Castlevania - NES Review

 Castlevania

Konami - 1987

Castlevania is a series that despite my love of the NES and for Konami games (especially those released from the late 80's to the late 90's) I never had much experience playing until many years after its release.  I had a couple of friends who owned the original NES release and played it at least a dozen times during the system's lifespan but it just never clicked with me to the point that i felt the desire to own the game for myself.

I think the lack of interest on my part was due to fact that Castlevania's theme and setting never appealed to me in my youth.  I was much more into ninja, military and space themed games, movies and television, so the classical horror elements and atmosphere of Castlvania was simply lost on me. Now that I am older, wiser and have had much more exposure to the source material Castlevania draws its inspiration from, I can appreciate all the things it does right and not focus on the shortcomings that would put me off otherwise.

Castlevania's intro sets the tone perfectly.

Following a short intro that does a surprisingly effective job of setting up the spooky atomosphere, Castlevania thrusts you into the role of Simon Belmont who is determined to take down the vampire lord Dracula and anything that stands in the way of completing that task. Dracula apparently heard that Belmont was in town to kick ass and chew bubblegum and has recruited a roster of classic monster villains to his castle to make Belmont's day a living hell.  Simon will do battle with zombies, skeletons, Medusa heads, mummies, Frankenstein's monster and even Death himself.

Castlevania's gameplay takes on a side-scrolling platforming format where you will traverse each level navigating through traps and pitfalls while defeating enemies with your whip or one of 5 sub-weapons including a dagger, holy water, cross, axe and stopwatch.  Each use of a sub-weapon consumes a number of hearts you collect, which act as ammunition.  The whip can be upgraded, effecting its striking distance and attack power. You will collect items and hearts by breaking candelabras as well as defeating enemies and can find hidden items and health in breakable walls and floors concealed throughout the levels.

Map screen displayed between levels

Making your way through the six levels which are broken down into three stages each can be quite challenging.  Simon controls well, but the game has some design decisions which limit his moves and agility. You can only whip straight ahead and while crouching or jumping and this makes attacking enemy's above and below a challenge.  Certain sub-weapons give the ability to attack beyond the horizontal plane but for the most part you are limited to only engaging enemies directly in front or behind your character. Simon's whip is also slightly delayed upon pressing the action button which gives a nice feel of realism due to the nature of the weapon, but makes quickly dispatching a close foe challenging. Jumping is also a bit handicapped as you don't have the ability to change direction in the air and Simon is not very agile. I've heard the controls described as "stiff" many times and I would have to agree that is the word that best suites a summation of the control, however they are quick and responsive within the limitations.

Graphics are typical of an early NES title and are a bit bland with repetitive color usage and somewhat primitive sprites, though everything is well drawn and recognizable. The music is outstanding, and my hat is off to Konami for doing such amazing work early on with the NES sound chip.  The background tracks are very memorable and they will be stuck in your head for days afterward.

The challenge of Castlevania is the most likely aspect of the game that will turn people away from it and here is where most of my criticisms lie. The game is rampant with cheap deaths from intentionally difficult platform segments when combined with the stiff controls and relentlessly spawning enemies just off-screen. Dying in this game reverts to back to the last checkpoint, but without your previous whip upgrades, sub-weapon or heart count. Nothing is more frustrating than dying at a boss battle and having to respawn with only the basic whip and having to run a gauntlet of enemies while attempting to upgrade your weaponry and still save enough hit points for the ensuing boss fight. Once you do beat a stage, it leaves you with sense of accomplishment and somehow makes the struggle and frustration worth it.

Castlevania has been lauded by many as one of the best games on the NES and I have to say that despite the shortcomings it is a very rewarding experience. If you haven't experienced it yet, or have just been away for a while, you owe it to yourself to check it out.


Cheats and game suggestions -

Effect	Code
Infinite Energy	SZSVLYSA
Infinite Lives	OXNGLZVK
Keep weapons after death	GZOGYUSE
80 Hearts to start	ASOGOPIA