Released in 1996, Blood Omen was developed by Silicon Knights, the same studio that would also create Eternal Darkness for Nintendo. A top-down 2D title with CGI characters, it places you in the role of Kain, a murdered nobleman who is resurrected as a vampire in order to gain revenge over his killers.
Released in 1999 and set 1500 years after Blood Omen, the Amy Hennig-directed Soul Reaver sees one of Kain's lieutenants, Raziel, assume the role of protagonist. It was released on the PS1 and PC and would be ported to Dreamcast in 2000. Publisher Crystal Dynamics handled development duties (it actually began life as an unrelated project) following the resolution of a dispute between the firm and Blood Omen developer Silicon Knights.
Since then, the series has continued with entries such as Soul Reaver 2 (2001), Blood Omen 2 (2002) and Legacy of Kain: Defiance (2003), but it is the first two games which are arguably the most acclaimed.
"These two classic titles from the 32-bit era are still adored by gaming fans to this day, with Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver having sold over 1.5 million units," says Blaze. "This new Evercade collection sees the combination of the first game, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver on one physical collection for the first time."
The two games will come on a single Evercade Giga Cart, which is playable on Evercade systems and the Super Pocket series. Pre-orders open on August 30th, with carts shipping to customers on September 30th.