Konami Adds Japanese Versions To Castlevania & Contra Anniversary Collections
Today Konami updated both the Castlevania Anniversary Collection and Contra Anniversary Collection to include many of the Japanese counterparts. For Castlevania fans this means U.S. audiences can finally play the original Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse with enhanced music! According to Wikipedia other differences with the Japanese version include:
Other changes differed in the gameplay or graphics. Instead of using a stabbing dagger, Grant throws daggers as his main attack. Some enemies do less damage in the Japanese version, and had their sprites changed for the Western releases. Some instances of nudity on the enemies were also censored, and religious iconography was pared down. The Japanese version had slightly different backgrounds in many stages, and had special effects not seen in the North American and European releases.
However, I’ve buried the lead! That’s because Konami has also implemented button mapping in both of the collections! Yes, that’s right! Now you can put jump on “B” and attack on “Y” like God intended. Other options, such as toggling turbo on or off, are also available for games like Contra. This free update makes both collections just that much better. Either of them can be purchased on the eShop right now for $19.99. Keep an eye out tomorrow for our Contra Anniversary Collection review!
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
