Castlevania

The Good
The NES came out in the Eighties, the same era that game companies began to shine with classics that spawned many sequels. One of these classics was Castlevania, Konami’s popular series that survived for eighteen years before being reduced to pachinko machines. I am reviewing the first game, which was released in 1986, first for the Famicom Disk System and then the NES a year later. It introduces the world to Simon Belmont, who I believe was the main protagonist for the first two games.

Armed with “Vampire Killer”, a whip given to him by his ancestor Christopher Belmont who defeated the Dark One many centuries ago, Simon must venture inside Dracula’s Castle and search every floor, killing a lot of creatures and defeating Dracula’s henchmen that will try to stop him every step of the way. Candles are scattered along the way, and whipping these will allow Simon to collect power hearts that may be used in dangerous situations.

Castlevania was unique to the other platform games that were in the same era, where you only have a single weapon to destroy enemies. More than one weapon can be used, such as dagger, axe, and holy water; and these weapons can be collected by whipping candles. Also, the game draws inspiration from classic horror movies from the early twentieth century. The creatures that attack you and the guardians you face are taken from horror movies. At the end of each stage, you will fight movies icons louche as Medusa, Frankenstein, a couple of Mummies, the Grim Reaper, and Dracula himself.

As I just said, Castlevania was first released on the FDS. It has a name entry screen reminiscent to The Legend of Zelda. I have no idea why there is one, maybe it is to used for a high school table; but it makes a return in Dracula’s Curse. There is also a version for the PlayChoice-10, Nintendo’s Arcade system. It is much harder than the normal version, and continues can be obtained by inserting coins.

The game's soundtrack is brilliantly composed by Kinuyo Yamashita, and some of the tunes are easy to remember, especially the ones in the first two states. Each piece is unique to each stage, but there is always the one piece reserved for boss fights. Stage six features three different pieces: one for Simon climbing up the stairs, another that plays while you are doing battle with Dracula in his crypt, and another one that plays after Dracula turns into a hideous monster. I really like what you'll hear during the end credits.

The castle consists of indoor and outdoor sections, with the majority indoors. some of these sections look quite nice. The animations are great, especially Simon walking up and down stairs and using his whip. I like the opening cutscene where Simon overlooks the castle, with the dark sky and crescent moon blending in with the game’s theme.

The Bad
There are two annoying aspects of the game. First, when you get hit by an enemy, Simon will jerk back -- to his doom in most cases. I actually lost count on how many times where I tried to jump on a series of short platforms, only to have some creature knock me down into the water or chasm. Also, some situations require strict timing, with an example of this dealing with the damn hunchbacks you meet in stage three. In most situations, these things take away part of my health just before I hit them with my whip, since they are so damn fast. And don't get me started on the final boss.

The Bottom Line
In conclusion, Castlevania has everything that fans of platform games would want - a simple plot, nice graphics, and excellent sound. The game is unique for its time as it contains elements that other platform games at the time didn't have - the ability to use more than one weapon, movie references, etc. Sure, there are certain situations in the game where one hit by an enemy will lead to your doom. But once you overcome this problem, the game will be much easier to complete. Anyone who decides to play a game in the Castlevania series should at least play this one.

The Good
Ah, the game that kicked off the whole Castlevania franchise. This true classic remains as fun today and it was when it was first released.

I really liked the unlimited continues, and the fact that when you got to the final showdown with the Count, and failed, the game would start you just down the stairs from the Count's chamber. This is particularly advantageous since the first time I ever met the Count, it took me the better part of an entire day of trial and error to beat him.

I enjoy the fact that Castlevania plays like an encyclopedia of classic monsters and horror movie adversaries: You have your basic ghosts, ghouls, zombies, and bats. There are the fish monsters, Medusa heads, hunchbacks, Frankenstein monsters, and unkillable skeleton warriors. Even the Grim Reaper makes an appearance pulling sentry duty for the big Drac-man.

It's amazing to play this game and appreciate how well all of the best gameplay elements came together. Not only were the graphics top-tier, they were incredibly well-designed and consistent. At the start of the game, you scan Dracula's castle, including the tower that you must eventually hike up to. During level 3, you hike across a long bridge and you see the tower again in the background. I just think touches like that are genius in graphical design.

The tunes are all classic, which explains why they seem to be re-used in every subsequent Castlevania game. Hey, don't mess with success!

The Bad
Hunchbacks and floating Medusa heads. I did not like the hunchbacks or floating Medusa heads in this game. They had an alarming tendency to knock you around at the least opportune times.

Simon has also been rather difficult to control during his NES adventures. He's very slow and clunky, has no jump control, and his whip only goes in one direction (forward). At the very least, the designers took this into account and programmed the game's enemies and challenges accordingly.

And I was always frustrated that using the boomerang weapon depleted hard-earned heart points. The thing comes back to you, right? So you should receive some kind of reimbursement on your heart points. It only seems fair.

The Bottom Line
Experience the creepy glory of the original Castlevania.

