Castlevania (NES) Playthrough
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- Опубликовано: 1 авг 2024
- A playthrough of Konami's 1987 action-platformer for the NES, Castlevania.
Happy October, everybody!
This video shows the first three loops through the game. The second begins at 28:21 and the third at 56:34.
Simon Belmont is on a holy quest to destroy the prince of darkness. Dracula, however, has laid a century in wait for the man who would wield the Vampire Killer, and he has prepared well for this moment. Over the course of eighteen stages, Simon will have to fight his way though the keep’s entry hall, a clock tower, the caves beneath the castle, and the morgue in order to make it to the belfry to challenge the grand master.
The first of a legendary series, Konami’s Castlevania was one of the earliest third-party NES efforts to rival the quality of Nintendo's own in-house works, and the game stands as a testament to the skill and passion of its creators.
The gameplay is excellent. The controls are responsive and reliable and the game provides clear, immediate feedback for everything that you do. The stiffness of Simon's movements might be a bit jarring at first, but once you've acclimated to the game's feel, you'll come to appreciate the consistency that stems from the rigidity. You always know exactly when and where your jumps and whip strikes will land, and the game's difficulty is balanced with this in mind.
It's a challenging game that's not afraid to punish you for screwing up, and there are few moments when it feels legitimately unfair. There's a clear way to maneuver through or around nearly any situation without a scratch, boss fights included. If I may offer some advice to anyone trying to improve on their game, it would be to not panic. I know that's easier said than done, but blindingly whipping at thin air is a sure-fire way to get yourself killed. The fleamen and medusa heads will make total mincemeat of you.
I can't say I'm much a fan of the game's glitchiness, though. Has anyone else ever noticed how prone Castlevania is to crashing? It happened to me three times as I was trying to record this video: once at Death, once at Dracula, and once in the final room of enemies before the staircase up to Dracula's tower. In each instance, the game hard crashed after I'd thrown three boomerangs that had hit candles. Given all the other moving elements in those scenes (the huge enemies, Drac's fireballs, and Death's scythes), it seems as though the game hits a hard sprite limit and chokes. After the third time it happened, I finally remembered that I had already learned this lesson many times as a kid: don't use the boomerang's multi-shot in busy areas. I have to wonder how the programmers never picked up on the problem.
Considering its 1987 release date, Castlevania‘s graphics and sound are first rate. The backdrops were a marked step up from the norm in their artistry - for all the hardware limitations, their ability to evoke a sense of something far grander than the NES could actually paint on the screen is pretty amazing. The music is the same. It's not loaded with arpeggiated chords, funky time signature changes, or drum samples, but it was one of the early examples of a third-party game with music that actually resembled real music. The themes were all memorable and echoed the character of their settings, and the instrumentation made for some nice, mellow listening. In an era where most games blasted you with ten-second loops of ear-piercingly shrill square wave noise, Castlevania's music stood out. It still does - just look at how many times these tracks have been officially remixed over the years!
Even taking into account its technical issues, it's not hard to see why the first Castlevania is still such a revered game. Technologies may age, sensibilities may evolve, but quality is timeless.
Also be sure to check out the arcade version, Vs. Castlevania, at • Vs. Castlevania (Arcad...
(In case anyone is wondering, I did have a video of this game up before, but it was seven years old and the video quality wasn't up to snuff. This is a brand new playthrough to replace the old one, and this one is much more thorough.)
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games! 
Игры
![[TAS] NES Castlevania by Challenger & eien86 in 10:12.13](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nIs4cuMhNbU/mqdefault.jpg)
![Evolution of Castlevania Games [1986-2023]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/M5hTEIe0lJ8/mqdefault.jpg)
You just cut through this game like a hot knife through butter. I've been playing this game off and on for 30 years and STILL haven't beat it, ONCE!
lol same. looks like the holy water was the tip...
One of the few Castlevania's I never beat
@@PharoahsKingdomreally me too, this i tried a Lot of time, but i wont Win kkkkkkkkkk.
You are my new hero. 😅
I know this was back in NES days but with todays tech what would be funny is at 15:57 as the skeleton is throwing his bones parts of his body diminishes until all he has left is his head and then somehow throws that at you.
Never forget that awesome first level music.
Vampire Killer!
@@retro3188this is also in Castlevania 3 (Dracula's Curse)
Makes me hard til this day
The vampire killer 30 years and same in memory
I have to echo the testament to Konami’s music mastery.
My 9-yr-old son was watching me play though the three NES Castlevanias, and he was constantly saying, “Dad, this music is pretty good!” And I’ll catch him humming some of the tunes from time to time. And he’s not alone. He’s got some friends who all enjoy Mega Man music. When they come over they’ll sit and listen to the tracks on the Legacy Collection.
