#29: Castlevania

Castlevania

Konami

Initial release: September 26, 1986 (Japan)
Platform: Nintendo Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System
Also known as: Akumajō Dracula (Japan)
Note: Many ports, alternate versions and remakes, see below

images c/o MobyGames

While Konami had a few years there where they had more or less exiled themselves from the industry, the fact remains that they had a pretty long reign as one of the top video game developers in Japan. There’s not a NES fan alive who hasn’t played at least one Konami game, and let's be real: it’s usually a Castlevania. While Castlevania as a franchise has evolved over the years, going from a series of action sidescrollers to Metroid-inspired action RPGs. There’s been comics, two Netflix animated series (with more on the way) and once even a planned movie (before a writers’ strike killed it.) But it all started with a loving horror pastiche for the Nintendo Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System.

For a game so focused around Dracula it’s even in the Japanese name (Akumajo Dracula, which translates as “Demon Castle Dracula”) it can be a bit of a surprise to see Castlevania populated by all manner of movie monster, unless you take note of the film-reel title screen. (Several sequels would utilize the “old monster movie reel” motif in some way or another, but by now it’s all but abandoned.) They’re all here: Frankenstein’s monster, the Mummy, the fishman, even Medusa (based largely on Hammer horror classic The Gorgon and the 80s Greek mythology flick Clash of the Titans.) All borrow heavily from classic mid-20th-century horror cinema, and even Dracula on the box art is clearly inspired by Christopher Lee’s depiction! To drive the movie theme home, the ending credits are thinly-veiled parodies of classic horror actors, directors, and even Hammer’s composer. And, strangely, among the large pile of tie-in merchandise, there’s even a choose-your-own-adventure book about a 1950s film crew trying to make a movie about the game’s events!

In any case, like most of its early sequels, there’s not much of a plot, nor does there need to be one. The US manual doesn’t even tell you the story; the Japanese manual at least hints at what would be Castlevania: the Adventure and explains how Dracula is resurrected. It doesn’t even really give you a time — “the middle ages” was later retconned to the specific year of 1691. None of that really matters, of course. All you need to know is Dracula is fucking shit up, so vampire killer Simon Belmont goes in, beats up a bunch of movie monsters, and knocks Dracula’s block off.

As it’s the first game in the series, one could be forgiven for assuming the gameplay is clunkier than Castlevania III. And to be fair, there’s some clunk. The jump physics are the death of many a player, for example — you can’t turn or slow your momentum at all. But the controls take very little getting used to, and it’s just a matter of dodging, managing your health, and knowing when to jump or strike. Most of the classic subweapons originated here, of course: crosses, holy water, axes, the dagger, the stopwatch, and all have their uses.

Six levels are presented, each with their own vibe; from the gloomy, dilapidated front halls to the crumbling walkways along the walls, to deep caverns, a dungeon, the clocktower, and finally Dracula’s tower itself. Some pose more challenges than others; all are lovingly rendered. The cool thing about the design is how platforms are carefully placed in logical positions; floating platforms are such a staple of early platformers and Castlevania avoids it entirely, with columns or walls or whatever supporting everything you can stand on. It’s a neat detail.

Of course, like most of its contemporaries, Castlevania is that old “Nintendo hard” we’re all so familiar with. You’ll die a lot, get game overs a lot. Compared to some games, it’s not SO difficult, but it’s definitely a game that requires mastering the controls and levels. It’s worth it though; the game is short enough that a skilled player can get through in maybe 90 minutes or less. This takes some of the sting out of the fact that there’s no save points — though you can continue when you lose all your lives.

While the franchise is, at this point, nearly unrecognizable from the original game (following a major stylistic shift that began with Symphony of the Night and Koji Igarashi’s ascension to the franchise’s lead producer) it still owes everything to this utterly fun little title. And hey, if the dated NES graphics bother you, there’s always the six million remakes and weird alternate releases! (And that’s not even counting the ports.) In order:

Vampire Killer

Initial release: October 30, 1986 (Japan)
Developer: Konami
Platform: MSX2
Also known as: Akumajō Dracula (Japan)

image c/o MobyGames

The MSX series of home computer systems were popular in Japan and Europe (especially Eastern Europe) but never really took hold in North America. It was one of several platforms that Konami targeted in its early days, and it's probably most famous in the west for being the home of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. While only superficially similar to the NES version, Vampire Killer for the MSX2 home computer system plays rather differently from the Famicom version, with each level having to be explored in a non-linear fashion to find the key to the next level. It might be seen as an early version of the “MetroidVania” genre.

