by Annalyn Andriyenko

Created on: December 12, 2009   Last Updated: December 13, 2009

The very first Castlevania game was a success in the late 80's and as many know, has spawned other games for the franchise and has become quite the popular gaming phenomena. So what did the original have that made many others follow it? There had to be something quite special about it for it to be such a mega hit series now.

Story 3/5 -

There isn't anything too special here. You play as Simon Belmont, a vampire slayer who wields a vampire killer whip. His duty is to go out and destroy Dracula and his castle. This sounds pretty cool for vampire history lovers though and the story was quite unique for its time where many sci fi oriented action games and RPGs were present. So very being very linear with one basic plot in question, the game fared well.

Game play 4/5 -

You control Simon through forests and fortresses to get to Dracula's castle. You gain hearts which in turn provide you with the strength to use axes, knives, holy water, crosses etc. to your arsenal. Your basic functions are jumping and using your whip against the hordes of enemies. This can be fun especially if you need to vent some anger. But the game itself might anger you, especially since you will find yourself falling into cracks a lot, it's a pretty tough game.

Graphics 4/5 -

Of course this is a retro review so I am giving it the benefit of the doubt and say the graphics were great for its time and being about 8 bit. Simon is a detailed sprite and at least has a human form where some of the monsters are actually quite scary looking. The buildings and forests are as detailed as they possibly can get too.

Sound 2/5 -

The imitation midi music of organs and other Dracula like sounds can be a bit annoying but it must have been quite catchy for its gaming era. The big complaint here is the cheap sound of horns which should never be implemented into midi music, they are the most annoying thing you could ever hear.

Overall 8/10 -

This game was a great idea that spawned many more to come and had enough game play for people to want to keep playing, especially with how difficult it was. If you never played this classic, definitely go get it at a hand me down game store!

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