It’s crazy!
Old games were better. Today´s have no quality nor passion.
@@TheSsbcandidatesthis is true! Modern games are donation dumps!
Old game music just hits different
Your son has great tastes in music! Congrats! 😄🙏🏻
I miss NES’s video games music. Mega Man got awesome music too.
It was something magical about being a kid back in those days...... Looking at these games makes me think of my momma and how we would play Nintendo after school!!! I love you and I miss you momma!! RIP❤️❤️❤️❤️
You nailed it bro, magical is right. No other way to describe it, it was a safe and simple time.
It's finally October again, and what better way to kick things off than with the original Castlevania? Woo!
Can u pls pin my comment
Super Castlevaina IV is miles better. Don't be blinded by nostalgia.
I can't wait for Halloween!!!
@@LITTLE1994 When I read your comments I think “This person did not live through the NES era”. I feel that you base your opinions off of modern game reviews and opinions that were formed way after that era. This game was epic and no one complained about difficulty when we were growing up in the 80’s - you would have been seen as a massive wuss. Games were supposed to be difficult. When you bash this objectively legendary game from a modern perspective it is unfair and naive. Hindsight is 20/20.
@@rjcupid I'm a 90s kid, an expert gamer, and I had played many games on a real NES before, so don't judge me. And you think due to I said the SNES game is superior you automatically think I'm saying about modern games when the 16-bit is DECADES old right now?
You're just another old person blinded by nostalgia.
This game was one of the reasons why is was great growing up in the 80's. Nintendo rocked and this game still holds up to this day. Retro gaming never gets old.
I swear it ages like a fine wine for me
@@ajhproductions2347 Facts
"At Konami, there were a
range of people working in
the sound team. Some focused
entirely on programming,
others focused entirely
on composing, and others
like me could do all things
sound-related. Kenichi
Matsubara, a person who
exclusively composed music,
took charge of the score
for the sequel.
After I had joined Konami,
Castlevania (aka Akumajo
Dracula) was actually my first
work. I aimed to create music
suitable for the image of the
game, particularly noting the
dynamism with which the
player moves and the gothic
images of the background.
In terms of the rock approach,
it came naturally from me.
I didn't compose the soundtrack
with an initial plan, but
gradually composed what
seemed natural and fitting.
I think the music has become
so loved because it was a
complementary aspect of the
game. The scenario, gameplay,
characters and everything else
were so good and the score
fitted in nicely. Because the
game was so perfectly made,
the music for it also became
more memorable.
After I had left Konami, the
Castlevania series continued
to be produced. I think later
scores in the series were
considerably different from
the original scores that
I composed. There were
numerous composers in
later instalments and they
each offered their own
individuality into the music."
-- Kinuyo Yamashita (musician, Castlevania - NES)
As an 11 year old kid (36 years ago!? Wow) I spent countless hours playing great nes games, but this one was my favorite.
I think its funny that we are supposed to assume that Simon got out of the castle before it collapsed.
35 years of vampire hunting. The start of many count slaying adventures.
36 and counting!
I finally beat this game earlier this year, and I'm really glad I did. This game just has such a cool vibe, especially for 1987. Nothing else on the NES had this much gothic atmosphere to it. I especially love how you can see Dracula's tower in the background of some levels. Such a great detail. Castlevania also has probably the best soundtrack of any early NES game. Every song is a banger, and they all fit their respective levels perfectly. Are there some gameplay flaws? Yeah, the knockback is enjoying and the jumping is stiff. But still, this is a classic action game and it's one I look forward to replaying in the future.
What an amazing game !!!! I still love it !!!! They don't make games like this anymore !!!! What a passion of game-play !!! Till in the early mornings !!!
So many cheap deaths and poor enemy paths. I’m so glad they don’t make games like that anymore.
I think I may have written this before but this is the video game that sparked my love of Nintendo as a little kid. I didn’t own a NES in the early days of the console as it was very hard to find and to be honest, very expensive. I have an amazing mom though and she would drive to different video stores after work looking where she could rent a NES console. She found a place called Avenue Video here in Montreal. She had to put her name on a waiting list to rent the NES (she didn’t tell me because she wanted to surprise me). It took a few weeks, but on a Friday night she came home with a huge black hard plastic suitcase…WITH A NES INSIDE IT! She also handed me a rental case with a game in it, I opened it and staring back at my was that beautiful silver Konami Castlevania label. I played it all weekend non-stop and that started my love affair with Nintendo, Konami and Castlevania. Thanks mom for doing all you did for me and for being cool enough to pick Castlevania of all games. Anyways, I’m sure others out there have had similar experiences to this and thanks for reading my long-winded story! Also, thanks for the play through Alex.