The Good
I’m just going to put this out there so you know exactly where I stand: I love Castlevania. I don’t mean the series, as I haven’t played many of the titles. I’m referring to the original Castlevania. It sits quite high on my favourite games on the NES list, though I don’t keep track, so I can’t say how high exactly. I’m not really sure what it is about the game, I just get sucked into it. It’s an impressively designed game, especially when you take the date it was released into account.

Castlevania, at its core, is a simple side-scrolling action game. You play as Simon Belmont, descendant of a long line of vampire hunters, who must enter Castlevania, armed only with a whip, to defeat Dracula. Along the way, you face off against a large variety of classic movie monsters. You power up, you defeat waves of lesser enemies, you beat the boss, and then you move onto the next level. It’s nothing unique or overly creative, but it doesn’t have to be. It does what it does so well, and above all else it’s extremely fun.

For an NES game that came out in 1986, Castlevania has excellent graphics. Even more impressive is its outstanding atmosphere, something that is understandably difficult to pull off on the NES’s limited hardware. The game’s stages are all wonderfully well done. I’m especially a fan of the third level’s skylines and crumbling walls. It’s especially surprising how well the game’s huge variety of levels flow together. If the boss battles weren’t there to bookend each level, they would connect and transition in a way that is very unusual for the console.

Castlevania’s music is some of the best on the NES. Many of the songs are real standouts. The song that plays over the third level is especially catchy and I found myself humming along and tapping my foot to it, as corny as that sounds. The soundtrack does a lot to compliment the gameplay too, as it makes it easier to get into the role of the heroic Simon Belmont as he trudges along. This is probably the reason that many of the later Castlevania games feature remixed versions of these songs. It’s really quite impressive.

Castlevania also features that very specific NES brand of difficulty. The kind of difficulty that is more often found in the Ninja Gaiden and Mega Man series. Not unfair, per se, but very, very challenging. It can certainly be frustrating when you find yourself killed instantly simply because you were unable to avoid a medusa head while standing on a ledge. When frustration builds, Castlevania starts to feel cheap. A number of times I found myself cussing at the screen, confounded by my life being whittled away by a hunchback who I just couldn’t seem to land a blow on. Don’t be surprised if you wind up trying to break your controller, but remember that if you do manage to beat Dracula at the end of the game, victory will taste all the sweeter.

The Bad
Simon Belmont moves very stiffly, it’s like he suffers from arthritis. The only pace he can move at throughout the entire game is a slow march. Once he jumps, there is no correcting his course. Stairs are fickle things, once you start up them, you can only get off at the top or bottom. Yet, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Maybe it’s just me, but I love how Castlevania controls. I think it complements the feel of the game, once you get used to it. It really helps me feel like I’m single-mindedly trudging through the waves of baddies, with no thought of failure in my head. Though, maybe I’m just strange like that. You might just find it feels stiff.

Castlevania has a big reliance on pattern enemies. You’ve probably heard of them: bats, medusa heads, and hunchbacks. They’re mostly nuisances, but they’re big nuisances. Simon also has this strange habit of leaping back a few feet every time he’s hit. This can lead to a lot of frustration when one moment you’re standing on a ledge with full health, and the next, you’re plummeting to an instant death because you got hit from above by a hunchback. I have to once again say that I feel this adds to the feel of the game. A lot of tense moments are created from the knowledge that at any moment, one of the games easily defeated pattern enemies could zoom in from the side of the screen and kill you in a single hit. However, you may just find it frustrating.

Boss battles are also a minor weak point of the game. There is a large variety of them, and they are all very different, but there’s little strategy involved in defeating them. Many can be vanquished quite easily using holy water. Some of them just require a lot of whipping at the right time. On top of that, a few of them are outrageously cheap. Death, for instance, spawns a room full of homing scythes that deal massive damage. Dracula himself is less cheap, but he does require a great deal of practice to finally overcome.

Lastly and least of all, I hate the secondary item system in this game. More than once I found myself nearing a boss battle with level three holy water in my inventory. I break a candle and what should land on me? A throwing dagger, which instantly replaces my upgraded holy water. I really wish secondary items would stack and could be selected, or at the very least you had an option not to pick it up. It’s very frustrating when something that you’ve been cultivating for an entire level gets replaced by an item you didn’t want, and indeed never intended to pick up. Of course, being careful about what you pick up is always an option.

The Bottom Line
Castlevania is a remarkable game. All the polish that has gone into it shines brightly, and it’s hard not to be charmed by it. Almost everything in the game is completely standout. It’s challenging, atmospheric, and well designed. Sure, the storyline is barely there, but such was the case in most NES games. As I said earlier, I love Castlevania, and it is among my favourite titles for the NES. That said, I haven’t spent a lot of time with the third game in the series, but I plan to. For all I know, I’ll enjoy that one more. Also, I haven’t played a single port of Castlevania, so for all I know, there’s a more definitive version out there. In any case, in my experience, Castlevania is an AMAZING game, and I recommend it to anyone who owns an NES. Incidentally, Simon Belmont was my favourite character in the cartoon, Captain N: The Game Master. Though, they did take a lot of liberties with his character.