Castlevania: NES — 1987 (Review)

All three of the previous mentioned games have spawned legendary sequels, are still much beloved and well spoken of in gaming circles, and had their hand in changing the landscape of gaming on the NES. What made Castlevania stand out for me was the occult story, the dark theme, and the fact that you legitimately have to get good to survive. Contra had multiplayer and the famous “Konami Code” to get by, Mega Man had boss weapons that could literally break the game if you figured out the right order to beat them, but Castlevania didn’t have any of those quality of life hacks. Hair trigger reflexes, a whip, and a small handful of subweapons were all you had to climb to the top of Dracula’s castle with the handful of lives given.

The game lulls you into a sense of security early on because the enemies are fairly predictable, avoidable, or easily defeated with subweapons from a distance. Even the first boss fight is a joke. The kid gloves are removed quickly as they start introducing flying medusa heads with a moving flight pattern that ALWAYS seems to find you in the air as you try to jump to avoid them. Get hit and you’re punished by being knocked backwards, typically into a pit, falling to your death. Honestly though, nothing in this game makes you hate life more than the jumping hunchback enemies. I’d rather fight any boss in the game than have to endure the giant bridge sections filled…