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Castlevania Game Review

Castlevania is a 1986 platform video game developed and published by Konami for the NES. It is a highly important first game in a series that would endure for decades to come.

Being the first entry in this crucial series that would lead to the creation of an entirely new genre named Metroidvania, Castlevania was released in the NES’s second year and it was well-received, but it did not age well according to many and nowadays most do not regard it as a classic, certainly not in the same vein as they would regard some later series’ entries.

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I have to say that I personally find that sentiment overly harsh, and not just due to the game’s very old age, but because it is a great product in its own right. This was a game that introduced a darker, more horror-oriented and mature take on gaming that came as a polar opposite approach to the likes of ‘Super Mario Bros.’ that was released a year ago. The same goes for the advanced gameplay and its very steep difficulty level.

Simon Belmont is a legendary vampire hunter descendant. He enters Dracula’s castle to destroy the monster after his predecessor killed him a century ago. The story overall is fine. It is certainly more substantial than the likes of the iconic aforementioned platformer, but it also could have been even richer. The creator wanted to make a cinematic game, which he did in the visuals and atmosphere, but not so much in its thin plot, though the various movie monster references and its powerful ending are memorable.

In terms of the gameplay, the game is polarizing to some, but in mechanics itself, I find it to still be not only playable, but also genuinely fun and exciting. This original game is a standard platformer initially speaking, but you quickly realize while playing it that it does so many things differently to differentiate it heavily from numerous others in the same genre.

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There are six blocks that contain three stages, each block being better than the last. Most of the eighteen stages are very memorable and highly creepy in atmosphere. The level design is usually top-notch, though it lacks variety obviously as it is entirely set in just one castle. The only problem with the stages is their number, which is too low. The game overall is ridiculously short, even for its time period. I wanted personally for it to have been at least twice as long.

Simon can jump, crouch and use weapons, but his movements are very stiff, making the learning curve and the difficulty quite high as a result. I personally like these clunky movements of the older 80s games as it led to very hard games, but I do realize how some may find that frustrating today. The game actually requires you to go upward, downward and even left instead of just right, a novelty for the time so well executed through those well-utilized staircases.

The weapon system is truly incredible for its time. Undeniably groundbreaking and still very intriguing, the game gives you the option to garner an additional weapon along with Simon’s regular whip. The swords are the most memorable of the bunch along with the axes and that interestingly utilized holy water. Most weapons serve their purpose and are essential for beating most of the bosses. The whip itself also proved to be quite influential in regard to the future hack and slash subgenre. Slashing through enemies one by one resembles an all-out war at times and those moments make it so exciting to play.

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The health bar can be replenished through hidden food items in walls and stuff, but they should have added food items that are available in sight as well. The hearts system (the choice of this symbol was baffling) is fascinating. Each heart gives you more weapon shots for the additional weapon, which makes gathering them crucial throughout the stage before the boss itself. This was basically the predecessor to the RPG formula of powering up before battling, which makes the game highly influential for multiple genres. The money is just there for bonuses and I wished that you could buy weapons with it.

Let’s talk about the bosses. These bosses just might be some of the toughest in gaming history. The last two are truly excruciating to the point where I found it impossible to beat them properly, so I used a couple of save states to help myself finish them. This is the main issue of the game for people these days – it is ridiculously hard to get through. It needn’t have been this difficult as it’s off-putting to all but the most hardcore players. Mummy Man fared the best as he wasn’t as easy as the first two bosses nor was he horribly difficult as the last two. But defeating Grim Reaper and Dracula requires a lot of weapon hearts and patience.

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Castlevania’s world building was incredible for its time. The castle looked very much real and the creepy atmosphere was palpable, a true accomplishment on such a limited system as was the NES. The soundtrack is fantastic and very eerie suitably so. The graphics are quite advanced for the time, especially in the backgrounds of the castle. The game is also quite colorful despite its darkness, which I surely appreciated. It must have been a true audio-visual delight back in its release year.