After releasing Super Castlevania IV, which was a kind of remake/re-imagining of the first game in the series, but as many know is almost like a totally different game, Konami decided to release another remake of the first Castlevania, but this time one that was faithful to the original both in level design and gameplay, and above all, in difficulty, so on July 23, 1993 saw the light exclusively in Japan for Sharp X68000 computers.

Certainly as a remake it takes several liberties, as it is not a 1:1 translation with the original game and even most of the bosses and levels are completely new. However, as such the spirit and essence of the first Castlevania is there, the difficulty is high and will require you to memorize the level design to have a chance of beating it, it requires good reflexes and muscle memory, and above all a lot of luck with the bosses which as in the first game, are very erratic and a bit unfair most of the time. This game has the difficulty of one of the 80s, only that in reality the level design is more polished, but it is also more challenging. One of the things to note is that this game is actually more difficult than the first Castlevania, and just look at the iconic wall of the first level that held the chicken and now awaits a nest of infinite flea man ... so yes, this version is aimed at veterans and hardcore fans of the franchise, get ready, because this will be an adventure that will require a lot of patience, persistence and skill, although if you could with the NES, probably you can also with this one.

To balance things out a bit, Simon can now direct his whip downwards or to any lower diagonal, it certainly doesn't offer the same versatility as Castlevania IV's control, but believe me this small addition to the gameplay can save your bacon on more than one occasion. In this installment Simon feels "slow" in trying to replicate the mobility of the original games, so if you're coming from Castlevania IV or any modern game it will be something you'll resent, but eventually learn to get used to. The secondary weapons are the same as the first Castlevania, although if you're a bit lucky you may come across a healing plant, a secondary weapon exclusive to this version and that revitalizes you in exchange for a lot of hearts.

Something that I quite appreciate about this game are its graphics, because for its time they are quite close to those of the PS1 era, it has a very well cared visual style with a well selected color palette, however almost all the backgrounds in the scenarios are static, unlike those of Castlevania IV that had many animated elements. I can assume that Castlevania Symphony of the Night took inspiration from this game in the artistic section, because in general it feels like an evolution of what this game presented.

Something in which this game takes several liberties is also the soundtrack, as most of the pieces are new compositions. And wow, there are some really good new songs, such as the two songs from the doppleganger level, Moon Fight and The Tower of Dolls, which are songs that fascinate me and would reappear in future games in the franchise. Music in this game sounds similar to what the Sega Genesis sound chip was capable of reproducing, only with a bit more fidelity.

Conclusion
Undoubtedly a very good remix of the original Castlevania, which unlike Castlevania IV, decides to take a more faithful direction to the original game while still keeping it fresh with all new levels and small difficulty spikes, making it possibly one of the most difficult Castlevania games, although if I managed to finish it without saves states, I'm sure you can too.

If you're a fan of the first title and want to try something with the same essence but with small twists in difficulty, I recommend you try this one.

Additional comment related to the review
I played this game through the original mode included in Castlevania Chronicles for PS1, which is a port practically identical to the original, but with loading times.