Video Games : Castlevania

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from: Konami

: Castlevania
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Amazon Maximum Age: 20 years
Amazon Minimum Age: 144 months
Binding: Video Game
Brand: Konami
EAN: 0083717110040
ESRB Age Rating: Teen
Label: Konami
Manufacturer: Konami
Platform: Nintendo NES
Publisher: Konami
Sales Rank: 6299
Studio: Konami

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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Take the Vampire Killer in Hand
No matter how you slice it, the original Castlevania on the NES was a milestone for its time. Great graphics, music and atmosphere made this one of the more popular NES titles to get. Of course, it suffers in a couple of key areas: particularly the difficulty. Wii owners now have a chance to download this classic for 500 Wii Points, and no classic controller is needed to enjoy it.

Castlevania revolves around the Belmont clan. You play as Simon Belmont out to stop Dracula, who has been revived and is going to wreck some havoc. It's the Belmont's job to stop him every time he is revived, and in this game you'll do it as Simon.

Castlevania is made up of six levels, and they're not really all that long. At the end of each level is a boss. Getting through the levels can prove to be an arduous task, however. Castlevania, like a lot of great NES classics, is hard. Very hard. Along with such classics as Mega Man and Contra, Castlevania ranks as one of the hardest games on the NES, and it's not all due to level design. Your movements feel a little stiff sometimes, and there are moments when things are just... not fair. Such as when you jump but you don't see the Medusa head coming at you, and so instead of landing, you get knocked into a pit. You also can't control your character while he jumps. If you're jumping to the left, you can't stop yourself from going left while in midair. Sometimes these small quarks can be a pain, but once you get used to it, the game is really quite fun.

As you progress through the levels Simon has the ability to upgrade his whip. It starts off as just a normal whip, but you can find an upgrade (usually early on in a level) to a morning star, and then a third time into a bigger morning star to extend his range. There are also subweapons you can use such as knives and axes. These consume hearts, which are easily replenished by smashing candles or killing enemies. For a first outing, Castlevania is fantastic.

The Castlevania series is known for having some of the greatest music in the video game industry. Even back 20 years ago, its clear that Castlevania was something else in terms of its music. Its gothic and dark, and just all around sounds really good. This is mainly because the music of the game clearly sets the mood. You won't hear anything light here, and it even gives the game's already dark tone a creepy atmosphere to boot. Countless tracks have been remixed in later installments. For an NES game, the music is some of the best you'll hear on the system.

Graphically Castlevania would've been considered a powerhouse. It's extremely colorful, the sprites are extremely detailed and so are your enemies. There are even things in the background that get some attention. Castlevania set a bar for the NES. Throughout all this, the game consistently keeps its dark atmospheric look in tact. There are times when the game flickers and whatnot, but this is an NES game, it's to be expected.

The only thing that really keeps Castlevania down is its unforgiving difficulty. You get an infinite amount of continues, at least, but those new to Castlevania will probably find themselves frustrated with it. Even some people who consider themselves gaming experts will have some frustration with this game the first time through. Thankfully, however, the game is fun, and if you really are getting tortured, just remember it's only for six levels.

The Good

+Graphically impressive for the time
+The music has definitely survived the test of time
+Dark, atmospheric look remains consistent and never changes
+Even for the first outing, Castlevania had quite a variety added to the gameplay

The Bad

-Really difficult game


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - This is not Simple Simon who eats pies, this is Simon the Knight!!
This game is very hard, but very fun at the same time! In Castlevania, you get unlimited continues, not suprised.
Now for the scores...

Sound 9/10 Very good sound effects for a NES console!

Music 11/10 Awesome music!! The music on level (not stage) 3 is my favorite.

Gameplay 8/10 Very good gameplay!

Difficulty 7/10 This game is a little too hard!! Some of the enemies can be very frustrating. Like the Hunchback for instance.
You can't get passwords, what a shame...


Overall: 9.7/10


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - VAMPIRE KILLER!!! THE ORIGINAL IS STILL THE BEST
Here is where it all started. You, Simon Belmont, must journey into the heart of Castlevania to destroy Dracula once and for all. Well, the original is still the best!

STORY: 5/5. Great story! Go in. Kill all who oppose you. Very simple and easy to understand.

GRAPHICS: 5/5. Incredible! Remember folks, this was the NES. When this came out, these graphics were top-notch. Sure, they made some better graphics for the NES later on, but this was when the Nintendo had very few titles to choose from. Coolest Graphics: Death and Dracula.

MUSIC: 5/5. The music is one area where this game really shines. It starts out good at the beginning with the classic "Vampire Killer" track. Each level has its own music and it is all good. One 8-bit tune from anywhere in this game kicks "Harmony of Dissonance"'s butt anyday.

