some new design for the lesser enemy list, which should have a new look by the time of my next update. Also, 
I'm looking to add walkthroughs to each of the games' pages since I'm not completely happy with what my stage 
section offers. If you've made a walkthrough, I'd like to display your work. As always, contact information 
can be found at the bottom of the page.

10/11/02- More Harmony stuff to get to: I've put up a review, which contains my thoughts on the 
game, why it came about and where we're headed. I've updated the story section to accommodate its 
entry into the series. I've put up a complete stage overview which covers both the transient and 
real castles. I've created a codes page for the game, which details the "Boss Rush" mode and contains 
more of the game's secrets and unlockable elements. The Heroes-Timeline page has been updated with 
Juste and Maxim's role in the series. And, finally, both the heroes and supporting cast pages have 
been updated.

There's more, as usual: (1) In addition to Harmony, I've updated most of the Heroes-Timeline page. I 
eliminated the family tree that I had created in favor of V.E.P.'s superior piece. (2) I made it so 
that when you click on the name of a boss in the stage section, it takes you to the actual boss with 
supplied description. (3) I fixed the European Belmont's Revenge intro, where I stupidly put in the 
same image five times.

As for what's coming up: I'm going to be redoing the whole "lesser enemies" section, as I feel that 
the long list is getting completely out of hand. I'll try to organize it better. And I'm also going 
to redo the main heroes page, fixing up its design and adding more information. As for upcoming Harmony 
updates: I'll detail its newer lesser enemies when I redo the "lesser enemies" section. Then I'll 
make its presence known in the "Castleography" section, drawing some comparisons to the other games 
and such. And then, much later, I'll get to work on giving it its own weapons page. Stay tuned.

As a final request, go on to the DCTP Message Board and tell Mr. Roman not to shut down Dracula's 
Curse: The Page. Do it or I will beat you over the head with my talking Pee-Wee Herman doll.

10/3/02- A lot of updates have been going on, the majority of which are dedicated to Harmony of 
Dissonance. Firstly, its games page has been updated with the usual general information: Hero images, 
screenshots, weapons, items and the like. Contained within, you'll also find the game's box cover, 
its scanned manual, its intro and all of its endings, spread over four pages. The boss section has 
been updated with bosses from the game, both on the regular boss pages and the game-by-game boss list; 
other boss images can be found on the forms pages: Phantom Bat, Death, Minotaur, Cyclops and Skull 
Knight. Also, Dracula's two forms can be found on the morph page in the Dracula section. Finally, its 
unique lesser enemy list is complete, and it should hold you over until I can update the regular 
lesser enemy list.

There's more to get to: (1) I redid most of the boss section and Dracula morph pages, with new table 
designs and such. It makes them look a little less bland, I guess. (2) A complete French manual for 
Symphony of the Night has been contributed. (3) Over 20 more contributed MIDIs, most of which are 
from Symphony, have been added to that page in the multimedia section. (4) There's more contributed 
official art--this batch from Castlevania 64. (5) I've updated the index page with a little Harmony 
of Dissonance flavor. (6) I've added some screenshots to the European ending and intro pages for 
Belmont's Revenge. On that note, I also updated its U.S. ending and intro pages. Nothing too big.

A lot more Harmony business to take care of--I would expect updates in this order: A stage listing, 
story update, heroes, supporting cast, a review, codes and lesser enemy descriptions. I'll hold off 
on equippable weapons and other painstaking tasks for a while.

9/22/02- Well, it's been a while. What happened was that Castlevania and Contra was delayed,
which was delayed from a previous delay, which was not unlike the original delay which spawned 
the second delay. In short: It's delayed--indefinitely. Harmony of Dissonance has had to make due. 
As for my impressions of the game so far: It's a very big game, and it's a long experience, too, 
for being a handheld game. That said, you should be able to run through it in about nine-ten hours. 
It's also a pretty confusing game due to the whole "2 castles" thing; I'm almost finished with the 
game, and I still don't understand what's going on. They say that there are two castles, but it 
seems like three, but the only problem is that two of them overlap, which, when you add it all up, 
means I'm totally lost. The challenge seems to be a problem: People have shown disappointment with 
the bosses because they attack in patterns, but it's not even that--I've found, 90% of the time, 
that they don't do anything but just stand there while you wail on them. Most of the time, they're 
a non-factor, and they're mostly treated as such. So the whole challenge is instead based on the 
level design and lesser-enemy complexity.

Overall: It's kept me pretty much entertained, and it's a deep game that follows up nicely on its 
prequel, Castlevania, by making reference to it constantly; you can collect the "invisibility potion" 
from the original (in its original sprite design, which totally made the game for me up to that point), 
and, as I've been told, you can actually play as Simon Belmont. Sounds good to me--a little nostalgia 
never hurt anyone. After finishing the game, I'll be getting to work soon on updating the site to 
accommodate the game. I'd expect a review, followed by box and manual scans, the story, character 
sprites, stage listings, codes, and the whole shebang. Something tells me that it'll take a long time. 
I haven't had a chance to finish a lot of what I said in the last update, mainly do to my time being 
split between being in Atlantic city and playing Super Mario Sunshine and Grand Theft Auto III 
(those damn life-stealers).

I've got some stuff to mention, though, mostly in the area of multimedia: (1) Thanks to contributions, 
there are nearly 60 more MIDIs in that section, covering pretty much every game. It's some really nice 
work that you should enjoy. (2) Two more respective pages have been updated: Philip King's art and 
V.E.P.'s custom sprites. (3) There's more contributed official Legacy of Darkness art. And finally: 
(4) It's not up yet, but I expect to have a full scan of a European Symphony manual. Stay tuned.

8/16/02- This is a makeshift update until things start happening around here again, which should be the 
18th, my birthday, when I'll start getting the newer games, starting with Castlevania and Contra. I'll 
have full coverage of that, with screenshots, box covers, a manual scan and whatever else I can squeeze 
out of it. Harmony of Dissonance will follow suit. I'll also have up a "Mechanical Walkthrough" for 
Simon's Quest soon enough; this will include an explanation of its RPG system, day-night system and more.

Update time: (1) I've made a change to the "Screenshots and Media" portions of each game page. The common 
categories--stages, review and codes--now have short descriptions. And the packaging shots and game scenes 
have been divided into three categories: U.S., Japanese and European. This is done to organize the 
information better. (2) The Circle of the Moon weapons/armor/items pages in the weapons section have been 
completed thanks to several contributions--point to newest images to see the contributor. (3) I've added 
more ending screenshots for Castlevania (including the Commodore 64 version), Dracula's Curse, Super 
Castlevania 4 and Symphony of the Night. (4) Two more Raven Reaper MIDIs have been contributed. (5) The 
V.E.P. has contributed his own custom-made sprites; I may not be kidding when I say "his own."

7/30/02- I start today with some news that comes from one of my frequent contributors: Carlo "Gargoyle" 
Savorelli informs me of a new game coming to the PC in a few short days: It's called Castlevania and Contra, 
and it's a CD compilation of classic Konami games that includes Castlevania, Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest, 
Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse and some Contra games. Don't get your hopes up--it's not a collection of 
remakes or anything; Konami is simply emulating the games to play on the PC. For more on this, see Konami's 
official site: Castlevania and Contra. Carl also found some new information about the European version of 
Konami's fourth edition of its classic Game Boy collection series, and you can see that information on the 
Belmont's Revenge game page.

On to updates: (1) I've completed my first "Mechanical Walkthrough" for the first Castlevania. This gives a 
more in-depth look at the game and how it plays. I would like to complete one of these a week, but it can get 
pretty boring, so I'll space them out a bit. (2) I've activated two multimedia categories: Custom-Made sprites, 
under "Miscellaneous Sprites" and Super Achievements, under "Castlevania Masters." Be sure to check out those 
contributed goodies. As a quick note: I moved VM's work out of the art category and into the sprites, where it 
belongs. (3) I've filled in a lot of the missing weapons for Circle of the Moon, mostly its magical items, on 
its weapons page. (4) An updated Castlevania family tree, courtesy of its maker--V.E.P. of the Castlevania 
Legacy website--has been added.

7/16/02- Rather quick update today to clear the list, since I probably won't be adding
anything significant for a week or two (22 hours, in "MrP" terms). Lots of artwork for you to
view: First is a huge offering from Eric Roman (who, yet once again, runs the greatest
Dracula's Curse site in the noted history of our universe). All of you Slogra-, Gaibon- and
Skull Knight-freaks will undoubtedly drool uncontrollably. Also, I've added some artwork from
my youth, as I give you a glimpse of the "card series" I created that led to my love of the
games. There's a nice little story attached, as well. All I can say is that I hope you have
modem connections. I'll be activating the "custom sprites" and Castlevania Master categories
soon enough.

The folks over at the OPCFG website, dedicated to the preservation of classic gaming, gave
me a nice little award that you old-time gamers might like to see. I'm normally not into the
"award" thing, since I'm not into the tooting-your-own-horn mentality, but it's a nice gesture,
and that's always welcome. Finally, I've added Cornell's second wolf form to his portion of the
heroes section--as always, click on N64 images for larger versions.

As for what's on the plate: I was looking through some of my old HTML files, from when this
used to be an AOL site, and I found what would have been each of the games pages before
they were structured in the current fashion. I called these "Mechanical Walkthroughs," which
were more intimate information-wise in idea, and they dealt with how the games are played.
I'll be bringing them up-to-date and adding them to each game page as an alternate
perspective, and I hope they'll fill what's "missing" from my site. It'll be a long while before
they're done. Since this is a brief update, and in closing, I'll give you a look at what's on my
ever-growing "To Do" list: (1) Get Nocturne In the Moonlight running and update
Symphony's information accordingly. (2) Finish replacing all of Konami of Europe N64
images with my own. (3) Buy Harmony of Dissonance and update accordingly (another
huge load of work). (4) Get a hold of Japanese and European box covers/manuals/carts and
scan them. (5) Grow the CV Library. (6) Do the same for the multimedia section. (7) Make
better Akumajo Dracula X68000 endings.

Yow.

7/8/02- A couple of things to get to today. First is that I wasn't quite as done with the N64
Castlevanias as I had thought. I assumed that Legacy of Darkness had everything from
Castlevania 64 (I forget because it's a game I haven't gone near since 1999) and left out
some things. They are: (1) I added Carrie's schoolgirl and Reinhardt's Simon-like alternate
outfits from that game to their portions of the heroes section. I figure that I'll give you a
different look for each character in the three places you can see them--the heroes, games and
story sections. (2) I gave both N64 titles game-by-game boss lists, with some images you
won't see in the other boss pages. (3) Other character additions include new Frankensteins,
boss Rosa and Fake Dracula, an alternate mutated lizard man, an added vampire boss, Malus
and his winged friend, and some new-look lesser enemies. (4) Its stage page's information has
been corrected, and it has new images. Its game page also has new screenshots. Note:
Remember that I shrink some of these images using my editor to accommodate table sizes, so
right-click on images and select the appropriate command that'll let you see them in full
size--only where I haven't given you a size option already.

