Castlevania turns 30

Castlevania turned 30 overnight.

The first game in the dark fantasy series came out in Japan on 26th September 1986 in Japan.

Publisher Konami seems to have let the anniversary flow by with nary a care (we spotted the tweet, below, from Konami UK). As far as we know, there are no new Castlevania games in development (apart from pachinko stuff, of course), and no remasters of past Castlevania games in the works, either.

20 years ago today = when the N64 was first made available in the US.

*30* years ago today = Castlevania launched in Japan! A classic! pic.twitter.com/Y2Wbx93Bkw

— KONAMI UK (@KonamiUK) September 26, 2016

Perhaps this doesn't come as much of a surprise following the company's switch of focus away from console video games to mobile, pachinko and health centres.

In a recent interview with Eurogamer, ex-Konami producer Dave Cox, who helped get the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow series made, said the feeling within the company back in 2008 was that the series "was done".

"Literally, it was going to be shelved. It was literally, Castlevania is finished, we're not interested in moving forward with the brand any more."

So, with Castlevania apparently dead in the water, fans look to its spiritual successor for hope. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, from veteran Castlevania developer Koji Igarashi, raised a whopping $5.5m from 64,867 backers on Kickstarter. But it's not due out until the first half of 2018. Sigh.

Now, on to what matters: what's the best Castlevania game? It's Symphony of the Night, right?