Castlevania 16-Bit
Image: Video Game Esoterica/Rumbleminze

Update []:

It's been almost a year since we last covered Rumbleminze's SNES port of the NES classic Castlevania, and it appears there's been some exciting news from the port's developer over the last week.

That's because, rather than abandoning the port, it seems Rumbleminze has been quietly working on a new SNES build, hoping to give the game a toggleable 16-bit makeover for players to take advantage of (thanks, VideoGameEsoterica!)

Looking at the build, the first thing you'll no doubt notice is the new sprite for Simon, which depicts him as a blonde in line with his appearance on the cover of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. That isn't the only change, however, as the backgrounds and enemies also receive more detail, aiming to add a bit more texture to the world.

Whether this change in art style is an improvement or not will likely be a source of debate among fans of the original, but regardless, we're glad the option exists and that it is presented as an optional extra, letting you switch back and forth between the two on the fly.

If you'd like to give it a try yourself, a preview is available to download from the ROM hacker Infidelity's Discord server, under Rumbelminze's latest releases.

Original Story []: The welcome trend of NES titles getting native ports to the SNES continues, and it's the turn of Konami's gothic epic Castlevania.

Originally released under the name Akumajō Dracula on the Famicom Disk System in September 1986 (it would come to the NES as Castlevania in 1987), this 2D platformer established the series' reputation for fast action, insane challenge and amazing music – and now you can play it natively on your SNES, thanks to the efforts of Rumbleminze.

This port offers three levels of challenge, 14 different palette options, six MSU-1 soundtracks and support for Retro-Bit's new rumble controller, which has been developed for the 2025 SNES port of DOOM.

You can also use the A or X buttons to throw subweapons, and there's the option to swap between two different subweapons, too.

[source bsky.app]