As for the rest: (1) I've started a boss list for Harmony of Dissonance, and I've added even
more lesser enemies. Since the game is in Japanese, I'm naming these foes on my knowledge
of Symphony, which this is heavily based off of. Some I didn't know, so I left their names
blank. If you can translate these enemy names or correct the ones I've labeled them with, let
me know. (2) There's a big update to the "Other Similarities" portion of the Castleography
section. These additions include the abyss stairway, Shaft's holding room, and more imagery
for the town of Jova. (3) The text passwords for Simon's Quest have been replaced with
pictures, and I corrected a bogus entry. (4) There's a new poll up, and this asks for your
opinion on which is the most underrated Castlevania game.

Since I have two months before Harmony arrives in September, I plan to focus on the
multimedia section. As such, I've activated the FAQs portion of "Discussions and Essays." I
answer a few questions that have been asked over the years--and I will add more. Next I'm
aiming at the "Castlevania Masters Spotlight." So if you think you're the best Castlevania
player in the universe, or you think that your accomplishments and collecting efforts are
unmatched, or you have an FAQs questions, let me know. Help me make it a regular
warzone. As always, contact information rests at the bottom of this page. 

6/26/02- I've begun building up what I hope will be a packed multimedia section. Its first
update includes the following: (1) Four contributed pieces of artwork from Phillip King; this
includes a special wallpaper. (2) A contributed MIDI for Dracula's Curse. And (3) the
biggest assortment, official artwork from Chronicles, Symphony of the Night, Legacy of
Darkness and the upcoming Harmony of Dissonance. It's a start.

I'll leave the rest up to the usual bullets: (1) I've updated the "general information" on each of
the games pages, with more Japanese/European differences and character lists. (2) I've
begun adding inside-covers and cart/CD scans for each of the games' packaging. (3) On that
note: One of the premier French Castlevania sites contributed some European box covers,
including Bloodlines, Symphony of the Night and Circle of the Moon. Included is the
Japanese box cover of Circle of the Moon. (4) Lesser enemies and bosses for the alternate
versions of the first Castlevania have been added to those lists. They're incomplete at the
moment. (5) More elements of the Japanese version of Dracula's Curse have been added,
with their mummy man having been added to the unique enemy list and their phantom bat
having been added to the phantom bat forms. (6) Three new additions have been added to the
now-three-page supporting cast section. (7) Super Castlevania 4's ending page has been
updated with more images.

Not to mention that I've made some slight modifications to the main page. Well, it's either that
or redesign the entire site, which, while inevitable, is just too much of a workload at the
present time. Until that time, I'll continue to be generally unhappy with this site (as if I'll ever
be completely happy with it), but it'll have to do for now. I'll have another update soon enough,
and it should contain more on Harmony of Dissonance--I hear it could be pushed as far back
as late September, and I don't intend to wait that long to make its presence known on this
website.

6/17/02- Some disappointing news to start, as some of you may already know:
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, originally said to be delayed until early August, has
now been pushed back to September. I doubt that the localization of any game could take
that long, so some other master marketing plan must be at work. With that news, sadly, I was
forced to give into temptation and play the Japanese version. I didn't want to play too far into
the game, so I browsed around the opening areas--just long enough to grab some general
weapon images and some enemies. When they called this game Symphony-lite, they weren't
kidding; I've found almost every one of its basic elements, enemies and backgrounds in this
game. Whether that bothers you or not is up for you to decide. There's even a topic about it in
the forums going right now if you want to chime in on the subject.

You may also have noticed a new "link box," as I call it, on the bottom of each page, with the
newest addition to this site, the Multimedia section; this was brought upon mostly by the poll
results. It may be a long while before I activate it, though--so go take an early look if you
have the time. I'm leaving the poll up just a bit longer in case any other choices pick up speed.
I also have to say that while music will be showcased in that section, I will under no
circumstances use MP3s of the actual songs from the games. The people who host me would
kick me right off the server, since it violates their terms. Besides--most of you have probably
already downloaded every song from these games from fileplanet.com via the Dungeon. I'm
looking for artists/musicians who want to showcase their own musical talents through other
means. Overall, the section will only work if I can find such people--for that and all of the
other categories, too--so chances are it won't work. But what do I know? The section it
replaced, Megavania, can now be found as my own personal addition to the CV Library's
"Fan Fiction" shelf.

Now for regular updates, first wrapping up with Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness
additions: (1) Carrie Fernandez' ending has been added. (2) I've replaced all of the existing
Dracula morphs with newer, better ones. (3) More enemy images have been added to the
next generation bosses and unique lesser enemies lists. (4) Some N64 additions have been
made to the castleography section--check "castle keep" and "other instances" for those.(5) I
fixed up the Legacy stage page, both text- and image-wise.

As for the rest: (1) I made a slight change to the castle's look on the main page. I have to
somehow fix up the other selection areas, mainly the town scene, without making the page too
image-heavy. (2) The mystic weapons page has been revamped a bit, with more organization.
(3) And, finally, a new submitted code has been added for Symphony of the Night, dealing
with a strange glitch where you can fight Richter more than once.

6/4/02- Castlevania: White Night Concerto was released in Japan yesterday (the first
time, besides Chronicles, that I remember them using "Castlevania" in a title). I got a chance
to play the Japanese version of the game, and I must say that the game lives up to its promise
of making you feel like you're playing one of the older games, much more so than Circle of
the Moon. Bright colors, better-looking enemies, better whip control--good stuff. I didn't play
past the castle entrance, since I don't want to ruin the experience for when I buy the US
version, however. But thanks to The Raven Reaper and Eric Roman--who, once again, runs
the greatest Dracula's Curse website in the universe's known and uncharted history--I have
some early screenshots of the game on its newly added page in the games section. Other
prelimary notes can be found, too, as the page will grow by the day. Now onto the usual bullet
updates. 

First, more Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness bits: Both of their game pages have been
updated with newer hero and weapon images. Alternate costume forms were added to the
heroes section for Reinhardt, Carrie and Cornell. Ending and intro scenes for Reinhardt have
been added, and an intro for Carrie is also on the latter page. More boss and lesser enemy
images were added. New stage images for Legacy. More supporting cast members have
been added. The games' weapon page has been reshuffled with more information and better
key listings. And a new water dragon image has been added to its forms page.

As for the rest: (1) The main page and the links section have undergone slight redesigns. I
plan to add more heroes/foes onto that main title logo. (2) More bosses--in this case, the
Reaper's boss trio--have been added to Bloodlines' game-by-game boss list. (3) More
Dracula images for Bloodlines have been added to the morphs page in the Dracula section.

There will be much more to come in the following months. For now, though, I'm beat.

5/23/02- Pretty big update today. But first: E3 happened, I guess. (I thought it was in
August?) And with it came little news about Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, except
for the usual batch of new screenshots, which you can find at pocket.ign.com. No other major
sites seem to be reporting on it yet. I'll set up a page for it in the games' section when the
information starts rolling in, even though we probably won't see the game here until late
July/early August. Now on to site improvements:

The majority of this update is dedicated to Castlevania 64/Castlevania: Legacy of
Darkness. You can now find over 100 of my own personal image captures in the following
64/Legacy of Darkness-related sections: Next Generation Bosses, Next Generation Lesser
Enemies, Unique Lesser Enemies, Supporting Cast, Ending, Intro, Codes, Dracula Morphs
(huge Ultimate Dracula image), Medusa Forms, Frankenstein Forms and Weapons. That
finally completes a lot of sections that were missing images, and there are more on the way,
including new stage and hero images and more endings.

There's more: (1) My supporting cast page has a new, cleaner look, aside from the new
additions from the N64 titles. (2) The Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse code page has been
updated with 49 new passwords and accompanying schemes that'll get you anywhere in the
game with anyone. (3) The Symphony of the Night and Circle of the Moon weapons' pages
have been updated with more information about weapons' special attributes and traits, and
more weapon images have been added into the blank slots. (4) The About the Author page
has been updated with revised information and more imagery to fill things out. (5) The logos
atop each game page have a new layout. (6) I added some stage-map portions into the first
page of the Castleography section. I'll add more in time to fill out that section. (7) A new bone
dragon king sprite for Belmont's Revenge has been added to its forms. (8) Doppelganger
forms for Alucard, Grant and Sypha have been added to the Dracula's Curse game-by-game
boss list. (9) Finally, Alucard's bat, mist and wolf forms have been added to his "limitation"
tables in his Symphony/Dracula's Curse games' pages.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance will be my next challenge, as I'll once again attempt
to bring you sprites, scans, screenshots and anything else I can think up (of course, 10 other
sites will take all of them from here, put them on their pages, and claim credit for capturing
them. But anyway...). I'll also check on the poll in a couple of weeks to see what the newest
section of my site will be--I get a sense that the new section will be a combination of a couple
of the things on that poll, since I'm always trying to please as many as I can.

5/8/02- A note about the message board to start: I've moved to VGMuseum's official
message boards. It's very similar to an EZboard, and it may encourage more conversation
than what the old board was getting. I'm still working out the kinks as far as look and feel,
but it's good to go as of right now. Also, I'm finally starting proceedings to do away with the
Megavania section, but I'm not sure what to replace it with. This is where I need your help,
'vaniacs--I have a new poll up with choices on what I should replace it with. Even though I
think it'll be a runaway, I've given some unique choices. The winner of the poll before
("Toughest Castlevania Boss"), incidentally, was Death from Castlevania in another
convincing victory. Was I the only one who had trouble with Adramelech? Maybe being ten
levels below where I should've been when facing him was a bad idea?

Now to updates: (1) New contributed information has been added to the new game page
about Castlevania: White Night Concerto (which will take the name Castlevania:
Harmony of Dissonance in America). The info and its contributor await you there. (2)
Castlevania Legends' code page has been updated with passwords for the Light Mode
and mystic weapon locations. (3) Symphony of the Night and Akumajo Dracula
X68000's main hall stages have been mapped out in the Castleography section, replacing
the screenshots. (4) Symphony's ending page has been updated with new images and text.
(5) New Medusa and Golem sprites for Bloodlines have been added, replacing the ones
that was already there. Most Bloodlines' bosses have been fixed up, too.

