Almost as old as the Dark Prince himself, Castlevania has been a console favourite since the 1980s. Now Konami has re-imagined it for Wii.

If you know nothing whatsoever about Castlevania, today this is a good thing. Usually Castlevania pans out as an adventure through increasingly treacherous monster territory, its hero walking from left to right whipping demons back to hell. However Castlevania Judgement for Nintendo Wii will be a fighting game. This is a bit like being told that Tim Burton is doing a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas, and it’s one big brawl from start to end with very little dialogue.

Add to the fact that Konami has no history whatsoever of producing a ‘hit’ fighting game, and that the last departure from the norm (3D Castlevania, 1999) was rotten, and we’re not feeling very hopeful over here.

But…

Konami says it has revered series producer Koji Igarashi heading up the project, which ought to see the light of day in autumn. If a Castlevania fighting game stands any chance at all of being decent, “Iga” is the man. And what it seems like is a celebration of the best ghouls every to grace a videogame, involving magic and supernatural abilities to gain the advantage. Plus, Street Fighter IV and Soulcalibur IV are unlikely to make it onto Nintendo Wii. You take what you can get.

The characters will all receive a make-over from celebrated manga artist Takeshi Obata (Death Note). They’ll be controlled, as you can guess, by shaking the Nunchuk and waving the Wii remote. Just like Soulcalibur there are cool weapons, and some characters can set traps or summon accomplices during battle. Castlevania Judgement will also offer online versus gameplay via Nintendo Wi-Fi.

Finally, if you get yourself a copy of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for DS (release date TBC), you can hook up the two games to unlock bonus extras.

Okay, this could be fun after all.