Yes. The 1986 NES Castlevania.

This series is in a really weird spot. Not only has the current state of Konami left the series extremely dead, but even the public perception of the Castlevania series is bizarre. Whenever the series is brought up, it’s usually in reference to the more explorative Metroidvania entries in the series, starting with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (which I may write another post about one day). But people forget that there were a ton of Castlevania games predating Symphony that had a completely different style of play.

Castlevania is a horror action platforming game for the NES that’s basically unlike anything else even today. Not only is it very fair to consider it an early attempt at a legitimately scary game before games like Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil formed and popularized the modern horror style in gaming, but it contains some really interesting design choices that make the game entirely its own, if a little difficult to get into in 2023.

When you first turn it on, it feels really weird. Movement is fairly slow, you can’t change the direction of your jump mid-air, climbing stairs has its own dedicated buttons, and your attack has a delay to it. It’s very easy to look at this and think the game just hasn’t aged and is clunky by modern standards.

However, these movement limitations aren’t the result of development limitations or an untalented team. The entire game is designed around the idea of controlling like this. Because you basically have to commit to every move you make, you have to take things slow and understand that any wrong move could get you killed. Panicking is a sure fire way to ensure everything goes wrong, so the only way to make progress is a good mix of confidence and patience. You actually have to keep a cool head at all times as opposed to a lot of other NES platforming games like Mario where you can basically rush through the whole thing once you’re familiar enough with it. Yes, you can rush through Castlevania (I can run through the whole thing in about 30-35 minutes by now), that only comes through pattern recognition and careful timing. It’s hard to react to stuff in Castlevania like it is in Mario.

To aid with slowly learning the levels over time, so that you CAN build up the knowledge and confidence you need, the game is incredibly forgiving and consistent with its lives and continues system. Each of the 6 levels is split up into 3 segments, with the 3rd basically just being the boss, with a short buildup. If you die, you will be sent back to the start of the segment you died in and if you lose all your lives and use a continue, you will be sent back to the start of the level. You can continue as much as you want. The levels on the whole are short enough to encourage that “one more try” mentality and as you play, seemingly random elements like the Medusa heads become more consistent and you learn how to manipulate them and their patterns.

For example, there is an infamous platforming section in level 2-2 where you have to go across narrow platforms with Medusa heads flying at you. It’s a rite of passage to be hit by one head, then hit with another, and fall into the pit. However, all you have to do with enough practice is kill 2 heads, then make the first jump, kill one more, then make the last jump and you’ve got it. This is a game that rewards you for playing ahead of it if that makes sense.

The game also offers a good variety of items to use. Since the whip is fairly slow and only attacks in one direction, these items are used to make up for those weaknesses, at the expense of using limited ammo (represented as hearts). However, the game’s push towards a careful playstyle is represented here too with the knife. The knife is EASILY the worst item in the game and any item you pick up replaces the one you previously had. The knife is here basically just to make sure you aren’t blindingly picking up any item you come across. Especially when bosses can be entirely trivialized with certain items only available very early on in a level (most bosses instantly lose to the holy water).

The game also uses its health system very well to build tension. You can take around 8 hits at the start of the game and around 4 near the end, since later enemies deal more damage. The only way to regain health is with the infamous wall chicken. The genius thing about the wall chicken is that while you can experiment to find out where it is, for the most part, you aren’t going to know where healing is. Healing in this game is designed to be a luxury for those who just happen to know where it is rather than a resource to rely on. Even if you know where all the chicken is, the stretches between them can be quite long and perilous.

It’s worth saying this game is extremely difficult, but I don’t think it’s ever unfair. Parts can seem awful or random, but it’s possible to get on top of everything in this game. Just keep pushing through it and you’ll eventually make it.

The last thing I wanted to mention is the bosses. I really like these fights. The first boss is basically a test of your ability to find the correct item and know to use it instead of your basic whip. The next few are similarly simple, yet memorable fights, but the later half of this game spikes hard in difficulty. I can’t just not mention the grim reaper boss. This is often considered the hardest portion of one of the hardest NES games. While this fight can be trivialized with holy water, if you don’t have it, the fight is an assault of flying projectiles as your target keeps disappearing and reappearing. It’s easily one of the most difficult bosses on the NES, but it’s also probably my favorite fight in the game.

I feel like this game doesn’t really get the respect it deserves. Even on the NES, this game feels like it’s overshadowed by the far more ambitious (but I’d argue inferior) Castlevania III. The first Castlevania, in all honesty, is probably my favorite game in the series. It feels the most cohesive to me personally.