Castlevania Games in Order

Why this order?

Castlevania is one of gaming's longest-running series, and unlike most franchises its in-universe timeline is the real puzzle. The classic saga follows the Belmont clan and their allies across roughly six centuries of recurring battles with Dracula, which means the order you play the games in has almost nothing to do with the order they were released. We offer two ways to sort the major entries so you can choose your path.

Chronological order (our default) arranges the games by the year the story takes place. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse comes first at 1476, following Trevor Belmont in the medieval origin of the conflict. Then comes the original 1986 Castlevania, set in 1691 with Simon Belmont. Rondo of Blood lands in 1792, and its direct sequel Symphony of the Night picks up in 1797 with Alucard, Dracula's own son. Aria of Sorrow leaps all the way to 2035, reframing the whole mythology. This is the best route for following the lore as a continuous story.

Release order tracks how players actually discovered the series, which matters because the games evolved dramatically: from the rigid 8-bit platforming of the original to the sprawling, RPG-flavored "Metroidvania" template that Symphony of the Night defined in 1997 and that titles like Aria of Sorrow refined.

One major caveat: the Lords of Shadow trilogy (2010-2014) is a complete reboot with its own separate continuity and does not connect to the classic timeline at all, so we keep it apart. The Netflix animated series is a separate adaptation too. The franchise is genuinely huge, with dozens of entries across handhelds and consoles, so we focus on the landmark games rather than every spin-off. If you want a related lore-tangled saga, see Metroid, whose "Metroidvania" label shares half its name with this series.