Individual collections for each series
The various rumors and rated collections were true! The Konami Anniversary Collection series has been announced by the company. Packaging different series in separate compilations, the first pack available will be the Arcade Classics collection on April 18, 2019, for $19.99. It will include Haunted Castle, Typhoon (A-Jax), Gradius (Nemesis), Gradius II (Vulcan Venture), Life Force (Salamander), Thunder Cross, Scramble, and TwinBee.
Following that, a Castlevania and Contra collection will be available at some point in the future. In a great move, each collection will be available on every major platform (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam), so no one has to miss out on the action. Each pack will contain eight titles, with Castlevania and Contra having four titles revealed. Castlevania will include the original NES classic, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, Super Castlevania IV, and Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge from the Gameboy. Contra will have Contra, Super Contra, Super C, and Contra III: The Alien Wars.
Sadly, these packs will be digital-exclusive releases, though Konami lists that they will be available from “various online stores.” I’m sure that is referring to each console’s respective marketplace, but it could mean the PC version will eventually hit other distributors.
At the very least, though, it’s nice to finally have these classic titles available on modern platforms. I might be too wishful with my thinking, but getting performance enhancements would also be nice.
Anniversary Collection [Konami]