Konami, once again, you’ve decided to grace us with a shockingly amazing collection of classic titles from out of nowhere. Three years ago, Castlevania Advance Collection was released to immense fanfare, including three of the most acclaimed metroidvanias of all time, in an excellent package developed by M2, one of the best remastering studios in the industry. I legit thought this would have been the end of it, as remastering and re-releasing Nintendo DS games on modern systems, would have been quite complicated, due to all the gimmicky touchscreen features included in those games. But I guess they found out a way to make it work. Castlevania Dominus Collection is out now, and it’s downright fantastic.

That painting. That damn, Scooby Doo-looking painting. I love it so much.

Now, the main question you may have regarding a collection of DS games on a system where just one screen is used: how to adapt them? How are you going to ensure all of the (minute, but extant) touchscreen gimmicks will be available in a concise manner? What about the map feature? It’s all here, and Konami and M2 found an initially weird, but oddly functional solution. They just crammed all screens into one, taking advantage of the increased aspect ratio of modern 16:9 to put one screen right next to another. Furthermore, if you want to, you can have a third screen at once, displaying your stats and experience. It makes all games look like a Twitch stream, but it’s also bizarrely convenient. The main screen still takes half of the real estate, with the status and map subscreens taking a fourth each.

In order to deal with touchscreen features, you have two choices. I mean, if you’re playing on the Switch, of course. The first one is to literally just use the Switch’s touchscreen on portable mode. You’re not exactly going to play these DS bangers on a big screen (you can, but this just screams “portable play”), so might as well just use your finger while you’re at it. If not, or if you’re playing this on another console, you can use the right analog stick and the right trigger as a makeshift cursor. It works quite well, and you’re even able to adjust the cursor’s speed.

He looks menacing, but he’s actually the second boss in Dawn of Sorrow. And not that hard.

So when it comes to ensuring that the games would work on a system not called the DS or the 3DS, Konami and M2 did a pretty good job. If anything, they have now given other companies the foundations on how to properly remaster DS gamesfrom now on. Furthermore, the collection is full of additional features, such as concept art, a sound test mode, the option of choosing between the American and Asian ports of the games, and save states. It’s time to talk about the four games in the Castlevania Dominus Collection. Yes, four.

You can play as Jonathan and Charlotte in Portrait of Ruin, and swap between them with the press of a button.

The first game in the collection is Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. It is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow, often considered to be the best Castlevania game on the GBA (even though I still prefer Circle of the Moon, but hey, that’s just me). Dawn of Sorrow is usually considered to be the best Castlevania game on the DS. Is it though? Well, I obviously enjoyed it, as it’s the only game in this collection which feels more like what you would expect from a Koji Igarashi-developed metroidvania: one castle, lots of open-ended areas to explore, secrets galore, a huge bestiary, the list goes on and on.

This sequel to Aria of Sorrow is the least “complex” of the three metroidvanias in this collection, and only recommended to those who have beaten the GBA predecessor. Touchscreen features are just mere gimmicks, with the game occasionally telling you to draw some lines on the screen to perform a sealing technique. I am not a fan at all of the anime art style, which replaced the gorgeous gothic paintings drawn by Ayami Kojima, however. With all that said and done, it’s still oh so good. Such impressive level design, tough bosses, and a strong story. Might not be my favorite title in this collection, but it’s still so much better than most metroidvanias released nowadays, it’s not even funny.

My-my-my-my Shanoa!

Next up, I want to skip the second canonical title in this collection and start talking about Order of Ecclesia. Technically-speaking, it is the last Castlevania to have been released under the the franchise’s initial canon, before the Lords of Shadow reboot and all that. It’s also a darker and more serious title when compared to all other GBA and DS iterations of the franchise, featuring the amnesiac witch Shanoa as a protagonist, with the ability of absorbing enemy abilities and new skills due to the tattoo on her back.

Unlike pretty much every other 2D Castlevania since 1997, Order of Ecclesia isn’t exactly a metroidvania. It’s not mere level-based either. It’s a bizarre mixture of both. It’s a fairly linear game divided in smaller sections which can be selected from a map screen. There is also a hub town where you can buy items once you rescue enough villagers throughout the game. Bizarrely enough, its structure reminded me a bit of Castlevania II, and that is something I never thought I’d ever say about any other Castlevania, ever.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “these paintings remind me of Super Mario 64”, yes, they absolutely do.

Finally, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. It is the second game in terms of release order, but I wanted to keep this one for last as I legit think this is my favorite of the bunch, and possibly my favorite portable Castlevania ever made. A sequel to Bloodlines, the Mega Drive-exclusive Castlevania, Portrait of Ruin lets you play as two characters at once, Jonathan and Charlotte. As to be expected from a Castlevania game, one is your traditional whip-wielding vampire hunter, whilst the other one is the sorceress.

What made this game cooler than the others, in my opinion? It was a combination of many factors, such as the improved art style (it’s still anime, but less crappy than Dawn of Sorrow), the likeable characters, the World War II setting (yep, for real), and the level design. The latter can explained by the fact that there isn’t just a single castle to explore, but many worlds hidden inside of magical paintings.

If this sounds way too much like Super Mario 64, well, it’s actually a very similar premise. An evil painter has created some paintings with dark magic, and you can explore the worlds inside of them, which range from an actual London Underground station to Ancient Egypt. It’s obscenely tough at times, and sure, the character swap mechanic gets tiresome every now and then, but it’s still yet another banger of a title, and easily my favorite in this entire Castlevania Dominus Collection.

There’s a giant, floating jellyfish inside this seemingly innocent pub. A common day in Landan, guvnah.

Castlevania Dominus Collection features an additional title included as a sort of bonus as well. To be fair, it’s two titles, one being a remake of the other. Haunted Castle was originally released for arcades nearly fourty years ago. It was an absolutely horrendous take on Castlevania, with immense character graphics which hindered avoiding enemy attacks, sluggish controls, and a heinous level of difficulty. It was meant to munch quarters as quickly as Harold and Kumar munched through those unhygienic White Castle sliders. It’s a game meant for you to avoid at all costs…

And then M2 and Konami decided to remake it. Yep. Really. The worst Castlevania of all time is now available in a brand new version, and it’s actually really good. Haunted Castle went from being an atrocious arcade platformer meant to suck your wallet dry to becoming an actually good-looking and very competent 2D title reminiscent of Rondo of Blood and Super Castlevania IV. Is it as good as the DS titles included in Castlevania Dominus Collection? Absolutely not. But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate this inclusion. They didn’t need to remake the single worst title in the franchise’s history just to prove a damn point, but they sure did, and I love them for that.

They didn’t need to remake Haunted Castle. But they did it anyway. And I love them for that.

Even if I don’t consider Castlevania Dominus Collection to be the best retro compilation Konami has ever put out (The Cowabunga Collection still reigns supreme), it’s still a close second. The amount of bang for your buck is astonishing, as this collection features three meaty and highly acclaimed DS metroidvanias, as well as a remake of a formerly maligned title in the franchise’s history. Furthermore, I feel like M2 has finally figured out a way to make DS games function decently on a big screen, opening the floodgates for future compilations and/or remasters. Pick this one up right away, and start whipping some demons like it’s the mid 2000s all over again.

Castlevania Dominus Collection is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch.

Reviewed on Switch.