With a new game coming out, things should start picking up around here soon. Two
requests before I go: (1) Someone e-mailed me a while ago concerning the item crash
page--concerning the Chinese mythology behind Maria's weapons--and I lost the e-mail. If
you could re-send that information to me, I'll get it right up. (2) If anyone ever had anything
they wanted to contribute, as wacky or zany as it may be, now is the perfect time.

4/10/02- It's been a slow month as we wait for news on the upcoming Castlevania:
White Night Concerto. Gamespot.com has some early movies of the game in action, and it
certainly looks seems like a beefed up Circle of the Moon. Combine those characteristics
with Symphony's art director and planners, who all have a hand in this effort, and we may
have the closest contender to the PSX masterpiece's throne to come along in four years.
I've been let down before--but, so far, this game looks as though it'll stay somewhat true to
its roots.

As for updates: As per request, I've added all of the artwork found in the gallery of the
American version of Castlevania Chronicles to its page in the games section. The images
are huge, so you may need to wait four-five minutes for all of them to load. Strangely,
seventeen of the twenty-one images in that gallery are devoted to Symphony rather than
Chronicles. A "tip" for Symphony of the Night has been added to the code section, too,
dealing with Alucard becoming a stone gargoyle. And a small tidbit of information has been
added to the Symphony game page, explaining how to pull off Alucard's flying jump kick. I
didn't even know that he had that move--it's two years later, and I'm still discovering stuff
about this game.

Stay tuned to the new games page for any new information on White Night Concerto. I
hope to have more to add for the next update.

2/21/02- Yep--I've heard about the release of the next Castlevania game. You can check
out some early information about this new game on the New Game page. As Konami
announces more about the game, I'll be updating the page accordingly. I'll refrain from
setting up a page for it in the games section until more is know. And so that this brief update
isn't a total wash, one new minor addition to the site to mention: A page for boss lists
exclusive to each game can now be found in the boss section; click on game-by-game to
view these pages. At the least, this is just an additional way to view the games' bosses
without seeing them lumped into one long list.

Most of this was thrown together quickly, so I'll clean it up eventually. If I get bored
enough, I'll begin making stage maps for Bloodlines. One minor suggestion as I wrap this
up: If it's all possible, avoid coming to this site with anything higher than Netscape 4--it's just
a mess. IE and AOL's browser always seem to interpret the site the way it was intended to
be. Enjoy the goodness that is new Castlevania games.

2/10/02- Mapping for Castlevania: Dracula X is complete. The stages in this game are a
complete mess, so I pieced them together as best I could. I also added to the Circle of the
Moon portion of the weapons section--that is, I added to the second page images of the
beasts that Nathan can summon by combining attribute cards with the Uranus card. I'll start
to fill in the missing weapon images whenever possible. Next, as a personal log: Mek, the
master of VGMuseum, added a new counter to my main page. The old one was always
down, and it was anything but accurate; this one should bring about a lesser loading time
and, overall, should be less of a pain to manage. Finally: Some contributed images have
been added to two separate pages: (1) Kid Dracula images to the cameo page, and (2) An
ending image for Castlevania: Dracula X. Click the links to see the images and their
contributor.

One of the next big changes I hope to make in the coming months is the elimination of that
dopey "Megavania" thing. That was added back when this was an Xoom site that I didn't
think was going anywhere. My interest in the Mega Man series has since died, since they
kept squeezing out too many games, many of which are those rotten Playstation sequels that
don't stand up to NES and SNES originals. I'll probably make a poll to see what I should
put in its place--probably something with music or anything crazy I can think of.

1/18/02- This is late since I was waiting on some Bloodlines' stuff. Now that I have a new
copy, both a manual scan and a new box scan have been added to its page in the games
section. They're pretty big images, so mind the loading times. Going back a little: I
restructured the main heroes section by dividing it into two pages and giving it a new look.
(I shouldn't have piled stuff onto one page as I did, so little changes like this will continue to
be made.) I've also changed the recurring boss main page around, and I added a new
section to it called "Other Recurrences," which looks at bosses who have taken the exact
same form in two or more games. The rest of this short update goes to Castlevania:
Dracula X: (1) I added more tips to its code page, most of which deal with saving Maria
and getting the best endings; I also fixed the bad passwords. (2) I completed more of the
stage maps; the rest will be finished when I can tear myself away from Super Smash Bros.
Melee long enough. I'll have another update sometime soon since I left some stuff
unfinished.

12/12/01- A lot of stuff to get to today. First: I've reconstructed my Tips/Codes section,
removing the ugly table designs. Each code page is now broken into three areas--Tips,
Codes and Passwords--and atop each page is a "Code Box" that'll tell you how many of
each you can find; the code box will also conveniently whip you down to where you want to
go. With that said, numerous tips, codes and passwords have been added to each page,
including a new page for Akumajo Dracula X. I liked the way it had images representing
the passwords on Dracula's Curse: The Page--the best Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse
site on the 'net, by the way--so I did the same. Next: I didn't like the way I had the two
Dracula X games represented on my unique lesser enemies page, as I had them lumped
together. Some of the colors/designs didn't match for both games, so I gave both Rondo
and Castlevania: Dracula X their own separate pages. A lot of new/refined images have
been added to both. Speaking of new pages: Two more additions to the CV Library to
mention--a look at Simon Belmont in his Captain N ventures and contributed art called
"More Enemies" in the form of many computer-made images; this contributed art looks at
potential future enemies for the Castlevania series.

The rest of the additions fill the bulk: (1) Added "main weapons" to each page in the game
section; these give more character information and show images of their weaponry. (2)
Vampire Killer has been completely mapped out, and you can see that by clicking the link.
Mapping for Castlevania: Dracula X has been started, too, and you can see its progress
here. (3) Weapon images can now be found for the Symphony of the Night, Circle of the
Moon and the N64 Castlevania games. The former two are still missing many images, but
they'll appear in time. Also, "familiars" and other such extras have been added; more such
extras will appear. (4) Fixed the links section by removing dead links and adding new ones.
If anyone wants a link, let me know. [See the link page itself for guidelines.] (5) Split the
supporting cast into two pages. A new addition from X68000 was added to the list.

I'm really hoping to get Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight running real soon. When I
do, the new areas, enemies, weapons, etc. will be implemented into the existing Symphony
pages. Also, I'm going to be picking up new capture software sometime in the near future--
this will allow me to fill in all of the "N/A"s in regard to the N64 games, adding newer,
better imagery in general. And it'll allow me to keep the site up to date should a new game
come out for one of these next-generation systems. Finally, I should have a Bloodlines'
manual scan coming real soon. Thanks to everyone who has been helping me out recently
with all of this new material; it'd be pretty boring around here without the help/suggestions.

11/23/01- Big update today. But first: I've decided recently that I'd like to make the site
more Japanese-friendly pertaining to elements of the series not seen here. With that in mind,
I've begun making some of those additions to the site, like the boomerang that appears in
Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge (thanks to MalteT@t-online.de for this information).
Most notably, enemies from the Japanese versions of some games can already be seen on the
unique lesser enemy lists; these are combined with regular enemies I missed the first time
around (missing enemies were pointed out to me by morave@frisurf.no)--lists updated are
Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse, Castlevania: Dracula X, Super Castlevania 4,
Castlevania: Bloodlines and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. As always, the newer
and not-already-listed additions appear last on the lists--Japanese enemies will have J's in
parentheses after their names. And "The Gardener," from the Japanese Castlevania 64, has
been added to the next generation lesser enemy page. More such images are forthcoming.

A lot of box-cover additions, all of which have been contributed by the aforementioned
MalteT@t-online.de: Japanese front-and-back box covers include Castlevania, Castlevania
2: Simon's Quest, Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse, Super Castlevania 4, Castle
Adventure and Castlevania: Dracula X. Two European front covers include Castlevania
64 and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness. And an image of the Tiger Handheld version of
Simon's Quest has been added, too.

As for the other stuff: (1) All of the item lists on each of the games pages have been updated
with the actual items from those games, replacing the generic icons I've been using in their
place. (2) There's also a conscious effort to improve on the Symphony and Circle of the
Moon weaponry. To start, DSS cards have been added to the ten-by-ten table on Circle of
the Moon's card table on its weapons' page. More images from those games should appear
soon. (3) Images of Shaft's Ghost's helpers have been added to his description box on his boss
page. (4) More images of the Player's Choice and VS. Castlevania versions of the original
Castlevania have been added, the former showing the second page of that game's description
screen.

11/11/01- I finished up on something I brought up on this page a long time ago: A write-up
on the series--"What is Castlevania?" Inside, you'll read about how the series came about and
whatit's been about since; material covered within includes classic monster movies and the
anime Vampire Hunter D, with credited images on both accounts (more will be added). This
feature can also be found by going to the CV Library. If you like reading, this is for you.
Finishing up on more recent projects, though, the stages of Rondo of Blood have been
completely mapped out, along with that of Castlevania Legends' and Haunted Castle's.
Click the links for direct access. Next: Screenshots from the re-released Castlevania
Adventure and Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge--included in the "Konami GB Collection"
compilations ("Konami Classics" in Japan)--have been added to their respective pages in the
games section. Both the American and Japanese versions are represented. Finally: A
miscellaneous tip for Castlevania: Circle of the Moon has been added to its code page, and
it deals with the DSS system.

I didn't even remember that I had a "poll" page. Not surprisingly, Alucard ran away with the
thing, netting 36% of the vote. The new question deals with the toughest Castlevania bosses,
and I narrowed it down as best I could; click here to vote on who you think is the toughest.
And just a note for those of you who are anxious to see Vampire Hunter D (if you don't want
to buy the tape): It's on at least twice a month on cable. If you have Direct-TV, you can find
it playing on any of the movie channels--mostly ActMax--and it's fully dubbed in English.
Check their TV Guide listing often.

10/10/01- Quick update today: Castlevania Chronicles arrived in the US yesterday, and I
got my copy today. Already added is the box cover and scanned manual to its page in the
games section, complete with its Americanized logo. The ending and intro scenes are exactly
the same as the Japanese version. I didn't really play that Japanese version very much, but I
have spent most of the day on this one; it's impressive work by Konami, and it has a lot of
extras not seen in the Japanese games. And if you look at the story page of the manual, this is
first time that they actually acknowledge that Christopher Belmont came 100 years before
Simon as opposed to Trevor. Are they finally getting things together story-wise? Most
interesting is the "interview with the game's creator" you can unlock by completing the game.
In the interview, he just about confirms that Dracula X: Rondo of Blood is up for remake as
another Chronicles game. He also states that the next Castlevania game will be produced by
team members from the crews who made Symphony and Rondo, and it'll be "amazing"--the
tone almost promises another 2D game.

