Today I’m going to start off with a question. What do most long running franchises have in common? If you answered with ‘a strong start’ then you’re on the right track. Castlevania is one of the few franchises Konami started in the 80s that they’re still actively supporting. The original is one of those games I remember playing in my childhood, but personally no particular memories come to mind. That’s not because it’s a bad game, rather, it was probably too difficult and I was an impatient youngster. It’s still one of the most popular games released on the NES, and few would deny it the status of a classic. No 8-bit collection would be complete without the original Castlevania, and today we’re going to take a look at it.
Here you’re put in the shoes of Simon Belmont. This guy is the latest in a long line of vampire hunters, and it just so happens that the king of the bloodsuckers needs dealt with. Armed with only a whip and the uncanny ability to jump higher than any normal human should be able to it’s up to Simon to scale Dracula’s castle and put an end to his evil reign. Of course you’ll have to face off against an army of his henchmen, and this is where the developers really had fun. Castlevania includes a majority of classic horror conventions. You’ll face off against skeletons, zombies, flying Medusa heads, water monsters that resemble the creature from the black lagoon, and more. The boss characters are typically based on classic creature features such as Frankenstein, mummies, Death, and more. Rather than taking the concept too seriously the developers instead included some fun references that really lighten the mood.
Castlevania is fairly typical by side scrolling platform game standards. You generally move from left to right and the screen scrolls as you move. Simon cannot jump on the heads of enemies, and instead must rely primarily upon his whip. What this unfortunately means for our vampire hunting hero is that his range is limited, and he can only fling this in the direction he’s facing. Dracula’s castle is chock full of burning candles on the wall, and striking these reveals a plethora of power-ups. The first of these extends the range of your attack by up to three times, but even at max it still cannot stretch particularly far. Most of the time destroying the candles, or defeating enemies will leave you with hearts. Surprisingly these don’t refill your health (food is the only thing that recovers your life bar) and instead they are designated to Simon’s secondary weapon. You can only have one at once, and these too are left by fallen enemies and destructible elements in the environment. These weapons include throwing daggers, axes, boomerang crosses, a potion that when thrown causes a small fire, and a clock that temporarily freezes time. These are very handy, but because hearts are limited they’re best saved for the boss encounters.
I really like the level design in this game. It’s generally a bit on the simple side, but enemy placement and patterns are top notch and require you to pay close attention. Castlevania doesn’t rely on platforming elements as much as other similar games, and that’s a good thing because the jumping mechanics are a little stiff. Simon cannot change momentum mid-air, and this makes each leap a commitment. There are a few issues here however. First of all when Simon takes damage he’s automatically knocked backwards. Many areas feature small platforms, and dealing with enemies here can be a real chore because most of the time a single hit will send you plummeting to your doom. This is an even bigger problem with the moving platforms because generally enemies are coming at you and you’re almost helpless. Simon cannot swim, and falling into water is the same as falling off an endless chasm. Another problem is that climbing stairs is extremely slow and awkward (you have to hold either up or down, and cannot jump while on them) and Dracula’s castle is full of them. It’s frustrating that such a simple and constant element is so archaic.
Unfortunately the background graphics in most areas in this game are drab and uninteresting. It’s tough to make something atmospheric with such a limited color palette and blocky details. What makes up for this is the character designs. Simon Belmont is a little on the generic side, but the some of the enemies are very impressive. The creature from the black lagoon fish/man hybrid for example is very detailed. The flying Medusa heads are pretty cool as well, and feature more animation than most of the other monsters. What I really like is the second form of the final boss; it’s surprising that they were able to make such a large sprite character that’s so full of detail. Unfortunately Castlevania suffers from the classic slowdown when several enemies are on screen at once, but even more annoying than this is the flicker which often makes it difficult to see your opponents. The soundtrack fares better, and is one of the most memorable aspects of this game. The music is ‘fun’ for lack of better word, and conveys the themes extremely well. There’s no weak link here in the soundtrack and it’s actually something I would listen to outside of playing the game.
Castlevania suffers from several flaws, and not all are because of the limited hardware. Fortunately the rest of the game is so well designed, and fun even two and a half decades later. This is easily one of the most iconic and memorable games released on the NES. Few will argue against Castlevania being a classic, and I’m sure not one of them. This is one of those games that belongs in every single NES collection.
