Nintendo Releases Mysterious “Smiling Man” Teaser [Watch]

When you break it down, Castlevania fans are still divided into two camps: one loves the old-school sidescrolling whip action of the original trilogy, while the other enjoys the Metroidvania entries a la Symphony of the Night. Indie developer Lv.4 Games has gone the “Why not both?” route with their fan game Castlevania ReVamped, combining both genres into one.

Castlevania ReVamped is a Windows and Linux-based title which sports that classic 8-bit Castlevania look, but borrows features from the Metroidvania games to create a wholly unique package. As a result, Simon Belmont’s moveset is a mash-up of his classic adventures with his Rondo of Blood moveset, with a few new additions (directional whipping and ledge grabbing, for example).

ReVamped has been out for a while, but Lv.4 Games recently announced via X that the project is now going open-source, opening the door for modding, as well as those who wish to use it as the base for their own projects. Just remember to give credit!

Links for the latest version of ReVamped can be found here. This 1.1.1 version applies a few fixes to the game, but you’ll still have to wait for the final open source version.

Big thanks to Time Extension for this.

And if you’re a sucker for old school Castlevania, keep an eye on Retroware’s The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest, which is currently in development on PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, for a 2025 release.