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Haunted Castle

Initial release: February 22, 1988 (Japan)
Developer: Konami
Platform: Arcade (custom JAMMA board)
Also known as:  Akumajō Dracula (Japan)

image c/o MobyGames

In a twist on the usual way these things went, Castlevania was actually ported to the arcades rather than the other way around. Looking like Frank Franzetti's 16 bit nightmare, Haunted Castle, as the arcade version of Castlevania is known in the west, is unusual for arcade games in that you can’t continue when you die, so you better be real damn good, because this game doesn’t fuck around. Aside from the difficulty I'm generally just not a fan of the game's aesthetics at all, to be honest, but you can find ports of the game on everything from the PlayStation 2 to the Switch if you're really that horny for it.

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Castlevania

Initial release: October ??, 1989 (USA)
Developer: Novotrade
Platform: Commodore Amiga

image c/o MobyGames

This is a weird one.

Among a certain breed of old head, the Commodore series of home computers hold as much reverence as the NES does for millennials, with the Commodore Amiga being the pinnacle of the brand, boasting a rabidly loyal fanbase despite its relative obscurity in the US. The Commodore Amiga port of Castlevania was outsourced to Hungarian outfit Novotrade (famous for the Ecco the Dolphin series, before rebranding as Appaloosa Interactive and making the abysmal PlayStation Contra games.) While more or less the same game, the artwork has been completely redrawn, the music redone in MOD format, and the controls… made worse. It’s cool-looking at least.

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Super Castlevania IV

Initial release: October 31st, 1991 (Japan)
Developer: Konami
Platform: Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Also known as:  Akumajō Dracula (Japan)

image c/o MobyGames

Now we’re talking. This is my favorite of all the Castlevania remakes; it’s a greatly expanded version that, much like Castlevania III, has you traversing the countryside before you even get to the castle. Amazing music, a controllable whip, it’s got it all. While comparatively easy in relation to other games in the series, it's still one of the best games on the Super NES, and certainly the best SNES Castlevania game.  

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Akumajō Dracula

Initial release: July 23, 1993 (Japan)
Developer: Konami
Platform: Sharp X68000, Sony PlayStation (re-release)
Also known as: Castlevania Chronicles (PlayStation version, USA), Castlevania Chronicle Akumajō Dracula (PlayStation version, Japan)

image c/o MobyGames

The other famous remake of the original Famicom classic. The Sharp X68000 was a Japan-only home computer system developed by (who else?) Sharp... yeah, the guys who made your TV. At the time the X68000 was quite the powerful system, years ahead of most home computers at the time and on par with the still-in-development 16-bit consoles. It was an attractive platform for developers and actually served as devkits for Capcom's powerful CPS arcade system, but its high price and limited reach made it pretty obscure.

When Koji Igarashi took over the franchise he ported the game to PlayStation, updated Simon Belmont and Dracula’s sprites to be more in line with the newer post-Symphony aesthetic, and introduced an incredible new soundtrack (and the original was already pretty good.) This new version was released in the US as Castlevania Chronicles, one of the very last games released for the original PlayStation. Some consider it to be the best of the remakes; I would agree, but I’m still partial to Super Castlevania IV.

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There’s one more version I have to talk about, though…

Castlevania: Simon's Destiny

Initial release: September 7, 2017 (worldwide)
Developer: Andrea "Batandy" Gori
Platform: PC (standalone GZDoom mod)

image c/o itch.io

The Doom community has long been a source of creativity and innovation; with the popularity of the GZDoom source port, which greatly expands the modding capabilities over what the original game offered, a slew of inventive mods and original games have been coming out over the last decade, some of which actually reached commercial status with their own pages on Steam! Early on in this modern renaissance of an old shooter was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a Castlevania mod, intended to be a retelling of Simon Belmont’s original adventure. It’s all here: subweapons, whipping things good, movie monsters, great music, all done up in a retro-FPS style. All you need is a copy of the totally free GZDoom as well as the mod itself, also free (for obvious reasons.) You should not need a copy of the original Doom or Doom II.

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Castlevania has had a long legacy, from the early days on the Famicom and NES to its revival with Symphony of the Night to the Netflix adaptations, but it all started here. And honestly, you couldn’t ask for a better beginning.

-june❤