Hey, I get it. Waiting for the release of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is painful, and even when it finally releases, you can never get too much Castlevania. So here are five games you should check out if you’re looking for some more great Castlevania-inspired action; in no particular order (they’re all great).
Haunted Castle Revisited
Ok, so this is kind of a Castlevania, but since it doesn’t have the name in its title, I’m counting it. There’s no debate that the original Haunted Castle is an interesting relic of Castlevania history, but borderline unplayable, so it’s specially interesting how awesome this remake is. Included as part of the Castlevania Dominus Collection (largely composed of games originally released on the Nintendo DS), Haunted Castle Revisited is a complete remake of the arcade original, and better in almost every possible way. Graphics? Better. Music? Great (the original had great music too). Gameplay? HUGELY improved. Best part? It’s actually fun to play. While I’m not sure it’s worth getting the Dominus Collection only for this game, it’s super fun and totally worth playing.
Saint Slayer
Saint Slayer released earlier this year (in April 2026) and is an excellent classicvania-style game. No metroid-ish influences here, Saint Slayer is more like an old school Castlevania game, but with tons of enhancements and quality-of-life improvements. The story is original and an interesting take on the genre, but it’s your main weapon that really takes the spotlight: The Spear of Sacrifice. Not only can you stab enemies with it, but you can pogo on enemies and environmental items like you’re Scrooge McDuck in Ducktales, and TRUST ME when I say this is awesome. The graphics look like an enhanced version of something that feels like it could have been on the NES, but there are additional details and elements the poor old NES never could have handled. The controls are excellent and the gameplay is tight. I liked it so much I played through it mulitple times, and that’s a rareity these days (unless the game is Elden Ring.) If you like retro-style games, and old school Castlevanias, you have to check this one out.
Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth
While it has a rather long and odd name for anyone not familiar with the Record of Lodoss War anime, Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a really solid Symphony of the Night-inspired game. The pixel art is good, the gameplay is tight, the levels are well designed, and the boss fights get challenging. Story is also good, and the dialogue isn’t over done (which I greatly appreciate - nothing worse than a game that yaps on and on, especially if the dialogue is mid).
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
Curse of the Moon is an NES-style classicvania game created as part of a stretch goal for the Kickstarter campaign of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. With development overseen by famed Castlevania series developer, Koji Igarashi, Curse of the Moon seeks to recreate that classic Castlevania feeling, within the universe of the Bloodstained games, and it nails it on all accounts. Curse of the Moon looks like it could have come directly off an NES cart, although it has some advanced parallax background scrolling and other effects that the old NES probably couldn’t have handled. It has great music, plays really well and is a must play for old school Castlevania fans.
Infernax
Infernax is one of my favorite retro-styled Castlevania-inspired games. It has great looking pixel-graphics, and blood flying everywhere that actually collects on your character as you slay the forces of evil. With a great sense of humor, a banging soundtrack, tight controls, and crazy cool unlockable character options (one of which basically turns it into a Castlevania game with the Contra guys instead of the Belmonts - totally badass). If you are reading this list and you haven’t given Infernax a try, you have to correct that as soon as possible. You’ll thank me for it.
This is just a starting list of all the great Castlevania-style games that exist beyond the actual Castlevania series itself, and there are even more coming later this year. Stay tuned for more on this topic, as the Castlevania series is one of my favorites.