The Castlevania series has a long, storied legacy. Starting as some of the most successful sidescrolling platformers ever made, turning into some of the worst third person action games ever made, and then ending up as some pretty okay third person action games, the franchise has definitely seen its share of ups and downs. With such a varied catalogue that covers both polarities and everything in between, it's difficult to pinpoint just how all the Castlevania games rank against each other over the years. Well don't worry, we did all the work for yoไu.

You don't have to seek out a descendant of the Belmont clan, or in some cases extremely strained ties, to the bloodline. Start collecting hearts, grab some holy water, and get ready to crack the shit out of your whip. We're ranking all the Castlevania games from worst to best.

22 🌄 Caꦗstlevania II: Simon’s Quest

WHAT A HORRIBLE NIGHT TO HAVE A CURSE. Although it had some revolutionary ideas for the time, Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest is actually one of the worst games ever made, period. The anticipated sequel to the incredibly good (even by today’s standards), original Castlevania, Simon’s Quest gets bogged down in a lot of poor design choices and gameplay mechanics that make most ga🅷mers throw the cartridge out the window after the first few minutes.

The game is effectively crippled by a few of its integral mechanics: the day night cycle is announced by a lengthy in game message that pauses gameplay, progression is cryptic thanks to nonsensical items and misinformation fed to you by the town’s people, and an incredibly underwhelming battle against Dracula easily make Simon’s Quest the worst game in the Castlevania series.

21 Castlevania: The Adventure ꦗ

The first Belmont adventure that could be taken on the go, Castlevania: The Adventure was the series entry on Nintendo’s industry changing Game Boy handheld. The games graphics are descent for the Game Boy in൩ 1989, as you can tell what’s going on and animations are smooth. The soundtrack is okay, although some of the tune꧙s start to really ware on the ear after you hear them on loop for a while.

Aside from the name, the whip, and Dracula, the game doesn’t really have too many similarities to the series; there are no sub weapons, enemies are largely uninspired, and the fight with Dracula is ridiculou🌟sly underwhelming. I know𓆉 that some of the game’s weaker points are due to the limited hardware and development practices when the game was released, but in the scope of the series, it’s pretty bad.

20 🏅 🤡 Castlevania 64

Easily one of the worst in the series, Castlevania 64 was one of the worst games on the console. Graphics were muddy, misshapen, and sharp; a collage of muddy colors and crappy textures. The controls didn’t fare much better as trying to hit anything with your whi✤p is an extreme chore, thanks to the awkward butt🔥on mapping and horrible camera.

Richter controlled like a tank on crutches and was prone to cheap hits due to the jump into 3D for the series. Plus, it has that lovely N64 aesthetic, meaning that it looks like total poop most of the time. Combine this with the crappy enemy design, awful boss fights, and just general, “Oh my God why did I pay money to put myself through this” and you can plainly see why Castlevania 64 scores so low.

19 🍸 Castlevania: Legacy Of Darkness

It’s like Konami saw that everyone hated the first Castlevania 64, and decided to make it eꩲven worse, add more characters, and release it again. In addition to the awful controls, clunky combat, and nonsensical storyline, the camera is just awful. So. Damn. Awful. It's so damn awful that it completely ruins any of the positives that the game might've had hidden within it.

There are no redeeming qualities for Legacy Of Darkness. In fact, if you’re thinking about playing it, I strongly advise against it; you can collect items for a certain puzzle in the wrong order, requiring you to erase your save and start over from the beginning. I'd actually play the original N64 Castlevania over this, but I'd be more willing to drive myself off a br🐷idge instead, preferably with a trunk full of these cartridges.

18 ♏🎶 Castlevania Legends

The last Castlevania to be released on the Game Boy, you’d figure that Legends would probably be the best. Unfortunately, the game has many shortcomings that make Belmont’s Revenge, released six years earlier, superior. The soundtrack is vastly inferior to most of the series, the level design is bland and uninspired, and the ꧃gameplay feels boringly flat. So much so that longtime producer Koji Igarashi publicly proclaimed that it was an “embarrassment to the series.” Ouch.