If you're been keeping tabs, the first four stages of Rondo of Blood have been mapped out,
and you can see them as part of its stage page. I'll be using multiple pages for these maps
because of their size.

10/6/01- The map layout for Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge is complete; it was a
toughy to configure, and it doesn't connect in all places, but it's good enough. Visit its stage
section to view it. While I was at at, I created maps of the five mansions from Castlevania
2: Simon's Quest; in doing so, its second stage page has been restructured with these maps,
and they'll now help serve as a walkthrough. As another little touch, I separated the story
section into two pages, with a slight redesign. This allowed me to organize the stories with
better structure while adding more appropriate imagery. As far as mapping goes, I'm going to
move Rondo of Blood up to first on my list--since I think people would rather see this game's
stages more--followed by Legends and maybe Super Castlevania 4. Keep checking the
stage section for all those goodies.

I've recently had a chance to gloss over my "reviews" of each game, and I have to say that
I'm embarrassed that I could produce such thoughtless, rushed tripe. Never one to let that
stand, I organized them, added length to them, and made a better presentation for each. I don't
want to rewrite them, as I can find no such motivation, so this'll have to do.

9/26/01- As mentioned in the last update, Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse has been
completely mapped out; you can view that here. Not to be outdone, Castlevania Adventure
has also been completely mapped out, and that can be seen here. I would suspect that
Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge will be next, followed by Super Castlevania 4 and
Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. As far as the castleography section goes, all of its text-work
has been completed, but it'll still be under construction until I can map out all of the
games--this to use these two features in conjunction with each other.

I was going to say something about what has been a miserable two weeks here in New York,
but I've had as much of this terrorist garbage as I can humanly stand. 

What a waste.

9/5/01- As part of a new feature that'll occur in some of the games' stage listing, whole
stage maps will be included within. The very first game to receive this addition is Castlevania;
click here to see the whole game mapped out. Some text, like candle listings, may be added
later. This feature won't take place for all games, like Symphony and Circle of the Moon,
since they're so huge, but most of the normal stage-by-stage games will. I'd guess that
Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse will be up next for mapping.

There are some other additions, starting with a new page for Castlevania containing
screenshots of the Amiga version of the game. The Amiga version is, by far, the biggest
atrocity of a remake I've seen in years. Avoid it if possible. I've also given a slight redesign to
the main page of the games section; the page now looks a lot neater than before. The
redesign doesn't stop there, as each individual page of that section has also undergone a slight
change.

Besides the game maps, there are other short-term goals. I want to complete the unfinished
castleography pages, using the newly added stage maps for depth. I'm also planning to do
something involving Vampire Hunter D, linking it to a "What's Castlevania?"-type write-up.
And I'm looking to expand the cameo page by including references to Castlevania within other
games. Continually improving the site, not to mention, is always the main goal.

8/29/01- Some things to cross off the list today. Assorted images of Konami's Krazy
Racers have been added to the cameo page. As always, it'll deal almost exclusively with the
Castlevania element. If anyone out there knows of cameo appearances in games that I've
missed, feel free to let me know (view the bottom of this page for sending information). While
it's still under construction and a while away from being completed, the new pages of the
castleography section have been uploaded. I had them laying around on my computer, and I
decided to send them in case of a crash. The newly added initial two pages will be used to
describe areas of the castle and to look at intro and between-stage maps to draw
comparisons. Changes will be in store for those two pages, including text rewrites and a lot of
images.

As you can see, I'm short on material to add to this site, so contributions of any kind would
help to spice things up. I want to bulk up the CV Library, so any fan fictions, essays or
interesting documents you have would fit in nicely. Thanks in advance.

8/11/01- I've been kind of underwhelmed with my coverage of Castlevania 2: Simon's
Quest, so I added a second page to its stage second. This one looks at each of the game's
five mansions, with a simple walkthrough for each one. I may expand on this in the future. A
sort-of restructuring has been done to the supporting cast page, offering more information
than before; some new entries have been added, as well. Also, a contributed box cover of
the Japanese Bloodlines--Vampire Killer--has been added to its page in the games
section. Go there to see it and its contributor. And weapon/item images have been added to
the game pages of both Castlevania 64 and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness--this to
complement the information on its own weapon page. Finally, as a small atmospheric
change, the selection slots on the review, code, stage and unique enemies pages have been
animated, which was my original intention for their existence.

As for some good gaming news: From what I've read on Konami's site, Castlevania
Chronicles is slated for release in the US around October. A European release should
follow--this for those who have e-mailed me about it. And rumors of a yet another
Symphony/Circle-like have begun to spread, and it appears that another 2D Castlevania
game will be created for one of the next-generation systems. They couldn't make it for
multiple systems, right? Nah--that'd be too logical. The question is this: Will people continue
to dish out big bucks for these systems just for one game? 

Anyway: Things on my To Make/To Do list are the following: (1) Obtain images of the
Castlevania element of Konami Krazy Racers. (2) Add in the missing box and manual
scans. (3) Finish my Castleography feature, which'll sort out that section out nicely. (4)
More entries into the CV Library. (5) Probably something that has to do with the series'
music.

7/21/01- Small update for the day. Since I finished off the regular list for the Circle of the
Moon enemies, they've been added to the regular lesser enemy list. Enemies that are too
similar to ones already there or bosses (Poltergeist, Alraune, Man-Eater, Succubus,
Hippogryph, etc.) will be excluded to save space. Its ending is up, also. And the Bloodlines
code page has been updated with passwords for the Expert Mode and some miscellaneous
tips, such as unlocking the specially-added tunes like Bloody Tears and Vampire Killer.
Information for Expert Mode endings for both characters from that game have been added
to their ending page, too. Finally: I never made the Vampire Killer boss images because
they were too close to Castlevania's bosses. Well, that's out the window, as those bosses
can now be found on the forms pages in the boss section; they share tables with their
Castlevania counterparts. 

I have some requests to throw out. If anyone can contribute the following, it would be
appreciated: (1) Any box scans for the Japanese versions of the games, Legacy of
Darkness or Bloodlines; (2) Any manual scans for the Japanese versions of the games not
already uploaded, Legacy of Darkness, Bloodlines or Castlevania Legends; (3)
Replacements for the damaged pages in manual scans I've already uploaded; or (4) Any
in-game character images from the N64 Castlevanias that aren't already on this page. If
anyone would rather trade for any of the above, that would be a good route, too. And, as
always, appropriate credit will be given. See the bottom of this page for sending
information.

7/1/01- There's some stuff to finish off for Circle of the Moon. First thing to mention is
that the unique lesser enemy list is virtually completed. There are three enemies left to add
that I can't find (Nightmare, White Armor and Devil Armor) but they'll pop up when I do. At
that point, most of these images will start showing up on the regular list with descriptions.
Dracula's second forms (yes, both of them) have been added to the morph page, too. And
Frankenstein's form from that game, though a lesser enemy, has been added to his forms
page. Finally: Both the stage layout and the weapons page are complete; new information,
however, will be added to them over time as I receive it. Also, the ending could pop up any
day.

One other thing: New Rondo of Blood boss images have been added, especially for the Bone
Golem, to the regular boss list; this is something I failed to do long ago. As for things coming
up: Something I started working on long ago for the Castleography section should be
appearing soon, and it should be a lot of fun to read. All that's left for the rest of the site is to
tie up some loose ends. So I guess that's all the major stuff, until another game is announced.
But with all the work this takes, I should be careful what I wish for. Until then, though, I'm
sure I'll be able to find a lot more to add to the site.

6/23/01- Castlevania Chronicles is now mine, and its page in Chronicles' portion of the
games section has been updated accordingly. Available are new screenshots, box and manual
scans, and the game's intro and ending. You can also find its "Arranged Mode" Dracula sprite
in the morph portion of the Dracula page; his second form in the game is exactly the same as
in regular Akumajo Dracula X68000. As I'll be doing for any future Chronicles games, my
regular review pages will have a "Chronicles Extra" at the end of the regular review which
tells of any differences in the remake. On a minor note, a new She-Wolf sprite courtesy of
this game can be found in the boss section.

I'll be doing one more update sometime in the coming weeks. By that time, I expect all Circle
of the Moon stuff to be finished, including the stage layout, Dracula's second form, the ending
and anything else I've missed. Also, the "Chronicles Extra" information will be found on the
regular review of Akumajo Dracula X68000.

6/20/01- Some more stuff going on, a lot of which was added hours ago. You can now find
all regular bosses from Circle of the Moon in the boss section. Death's two forms can be
found on his form page. And since I had Cerberus mentioned twice on the boss page, I
created a new forms page for our canine friend. And immediately, it was graced with the
addition of his CotM version. If you're not sure of the boss names added, they're the
following: Adramelech, Camilla, Cerberus, Dragon Zombies, Hugh Baldwin, Iron Golem and
Necromancer. Dracula's second form will take a little while.

The game's unique lesser enemies list has been updated with about fifty-plus additions. All in
all, there are about twenty or so of them left for me to add--I'm in need of save states with
the game completed. I could go through the game again, but my patience with it is limited right
now. I mean, doing such would be nothing compared to what I've done over the last year--but
still. Anyway: The game's stage page has been started, with images and boss-image links.
Explanations and the last three areas will be added imminently. And a representing image of
the game's main hall has been added to the second page of the castleography section. I don't
know if I mentioned it, but a code page has been added for this game, too. If you're up to
snuff on the secrets already known, there's nothing there for you--yet. On a final note: My
notification for Castlevania Chronicles arrived, so I'll be receiving the game by Thursday.
Images of intros, new characters, Dracula, endings and whatever else I can find will follow.

6/16/01- Well, I've had a chance to play and complete Castlevania: Circle of the
Moon. There's a lot I can say about it here, but it'd be better to check its review page
instead. In fact, everything in this update pertains to this game. First, its page in the games
section has been revamped accordingly, with weapons, items, hero stats, enemies,
screenshots and other information; it'll be a few days before all of the listings will be
completed. Other things you can find on its game page are box and manual scans and an
intro page. Endings and stage pages will be started soon, but making images for them will
take time, too.

The rest of the updates can be seen elsewhere, starting with the story page. You can also
check the heroes section for Nathan Graves' part in Castlevania and the supporting cast
page for the other characters' involvement; new information has also been added to the
heroes' evolution page. Circle of the Moon gets its own weapon page,also--the DSS card
system is mapped out completely, and all of the other armor, replenishment and special
items are listed--but some of them will be remain description-less for some time, until I can
put the time in to figure out which enemies drop which items and such. The final two tidbits
are things that have been started: Dracula's first form can be found in the morph portion of
the Dracula page, and a unique enemy list is underway in the lesser enemies section. I won't
be adding these enemies to the regular lesser enemy list until the unique list is completed.
Keep checking back for more information and imagery on this game. And if you missed the
last update, it's a doozy, so check that out, too.

