We've talked about Castlevania many times on Retronauts. That's because I started this podcast, and by god, you cannot stop me from talking about Castlevania.
While we have explored the classics—the NES games, the metroidvania games, the Dracula X duology—there are many Castlevania titles that don't quite fit into those neat little boxes. Those oddball misift titles tend to fall through the cracks and go overlooked in larger conversations about the franchise, and that's not fair. Sure, some of them are absolutely awful, but others (like Bloodlines!) deserve better.
Well, it doesn't get much better than this episode. I figured if we were going to talk about some of the more esoteric Castlevania entries, there would be no one better suited to the task than the webmaster of The Castlevania Dungeon himself, Kurt Kalata. Along for the ride we also have Kurt's HG101 podcast collaborator Rob Russo and Atari historian Kevin Bunch. Together, we do not form Voltron, but we do host a pretty detailed conversation about Castlevania games that tend not to see a lot of love in the mainstream.
And wouldn't you know it! Just in time for Halloween! What a spooky coincidence.
Retronauts Episode 255: Castlevania's Oddballs
MP3, 42.2 MB | 1:31:02
Direct download | Retronauts on iTunes | Retronauts on Libsyn
Episode description: Jeremy Parish summons the eldritch forms of Castlevania experts Kurt Kalata, Rob Russo, and Kevin Bunch to discuss the enigma that is... Castlevania games that don't fit into any other specific grouping, like Haunted Castle and Bloodlines. Spooky!
Don't miss our previous Castlevania episodes:
- Pocket Episode 25: Castlevania on NES
- Micro Episode 19: Super Castlevania IV
- Episode 93: Igavanias
- Episode 137: Metroidvania IV: Symphony of the Night and The Near-Death of the Metroidvania Genre
- Episode 157: Metroidvania Finale
- Episode 188: Adi Shankar on Netflix's Castlevania
- Episode 197: Konami on MS (Vampire Killer)
- Episode 252: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (yes, not technically Castlevania, but come on)