Starring Sonia and Victor Belmont, Castlevania Resurrection originally made its first public debut at E3 1999, with attendees at the time given the opportunity to go hands-on with the 3D action platformer. For reasons unknown, publisher Konami eventually pulled the plug on the Castlevania project, despite the fact that it was in a near-complete state, never to revisit it, ultimately resigning the game's fate to something resembling mythical status.
While this version was never intended for public consumption, Laurent's showcase clearly shows that Sonia and Victor Belmont's shared adventure was, at the very least, in a playable state and would have had players control the former as she battled Dracula's usual retinue of supernatural monsters across five distinctly different locations. Having now documented and archived the ROM's files to ensure their permanence, Laurent has subsequently released the entire game as a publicly available download, giving fans of the IP the chance to experience a previously untold chapter in the Belmont family's generation-spanning history for the first time.
Chronologically, Castlevania Resurrection takes place before Simon Belmont's fateful encounter with Dracula as seen in the series' 1986 debut, though it's worth noting that due to the former's status as an unreleased product, its canon status remains unclear. While Sonia was already an established character in the fictional universe, having appeared in 1998's Castlevania Legends for Nintendo Game Boy, Victor did not appear in any official capacity until Mercury Steam reintroduced him in 2014's Lords of Shadow 2.
Castlevania Resurrection will forever remain in an unfinished state, then, but it serves to provide a fascinating insight into what could have been. With any luck, this won't be the last gamers will be hearing of the dormant franchise in the near future, either, as Konami is rumored to be in talks with third parties with the aim of creating a new installment in the Castlevania franchise. Until then, though, Netflix's well-received animated series will continue to serve as a solid stop-gap, with Season 4 due to arrive next month, May 13th, concluding Trevor, Sypha and Alucard's adventure.
Source: Sega Dreamcast Info Games Preservation (via Siliconera)