Castlevania

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Castlevania
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami Nintendo (GBA)
Designer(s)	Kinuyo Yamashita (music)
Released	(JP) September 26, 1986 (FDS) (NA) May 1, 1987 (EU) December 19, 1988 (JP) February 5, 1993 (FC)
Genre	Action Platformer
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E (Everyone)
Platform(s)	Family Computer Disk System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, PC MS-DOS, PC Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance, AT&T Wireless mMode Network, Virtual Console
Media	1-megabit cartridge (NES)

Castlevania (known in Japan as Akumajo Dracula) is the first game in the series of the same title. It depicts the exploits of a vampire hunter named Simon Belmont, who inherited a whip brimming with holy power from his father.

Because of an ancient blood feud between Simon's ancestors and the vampire, Count Dracula, it is Simon's calling to enter Dracula's Castle and slay its landlord.

Castlevania was first released in Japan in September 1986 for the Family Computer Disk System. In May 1987, it was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System and released in North America, and then Europe in 1988. It was released again in Japan in 1993 for the Family Computer.

Contents 1 Story 2 Gameplay 3 Characters 3.1 Heroes 3.2 Villians 4 Music 5 Cinematic Reference 6 Cast 7 Regional Variations and Re-releases 7.1 Vs. Castlevania - Play Choice 10 7.2 IBM PC Compatible - Commodore 64 7.3 Commodore Amiga 8 Bosses 9 Re-tellings 10 Trivia 11 Packaging Artwork 12 Image Gallery 13 See also 14 External Links

Story

In the year 1691, Transylvania enjoyed a century of peace thanks to the legendary hero, Christopher Belmont, a vampire hunter who vanquished Count Dracula one hundred years earlier with a holy whip named Vampire Killer. The people of a Transylvanian village were enjoying their fortune with an Easter celebration in honor of Christ's resurrection, but every one hundred years, the power of Christ weakened, and the hearts of men turned black as they yearned for chaos and destruction. During this time, they sought to revive Count Dracula so he may spread chaos and ruination throughout the world. While the Easter celebration carried on with a grand carnival, evil men gathered in a monastery at the edge of the village and conducted a black mass to resurrect Count Dracula.

The men succeeded in bringing their master back in 1691. A bolt of lightning enveloped the monastery where they held the rite, signaling the resurrection of Count Dracula. When the Count returned, his Castle, which had fallen one hundred years prior, reappeared in Transylvania, and his legions of loyal minions reformed.

Simon Belmont, the descendant of Christopher Belmont, knew that as a member of the Belmont Clan and the current wielder of the Vampire Killer whip, it was his duty to bring peace and stability back to Transylvania by destroying Dracula. The Count was said to grow in strength with each resurrection, but Simon pressed on. He took the very same whip Christopher used to kill Dracula one hundred years before and entered the Castle alone. Simon proved himself a mighty vampire hunter by withstanding the monsters and traps of Dracula's Castle, and in the end, destroying Count Dracula himself.

Though Simon prevailed in ridding the world of the scourge of Dracula, he was terribly wounded by Count Dracula in the process.

Gameplay

Castlevania consists of six linear stages with a boss at the end of each stage. The stages represent areas of Dracula's decrepit castle, and the enemies are typically taken from horror literature, lore, and film. Castlevania is an action platformer that emphasizes precision and timing. Throughout stages are pits and other traps that cause instant death. Many enemies will try to take advantage of these, as Simon is pushed back when he suffers damage. As players progress further into the game, the enemies will deal greater damage, eventually to the point where Simon will be killed after taking four hits.

Simon's primary weapon is his whip – Vampire Killer. Vampire Killer can be upgraded to boost attack strength and length. Upgrades and items are found by striking candelabras or killing enemies. Aside from the whip, Simon uses sub-weapons that have varying affects, such as the boomerang, which Simon throws straight ahead and crosses the length of the screen before returning to the point where it was thrown, and the Stop Watch, which halts enemy movement for a short period of time. These sub-weapons cost hearts to use. Simon can only carry one sub-weapon at a time.

Players are rewarded with points for killing enemies and clearing a stage. The amount of points gained at the end of a stage depends on how quickly it was completed. Extra lives can be earned through gaining enough points.

After beating the game, players return to the first stage while retaining their weapons and score. This time, however, they face stronger enemies. Players often refer to this as a "second quest" or "hard mode".

