Bugs & Issues with Castlevania Anniversary Collection

[Odjn Ryu]

I personally have the game on Switch but I have been hearing about some issues that plague the games across all SKUs that is probably worth mentioning in the hopes Konami addresses / has M2 patch this stuff.

If you buy any version of the game, please report issues and bugs here. Would be great to point out a thread like this to Konami / M2.

Crashes

Castlevania
On Switch, I personally experienced a glitch / hang-up right after defeating Dracula but before the second part of the fight begins. The game freezes with the last note played in the music remaining sustained. Menu still worked so the game had to be reset / a save state had to be loaded to resolve the issue.

Users are stating that the ROM used for Castlevania NES is PRG0, which is a launch-era version of the NES ROM with a crash bug that causes a lock-up when too many sprites are on-screen, such as in the Death fight (particularly when using Holy Cross + III) and during the Dracula / Final Boss.

Videos of the freeze happening:
Pre-Death Hallway https://twitter.com/CaffeinatedBolt/status/1129537956832657408
End of Dracula Battle: https://twitter.com/PatrickKul/status/1129400102437642240

Main Menu - PC
1. During gameplay in fullscreen, open the options. (Left trigger on Xbox One Controller)
2. Enter Windowed Mode. (Alt+Enter)
3. Enter Fullscreen Mode again.
4. Exit the options screen.
5. Open the options again.
6. The game beeps and then the program closes.

The "beep and close" never happens when the game is just paused or active, only when in the option screen.

Controls

In the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One versions, controls cannot be customized in-game. Fun fact: May 16, 2019 is also World Accessibility Day.

The control layout for the NES / Game Boy Castlevania games is as follows:

PC:

Z, X, A and S are the keys used, but what they do differs from game to game. To access in-game menu on the keyboard you must press 1. These cannot be bound to other keys

PS4:

Triangle = Whip
X = Whip
Square = Jump
Circle = Jump

Switch:

X = Whip
B = Whip
Y = Jump
A = Jump

Xbox One:

Y = Whip
A = Whip
X = Jump
B = Jump

Ideally, controls in retro collections like this should be fully customizable so that Xbox One controllers, for example, can re-map Whip to X and Jump to A; PS4 controllers could re-map Whip to Square and Jump to X; Switch controllers could re-map Whip to Y and Jump to B. Unfortunately that's not currently the case.

Audio

Some audio beeping / crackling issues have been reported on multiple SKUs for Castlevania Anniversary Collection, most notably a beeping sound in Castlevania Stage 2 & Stage 11 (which play the same tune).

UPDATE: Additional information regarding the beeping issue has been shared. The issue seems to point to the Triangle sound channel of the game not handling "Pitch 0" correctly. Twitter link: https://twitter.com/RetroGameAudio/status/1130312837170106368

Castlevania (Xbox One) beeping: https://youtu.be/CLxmsrC1HZM

Castlevania (Nintendo Switch) beeping: https://twitter.com/SuperDarkMimeIV/status/1129071834651955205

The final boss theme (second part of fight after Dracula) has noticeably crackling sound.

Super Castlevania IV Distorted Sound (PC): In the event you have distorted sound, one user has reported fixing this by changing Windows 10 default sound settings from 24 bit 48000 to 16 bit 48000 to eliminate distortion.

Nintendo Switch Game Selection screen static / garbled audio: Sometimes when exiting back to the main menu / game selection screen after playing a game for a while, the music audio will be garbled / have lots of static. Restarting the entire game resolves the issue, but it can happen again after exiting one of the games.

Display

Switch: 10:7 Display Bug
On Nintendo Switch, in TV mode only:

The "pixel perfect" display setting for Castlevania, Castlevania II, Castlevania III, and Super Castlevania IV uses a 10:7 aspect ratio. This is an incorrect value for NES and SNES games.

As 10:7 is the correct "pixel perfect" ratio for Genesis/MD, it is likely that the Bloodlines value is being incorrectly used for NES and SNES games.This bug does NOT occur in handheld mode, where Castlevania I-IV use the accurate 8:7 aspect ratio.

Switch Docked / Undocked Display Mode Bug
"Original" Display Mode and "Pixel Perfect" Display Mode work normally on Switch when the unit is undocked / portable. When the unit is docked, "Original" Display Mode's effect and "Pixel Perfect" Display Mode's effect are reversed, so selecting "Original" results in a Pixel Perfect display, whereas selecting "Pixel Perfect" results in an Original display.

PS4 Display Mode Bug
The game appears to display in "Pixel Perfect" Mode regardless of whether you select "Original" or "Pixel Perfect", and will not fill out the top and bottom of the screen. The only way to get a proper 4:3 image is with the scanlines option, which some users may not like.

PC Version Launches in Windowed Mode
Upon first launch, the PC version will launch in windowed mode. Pressing Alt + Enter to force full screen will fix the issue for subsequent launches.

Display - Details

Castlevania, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania Bloodlines, Kid Dracula

• Original = 4:3 stretched but doesn't cover top-of-screen to bottom-of-screen
  
• Pixel Perfect = 8:7
  
• Stretched Widescreen (not recommended) = 16:9

• 4:3 Scanlines = 4:3 stretched and enlarged with scanlines, covers top-of-screen to bottom-of-screen
  
• Pixel Perfect Scanlines = 8:7 with scanlines
  
• 16:9 Scanlines = 16:9 with scanlines (again, not recommended)

• There are no options to have any sort of linear filter, only scanlines or pixels.
  
• There is no option to lessen the blur of the scanlines and make them resemble more of a RGB Monitor than CRT.
  
