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Konami will release three Anniversary Collection compilations in 2019 based on the company’s Castlevania franchise, Contra franchise, and its early arcade games. The Konami Anniversary Collections are timed with the company’s 50th anniversary, and will be released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC via Steam, and Xbox One.
The first Anniversary Collection will compile eight of the company’s arcade games from the 1980s. Konami Anniversary Collection: Arcade Classics will be released digitally on April 18 for $19.99 and will include the following titles:
- Haunted Castle
- A-Jax (aka Typhoon)
- Gradius
- Gradius 2
- Life Force
- Thunder Cross
- Scramble
- TwinBee
Konami will follow its Arcade Classics release with the Castlevania: Anniversary Collection in “early summer.” It too will include eight titles, four of which have been announced: Castlevania (NES), Castlevania 2: Belmont’s Revenge (Game Boy), Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse (NES), and Super Castlevania 4 (Super NES).
Also coming in early summer is the Contra: Anniversary Collection. Confirmed for the eight-game collection so far are Contra (arcade), Super Contra (arcade), Super C (NES), and Contra 3: The Alien Wars (Super NES).
Konami still has plenty of classic Castlevania and Contra games to choose from that haven’t been confirmed, such as Castlevania: Bloodlines and Contra: Hard Corps. Presumably, games like those and variations like Vampire Killer for the MSX2, will round out the unannounced games.
Each Anniversary Collection will include a digital book that includes information like “interviews with the development staff, behind-the-scenes insights, and sketches and design documents never before revealed to the public,” according to Konami’s website.
