THE FIRST CASTLEVANIA GAME.
is it still good today? if it was good back then then it sure as hell still is today. defining the platformer world with horror elements, snappy yet challenging gameplay, and an ost that would be remixed for decades to come. a great game by nes standards.
the difficulty starts off naturally progressing but as the game goes on there start to be a lot more bullshitty moments; enemies coming out of no where and generally having no way to combat those enemies. the game doesn’t do anything exceptionally fantastic nor does it do anything inherently terrible. i spent an hour doing dracula without save states and, yes, i was immensely frustrated, but by the end i was able to beat him with minimal damage. that’s the pulverizing staple nes difficulty showing itself through the cracks but in a much less demanding way than other titles on the system. as you practice more and more you feel yourself gaining a better understanding of how the enemies and controls work while your skills improve. yeah this is basically every video game but with castlevania 1 it turns it into a fun experience that feels less like you adapting to the game and more like you honing your skills, which i think was a contrast to most other games at the time. all the greats like mario did this of course which i’m not discrediting at all. will i ever replay this game on hard mode? hell fucking no. game’s good enough on the standard difficulty.
vampire killer and bloody tears have been remixed to death but goddamn i’d be lying if i said they weren’t bangers.