Castlevania (キャッスルヴァニア, Kyassuruvania), also known in Japanese as Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ, Akumajō Dorakyura, "Devil's Castle Dracula"), is a dark fantasy-themed action-adventure video game series created and developed by Konami, centered on the Belmont family, a clan of vampire hunters, and their fight with Dracula.
The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release for the Family Computer Disk System (FCD), followed by an alternate version for the MSX2 platform on October 30. Although the MSX 2 port (localized in Europe and Brazil as Vampire Killer) was released first outside Japan, the series did not receive wide attention outside Japan until the FCD version was ported to cartridge format for the Nintendo Entertainment System and localized for North American and European releases of Castlevania in 1987 and 1988, respectively. The series became one of Konami's main series.
The Castlevania titles have been released on various platforms, from early systems including the Nintendo Entertainment System to modern consoles. It has also been released for Pocket PCs emulators and mobile phones.