Characters

Heroes

• Simon Belmont (シモン・ベルモンド Simon Belmondo) — Simon Belmont is a 22 year old Vampire Hunter, and the great grandson of Christopher Belmont, the legendary hero who killed Count Dracula in 1591. When the family's nemesis resurrected yet again due to a black mass ritual conducted by a group of cultists, Simon takes the mysterious whip passed down to him from his father, and sets out to seal away the evil Vampire.

Villians

• Dracula (ドラキュラ Dracula) — The Prince of darkness. The last time he was brought back into the world, it was completely covered in darkness, but his ambitions were crushed when Christopher Belmont set out to defeat him. Peace returned to the countryside of Transylvania for one hundred years, but when exactly one century had passed, the power of Christ weakened, and the hearts of men turned black, praying for the resurrection of Count Dracula. He rests in the Castle's highest floor, awaiting the arrival of the Belmont Clan.

Music

The very first soundtrack in the series was composed by Kinuyo Yamashita, which is her only score provided for the series. Castlevania was both her first project while employed at Konami, and first composing experience. It is also one of her favourite works. She was credited as "James Banana" in the credits because she wasn't allowed to show her real name at the time.

The music of the game has been commercially released several times while included with single disc albums of selected arranged tracks. They are titled Akumajō Dracula Best Vol. 1(March 20), Dracula Perfect Selection (1991), Dracula New Classic (1992), Dracula Battle Perfect Selection Vol. 1 (1994) Castlevania: 20th Anniversary Premium Music Collection (2006), and Castlevania Best Music Collections Box (2010).

Popular pieces from the production include Vampire Killer, which became a frequently recurring tune in the franchise, and Wicked Child. Many of the songs found in the game were remixed and used in later titles.

Cinematic Reference

Castlevania is known for drawing inspiration from several old horror movies made roughly in the first half of the 20th century. Enemies and bosses are sometimes directly taken from these movies, like Frankenstein's Monster and Dracula, while others are based on horror movie icons like mummies and ghosts.

The obvious classic horror atmosphere is further emphasized by displaying the start screen as a movie reel and adding fake movie credits at the end of the game.

One of the movies that inspired the character of Dracula to be included was Horror of Dracula (1958). Both the names of the director Terence Fisher and the actor Christopher Lee are parodied in the game. The original Dracula film (1931) with Bela Lugosi was most likely also drawn from, as both the film and Castlevania are set in Transylvania, while the 1958 version takes place in Klausenberg. Bela Lugosi is also mentioned in the credits, but only as the actor of the Grim Reaper rather than Dracula.

Another important reference is the presence of the Creature from the 1931 American horror film Frankenstein with Boris Karloff. Glenn Strange (who also played the Creature) is referred to in the mock credits, but, just like Bela Lugosi, is not credited for his most famous role and instead plays the part of the Fish Man. The monster is accompanied by the hunchback Igor, supposedly portrayed by Lon Chaney, while his son is mentioned to be the Mummy Man.

Although the character of Medusa is from Greek mythology, she also has a corresponding film. Namely, The Gorgon (1964). However, the Gorgon who appears is not Medusa, but her sister Megaera.

The Japanese Castlevania choose-your-own-adventure book Akumajo Dracula: Kojyo no Shitou takes the cinematic inspiration even further and claims that the events of the game are actually a movie shot by a descendant of Simon Belmont during the 1950's. The supposed actors mentioned in the fake credits like Christopher Bee also play a part.

Cast

The many individuals famous for their roles in horror cinema and fiction are as follows:

• Terence Fisher (Trans Fishers)
• Bram Stoker (Vran Stoker)
• Christoper Lee (Christopher Bee)
• Bela Lugosi (Belo Lugosi)
• Boris Karloff (Boris Karloffice)
• Lon Chaney (Love Chaney)
• Lon Chaney, Jr. (Love Chaney, Jr.)
• Barbara Shelley (Barber Sherry)
• Max Schreck (Max Schrecks)
• Glenn Strange (Green Stranger)
• Andre Morell (Andre Moral)
• John Carradine (John Candy)

Regional Variations and Re-releases

Two different Japanese versions of Castlevania exist, which both differ slightly from their American and European counterparts. The original Akumajo Dracula released for the Famicon Disk System has a name-entry that allows the player to save his game. It also features an unique music track that can also be heard when entering a name in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. The spots where candles are placed are also different and make it possible to collect powerful whip upgrades much earlier; making the game somewhat easier than other versions.