HERO: 5/5. Here we had a guy with a relatively normal name: Simon. I mean come on, this is a hero we could RELATE to. This was no wimp like some of the other Belmonts have turned out to be.

PLAY CONTROL: 5/5. I am so sick of all these CHUMPS complaining, "Wahhh, wahhh, there's no midair jump control! Wahhh, wahhh, the controls are sluggish..." To all of you GIRLIE MEN, I say to you, "Get a life!" You know what? Sorry people, but midair jump control does not exist in real life. Once you leave the ground, you really don't have much say in what happens next until you hit the ground. And the controls in this game are tight. They are straight to the point. Left goes left. Right goes right. B does a weapon. B+Up does a special weapon. A jumps. Up and Down go up and down stairs. What's not to love about simple controls that are economical and make sense? Nowadays you have to have a freakin' college degree to figure out what all the buttons do on the controllers we've got now.

STYLE: 5/5. The mood and style of this game are killer. Who wouldn't want to crawl around a creepy castle and whack a few bats with a whip? That's just good wholesome fun right there. And who wouldn't want to hit a giant head over and over? That's great stress relief. The mood of this game is just right. It is about as scary as games like that got back then.

GAMEPLAY: 5/5. The gameplay is absolutely great. There was nothing else like it at the time. It created a new style of play all it's own, and the games that followed and copied it such as Ninja Gaiden really shined.

CHALLENGE: 5/5. Let's be blunt here. This game is difficult. It will not be beaten on your first try. But all of you WIMPS and CRYBABIES out there who to complain about that need to take your stupid complaints somewhere else. Hey, we used to spend $40 to $50 bucks on these games, remember? If you can beat the stupid thing in 2 hours, that would have been a total waste of money. Plus, the game is not THAT hard after all. I've beaten it, and I'm not the only one. The enemies all follow a definite pattern. The question is, do you have the patience to learn the patterns and earn that sweet taste of 8-bit victory in all its glory?

FUN FACTOR: 5/5. This game rocks. This is the best game of all time. It is the best game ever created. There were no cooler games before this one, and there have been no cooler games since. And after seeing all the CRAP coming out these days, I believe that no one will ever create a cooler game. But this is more than just a game. It is a way of life. It is a gift from God to all mankind.

HOW TO BEAT IT:

The game is not that hard to beat. If you can get to the bosses, here's how to beat them:

1. GIANT BLOOD-SUCKING BAT. The first one's a pushover. Just grab the axe and whack him. Any 5-year old can beat this one.

2. BUTT-UGLY MEDUSA HEAD. Not too hard either. Just use the watch to stop her and then hit her with your whip. Or of you've got the holy water, use that.

3. DOUBLE MUMMIES - THE LOST DISCO DANCERS. By this time, you may have noticed that the game has started to become a little more difficult. Not to fear, have confidence, young Belmont! For remember, you are a POWER PLAYER, an elite member of the NINTENDO FUN CLUB. It's not hard to beat the mummies, even without a weapon. Here's what to do. There's a pork chop hidden in the room. Whatever you do, DON'T get it. You need that block to stand on. First, jump into the room. Walk to the center to activate the mummies. Then immediately walk back to the left and jump on top of the blocks where they can't hit you. Wait for the mummy underneath you to walk to your right. When they are both a relatively safe distance away, stand on top of the lowest block (the one with the pork chop), kneel, and start hitting them. If they come close, jump back, wait again, and repeat.

4. FRONK-EN-STEEN AND EAGER IGOR. If you have gotten this far, then you are doing pretty good. You've got what it takes to beat this game, my man. The best way to beat Frankenstein is to use the holy water. You've only got one chance in the game to get it. It's located on the starting level. Just get it, hold onto it, and concentrate on getting to the boss without dying. If you get there, stand on the lower right ledge and throw it over and over. It will kill him quick.

5. DEATH (DON'T FEAR THE REAPER). This is one of the hardest bosses of all time for any game. The main thing to do is learn how to get to the boss with a full meter of health. It may seem really hard but it's not. On the last screen, you face axmen and flying medusas. All you have to do is stand up straight and keep whipping. Whip nonstop. You must hit every single ax that is thrown at you. If you are in the center of the screen, the medusas will just fly right over your head. The thing to do is once you hit one or once one passes, move forward a few steps. Take it very SLOW at first. Don't try to move quickly or kill the axman. Just slowly move, bit by bit, after each head goes by. After a few minutes of this, you will be past the axmen with full health. To beat Death, you MUST have a weapon. If you can pick up the ax at the beginning and survive all the way to the end, that is a good weapon. The best weapon is the holy cross. To really use it, you've got to be lucky enough to pick up a double or triple shot. Be careful not to pick up any daggers or watches that the flying medusas drop. Once you get to Death, stand in the middle. Jump up in the air and throw the cross, then move to the left to dodge the sickles. Immediately throw another cross or use your whip to hit the sickles you dodged. Concentrate on hitting sickles before they hit you; it is your only defense. And keep that cross moving! Put the maximum possible out at once. It is your weapon that is going to kill Death.

