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This is the game that started the Castlevania trend and was one of many franchises that got its start on Nintendo. The franchise was based off Bram Stoker's Dracula and later on would be somehow incorporated into the Castlevania history line. This game originally appeared on the NES and later had the original game put on the Game Boy Advance as part of the NES Classic series and is currently available on the Virtual Console. If you wish to look back on any Castlevania game, this is the one that stands as the beginning and the one that started it all.

Story: Pretty basic story as Dracula is out to take over the world and it's up to Simon Belmont to save the day. There really isn't any extra text at all and doesn't go in-depth but it is just simple and to the point. Most stories on the NES were just basic and right to the point. What you get is Simon is walking up to the gate and then the game begins.

Graphics: Looks pretty simple for the NES and you can tell what's what generally speaking.

Game Play: Controls without fail and has an array of different attacks. You have a time limit to get through the levels much like in some games like Mario that was very common. It was a common practice and some games did that and even look at the Ninja Gaiden games as they had a time limit to get through either the complete the level or in some cases just part of one to get to the next part.

Replay Value: Though there aren't any save points, you can always go back and play it. It is challenging to complete the game in one entire run and it can take maybe a couple hours or less depending on how skilled you are in the game knowing where everything is and perfect strategies. Sometimes you can go back and try to beat a level faster than you did the previous time.

Final Verdict: This is a great game on the NES and something to have in your collection. If you can find it anywhere, I suggest picking it up and going for the rest of the NES games on it. You'll enjoy it and if you can't find it that way and you have the Wii, you can get it on the Virtual Console. I would give this a thumbs up.

Learn more about this author, Bruce Bostwick.
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