6/11/01- Gigantic update today, consisting of material added over the last two weeks. But
first: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon arrived at my doorstep today, and I've had a
chance to play it thoroughly. If I can ever move my neck upward again and get rid of all of
the blurriness, my thoughts on the game and a myriad of other information, image- and
text-wise, will start appearing over the coming weeks. Castlevania Chronicles should be
arriving here sometime during the week, too, and stuff from that will appear alongside it..

Now for updates: First on the list is the inclusion of scanned game manuals--two of them
Japanese--and they're in color and scanned in actual size. Four of them in particular have
been damaged, since I was a bit retarded in my youth when I decided to cut enemy images
out of the booklets. If anyone can scan and send in replacements for the damaged or
missing pages, it would be greatly appreciated. Along with the manuals are Nintendo
Power covers for Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest, Super Castlevania 4 and Castlevania
64. All of this can be found in the game section. Also added in the games section is a
separate page that'll be devoted to the Chronicles series; you can check that out here.

The rest are additions can be found page-wide: (1) I replaced the cutoff images of
Galamoth, Beezelbub and Granfalloon from Symphony with full-sized images; check the
boss pages for those. (2) Intros for both of the N64 Castlevanias can now be found in their
respective pages in the games section. (3) The recurring lesser enemy page has been
replaced with a Next Generation page--as previously done in the boss section--and this one
looks at the 3D lesser enemies from the existing and future next-generation systems, since I
don't want to put them on the regular list. The recurring lesser enemy pages can still be
found by clicking on the links where they're available on the lesser enemy list. (4) The
now-two-page Symphony of the Night weapons list has received a major update, wherein
you can now find weapon names, descriptions straight from the game, and their
locations/drop points. (5) A new code page for Castlevania Adventure has been added.
And new information has been added to the already-existing Rondo of Blood and Simon's
Quest code pages. (6) More images have been added to the Castle Keep page of the
castleography section, taking a more complete look at that recurring part of the castle--this
for all games represented on that page. (7) And, finally, a very detailed family tree of
Castlevania characters in general has been contributed, and it can now be found on the
Castlevania Lore shelf in the CV Library.

Yikes--it's a lot to catch up on, and a lot more is on the way. I would suspect that
box/manual scans and story elements of Circle of the Moon will be the first things added,
so check back in a couple of days for those.

5/27/01- There's too much stuff to wait until June 12th. First on the list is a new section in
the heroes page called Heroes' Evolution that goes into detail about the hero characters,
especially the Belmonts and their past; it includes a family tree with an accompanying minor
timeline and some images contributed by Eric Roman. If you like reading, this is for you.
The Alucard page in the Dracula section has been redone, too, with a better look at Adrian
Tepes and his role in Castlevania games. I also changed the look of the recurring lesser
enemy page. Overall, it's kind of a useless section, but I don't have the heart to take it out.
Speaking of lesser enemies, I broke down and added enemy unique lists for Symphony of
the Night and Rondo of Blood, since I had the images lying around. Finally, more images
of Castlevania 64 have added to the Next Generation and Unique Castlevania 64 pages.

Castlevania Chronicles has been out in Japan for weeks now, and it doesn't look like it's
even in consideration to be brought here. From what I've seen, Simon looks different, with
red hair and hunting gear, and new intro and ending scenes have been added. I'll try to have
images up for that when I get the chance. When I get a scanner of my own, I intend to use it
to make the following: Complete scans of the manuals (both Japanese and American), level
maps, Nintendo Power covers, and just about anything else I can find. On a final note:
From now on, it'll be posted on the main page when one of these updates has been made,
ushering you down to the link.

5/18/01- This is kind of a short filler update--since it'll be at least another two weeks
before the big stuff--for things that don't need to wait that long. First, I've added some
entries into the CV Library: (1) A book containing lists of mythological creatures that
spawned several Castlevania enemies; (2) A book on Elizabeth Bathory, the real-life
countess that led to Bloodlines' Elizabeth Bartley; (3) Linked from the excellent
draculascastle.com, a book on Vlad Tepes' real castles, with images and descriptions; (4)
A sizable map of Romania; and (5) My first submitted fan fiction, by Brian D. 

I added several more images of Konami World 2 to the cameo page, all of which look at
the Castlevania level. I also fixed up the magical item page, sorting it out into categories; this
makes easier to use in conjunction with the games pages. Finally, on a minor note, I
removed any reference to an enemy called "Sentinel Man" from Castlevania 3: Dracula's
Curse, since it is Medusa after all. That's the last time I use Nintendo Power for
Castlevania references.

4/30/01- I got Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness about two weeks ago. Since I've had a
chance to play it, you can now find Legacy of Darkness stuff all over this site by checking
the following pages: Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, Next Generation, Morphs, and
updated story and heroes pages. I also added sort of a ratings chart to each of the review
pages, giving more information on what brought me to each of my Medusa-Headed
conclusions. It took long enough, but with my last two purchases, I've finally caught up.

With Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Castlevania Chronicles--which may or may not
be available in US--and rumblings of a Castlevania for a next-generation system (PS2,
Game Cube or X-Box), things should start picking up here in a little over a month.
Regarding that "next-generation" game: It could turn out to be just the revival of
Castlevania: Resurrection, or it turn out to be something completely new. I'm indifferent
about the 3D issue after playing Legacy of Darkness; check out my thoughts here for that.

4/18/01- Some stuff to add for this month. First, I added a big batch of contributed
Castlevania 64 images site-wide--those can be seen on the Next Generation, Supporting
Cast, Morphs, CV64 Unique and Grim Reaper pages. I finally got around to adding some
entries into the CV Library; more will be added soon. New Vampire Killer stage
descriptions have been added, too--if you're having problems finding keys, this will help
you. Finally, new Circle of the Moon box and logos can be seen in the games section,
courtesy of Konami.com.

3/28/01- One correction to make first: While Circle of the Moon was not exactly a
launch title in Japan, it will be here. Now, onto the updates. I added images of different
platform versions of the first Castlevania, adding two arcade versions, VS. Castlevania and
Player's Choice, and the the PC game, joining the existing Commodore 64 screens. I also
added the Japanese logo for Haunted Castle to the appropriate pages in the games
section. I added Ada, Cornell's sister, to the supporting cast page. If my copy of Legacy of
Darkness ever gets here, I'll fill in the rest of the supporting cast and bosses. As mentioned
two updates ago, I updated my links section. There's still plenty of room if you have a site
you'd like to see there. Finally, for any fans of Mega Man, I've resumed doing something
with that page, which should hold me over until, oh, June.

3/24/01- Following up on Wednesday's update, the media parade has begun:

You can check out these and many more at both pocket.ign.com and Core Magazine. As
for first impressions: These new screenshots show that the originals don't do this game
justice. The backgrounds and the hero character look more impressive than originally
thought, too. Of course, the reviews so far haven't been as glowing as you'd think for a
franchise of games known for its greatness, as many have declared that this isn't as good as
a Mario Advance or an F-Zero Advance. I don't know that they're right or wrong, but I
compare it to when Symphony was released--the game got some bad reviews based on the
opening minute of play, "lack of excellent graphics," frame-this, frame-that and everything
else that has nothing to do with anything normal people look for in games. The only thing I'm
concerned about, however, is the game's length. In terms of 2D excellence, this has a lot to
live up to, and anything less than at least ten hours of play would be a bit disappointing.

3/22/01- Well, the Game Boy Advance came out in Japan yesterday, and, not surprisingly,
Akumajo Dracula: Circle of the Moon wasn't a launch title after all--and it won't be a
launch title here, either. So it'll be a couple of days before any new media surfaces. As luck
would have it, Castlevania Chronicles is also due for release in Japan sometime within the
next two weeks. Konami may or may not bring it to the US.

As for updates: I managed to get Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight running, but I can't
seem to make it past the character select screen. In time, as I get further and further in, new
screenshots will appear with the two already posted here. I also added many additions to the
supporting cast page of the heroes section, including characters only reserved for mention in
instruction manuals; images of the Game Boy Kid Dracula game has been added to the
cameo page of that same section. Also, a code page for Castlevania 64 has been added.
Finally, since my old poll's server died, I upgraded to their new one. This poll has graphs and
all kinds of nifty features. Vote away.

3/14/01- First off, I gave a new look to each of the pages in the games section, with more
detail added to weapons and items. The mystic weapons page in the weapons section has
been changed a bit, too. Another new page has been added to the heroes section called
cameo appearances, which takes a look at other games that Castlevania characters have
appeared in. The reason I put the page there instead of the games section is that I don't
consider them "Castlevania" games. Speaking of the games: With Castlevania: Circle of the
Moon coming out in Japan in seven days, a lot more information should be coming out soon.
But this is Nintendo and Konami we're dealing with, so you never know.

I'm looking to expand on my links section, since so many others have been kind enough to put
links to here. If you have a Castlevania or video game site you'd like to have linked to, send
me an e-mail or leave a message on the board with the appropriate URL and caption. Finally:
Images, backgrounds and other graphical files from both here and VGMuseum continue to
show up all over the place without asking us. The people who run this place will begin taking
action against this soon, so don't blame me if you've taken images without permission, as
they're not as forgiving as I am. See the bottom of this page for terms of use. And if you
know anyone who is using our images, please let us know. 

3/6/01- A lot of stuff to mention today. First of all, I'll be receiving Dracula X: Nocturne In
the Moonlight, the Japanese version of Symphony of the Night for the Sega Saturn, and
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness in the coming weeks. Screenshots of any new enemies,
areas or bosses from Nocturne should follow, and some information on Legacy should crop
up here, too. I don't like those "manual cover" scans in the game section as they are, so, in the
future, I'll be scanning in each manual, page by page.

As for updates, a new page has been added to the boss section called Next Generation,
showcasing bosses from the N64 Castlevanias and any future 3D-based systems--I hate
putting cutout images of 3D games in with the regular sprites. Other Castlevania 64
information has been added, such as boss forms, Dracula and others; see the cast section for
those. A second Rondo of Blood intro page has been added, too, dealing with the
mission-starting scene. Also, more images have been added to the "other instances" page of
the castleography section. Finally, a contributed "tip" from Symphony can be found on its
code page. Circle of the Moon? What's that?

2/22/01- A month away from the game's release in Japan and still nothing. A sixth image
has been added to the Circle of the Moon page, however. I added some other stuff to the
site to hold myself over: First is the inclusion of yet another new page added to the
castleography section--this one taking a look at the famous castle keep of Castlevania.
Second is an "item crash" page added to the mystic items portion of the weapons section,
showing images and descriptions. Go to the bottom of the page for that.

