The game that launched the Castlevania series was released for NES in May 1987. Join Simon Belmont on an 18 stage quest to take down the famous vampire Dracula, and a few other famous monsters on the way. The game introduced the standard knife, axe, holy water, stop watch and boomerang special weapons used in many future games.
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0:13:13 by Jeremiah Jones.
Author's comments:
Level 1(stages 1-3): Jumping into action, I sit through the prologue and quickly power up the vampire killer before heading into the castle. Every opportunity for saving time is taken, and my first encounter with the bats provides a boost that ensures I won't see a fish man until stage 10! Right after that, I borrow Drac's axe and slice my way to a 1 1/2 minute finish time for the level.
Level 2(stages 4-6): Early on, I stumbled across a weird trick that lets me kill the knight in the first room with one hit when it normally takes 2-3. Making the cross hit it just as the bat flies through it somehow triggers another hit that finishes off the knight. It's things like that and two more enemy boosts that cut a lot of time out of the level. As the sprinting stalker of the castle, I make quick work of the Queen Medusa, finishing another level in under 100 seconds.
Level 3(stages 7-9): Here's where I get the holy water that helps me through the majority of the game. This 3rd level took the longest to develop a dependable strategy, especially because of one enemy: the raven. This wicked child needs taken out as quickly as it's seen to keep its random patterns from messing up a good run. Somehow I still finish the level in under two minutes. It's not seen in this run, but try getting the hidden money bag before the mummies - I think it's impossible!
Level 4(stages 10-12): If there's one good thing that came from endless practice on this level, it was finding a pattern for the first 4 or 5 fleamen in the second area. They'll occasionally drop an axe right in front of you, which doesn't help for getting a quick kill on Frankenstein's monster. You can actually walk above stage 12's ceiling with a well-timed boost from a skele-dragon's fireball. Anyway, walking on the edge of the platform in front of the boss and spamming him with holy water keeps the poor guy from ever moving.
Level 5(stages 13-15): I love the amount of corner-cutting that can be done in this level. My only real flaw in the whole game was with the skeletons near the start of the area; however, the "bone boosting" is intentional. It takes a heart of fire to flawlessly plow through this level, but the Grim Reaper is a cinch with holy water and a multiplier.
Level 6/Dracula(stages 16-18): Anyone wonder why there's an unreachable candle hanging way out above a pit in this level? There ought to be some unique item in that thing! Stages 16 & 17 are cleared within a minute thanks to a well-practiced hustle and one last enemy boost. I'm able to smack Drac FOUR times before he even does his first disappearance. A few other double hits speed things along and Vlad's second form is a piece of cake. Dracula's reign is out of time and the game is finished in record time.
It's a tragedy the credits don't reveal the real names of the collective soul behind this masterwork.
European version 0:17:43 by Wesley Dekkers.
Author's comments:
Sure, i made some mistakes, as i get hit a couple of times, but nothing thats really time consuming.
I'd like to comment on the levels of the game:
Level 1: Pretty easy, nothing really difficult. I could have won about 10-15 seconds if i did a batjump trick to jump over the wall in 1-2, but that was so random that i had to restart a lot, so i decided to just take the underground route and make sure the rest of the run was good.
Level 2: Another easy stage, which i complete without much problems. I think my Madusa battle could have been a little better.
Level 3: In this stage i pick up the Holy Water weapon, which i have to keep until Stage 6. This was one of the stages that had been giving me some problems as i hate those crows because when you miss them they start to fly around at random. The Mummy fight was ok, and i picked up the Double item which i need for the boss off...
Level 4: This stage i found more irritating then hard, because those damn monkeys/hunchbacks/whatevers in 4-2 have a tendency to drop axe weapons, which by accident you can walk right into, which makes Franky & Igor really hard to beat, if you dont have Holy Water. 4-3 wasnt good, but Franky & Igor went down pretty fast.
Level 5: I really hate the beginning of this stage. The monkey-thing always drops Triple Item, which offcourse i pick up to make the Death battle the easiest in the whole game. Im pretty satisfied with this stage.
Level 6: The Giant Bats gave me a hard time, because of their random moving. Sometimes when you walk beside the 1st one, he just stays where he is, but often he also comes at you, which causes you to fall down the pit (And you have to restart again) I think my Dracula battle could need some work, but i dont know a way to finish him off faster.
Im pretty satisfied with this run, but as i said earlier, it's beatable. I hope somebody beats it, so i can try to beat that time. I hope you like the run, and you will be hearing from me in the future.