Castlevainia | DJcube

Enter At Your Own Risk!

JP release: 26th September 1986
NA release: 1st May 1987
EU release: 19th December 1988
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
The Games Machine Score: 71%
Platforms: Famicom Disk System, NES, VS. System
Version Played: NES (NA)

Released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Castlevania was the start of a long-standing series with deep lore. Playing the western version of the game, the manual only gives you abridged version of the story, where you have to defeat The Count, who has waited 100 years for a rematch. The Japanese manual went into a lot more detail, actually naming him Dracula and saying he was once defeated by Christopher Belmont. It clarifies that Dracula is resurrected once every 100 years at Easter, when the power of Jesus is at it’s weakest. A descendant of Christopher, Simon Belmont, takes up his magic whip to destroy Dracula again.

The game itself doesn’t really have any storytelling in it, not even some text, you just see the hero approaching an ominous dark castle and jump straight in. The controls are simple: jump with A, attack with B. While a lot of NES games were content with making your attacks a bit odd, with strange arcs or short ranges, the whip just works really well, giving Simon a satisfying attack with a long range. The jumping also feels good. The only control issue I faced was with stairs, as you need to be holding up or down to use them, so I would often plumet straight down instead of using the steps.

At the end of the first level, during the final boss, I encountered a warning bleep – I was running out of time. I was going at a gentle pace, breaking all the candles and everything, because I didn’t realise that the time you had in each level would be quite strict. Luckily, I beat the boss with just 15 seconds less and adjusted how I played for later levels, although I really don’t like this aspect of the game at all, and had to rely on good use of rewind as running out of time means losing a life and starting the level from the start.

The game gets extremely brutal as well, without using a rewind faction, I would not have a chance. As previously said, your main weapon is actually decent, and you can pick up bonus weapons that use up a heart currency (the hearts you pick up are not health). However, enemies can be tough. Not so much in that they take a lot of hits, but each type has its own type of movement that you need to learn, although some can be annoying, like the medusa heads or the tiny hatchbacks which constantly jump over you.

But, ultimately, the game is still fun to play and the core gameplay feels great. The game is linear, but the structure of the castle still feels like you’re exploring it rather than just playing different levels. This is helped by the graphics, with varied and detailed backgrounds to make each area feel distinct, with even unique areas within them. Backing this up is some wonderful music. All in all, a really good start for the franchise.

Fun

Graphically, Castlevania is among the best Nintendo games, featuring constantly changing backdrops and many highly detailed sprites. Sonically, it is a real treat: music captures the mood of each level, getting ever more spooky as you near the tomb of Dracula.
The Games Machine Magazine, March 1989

Remake or remaster?

Emulated re-releases are good for this, although an option to turn off the timer would be nice.

Official Ways to get the game

Castlevania is available in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection.