April 6, 2021 — The cancellation of Castlevania: Resurrection for the Dreamcast was an unfortunate disappointment to many fans, especially to those who bought SEGA’s ill-fated system only to get the next installment of Konami’s vamp-whipping series.

More than 20 years after the title was officially canceled, Castlevania: Resurrection has once again become the source of speculation after a prototype disc of the Dreamcast exclusive resurfaced. It would have been the first Castlevania title developed by Konami’s American development team. The game was not a classic sidescroller, but a third-person 3D action-vania and aimed at becoming a “killer game” to help market the graphical capabilities of SEGA’s much-loved Dreamcast console.

The resurfaced Castlevania: Resurrection prototype disc reportedly contains five playable stages along with a boss fight, as can be seen in the video below. The reveal happened thanks to the little-known site Sega Dreamcast Info, an enthusiastic one-man team dedicated to preserving SEGA culture.

In an interview conducted by The Castlevania Dungeon website, developer Greg Orduyan, who served as Art Director for Castlevania: Resurrection was kind enough to provide fans some insight into the project, in which he mentions that disagreements between Konami’s North American and Japanese branches were partially responsible for the cancelation.

What did you think of the actual game? Some press pointed to the game not being very good in the early stages.

“The game was very eagerly anticipated. The negative reaction was based on rumors leaked by some people within Konami who had their own agenda. Afterward, we worked together to create a working prototype, and the press loved it — everyone said “Wait for a second, it looks pretty good.” The rumors were put to rest. Then it was canceled, and everyone assumed, [“It must be crap.”]”

The game was going to be a strictly action-based, not exploration-based like Symphony of the Night, right?

“There was no free-roaming. Definitely from point A to point B. Basically, it was trying to give it a feeling of a side scroller.”

Castlevania Resurrection is the fourth game in the series known to have been canceled. Other titles that met the same fate were Castlevania 32X in 1996 and Akumajō Dracula for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 around 2008.