Super Castlevania IV is a Konami action game that came out for the Super Famicom in Japan on October 31, 1991, under the title Akumajō Dracula. The North American release followed in late December 1991, and Europe got it on November 23, 1992.
Director and main programmer Masahiro Ueno, credited as Jun Furano, wanted a pure action game in the spirit of the original NES Castlevania. Mitsuru Yaida programmed Simon and his multi-directional whip, and the music was written by Masanori Adachi and Taro Kudo. Factor 5 built a Mega Drive demo, but Konami kept its Mega Drive development in-house.
The international versions were noticeably toned down, with blood, crosses and nude statues changed. The game later returned on several Virtual Console services and in Castlevania Anniversary Collection in May 2019, and in 2017 Mondo released its soundtrack on vinyl.1
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Super Castlevania IVlate December 1991 | SNES | December 1991 | Konami | 1 |
| JP | 悪魔城ドラキュラAkumajō Dracula | SNES | Oct 31, 1991 | Konami | 1 |
| EU | Super Castlevania IV | SNES | Nov 23, 1992 | Konami | 1 |
| WW | Super Castlevania IVVirtual Console | Wii | 2006 | Konami | 1 |
| WW | Super Castlevania IVVirtual Console | Wii U | 2013 | Konami | 1 |
| WW | Super Castlevania IVNew Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console | Nintendo 3DS | 2016 | Konami | 1 |
| WW | Super Castlevania IVBuilt into Super NES Classic Edition | SNES | September 2017 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Castlevania Anniversary CollectionCompilation; Wikipedia gives 17 May 2019; also Switch, PS4, Xbox One | Windows | May 16, 2019 | Konami | 2 |
Also known as: Akumajou Dracula JP3Akumajō Dracula Best 2 JP1
Box art by region
NA Super Castlevania IV 
EU Super Castlevania IV 
JP 悪魔城ドラキュラ
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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CensorshipSNES (NA)SNES (EU)
Outside Japan the blood dripping from the title logo was removed, and the blood in the Dungeon stage was recolored green so that it reads as acid. Director Masahiro Ueno asked for the palette change himself.3
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CensorshipSNES (NA)SNES (EU)
Crosses were removed or replaced throughout the international versions, including the large grave in the final area, background crosses and coffins; only the Rosary item kept its cross.3
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CensorshipSNES (NA)SNES (EU)
The nude statues in the Main Hall wear clothes in the international versions.3
Translations
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English Official
Konami1991SNES · Japanese versionReleased · complete
The English version for North America and Europe. The game was only ever released in Japanese and English.1
Where to play legally today
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Steam Purchase
Castlevania Anniversary Collection
SNES version within an eight-game compilation
Checked: 2026-10-132store.steampowered.com
Reception
Super Castlevania IV sold 800,000 cartridges worldwide and holds an 82.06% GameRankings average. Nintendo Power ranked it 66th among Nintendo games in 2006, and Complex placed it 13th among SNES games in 2018.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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