Some new box scans have been added to the game section, too, most notably to Vampire
Killer and Castlevania X68000, courtesy of VGMuseum. I made some of the images on the
games page smaller, so it'll finally have a tolerable loading time. Finally, my guestbook supplier
moved to a new server, so I got their new version; this one has all kinds of new features, like
voice messages and my own customizations. Check it out.

2/13/01- Two new screenshots of Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, direct from IGN's
handheld site, have been added to its newly added page in the game section. There may be
more information coming within the next few days, but for right now, those screenshots are
all. One of the characters in the bottom-most picture looks a bit like Alucard, but I won't
speculate.

The newest addition to the site is the "Other Similarities" page in the castleography section.
This page looks at other castle similarities besides just the main hall. Everything else is small,
including new stage descriptions for Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge, more enemies
added to the Castlevania X68000 portion of the unique lesser enemy page, and a
kind-of-new setup for the selection pages of the stage, review and code sections.

1/16/01- A couple of notes: First, I changed the main page of the games section. It was too
image-heavy, taking forever to load. I changed it around, adding alternate logos and a better
presentation, so it'll now load faster--hit "stop" when it finishes loading if it lags. Also, on
request, I got a better message board. It's that newfangled EZboard that everyone has these
days, and I really like it. I'm still in the process of customizing it, and I'm having all kinds of
problems, but you can still post on it. The only other things added were a better image of
Henry in the heroes section and Japanese logos for Castlevania 64 and Castlevania:
Legacy of Darkness. That should be it for a while, until new Castlevania: Circle of the
Moon information comes out. But for now, I'm sapped.

Didn't I say that two updates ago? 

1/13/01- I left off some stuff in the last update. First, code pages for Castlevania Legends,
Castlevania: Bloodlines and Dracula X: Rondo of Blood were added. The Rondo of
Blood codes show you how to rescue the missing women, in order to get 100% complete on a
mission. Image cleanup continues, too, as a lot of images in the boss section, most prominently
Game Boy and Bloodlines images, have been fixed/changed. The last little tidbit belongs to
Castlevania Legends, as a representative image of that game has been added to my
castleography section.

1/9/01- To start, I changed the look of both the mystic weapon and magical item pages of
the weapons section. Along with those changes are the inclusion of more images and
information I had failed to add before. It's the same deal with the heroes page--a little change
in look with some added information. Finally, I replaced some of the Super Castlevania 4,
Castlevania: Bloodlines and Castlevania: Dracula X images in the boss section with
better, cleaner images. We really need some new games. They need to hurry up and give us
some more information on Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, because I'm running out of
things to do.

12/23/00- First off, I added text explanations to both the regular and reverse castles of the
stage listing of Symphony of the Night. I also added screenshots of a sort-of-new
Castlevania game coming to the Playstation in Japan in a couple of months; click here for
that. From now on, on the main page of the game section, I'll note when the "New Game"
section has been updated with new information or screenshots, and it'll be in parentheses
right next to the link itself.

12/17/00- About 8 or 9 games have been added to the Unique Lesser Enemy page in the
lesser enemies section. And that's a lot of damn images. I'm purposely leaving some games
out of that section, lest the regular list will be pointless. Also, I added Japanese/British/other
logos from other platforms of each game to the games section, appearing atop each page.
When I get the time, I'll start to do something with that CV Library page, too.

Changes are always being made to the site, some of which are so small, they're not
mentioned here. Singular pages updated recently are Striking Weapons, Items, Castlevania:
Legacy of Darkness, Vampire Killer, Castlevania Codes and Heroes.

12/3/00- I added some images to both the Story and Dracula pages, spicing them up a bit.
But that's not really what this update is about. You can preview what the CV Library will be
about by clicking here or on the link box below. I'll do my best to make it information-packed.
But this is where you, the CV fan, come in. If you send in any Castlevania fan fiction,
background on the characters of the series, mythological research, or any other readable
information, you'll get your own book in the Library, with your name and everything. It should
be a lot of fun to make, I hope.

As for the poll: I'm going to leave it up for a long time, until I get enough page-views per day
to justify trying something of that nature. So I guess that's it for a while.

12/1/00- Just a quick snippet today. I added a page for Simon's Quest to the series unique
page in the lesser enemies section. And just a couple of interesting notes. If you take a look at
the back cover of the Castlevania: Dracula X box, found here, you'll see that they actually
mention Dracula X: ROB. Also, if you look at the bottom-right picture, you may see a
similarity between it and the site's background. And who the hell is "the salamander"? Second is 
this image. Yes, our good friends Slogra and Gaibon show up where you'd least expect. To
see how to do it, check out the code page for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Finally, since I got it as part of the guestbook package, I put a poll up, which can be viewed
and voted upon here; I'll leave each one up for a week. I tried this once before, with
disastrous results to my old Xoom account, but I think I'm safe on the almighty VGMuseum.
And a special MrP's Realm "howl-out" to Spies4hire. I hope those e-mails get through,
'Vaniac.

11/28/00- First of all, I put a guest book on the bottom of the main page, and I put a
message board at the bottom of this page. Leave any thoughts, tell me what I'm
missing--anything you'd like to see--etc. As for the site: I put the finishing touches on the
stage listing for Castlevania 64. I didn't give it walkthrough-like consideration; it's just a
basic explanation on what each stage holds. The bigger addition, though, is something I had
planned a year ago: I added a "series unique" page to the lesser enemies section, which will
show how the enemy characters looked in each game--rather than how one image from a
certain game was chosen to represent them as a whole on the regular list. Two games are
represented already, but others will appear over time. By the time of its completion, it will
replace the "recurring lesser enemy page," since there's really nothing to it. 

Finally, you'll notice that "Enemy Index" has been replaced with "CV Library" on the link
box. When I decide to make something of it, it'll be a whole section dedicated to all kinds
of information about the series, its background, and lots of other goodies.

11/22/00- I have some pre-Thanksgiving stuff to make mention of. First, both intro and
code pages have been added for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. A Castlevania:
Dracula X code page has been added, too. Check out the games section for that stuff.
Also, I started on a stage layout for Castlevania 64 (keyword: started); it shouldn't take
too long to finish. Finally, I added some assorted Castlevania 64 images to the site, most
of them residing in the supporting cast portion of the hero section; only one of them went to
the lesser enemies section. There may be some other stuff I forgot to mention, but that's the
important stuff.

11/17/00- Some little stuff added today. First, I added both ending and intro pages to
Castlevania X68000, found in the games section. Also, I added more to the Castlevania
2: Simon's Quest page in the stage section, adding some more locations and general
information to the existing page. Finally, maybe 2 or 3 enemies have been added to the
lesser enemies section.

One little problem to address: I can never quite get this site to look the same on both
Netscape and Internet Explorer. The backgrounds look all smudgy on IE, while the tables
can't be fixed, since it's beyond my control. The only thing I can suggest is viewing this page
on normal font size on all browsers. That's all I can do.

10/28/00- First off, I added lots of the Castlevania 64 character descriptions to the
supporting cast page in the heroes section. I figured that I owed to myself to actually finish
the game for the good endings. Also, I made some changes to the Castleography section,
adding a second page (other instances) with more images and text. And there were some
assorted secondary images added to the lesser enemies section, but nothing major. All that's
left is to do something with that "Enemy Index" page; I made it a long time ago, under the
presumption that I'd never be able to make images for all of them. Now that I have, I'll
replace it with something else. So I guess that's it for a while. Have fun.

10/22/00- I restructered the lesser enemy section, as I did with the boss section. A couple
of new images have been added to the list, though you'll have to find them, since they're in
alphabetical order. A couple of other sections, like Megavania, have been reworked, too. I
finished up adding all the Intros I possibly could, excluding Castlevania X68000, which
won't work anymore. The site is almost at where I want it to be.

Finally, this is approximately this site's one-year anniversary. It still looks "blah" to me,
despite the changes. But I guess nothing could be worse than the way it looked when I
started. Have a look: MrP's Castlevania Realm

Fun facts? What the hell was that?

10/19/00- A couple of new things started/ended today. First, I started adding "Intro"
images into each of the slots in the games sections; this should be about the last thing I add
to those. I also gave a new look to my boss section, putting them in alphabetical order;
doing so cleaned it up a bit, reducing the number of images per page. And it will allow me
to add future bosses onto each page without having too many per page. I don't know if I'll
do this to the other pages. But speaking of bosses, I added a secondary image of the
Princess of Moss in her table in the boss section, and I added a real explanation as to
Medusa's appearance in Bloodlines. Finally, I added images of John Morris' ending from
that very same Bloodlines.

10/17/00- I scanned the box covers and manuals--splotches and all--of most of the
games, adding them to their respective slots in the games section. They're huge, though, so
be patient if you plan on viewing them.

10/16/00- I added a few things today. First, I added more Castlevania 3 endings to the
games section. Also, in that same section, I added a whole bunch of new screenshots to the
C64 version of the original Castlevania. Next, I added some length to both the story--most
notably a prologue and a new epilogue--and to all of the reviews. Finally, I added a
Castlevania 64 weapons page to the weapons section.

10/15/00- Finished setting up the games section the way I wanted it, adding 'game
endings' to almost all of the pages; the endings can only be accessed from those pages.
Also, I stopped by here: http://www.konami.co.jp/kcek/commod/dracula/index.html, which
is Konami's official Japanese site. It looks as if Konami finally revealed the true order of the
games' stories--I had them wrong, but I switched them over to the right way.

I want to add both Intro pages and Box/Manual scans to the games section. The latter is
unlikely at the moment, since I need a working scanner. After that, I'll probably be done
actively updating until a new game comes out.

10/13/00- I restructured the Hero, Stage and Games sections; I'm not quite finished with
the Games section, though, as I want to add a couple of more things. Also, I added another
contributed image; this one is the Grim Reaper's second form from Castlevania 3. Check it
out here. Lots more changes are imminent.

10/9/00- Lots of stuff added today. First, the front-page redesign is almost
complete--only the "Other Stuff" portion remains. I added an image of Henry from
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness to the heroes section, and I replaced the purple
text atop most of the pages with imagery. The rest of the stuff is from SOTN: (1) I
added more SOTN enemies to the lesser enemies section; (2) I added Olrox's
second form next to the first on the bosses section; and (3) added the Reaper's 3rd
form to his page in the recurring boss section.

I should be done restructuring the games section soon enough. Lots of changed will
be forthcoming in the coming months.

