Also, NYRangers9440 has contributed his Best of Castlevania Rankings, if you're looking for another perspective.

#1: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night How do you continue to praise one of the best video games ever made? Gorgeous, fluid graphics, perfect control, spectacular music, lots of secrets to uncover AND one of the coolest heroes in video gaming.

	#2: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow All of the Gameboy Advance games tried as hard as it could to emulate Symphony of the Night. Despite the dip in graphic and sound quality, Aria matches it on pretty much every level - and with all of the nifty soul powers you can get, in some ways, it's better.
	#3: Dracula X PC Engine Hands down the best old school Castlevania, this unfortunately import-only PC Engine title features extremely detailed graphics, lots of cool bosses, multiple routes and secrets, and a silly little anime girl to play as. Often goes for $100+ on eBay, but pretty much worth it.
	#4: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon While not as smooth or nice-looking as its two GBA successors, Circle of the Moon still stands as the best molding of exploration gameplay with the traditional bitch-hard difficulty of the olden days.
	#5: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance The second GBA game is battered around a bit by fans, and somewhat unfairly. While its niggling flaws add up after awhile - there's a suspicious lack of secrets or fancy weaponry, and the later stages of the game are quite tedious, so the whole game has a suspicious "been there, done that" feeling as a result. What that doesn't take into account is that this is probably the smoothest controlling Castlevania out there - the dash manuever really makes the game shine.
	#6: Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse The final part of the NES trilogy offers the most diverse set of characters and levels ever seen in a Castlevania game - not even Dracula X can top it.
	#7: Castlevania Bloodlines While it's not as good looking as Super Castlevania IV, I've always preferred Bloodlines - the shrunken character sprites make it feel more like the old games, and it has some of the coolest levels you'll find in any of the games. And the spear wielding hero Eric Lecarde is someone I would've loved to see more of. AND one of the best uses of the Genesis sound chip too. Or maybe I'm just a Sega whore.
	#8: Super Castlevania 4 This, one of the first third-party titles for the SNES, sounds and looks better than 95% of the other action games released for the platform - the atmosphere is impeccable, and the soundtrack is one of the most unique of the series. But for as much of a masterpiece as this game is, I can't shake the feeling that Simon's movement feels a bit stiff, and it feels stripped down compared to Castlevania 3.
	#9: Castlevania: Lament of Innocence This Playstation 2 title is certainly closer to an ideal 3D Castlevania than the N64s were, but while they put a lot of effort into an excellent combat system, they forgot to create an interesting level structure. As a result, the game has a very repetetive feel, running from one identical room to another. Still plenty of fun and there's a ton of hidden stuff to find, but could have used more time to brew.
	#10: Castlevania Chronicles Pretty much a remake of the original game, the X68000 and its Playstation remake is most definitely a quality game. Although it lacks the frills of the other titles, it ranks as one of the most difficult of the series - finishing the "Original" mode is a true accomplishment for Castlevania fans.
	#11: Castlevania The original is still a remarkable game, and stands up amazing for a game made in 1986. It's only ranked so low because its successors are such magnificant specimens of human achievement.
	#12: Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest While the action in Simon's Quest is quite easy, the primary challenge lies in the exploration of the rather confusing landscape. In spite of this, anyone with the patience will find a rewarding quest with some of the best music to emerge for the NES.
	#13: Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness The N64 games are loathed by many, although they aren't terrible games. They just happen to be competant action titles in a series otherwise known for nearly impeccable perfection. While the sluggish controls and uneven level designs are a bit of a putoff, the atmosphere is very well done - Castlevania has never been this creepy, especially being chased through a hedge maze by a chainsaw wielding maniac.
	#14: Castlevania 64 The N64 games are, for all intents and purposes, the same game. Legacy of Darkness just gets higher ranking because there's characters and levels. So the same written above applies here.
	#15: Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge While the gameplay is quite slow, Belmont's Revenge is still by far the best of the original Castlevania Gameboy games, as the levels are better designed to suit the pace of the action. Get used to it and you'll find one of the platform's better action games.
	#16: Dracula X SNES Another title that's bashed among Castlevania circles, this one has a valid reason. Everyone expected a port of the PC Engine game, and got this instead - a title that has the same basic gameplay, but with shoddy level design, mediocre graphics, and practically all of the coolest parts of its originator stripped down. Still a competant game, just lacking.
	#17: Vampire Killer The MSX home computer counterpart to the original Castlevania has some cool ideas, but the concept of difficulty balance - a concept the series has always tried to balance gracefully, with varying results - is completely out the window. You are just far too underpowered. And the "search for the key" gameplay just isn't quite as compelling. A fun curiousity, but little more.
	#18: Castlevania Legends There's nothing terribly wrong about Castlevania Legends, but at the same time, there's hardly anything right. The gameplay is smoother than the previous two Gameboy games but that's about the only improvement. Probably the most mediocre Castlevania game, lacking in anything remotely inspired, mostly due to the long and tedious levels.
	#19: Haunted Castle Remember what I mentioned above in Vampire Killer about the difficulty level? Well, this is an arcade game designed to suck quarters, and Haunted Castle pays no heed to making a fun game - the boring, straight-line levels are filled with enemies far too powerful for your hero to even think about killing. Its soundtrack is its only saving grace.
	#20: Castlevania Adventure When controlling your characters feels like slogging through the La Brea Tar Pits, you know something is wrong. Trying to outwit fast moving enemies and make pixel perfect jumps in this environment is just not healthy.