6 Halloween Games I Recommend Checking Out

3. Castlevania

The Original Vampire Killer

The game that really kicked it all off, and the opening 8-bit tune that almost rivals that of Super Mario games, Castlevania on the NES. Dare to venture into the castle of Dracula.  Play as Simon Belmont and duel with Giant Bats, Frankenstein, Mummies, and Death (literally), as you make your way through the castle to your final challenge, Count Dracula. This game also continues in the 8-bit tradition of being rather challenging (at least by today’s standards) and even as Castlevania games go this is still one of the best out there. Currently available on the NES, Wii Virtual Console, as a special GBA game, and on emulators. Not too shabby for a game that’s over 20 years young.

2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Alucard takes up the fight!

The game that helped inspire the catch-phrase Metroid-vania, and widely considered to be one of the best 2D adventure/plat-forming games of all time. The game revolves around the story of Alucard (Dracula’s son who’s half human half lord of the night). He wishes to put an end to his father’s rein of evil, and as such is taking on all the horrors that lie within the castle on route to face his father. This is a game for the ages, and if you haven’t played it yet (for whatever reason). Halloween would be a great time to start, and like the first game in the series this is another great place to get to grips with the series. You can find this game on the PS1 and in various re-vamps on later consoles.

1. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Shanoa is tall, dark and awesome!

The third game of a trio of DS games, Konami saved the best for last here. We get a new character, Shanoa, and she’s one of the series only female lead characters. The formula is similar to the 1^st DS game but provides one of the most refined 2D side-scrolling action experiences on ANY console. The story follows the warrior Shanoa, chosen warrior of the Order of Ecclesia, to do battle with Dracula in a time when the Belmont family was absent. The overworld for this game is HUGE, you have entire areas to explore in addition to exploring Dracula’s Castle, which is why the teleportation system comes in handy. There’s a Boss Rush Mode, a Practice Mode, Wireless (to play with friends), and Online to compare your Bosh Rush Scores with others. While the story is more mature, and frankly gloomier in comparison to its DS counterparts, I feel that this is perhaps one of the most definitive games on the DS, and for the Castlevania series as a whole. Oh and did I mention that Koji Inafune, purposely made this game a fair bit harder than its predecessors, (this after Castlevania is already considered one of the tougher game series out there-Bonus! Also *Info from Nintendo Power Volume 230-Koji “hints” at there being some truth to rumors of him thinking the previous games on the DS were too easy an an interview*.) so you’ll have plenty to do when playing it (as I’m rediscovering this month first-hand). Give this, or any of the other DS Castlevania games, a go, they’re great games to play on Halloween or any other time, but for me this one is the best of the DS bunch.

And so ends my little Halloween list of gaming treats to check out, or does it? I could mention games like Luigi’s mansion, Fire Emblem games usually have zombies of some sort in them. Rare’s fighting franchise Killer Instinct as a whole, has plenty of “Killer” thrills to be had. But believe it or not Halloween these days is more than just magic, ghosts, zombies, vampires, werewolves and the like. Fantasy, and fun have become cornerstones to the modern Halloween tradition in the Western World, and we often overlook gems with a strong eastern artwork background. Games like Oboro Muramasa, or as translated for us here Muramasa:The Demon Blade .