In 1993 Konami released Castlevania for the successor to the Famicon Disk System. In this version it's possible to select between a "normal" or "easy" difficulty.

Castlevania has been ported to many different platforms since its initial release with some notable differences. 2004 saw the release of Castlevania on the Game Boy Advance as part of the Classic NES Series. The ending credits were removed and it added a save feature.

In 2007, it was released through the Wii Virtual Console. Upstart Games ported Castlevania to mobile phones in 2002 and upgraded it in 2004 with enhanced graphics, and an even better version was produced in 2004, but released only in Japan.

Castlevania and Contra: Konami Collector's Series, released in 2002 for the PC, is a collection of five Konami hits from the days of the Nintendo Entertainment System: Castlevania, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Contra and Super Contra. Additionally, the CD contains a Dance Dance Revolution demo. This package was released in October of 2006 and re-released for the download service GameTap. All of the games are perfect emulations of their NES counterparts; the only changes of note are the text differences found in Simon's Quest and the option to perform a quick save.

Other noteable re-releases include:

Vs. Castlevania - Play Choice 10

• There are minor palette differences, most likely due to the differences between a TV screen and an arcade monitor.
• Vs. Castlevania is more challenging due to the increased difficulty levels. It is also possible to select a Hard Mode in which enemies can kill Simon with just a few hits.
• Up to 99 continues can be bought by inserting credits.
• The Playchoice 10 version has no increased difficulty, but does have the same slight color differences.
• The game contains a very primitive help screen.
• The player is only allowed to play for a limited amount of time before another game is picked.

IBM PC Compatible - Commodore 64

• Developed by Unlimited Software.
• The graphics and the music have been considerably downgraded to meet the standards of the corresponding systems.
• The sound effects are completely different.
• It is possible to continue a saved game.
• The regular boss theme is absent in both versions.
• The projectiles of bosses can be frozen with the Stopwatch.
• The PC version contains an additional shot of a cemetery in the intro.

Commodore Amiga

• Developed by Novotrade.
• The game contains enhanced graphics and music.
• The sound effects are completely different.
• It is possible to continue a saved game.
• The regular boss theme is absent.
• Some tunes are assigned to completely different stages.

Bosses

For data on all enemies in this game, please see the Castlevania Bestiary

Each boss that has appeared in this game has become a classic and has been redone in several other Castlevania games.

Re-tellings

The story of Castlevania has been retold several times in different games. These games are Vampire Killer, Haunted Castle, Super Castlevania IV, Akumajo Dracula for the X68000, and Castlevania Chronicles.

Though these games tell the same story, they are entirely different games, with different music, stages, bosses, enemies, and mechanics. Haunted Castle is the only game to notably alter the story, giving Simon an in-game wife and having Dracula kidnap her, which gives Simon further (or possibly for this game, the only) motivation for entering the Castle and facing Dracula. Each of these games can be considered canon, and which version to acknowledge as having happened in Castlevania canon is left up to personal interpretation of the player, though the series references Castlevania more than the others.

Trivia

• The orginal Castlevania trilogy is unfamous for the "Holy Water trick", often considered a cheat but it is part of the game's mechanics. When equipped with this sub-weapon, in combination with the triple-shot power-up, it can be used repeatedly on enemies and leaves them unable to move while doing so. Thus, granting an easy victory.
• In the second quest, an exclusive item can be collected: the Moai Head.
• It was already established in the very first game that the Belmont family was in possession of a mystical whip, passed down from generation to generation.
• The fake credits at the end of the game contain puns on the names of famous actors from Horror cinema.

Packaging Artwork

	Commodore IBM PC Commodore Amiga Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania and Contra Famicom Mini Vol. 29: Akumajou Dracula Classic NES Series: Castlevania Classic NES 12: Castlevania

Image Gallery

See also

Chapel of Resonance - Castlevania section

External Links

Playthroughs
Castlevania Vs. Castlevania Part 1 Vs. Castlevania Part 2 Vs. Castlevania Part 3 Vs. Castlevania Part 4 Castlevania Play Choice 10 IBM PC Compatible Part 1 IBM PC Compatible Part 2 IBM PC Compatible Part 3 Castlevania Commodore 64 Part 1 Castlevania Commodore 64 Part 2 Castlevania Commodore 64 Part 3 Castlevania Commodore Amiga Castlevania Mobile Part 1