10/6/00- Where to begin? Well, first, I added a contributed image of Medusa from
Castlevania Bloodlines to her section of the recurring boss page; I added logos
from each game to some of the pages, replacing the big, blue text. I changed the
Castlevania logo on the top of the pages to a more colorful version; plus, I added a
black background to the link boxes on the bottom of each page so they're easier on
the eyes, though they don't seem to load correctly on a Netscape browser. Finally, I
changed the "screenshot" section to "games," which will allow me to expand on that
section.

I'll be making small improvements to pages like the enemy index and stages
sometime soon. A new main page design will be up soon, too.

10/4/00- Changed the style of the tables on some of the pages just a tad, adding a
little more CV feeling to each page. Also, added slot images in place of the word
links on pages such as reviews, stages, lesser enemies, bosses, etc. I also made my
own personal banner, using it as a logo for my index; the regular version of it can be
found here. If you like to link to people's sites by banner, you can use that. 

I'll be adding some Castlevania logos to some of the pages, replacing these
ugly-looking purple labels. We definitely need some new CV games soon so I can
add something significant to these pages. 

10/1/00- Just a short little update: Added the SOTN version of Maria to the
heroes page. I did some much-needed proofreading to the story-laden portions of
the page, trying to fix it so everything makes sense.

Looking through my tracker, I notice that lots of stuff from these pages, especially
images--and sometimes whole portions of the site--are showing up on other
people's pages. Since lots of CV webring people were kind to me and helped me
out, I don't really mind, and I'm always there to help. So if you're going to take stuff,
ask me first; I won't bite. At the least, give me credit for it. It was a pain spending
countless hours making all of this stuff, so you can understand my dilemma.

9/30/00- Added a New Game page to the screenshot section. This page will take
a look at future Castlevania games, listing game facts and personal opinions.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is now featured on the page. Also, I finished
adding descriptions to all of the lesser enemies that were blank before; the bosses
should be done soon, too.

9/27/00- Thanks to The Video Game Museum, my little site has a new abode.
You, as well as I, can now surf through the site without an abundance of ads and
long loading times. Everything is uploaded and working fine, though the Xoom site
remains intact just in case something goes wrong. When I get the time, I'll finish up
on all the incomplete pages and add new things accordingly. For the Mega Man site,
go here.

From what I've read, it appears that Castlevania: Resurrection has finally been put
to rest--but you never know with these things. However, the rumblings of a 2D
Castlevania game from months ago were all true, as Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
will be making its way to the Game Boy Advance sometime next year. Fans of
Symphony of the Night will be pleased, as the game seems to run on the exact same
engine, promising us that fulfilling Castlevania experience we've been denied for over
3 years.

8/13/00- Finally got around to finishing up the stage listing of Castlevania:
Symphony of the Night. I'm almost done redoing several sections of the page, adding
better, easier-to-read-upon backgrounds. 

7/30/00- Now for a real update: Added 62 new images, all from Castlevania:
SOTN, split between the boss and lesser enemies sections. All of them, at the
moment, are description-less, but that doesn't matter to you image-hungry maniacs.
That just about covers all SOTN enemies; I told you I was crazy enough to do it. Also,
some more spicing up has been done to the site, mainly those pages. A lot more
changes will be made over time.

7/29/00- Fixed up the the main page, making it less of a mess than it was before. I
might spice up the other pages, too--if I find the motivation and time.

7/18/00- Head on over here if you're a Mega Man fan:
http://members.xoom.com/MrPerfectn/mega.htm. Instead of expounding on this site,
I'll turn most of my efforts there, which admittedly is a much better effort at a web
page. Select "frames" for maximum enjoyment.

On the Castlevania front, Castlevania: Resurrection is back on; talk about it being
dead might have been exaggerated. Soon. Very soon.

6/20/00- It's been a while, but I finally got around to adding links to the bottom of
each page. It makes navigating the site a hell of a lot easier. Some quirks still need to
be taken care of, especially in the lesser enemies section, but you should now be
able to zip around the site at your convenience.

3/28/00- As per norm, I made rounds on this site. I updated the review of
Castlevania X68000, which you can view here. I made some corrections on the
other review pages, and I corrected more story elements on the Dracula page. I
decided to leave the enemies in charts for now, because other designs looked even
uglier than the present one.

On the Castlevania: Resurrection front, it looks like Microsoft's X-Box (a 128-bit
system) is in the running for becoming the new home of the game, which, if it comes
to fruition, is disturbing news for DC owners. By now you've probably seen images
of what appears to be a 2D Castlevania game in the works (if not, click here--and
bring a microscope); dreams of once again visiting that 2D Castlevania world will
have to hold you over for the time being.

3/24/00- In a bit of bad news, Castlevania: Resurrection has been put on holdindefinitely; it's 
been moved to the TBA section on the Dreamcast's release list. This
leaves two possibilites: (1) In the worst-case scenario, it could be cancelled
altogether, or (2) Konami could be changing the game's platform, either to the PS2
or the N64--the latter unlikely. Fans who hate Castlevania in 3D probably don't
mind, but others are angered by the decision. In the event it is cancelled, I'll have to
remove any info about it from these pages.

I'll probably do some work on this site within a week or two, because enemies
contained within charts look really ugly to me. Maybe some better structure will do.

2/19/00- Nothing's been happening recently, well, because the CV world hasn't
really been abuzz lately. Since the Mega Man thing is on hold until I can play all the
games, I've started on new ventures, mainly a page about one of my other favorite
games, Super Smash Bros. If you're a fan of the game, you can get a preliminary
look here at a work in progress. Now if only Nintendo could get third-party
support, maybe a Belmont could show up in a future SSB game.

1/31/00- Added pages for Super Castlevania 4 and Castlevania 2: Belmont's 
Revenge to the codes section. I'll refrain from adding things like Game Genie codes
for now.

1/30/00- Added a codes section to the site, which you can view here. All kinds of
information will appear on those pages by the time of its completion. Submitted codes
would be appreciated, being that I don't even think I know them all.

1/27/00- Just a little correction was made to the stage section, as many of the links
in the Vampire Killer, Castlevania 3 and Castlevania: Dracula X pages were leading
to the wrong place. So thanks for pointing that out. Also, I transferred my counter to
the main page, seeing as how I linked to there from the search engines. I'll leave the
other counter there anyway.

1/26/00- In my haste, I forgot to add the Bloodlines' versions of the recurring
lesser enemies that I put yesterday. They've been added, and they can be viewed in
the same ol' place (here). I've run out of things to do. If there's any possible aspect
of the CV games I'm missing, let me know.

1/25/00- Added a recurring enemy page to the lesser enemies section. I won't be adding too much to
that page in the future, being that the smaller enemies look too much alike in each game, but they'll be
some small additions over time.

1/24/00- Just about finished the weapons section, as I added a striking weapon page (viewed here).
I'm sure I missed lots of stuff, but I'll go back and add that stuff over time. 

1/22/00- I completed the mysitc items page in the weapons section, and I'm just about done with the
magical items page. To see the progress, click here. The striking items page will be done soon, too.

1/21/00- (Later) I started on a weapons page, which you can view here. I'm not really fond of
weapons sections, but it seems necessary. Plus, there's nothing else to do. Maybe it'll tide over
image-hungry Castlevaniacs until I can get those Symphony images.

Doh. I had to take that poll page down. I had all three leading to the same place; it almost knocked my
xoom account off, so I had get rid of them. That's the last time I mess with anything like that. But I get
the hint--need more enemy images. I'll be back later with a real update.

1/20/00- OK, opinion time. I added a page with a couple of polls, which you can use to vote upon
here. It'll help me decide which direction I should take this site in, as well as what I will be adding to it.
They're just temporary, though--I don't want to wind up like 1.wrestling.com. The link can also be
found on the main page.

1/18/00- Added the Grim Reaper from Castlevania 64 to the form section. Though it's not a very
good picture, it's the best I can get out of 3D. The rest of the additions are cosmetic. I corrected many
stupid typos on the story page, plus I updated the epilogue. I also added more images to many of the
indexes, especially those belonging to the stage and recurring bosses.

Finally, a couple of e-mails note that there's little flashing boxes in the upper-left corners of some of the
images. Well, there's no way to make a gif file with a transparent background--at least not with the
software I'm using--so I make them 1-cell animated gifs, which do support transparency. The flashing
boxes are probably a byproduct of that. My background covers them up nicely, though.

1/17/00- This uploader finally let me send the images to my SOTN stage page. With the exception of
text, the first part of that section is finished. If an image doesn't load, just right-click on it and refresh it.
Next I split the heroes section into 2 parts: (1) The original page and (2) A supporting cast page, which
you can view here. Lots will be added to the latter over time. Finally, I added a couple of characters to
the lesser enemies section; it brings the total number of lesser characters to a whopping 122.

1/16/00- Wow, some real feedback. To be honest, I never thought I'd reach 100 hits. But here's the deal
for today: My FTP uploader is being a real pain, and it won't let me send any updates to my SOTN stage
layout, so those blank images are there for a reason. I did add some images to the existing pages--lesser
enemies index, boss index and author--just to spice things up a little. I've been informed of something called
a Capture Card, which could enable me to make screenshots of every SOTN enemy. And trust me, I'm
just crazy enough to do it.

Finally, I get lots of junk mail each day, and I usually just delete everything real fast without looking. So if
I've deleted anyone's feedback, sorry about that. I'll look more carefully next time. Oh, and if anyone can
find a screenshot with Henry from Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness in it, send it my way; you'll get full
credit for it.

1/15/00- Started experimenting with the front page design, which will be one of several changes made to
the existing pages. Also, I started a preliminary Symphony of the Night page in the stage section. If
Resurrection would hurry up and come out, there'd be more I could do.

1/14/00- Have some hits. Ah, the wonders of exposure. Well, let's see, I added Medusa from Castlevania
X68000 to the Medusa form page, which rounds out the list for that whole game. I'm eventually going to
have to change the layout of the boss page, because the random listing looks awkward. Same with the lesser
enemies portion of the site. That should take a very long time. That's just about all I can do.

1/13/00- Nothing big today. I just added two SOTN characters here, and I added one of the Reaper's
forms from that game, as well--both via some assorted screenshots. And, of course, a big thanks to the
people over at Nintendojo for the advertisement.

1/12/00- Finished Castlevania X68000, which enabled me to finish the stage layout of the game, which you
can view in its completion here. I also added Dracula's 2nd form from that game to the morph section. All
that leaves is for me to get Castlevania: Symphony of the Night images. Only I don't know how the hell I'm
going to do it. I'll probably have to trade with someone for them. So if there's anyone out there who has
them and is willing to trade, let me know.

1/10/00- I started on a stage layout for Castlevania X68000, which you can view by clicking here. I also
started adding enemies from that game to the boss, lesser enemies and form sections. Finally, I added a
water dragon page to the form section, as well.