6. THE COUNT, PART I. This guy is tough. Just 4 hits and you're dead. It will take lots of practice to beat him. Luckily, if you've made it this far, your continues will start you right at the last boss. Not that that helps that much. Dracula is difficult. You have to learn to time your jumps just right. Look for him to solidify. Wait for an instant. Then jump up and hit him in the head. If you timed it right then his bullets will pass over your head harmlessly. Concentrate on moving out of the way because he constantly wants to warp right on top of you. Try to learn to beat him without losing any health, because you are definitely going to need it for Part II. Also, don't use the cross. Get the holy water. Don't use it on him now. You will need it later.

7. THE COUNT, PART II. Is it over? Is he dead yet? Nope. At this point, you will probably feel like smashing your controller into your TV screen. Resist the urge. Just throw some holy water on him to slow him down, and rapidly jump and whip him in the face. He is hard to dodge, so you will probably take a few hits. Keep wearing him down, and you will win!!!

8. THE SECOND QUEST. If you thought the game was hard before, you ain't seen nothing yet baby!

Konami, PLEASE release a Castlevania collection disc for Gamecube. Include Castlevania 1, 2, and 3 from the NES, and part 4 from the Super Nintendo. PLEASE!!! You owe it to your loyal fans!!!



Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Where it all began
Over the years, Konami has become one of the best-known video gaming third party corporations out there - for a number of reasons. But, their most popular series of all would have to be the vampire-killing franchise, Castlevania. Konami released the first installment of the series on Japanese consoles in 1986. The American arcade game got its release the same year. And the following year, 1987, the game reached American consoles. Read on for my review of Castlevania - the first game in a now-legendary franchise.

PROS:
-FOR ITS DAY AND AGE, THESE WERE SOME OF THE BEST VIDEO GAME GRAPHICS OUT THERE. The on-screen graphics move along at a pretty decent pace, and slow-down is very minimal. As far as the NES in the eighties goes, the graphics didn't get a whole lot better than this.
-PLAY CONTROL IS SIMPLE AND TO THE POINT. Basically you move, crouch, jump, attack, and attack with a secondary weapon. This was one of the first video games to feature a secondary weapon - a video gaming feature which has since been copied countless times.
-IT'S CHALLENGING. If you're a fan of side-scrolling platformers and you're looking for a good challenge, this game will give you the best of both worlds!

CONS:
-THERE ARE NO PASSWORDS OR BATTERIES IN THE GAME, SO YOU MUST START OVER EVERY TIME YOU PLAY! This is just inexcusable, and it greatly hurts the replay value. Hopefully if Konami rereleases the game as part of a "classics" collection, they will fix this problem.

-PLAY CONTROL CAN SEEM VERY STIFF AT TIMES. Your character has no midair jump control whatsoever, which can make life a living hell. Also, having to hold up on the control pad to use a secondary weapon can be a pain. And let's not forget about scaling flights of stairs - that's where the control is at its worse.
-THIS GAME IS MORE OF A CHALLENGE THAN THE AVERAGE GAMER WILL WANT. I know, there are some die-hard gamers out there that live for a good challenge - but I bet this game will be too difficult even for them.

OVERALL:
Overall this is a very good game for being the first entry in the series, but in comparison to later games in the series it just isn't that great. The NES follow-ups, Simon's Quest and Dracula's Curse, are WAY better (even if Simon's Quest is a drastically different game.) Still, if you're a sucker for eight-bit side-scrollers, you can't go wrong with this game.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - The Start of the Series
"Castlevania" was one of the first games for the NES; as a result, you can expect somewhat stiff, challenging gameplay, placed in an extremely addictive formula.

As Simon Belmont you are required to kill Dracula for some reason. Although it wouldn't be explained WHY until Castlevania II, all you need to know for this game is that Dracula is bad and must die. Dracula knows this, and so has a cast of minions at his disposal, including Medusa, Frankenstein, and the Mummy.

Because the game was made in 1986, quite a few of the religous undertones were axed for the game. Holy Water is called the "firebomb," whereas the Cross is called the boomerang. Still, everybody knew what these sub-weapons REALLY were.

The game offers detailed graphics (for the time) as well as absolutely amazing music and sound effects (it took a lot of work on Konami's part to get Simon to grunt when he was hurt.) The music for the first level has become a staple of the game series.

The game, however, is hard. Very, very hard. The furthest I ever got was to the dungeon, right after you beat Frankenstein and Igor. With no password feature, this means that you'll be playing the game for quiet some time before you fight Dracula--provided, of course, you ever get that far in the game.

Still, a great game that deserves a place in any classic video game collection.

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