What is the true order of the early games in terms of release?
This is a tough one. I know that I mention “origin of the series” in many places on this site, and it can get confusing. Vampire Killer, released in 1986 for the Japan-only MSX2, is most definitely the father of all Castlevania games. Since there were no plans for a “Vampire Killer” license, I presume, Konami instead chose to stick with game’s Japanese moniker, Akumajou Dracula, and refocus its effort on Japan’s hottest new platform, the Famicom Disk System, on which the series would be reborn in a form inspired by Vampire Killer but unique to its new host; being technically superior to the MSX2 in how it could process information, the NES could handle scrolling stages where Vampire Killer was limited to room-by-room exploration. The series’ newer, more enduring formula was thus born. Almost a year later, another of the company’s division released an arcade game that was also called Akumajou Dracula, which was also a unique creation, having no relation to the Famicom title outside of s
