The weird sibling of the original Castlevania. Like many people in the west, I played it for the first time decades after experiencing the original games, but I think that gives us a unique perspective to appreciate the open-ended differences here vs. the more linear original. You can see how both games would go on to influence the series, and I think this one plays just as well as Castlevania proper, albeit with some annoyances not as prevalent in the other game.