Haunted Castle

Destroy the forces of darkness and break their evil spell!

JP release: 1st February 1988
NA release: November 1988
EU release: N/A
AKA: Akumajō Dracula (Japan)
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
PixlBit Review: 2 Stars
Platforms: Arcade
Version Played: Arcade

The second game that was called Akumajō Dracula in Japan, but not given the Castlevania branding elsewhere, this time being called Haunted Castle in Japan. Like Vampire Killer, its a retelling of the first Castlevania, except that here, Dracula kidnaps Simon’s bride on their wedding day and Simon heads off to save her. This is an arcade title, infamous for its extreme difficulty (which was increased even more in the US).

It’s also a strict arcade game. Many arcade games similar to this would allow you to keep putting in money to carry on past your deaths. In this, you have a maximum of three lives. A death will bring you back to the start of the stage (rather than continuing where you left off). However, a fourth credit lets you merge those three lives into an extended health bar. That said, once that is gone, it’s back to the start of the game.

It’s utterly brutal, and I couldn’t get to the end of the first level without having to resort to using cheats. This is as far as many people could get, so most people that played it never saw the rest of the game. You have enemies with awkward movements, ones that come out of the ground as you walk over and cause you damage and lots of traps that require a trial and error approach. There’s one nasty one in particular where you jump onto a series of platforms and reach a jump you can’t make. There’s nothing you can do but die. What you have to do is wait for the platforms to move upwards before jumping on one (it causes them all to stop moving). However, the other side is off the screen so you can’t see it, so you will be caught out.

It’s not even all that nice to control. Simon’s jump and attack are really stiff and feel delayed. The zoomed in graphics are also a detriment to the gameplay. While the graphics are technically more detailed, I just don’t like the look of it. I would have imagined this game as giving us a look at the original game with nicer graphics, but it feels like a completely different castle.

One really odd thing about the game is the final boss. Throughout the game, you’ll meet some really unfair and immensely tough bosses. Dracula at the end is a complete cakewalk, his attacks are easy to predict and interrupt and his hitbox is massive. The mini-boss of the first level (which is a wall) is far more difficult.

Poor

Remake or remaster?

This got a complete remake in the Castlevania Dominus Collection.

Official Ways to get the game

The original version of Haunted Castle is available with Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection, Arcade Archives and in the Castlevania Dominus Collection