• There is no option to have the "Original" display mode with Scanlines without covering top to bottom

Castlevania: The Adventure, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge

• Original = Screen covers top-of-screen to bottom-of-screen
  
• Pixel Perfect = Smaller square
  NOTE: On Switch version in portable mode, Original & Pixel Perfect give the same result = Screen covers to bottom
  
• Dot Matrix = Green Game Boy Filter and Dot Matrix layout, covers top to bottom

• Color filter = Screen covers top to bottom with Super Game Boy red filter
  
• Color filter (Pixel Perfect) = Smaller square with Super Game Boy red filter
  NOTE: On Switch version in portable mode, Original & Pixel Perfect give the same result = Screen covers to bottom
  
• Scanlines = Screen covers top to bottom with Super Game Boy red filter & scanlines

• There are no options to have any sort of linear filter, only scanlines or pixels.
  
• There is no option to lessen the blur of the scanlines and make them resemble more of a RGB Monitor than CRT.
  
• There is no option to have the "Original" display mode with Scanlines

Save States

Only 1 save state slot is supported for each game. As a comparison, NES Classic (which comes with Castlevania), SNES Classic (which comes with Super Castlevania IV), and Nintendo Switch Online - NES app support up to 4 save state slots.

Misc

There is no way to exit the game from the PC version when in Full Screen other then pressing Alt + F4 or going into Windowed Mode with Alt + Enter and pressing 'X'.

[Zeikar]

That beep is weird on Casltevania level 2.

[Cranky Old Timer]

I am noticing this, too. The framerate seems to hiccup, and I have a i78700k with a gtx 1080, so it should run fine. I am not liking the lack of control customization and only one save slot. I love that I can finally buy these titles legally, but it is such a letdown when other programs do a far, far better job for options with emulation. Yeah, I will keep this, because I will hold out hope patches will be released later.

[Tizoc]

Control Customization isn't a major biggy due to Steam controller config which you can load up anytime and customize anytime while playing.

[Allard]

So, from what I could figure out, the controls are on Z, X, A and S, but what they do differs from game to game.
Also, no option to have any sort of linear filter, only scanlines or the pixels.
To access in-game menu on the keyboard you gotta press 1.

[kmrd]

Just a heads up, they launched the wrong Castlevania (NES) ROM. So your game has a high chance of crashing in "stage 5" (Death's Stage). Do NOT buy.

[Zeikar]

Originally posted by Komrade:

Just a heads up, they launched the wrong Castlevania (NES) ROM. So your game has a high chance of crashing in "stage 5" (Death's Stage). Do NOT buy.

How do you know this?

[Odjn Ryu]

Yeah, a little more info would be appreciated.

[HouseofBelmont]

My game starts in windowed mode is there a way to launch in fullscreen?

[Zeikar]

Originally posted by JohnnyBreaktime:

My game starts in windowed mode is there a way to launch in fullscreen?

ALT+F4 and it will stay in fullscreen the next time you launch.

[Allard]

Originally posted by Zeikar:

Originally posted by JohnnyBreaktime:

My game starts in windowed mode is there a way to launch in fullscreen?

ALT+F4 and it will stay in fullscreen the next time you launch.

Surely you mean ALT+ENTER. ALT+F4 quits the game.

[Zeikar]

Originally posted by Allard:

Originally posted by Zeikar:

ALT+F4 and it will stay in fullscreen the next time you launch.

Surely you mean ALT+ENTER. ALT+F4 quits the game.

oops, talk about a major brain fart! I meant ALT+ENTER, but speaking of ALT+F4, that's the only way I can exit out of the game.

[HouseofBelmont]

Ok ty

[Odjn Ryu]

I think I'm also noticing that for some of the games, the Display Options are incorrectly labeled for Original / Pixel Perfect?

EDIT: Rather, calling the "Original" display mode that way is confusing, should be called "4:3 Boxed" or something like that.

Original implies "Original aspect ratio" to me, although technically the inner NES / SNES aspect ratio is 8:7 (Pixel Perfect), not 4:3.

[darktek]

Here's a few issues a had with the game and how i fixed it, just in case someone else has the same problems:

The game always launched in window mode, switched it to fullscreen with "ALT+Enter", but when in fullscreen mode the game always crashed when opening the options menu from within any of the games, didn't crash while in window mode.

I fixed it by editing the config file (C:\Users\"your user name"\AppData\Roaming\Castlevania Anniversary Collection\savedata\savecfg.txt)

Here's the settings the game saved by default:

-----
LAST_CLIENT_SIZE_X = 1920
LAST_CLIENT_SIZE_Y = 1061
LAST_CLIENT_SIZE_ENABLED = 1
LAST_WINDOW_POS_X = 0
LAST_WINDOW_POS_Y = 0
LAST_WINDOW_POS_ENABLED = 1
BOOT_FULLSCREEN = 0
-----

And here's after my edit:

-----
LAST_CLIENT_SIZE_X = 1920
LAST_CLIENT_SIZE_Y = 1080
LAST_CLIENT_SIZE_ENABLED = 0
LAST_WINDOW_POS_X = 0
LAST_WINDOW_POS_Y = 0
LAST_WINDOW_POS_ENABLED = 1
BOOT_FULLSCREEN = 1
-----

Now the game launches in fullscreen and all menus work like it should.

Note: I had to set savecfg.txt as "Read Only" or else the game would revert back to default settings each time a closed it.
Note2: of course you should set the resolution to whatever your monitor support if it's not 1080p, but i haven't tested any other as i have a 1080p monitor.

Also, funny typo they made on some games control screen: push "left arrow" to go "right" & "push right arrow" to go "left"

[Zeikar]

Also got the Switch version and can confirm there is a terrible audio glitch in the game selection menu where it has loud buzzing, clicking, beeping, and all kinds of noise whilst the music plays which you can barely hear over those noises.