1/8/00- I was finally able to beat Haunted Castle. And let me tell you, they should have made the series
Mission Impossible for this game. Now for the good stuff. I finished the stage layout for this game in the
stage section. Also, I added Dracula's forms to the morph section; I also added Frankenstein's HC form to
the form section. Finally, I added the commentary to the missing HC bosses in the boss section. Next I'll
start finishing up on Castlevania X68000. If I'm somehow able to add Castlevania: SOTN bosses, I will have
every boss in CV history on my page--well, until Resurrection hits the stores.
1/6/00- Added a review of Dracula X: Rondo of blood to the review section. Also, I added the stage layout
of the game to the stage section. I'm intrigued by the news of a return to 2D for the Castlevania series, even
though it's merely a rumor at this point. But knowing my luck with this stuff, the game will show up on a
system I don't own or want. 

1/5/00- Added Dracula X: Rondo of Blood images to the boss, lesser enemies, morph and forms sections.
I have 92% of the game done, but I doubt there's any more enemies in that other 8%. I should have a review
and stage listing of the game by tomorrow. 

1/3/00- Added Castlevania: Special Edition's tale to the story section. I would add Castlevania:
Resurrection, and I know its whole story, but I still don't know where exactly it lands on the timeline. Add the
fact that the story itself includes time travel, and I'm all mixed up. 

12/29/99- Nothing of any interest today. Just fixed a few of those awkward links in the lesser enemies
section--the ones with the link to the next page way at the bottom. And I added a little bit of commentary in
the castleography section. I want to add Castlevania: Resurrection to the story page, but I don't know
where it falls in the timeline, nor do I wish to play it. More Rondo images should be on the way soon.

12/27/99- Now that I've been able to play Rondo of Blood, I can sum it up in one word--"wow." It was
nothing like I expected. I thought it'd be just a tad different from the SNES version, but it's a whole new
experience. Flea men sliding down banisters is always high on my list. I was amazed by how many SOTN
enemies appear in this game. Speaking of enemies, you can check out some newly added Rondo images
here. Also, the Rondo version of Grim Reaper has been added. They'll be more added tomorrow.

12/23/99- Nothing really new to add today, although I have begun a twin Mega Man site, which you can
view by going here. Keyword: Started. That's about it until the Christmas weekend is over. May we all have
a Merry Castlevania Christmas. 

12/22/99- Finally resovled the issue going on over at the Megavania section, so you should go check that
out. It's brought some surprising results. New Haunted Castle and Rondo of Blood images should be coming
soon.

12/21/99- Added a couple of Haunted Castle enemies to the boss section. Also, a new Megavania
section has mysteriously popped up on my page. Someone's trying to send me a message, so you'd better go
check it out.

12/20/99- Added more stuff to the forms section in the boss section. Also, started on a Haunted Castle
stage-by-stage description in the stage section; almost all the links in that area lead to unique images. And,
finally, despite doubts, I got Rondo to actually run. Joy.

12/19/99- Added Castlevania: Bloodlines to the stage section. Also, added a couple of Bloodlines images
to the lesser enemies section, as well as one SOTN foe. I'm going to add recurring enemy sections, as to
make the links in stage area lead to unique character sprites.

12/18/99- Added both Super Castlevania 4 and Castlevania: Dracula X to the stage section, some with
unique enemy images--ones you won't see in the existing boss section--should you click the links. Also,
unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to add playing Rondo of Blood into the "Not Likely To Happen" category,
due to circumstances beyond my control. There's $200 down the drain. Oh well.

12/17/99- Added a new Alucard section to the Dracula page, detailing his role in each of the games he's
appeared in. Also, added Castlevania Legends to the stage section. Added my own images of CV Legends
to the boss section, as well. I'm hoping to get Rondo running soon.

12/16/99- Added Castlevania Adventure to the stage section. Also, added the forms of Dracula from that
same game to the morph section in the Dracula page. After playing all the way through this, I'm convinced
that the crew that made the game takes great joy in our gaming frustration. Level 99 in Tetris wasn't even
this challenging.

12/15/99- Added Vampire Killer, Castlevania 3 and Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge to the stage
section. Also, added Dracula's forms from Vampire Killer to the morph section on the Dracula
page--thanks to the discovery of a little button called Print Scrn. I should be able to play Rondo of Blood
soon.

12/14/99- Added a stage section, with pictures of each stage, descriptions and bosses. I'll add each game
as I'm able to make the screenshots for them. I also added an image to the top of the main page in place of
the bland "The Cast" insignia. I'm thinking about adding more images such as that, but they're hard to come
by.

12/13/99- Added some commentary to the Castleography section. I'll add onto it further soon;
reproducing the stage from Castlevania X68000 will be a terror. Also, fixed some of the discolored images,
among them Sypha, Ninjotaur, Rope Lizard and Mud Worm. 

12/12/99- Added a new section called Castleography, which details the recurring stage in the Castlevania
series. Also, added a couple of Castlevania X68000 characters to both the boss and lesser enemies
sections. Finally, fixed the FTP error that wasn't allowing my backgrounds to load. 

12/9/99- Added a bunch of assorted images to the lesser enemies section, and I added one Castlevania 64
enemy to the boss section. Also, I corrected some of the storyline problems in the story section. That's it for
today, unless I decide to add stuff later on.

12/8/99- Added the Bloodlines versions of Dracula to the morph page. I must say that after playing that
game all the way through, my low opinion of the game has dropped even lower. I added a tracker on the main
page, as to see the sites production. Finally, changed the text color on other parts of the page due to them also
being too hard to read.

12/7/99- Added contributed images of the original Castlevania for the Commodore 64 to the games section
(on the same page as CV1 images), so go check them out. Also, added the Castlevania X68000 and Haunted
Castle versions of Dracula to the morph page of the Dracula section. Finally, the image and text links of the
boss, lesser enemies and Dracula sections were leading to different pages, so that's been corrected.

12/6/99- Expanded on the Dracula section; the link on the main page now leads to a sub-page with your
choice of two sections--the story (the original page) and the morph section, with images of some of the
creatures Dracula has turned into during the games. I'm still working on a write-up for the series, but I need to
do some research on this Anime D thing, or whatever it was.

12/5/99- Added Victor Belmont, from Castlevania: Resurrection, to the heroes section. Also, added a couple
more Super Castlevania 4 images to the lesser enemies section. Thinking of expanding on the Dracula page,
and I'm considering adding a write-up on the Castlevania series' inspiration.

12/4/99- Changed all the text in the boss and lesser enemies sections to red, due to them being too hard to
read. I also added Cornell from Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness to the heroes section. Finally, I added a very
minor Super Castlevania 4 enemy to the lesser enemies section.

12/3/99- I've almost completed changing all the non-unique site images. I have to change a couple of the
Dracula X images, which I will if I ever get the game running, and the box covers. All but those images were
made by me. I added two Super Castlevania 4 images to the boss section, as well. I still need screenshots of
SOTN, though, so I can make sprite rips, but I can't find many. Other than that, fixed a few minor things on
the main page and repaired some of the Game Boy images page-wide.

12/2/99- Finally got my copy of Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. Cost me a good sum on eBay to get it. Haven't
been able to play it yet, so I'll have to be patient. I am, however, able to play the music tracks on my D: drive.
All the familiar tunes from Castlevania: Dracula X are on it--only this music blows it away. I'll also have to
search the 'net for translations of the instruction book and in-game text, though I'm sure the Dungeon has it. 

And, obviously, I put up a new background. Took me a while to get something that blends really nice with the
images and text, and it's spotty in some places, but it'll do for now. Nothing new added, being that I've just
about run out of images to put, but I'll start putting Rondo images as soon as I get the game running.

12/1/99- Changed lots of the non-unique images throughout all the pages to my own images--as to not piss
anyone off. I'll finish the rest tomorrow and hopefully have the site full of original images only. In the
meantime, added two Belmont's Revenge characters to the boss and lesser enemy sections respectively. I'll
have to change this background, which will be painstakingly hard, but I'll figure something out. 

11/30/99- Finished enemy descriptions. Added lots of SOTN enemies, and one Castlevania 64 enemy, to
the boss and lesser enemy sections. Added my site to multiple search engines, as well. I'm still waiting for
clarification on my Web Ring request, and my copy of Dracula X: Rondo of Blood should arrive today.

I can't find screenshots with SOTN and CV64 enemies, so send them along if you have any--preferably
with the enemy facing foward, right or left. You'll get full credit for it, too.

11/29/99- Changed the structure of the boss and lesser enemy sections; the links now lead to sub-pages
with separate links for each page. Now you can go to any page you want, rather than having to go through
the first three to see something that was added to the fourth. Added a couple of Symphony of the Night
images to the lesser enemy and boss sections, too, though description-less. Fixed a few assorted problems
on several other pages. 

11/28/99- Added some Castlevania: Dracula X images to the to the lesser enemies section. Also, added a
Bloodlines image to the boss section. Plus, I fixed more of the characters with blurry backgrounds. 

11/27/99- Finally figured out how to make images with transparent backgrounds. Fixed all the images in the
boss and lesser enemy sections, taking out the black blocks surrounding them, though the Game Boy images
look worse than they did before. 

11/26/99- Added reviews for Castlevania X68000, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Castlevania: Dracula X,
Castlevania: SOTN, Castlevania Legends and Castlevania 64. Also, added pictures of Castlevania: SOTN and
Castlevania 64 to the screenshots section. Plus, I'm still waiting to see if my request to join the Castlevania
Webring has been granted.

11/24/99- Added screenshots for all but Symphony of the Night and Castlevania 64 to the games section.
Added some enemies from Castlevania X68000 to the enemies page. Also added a links section. That's about
it until the Thanksgiving weekend is over.

11/23/99- Restructured the games page. Now clicking on the box covers will lead to separate pages, each
containing 3-9 screenshots per game. Added some Castlevania Legends enemies to the bosses and lesser
enemies sections. 

11/22/99- Added a reviews section, with reviews for Haunted Castle, Vampire Killer, Castlevania,
Castlevania 2, Castlevania Adventure, Castlevania 3, Super Castlevania 4, and Castlevania: Belmont's
Revenge. Waiting for my copy of Dracula X: Rondo of Blood to arrive so I could review it. Reduced the
number of screenshots on the games page.

11/21/99- Added a heroes section. Restructured the main page, because it looked a tad too ugly. Added a
ton of SOTN enemy descriptions to the enemies page.

11/20/99- Added a web counter to the index, though it doesn't seem to load all the time. Fixed up the
Dracula page, correcting many story errors. And I'm thinking about adding a heroes section.