Legends may have been unfairly judged, being released just a few years after the incredible Symphony Of The Night, but the fact that it’s predecessor released multiple years before it is a better game, Legends will always remai🍨n one of the series’ biggest follies.🍌 Best avoided, even with a ten foot pole.

17 Castl🦋evania: Lament Of Innocence

Konami’s best attempt to cash in on Capcom’s success with Devil May Cry, Castlevania: Lament Of Innocence is a poor substitute for Dante’s dual pistol, sword swinging action. Following yet another descendant of the Belmont clan, this one being particularly whiney, Lament Of Innocence sees more whip wielding action in a castle as you take on a lackluster story🐓 with forgettable characters.

God Of War would come a few years later and become one of gaming’s most popular franchises; Lament Of Innocence was the continuation of the decline of a once proud series. It’s a largely forgettable third person action game with fixed cameras, lackluster enemies and bosses, and the Castlevania n﷽ame pasted to the cover. I guess it makes sense when you think about the treatment Konami gives most of its series these days.

16 Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow - Mirror Of꧅ Fate

A 3D sidescroller that appeared on the last generation of consoles, as well as Nintendo’s 3DS, Mirror Of Fate is a subpar entry when compared to the excellence of the franchises origins. To jump from a third person action game to a sidescrolling reboot is a bold move, and it didn’t pay off for the series this time around.Why they figured that deviating from the goodness of the original 2D by making the game interchangeable with any other sidescroller, instead of making it feel like a real Castlevania game, is beyond me.

The game does feature multiple characters, some fun bosses, and some interesting level design. However, for the most part, it just comes out feeling meh. Instead of a reinvention, Mirror Of Fate becomes a study in mediocrity fairly quickly, and do🌱esn’t move on for the rest of the game.

15 ⛄ Castlevania: Curse Of Darkness 🗹

Another PS2, fixed camera, generic third person action game with the Castlevania name attached to it. It’s sad that the series decided to put out so many lackluster games, because honestly they weren’t even trying at this point and decided to staple a beloved franchise's seal to it. The game is an improvement over Lament Of Innocence in a few ways, including the soundtrack ꦆand the combat not being as much a snooze fest.

However, the environments are still r✤epetitive and poorly designed, the colors are muddy and mute, and the game just feels generally lacking. It was a small step forward, but it was still way too many steps behind the other classic games in the series. An unfortunate decline into mediocrity for a once legendary series.

14 🦄 🐷 Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge

A huge improvement over its predecessor, Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge is one of the finer action games on the Game Boy. The character movement is still slow and the enemies aren’t the most original, but the soundtrack is excellent, especially for Nintendo’s original handheld, and sub weapons make an appearance again. The graphical enhancements are also something to be noted, as the game only came out a few years after The Adventure.

The game featured four levels that had different themes and could be completed in any order, much like the Mega Man series stage selection. All around a pretty good Game Boy game, but when considering the entire Castlevania catalogue, it’s ꦰnot one of the bes🌠t. Still, a solid Game Boy experience for anyone who still may be lugging around a grey brick.

13 Castlevania🐽: Bloodlines 🃏

The Sega Genesis’s foray into the Belmont family, Bloodlines takes what was right about Super Castlevania IV and mixes it with its own slew of oddities and problems. Players can choose one of two characters, both distant relatives of the Belmont family line, which can alter the way that the game is played and progressed through. A descent soundtrack and excellent graphics (for the time) make Bloodlines a welcome addition to the Castlevania family.

Combat is responsive, enemies are quick and challenging, and the level design and detail made it a graphical showcase for the Sega Genesis. However, some of the boss encounters feel uninspired and the level progression can be conf🦂using when playing with the different characters. For some reason, the classic formula just feels like a miss when designed for Sega's 90s offering.