Konami Celebrates 50 Years with Anniversary Collection

Konami hasn’t been doing much for their fans, lately. That’s putting it lightly, as most Konami fans would actually tell you just how they upset they really are at Konami. After the very public, very nasty split up with Kojima, and the disappointment that was Metal Gear Survive, then Konami releasing a video of Metal Gear Solid 3 in the Fox Engine only for the truth to be revealed that it was a pachinko machine, Konami seemed to be batting a solid 0. Or negative, can they bat in the negatives?

Anyway, public opinion is real low, is basically what I’m trying to say. Despite that, Konami’s 50 year anniversary is coming up and it seems someone there thought they ought to do something to celebrate! Good thinking, really. So in that spirit, Konami will be releasing their Konami Anniversary Collection. This collection will come in bundles releasing throughout the year, each one representing some of Konami’s most famous classics such as Contra, Castlevania, and some arcade classics.

First up, Konami’s Arcade Classics will be releasing on April 18, for the very reasonable price of $19.99 USD. These Arcade Classics will include the following:

• HAUNTED CASTLE

• TYPHOON (A-JAX)

• NEMESIS (Gradius)

• VULCAN VENTURE (Gradius II)

• LIFE FORCE (Salamander)

• THUNDER CROSS

• Scramble

• TwinBee

All this comes with a “bonus book” Konami describes as “a bonus eBook packed with new information about the titles, including interviews with the development staff, behind-the-scenes insights, and sketches and design documents never before revealed to the public!”

Following that, Castlevania: Anniversary Collection and Contra: Anniversary Collection have both been announced for Early Summer 2019, but only four of their eight titles have been revealed. For the Castlevania series:

• Castlevania

• Castlevania III Dracula’s Curse

• Castlevania II Belmont’s Revenge

• Super Castlevania IV

Then for Contra:

• CONTRA

• SUPER CONTRA

• SUPER C

• CONTRA III THE ALIEN WARS

Included with both of these collections is another Bonus Book, although what they will include has also not been announced yet.

So, could this be Konami trying to get back in the good graces of their gaming fans, maybe they could be gauging interest in these series while they work on another project. Perhaps I’m simply being over-optimistic because I would very much like to see another 3D Castlevania, a la Lords of Shadow. Still, dare to dream, right?

Each of these collections will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. Arcade Classics will be arriving April 19, each of the others will show up sometime this summer.