Retro Review: Castlevania (NES, 1986)

I'm sure we've all heard of Castlevania. You know, it's that one game with Dracula, where you go around whippin' the hell outta demons and shit? Yeah, that one. Anyways, It's spawned a massive series with a gigantinormous following. Hell, I'm one of the Castlevania zombies. Anyways, you've most likely heard of the newer Castlevania games, such as the infamous Symphony of the Night or the first DS title, Dawn of Sorrow, which Konami now calls a "Konami's Best" title, and IGA has said in an issue of Nintendo Power that the team that worked on that title was the most talented that the series has ever had... well, whatever, this isn't what I'm really supposed to be talking about. What I'm really here to discuss is the game that started it all; Castlevania for the NES, released in 1986. Many still believe this game to be the best in the series, despite it's hellish difficulty and less-than-astounding lastibility.

Let's cut the crap here: this is game is HARD. Sure, the first few levels won't have you tearing off your face, but as the game progresses? HOLY CRAP. Shit gets real. You're constantly being tested, and simply pushing through the game is not an option. You have to think about what you're going to do next, or at least push through it a bit at first, find out the level's tricks, and go on through it again, knowing what to do, when. It feels like, as short as the game may be, the levels that are there have been perfectly planned, with the developer's acting with each other to create a perfectly balanced pool of AWESOME. But some awesome that's really fuckin' hard. Anyways, that's about it for the gameplay. Shall we move on to the graphics, then?

Castlevania looked awesome when it came out. The vibrant colours were really awesome, and the varied enemy designs were nice aswell. The developers really must've put some thought into some of the enemies. I mean, come on, fleaman? I never would've thought of that. Well, they're either creative or just on some serious acid, that is. Anyways, as good as the game looked then, I can't exactly praise it now. Obviously, NES games aren't going to look super awesome, and it's true that your eyes will adjust to the graphics after a while, but I still feel like the NES was capable of more, plain as that. True, this game came along quite early in the NES' lifespan, but still... would anyone still say that, despite it looking amazing for the time, Super Mario Brothers still looks good?

The sound is nice. Even though the whip sound and the the like sound kinda tinny, it's still pretty nice, and the sound that plays when enemies die and burst into flame is just so satisfying! But the real star of the show here is the music. Despite being more than 20 years old, the music still holds up, and you may recognize some tunes here if you've played any of the newer Castlevania games. Yup, that's right, the majority of the songs in this game have been remixed and recycled countless times over Castlevania's lifetime. Guess you can really only compose a few really amazing showstoppers, eh? Anyways, the music is varied and sounds amazing, and it really complements the game nicely.

Overall, Castlevania is an awesome (albeit hard) game that anyone should play, and seeing as how it's only five bucks on Virtual Console now, there's absolutely no reason to pass this one up.

I give Castlevania for the NES 87/100 Graveyard Ducks.