Castlevania (キャッスルヴァニア?), also known as Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ, Akumajō Dorakyura?, lit. Devil's Castle Dracula), is a video game series created and developed by Konami, centered on the Belmonts, 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 (FDS), followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30. Although the MSX 2 port (localized in Europe and Brazil as Vampire Killer) was released first outside of Japan, the series did not receive wide attention outside of Japan until the FDS version was ported to cartridge format for the Nintendo Entertainment System and localized for North American and European releases of Castlevania in 1987. The series soon became one of Konami's flagship series.[citation needed] 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.
