As far as video game adaptations go, Castlevania is certainly one of the best. In fact, the television show, which just premiered its first four episodes on Netflix, could serve as a starting point for future creatives tasked with adapting interactive entertainment into a passive, scripted program.
The series is a partial retelling of the 1990 Nintendo Entertainment System game, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse. The game itself features the rather minimal narrative of a vampire hunter, Trevor Belmont, traveling to defeat Dracula and prevent his demonic armies from destroying 15th century Europe. Along the way, he meets three allies: a sorceress Sypha, the pirate Grant, and Dracula’s son Alucard.
Image: Netflix
It’s a thin, yet sturdy skeleton, one that the show’s creators fill with new ideas, and also story elements from later Castlevania games. There is a care taken that clearly shows those involved have an understanding not just of the franchise’s Wikipedia synopsis, but of the more abstract ideas and feelings that have made it so appealing.
Where the show falters isn’t in the ideas themselves, but how they are executed.