Castlevania Judgment

The game features 3D environments, and uses the motion-sensing controls of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. The Wii Remote is used for attacks, including basic attacks, "sub-weapons" and weapon attacks, by swinging the remote, and the Nunchuck is used to move the character around the stage and for defensive moves. Players can move freely around a stage, similar to the game Power Stone.

Each character utilizes different weapons and different types of weapons that are available depending on the stage and interactive environment of the stage; also, they can set traps or use monsters in the stage to attack one another. Summons are available in combat, some of which can be caused by items. Players are able to make use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection to play against each other, and can connect with the Nintendo DS game Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia to unlock bonus content in both games. Examples of stages include the Throne Room, Torture Chamber and the Ghost Ship. Players can choose to pick a different palette color for their chosen character, referred to in the game as "alignment color", two of which apply accessories chosen by the player.

Galamoth plots to send his servant, the Time Reaper, from ten millennia in the future into the past to destroy his rival Dracula and change history. A man named Aeon discovers this and pulls together champions from different eras of history into a time rift, in order to find a chosen one capable of destroying the Time Reaper. Each character has their own unique storyline, cutscenes and ending sequence when playing through the game's story mode.

Konami registered a game called Castlevania Judgment with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on April 11, 2008. The game's lead designer, Koji Igarashi, began planning to bring a Castlevania game to the Wii, and wanted to utilize the motion sensing controllers. To do so in a prolonged adventure story, however, would have been very tiring, since much of the franchise's gameplay involves whipping and swinging. But in an action setting, the swinging motion would be broken up with resting intervals and be more enjoyable.

The game is focused on recreating the Gothic feel of the franchise. Igarashi described the process of developing multiplayer combat as a somewhat challenging task. The design team worked on the game's graphics, especially in-game textures, with some of the designers of Elebits and Dewy's Adventure who joined Igarashi's development team. The characters were all given new redesigns for the game by manga artist Takeshi Obata.

Initial reaction to the announcement that the game would be a fighting game was received by some with shock and skepticism. IGN's initial viewing of the pre-E3 build of the game made their reviewers conclude the game had promise. However, the character design was harshly criticised by David Oxford of Kombo.com, who thought the design was not in the style of Castlevania and too similar to Obata's work on Death Note.

After being shown at the 2008 edition of the Tokyo Game Show, the game received generally harsh criticism. Kotaku editor Luke Plunkett wrote a long hands-on article about the game. He reported "I walked away from the show feeling bad. Bad for Castlevania fans, at least" and "There is just nothing right about this game.