Castlevania Dominus Collection

Three legendary Castlevania adventures return with new features and options!

NA release: 27th August 2024
EU release: 27th August 2024
JP release: 27th August 2024
Developer: M2, Konami
Publisher: Konami
RPG Fan Review: 85%
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Version Played: PC

After the Advance collection, it was inevitable for Konami to release a collection focusing on the DS Castlevania games. Due to trademarks, they couldn’t use DS in the name, so they settled on Dominus. While this only relates to a single game in the collection, it does start with D and end with S, so I think that’s what they were going for.

In terms of emulation quality, this is the best yet. This is likely due to how only the graphics are emulated, while the code and logic was properly ported. They play extremely well, have a rewind that works really well and has multiple screen layout settings, including ones that let you have the map and enemy stats on the side of the screen, so you don’t have to swap between them like the original. This was the only Castlevania collection where I used the collection, as this is better than any unofficial emulation method.

The three main games, Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia, all really solid titles. For some strange reason, they’re listed in the reverse order. Technically, they’re in in-universe chronological order, but these three games aren’t really connected and Dawn of Sorrow is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow in the Advance Collection. There is a nice gallery (organised this time) and music player.

The bonus game this time is Haunted Castle, the disliked arcade game loosely based on Castlevania 1. This contains the easier Japanese version, which also has its own difficulty settings, more lives, rewind and more, making this much nicer to play than though MAME. And if that isn’t enough, there’s a brand new game based on Haunted Castle, making this the best bonus in these collections by far.

It’s a great collection. Not only are the games in this collection nicer to play here than though any other methods, but the bonus games would have been worthy of having their own individual release instead.

Great

So, yes, Igarashi is a genius, and the brilliance of his Castlevania games still holds up. Is this collection perfect? No. Each game has different flaws, and there are some minor issues with the overall presentation. Nonetheless, the DS trilogy in the Castlevania Dominus Collection are all clean, tight experiences with just enough experimentation to make each of them excellent and unique, even in a market flooded with Metroidvanias. Put simply, even 16 years later, Castlevania is still a genre giant.
Zach Wilkerson, RPG Fan

Remake or remaster?

The collection is really well done.

Official Ways to get the game

Castlevania Dominus Collection is widely available.