The long awaited spiritual successor to the classic Castlevania series has finally been announced via a Kickstarter pitch that went live today.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will continue the elegant 2D side-scrolling action adventure and exploration that Koji Igarashi made famous in his beloved title Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which was released for the PlayStation back in 1997. Subsequent editions of Castlevania built upon the successful formula of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, helping to spawn an entire genre of games known as “Metroidvania.”

The Kickstarter page for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night describes the game as, “an exploration-focused, side-scrolling platformer featuring RPG and crafting elements.”

Long time Castlevania series composer Michiru Yamane is set to return to compose the music for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and Igarashi has promised many other key members of the team will also be involved in the project.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is seeking a minimum of $500,000 worth of funding to get the project launched. There are a number of stretch goals outlined, including a goal of $850,000 to get voice acting services from David Hayter, the long-time voice of Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid Series. As of this writing, they have already raised $142,773 after being live for about one hour.

Koji Igarashi will join the folks over at KindaFunnyGames today to officially unveil Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, so stay tuned for more info as it breaks.