Cool story, and I actually mean that genuinely. I'm responding to you because I liked what you wrote elsewhere in this thread and thought you'd relate to a similar memory story I have. As a dumb kid in the 90s, I was a stupid loyalist who, for a very short while, renounced all things Nintendo when my NES bit the dust and was replaced one Christmas with a SEGA Genesis. This, of course, meant I now had to purge myself of all Nintendo impurities, up to and including altering a little Nintendo themed TV desk I had with stickers all over it. A few years later, my younger brother asked for a Super NES for Christmas, got it, and it wasn't long before I switched sides again after seeing how much better it seemed at the time (my current feelings on it are a bit more nuanced, but that's a story for another time). Then, when the SEGA CD was coming out, I was really obnoxiously vocal about how dumb it looked on the commercials, but it was pretty obvious that I was actually interested in it and, for that Thanksgiving break, my mom rented the whole SEGA CD add on from our local video store with a few games knowing I'd be thrilled to try it. It was my introduction to Monkey Island! Thanks, mom!
@@bigduke5902 Thanks for sharing your story as well. Don’t feel bad about being a “loyalist” back then - us gamers tended to be all-or-nothing in that era (and beyond!). Renting consoles from video stores back in the day was really fun, especially carrying them home in massive black/dark gray hard suitcases like you were carrying a top-secret government device. The only downside to it was that I was always worried that the person who rented the console before me had broken something that would only manifest itself during my rental period and my mom would end up having to pay for it. Your mom was really cool to rent you the Sega CD with a bunch of games. Surprises like that are what great childhood memories are made of. The Secret of Monkey Island was great. Have a good one.
If this was the first nes game I played I’d shoot myself tbh. Too freaking difficult , the jumping mechanics got me f*cked up. 5:33 is where I went ape shit. The enemy keeps hitting me off the platform when I jump
The animated Bat flying towards you at the title screen is quite impressive. Konami has always been very good at animating Bats. Another example is "The Maze of Galious". Although the Famicom version wasn't as good as the MSX, the title screen of Bats looked way cool, though.
Ahh my childhood! So many hours playing this game!
one of the most iconic first levels of all time!
The hall right before the Grim Reaper always gets on my nerves.
🤣🤣🤣😅😅😂😂
the Hall of Death :- )
Classic. The one that started it all
I got this on PS4 and blasted thru to the last level in 10 minutes. I thought it was so hard as a kid too
OMG the holy water... I should have.
Same💀
Taking the bosses out like a pro!
There is no harder 30 minute game in the history of gaming
Fr
Nah these were standard hard level games as a kid in 1987. Ghost and Goblins was just as hard as this.
Ghosts & Goblins is way harder for me. I can barely get out of the first level. I can beat Castlevania and get to the last part of Ninja Gaiden, also beat Battletoads. But Ghosts & Goblins and the Mega man games are my kryptonite.
Man thid bring back so much memory. Remember getting the Manual books and it's telling you all about the characters and what boards they're on
After all these years, it’s amazing how natural this all sounds to me. The human memory is amazing
A great game that reminds me of my childhood. I sometimes replay it from time to time thanks to an emulator
and it all started with SIMON BELMONT
even if Leon and Trevor Belmont may disagree
much love Belmont clan
the HORRIBLE NIGHT TO HAVE A CURSE Sequel
will always be tragically under appreciated
I totally agree. Simon's Quest is my favorite Castlevania.
glad you agree and see my point friend
is my dearest NES classic of all times next to of course CV3 and BIONIC COMMANDO, Ninja gaiden, ZELDA 2 etc
i did a NO-HIT In-depth guide playlist for CV2 Simon's Quest
is there if you ever get interested into see how to avoid all incoming damage
did the same for CV3 and CV4 too
sheers my friend and thank you for remembering the beauty of our beloved Castlevania
I remember when this first came out. I was blown away at this game. It was a super fun game to play. The graphics and storyline are still cool. Dracula at the end was a pita to beat.
Hi I’m 21 years old, and I just recently just played the original Castlevania a few weeks ago and managed to beat this pain in the ass game! It took forever but I was finally able to beat the game and holy hell was it fun and infuriating! Now I have bragging rights!
my favorite saga ever
99.9% Complete. Missed the crown at the beginning by jumping past the gate. That being said, still way better than I ever did all those years ago. I only ever made it past The Creature at the end of Stage 12 ONCE. And then got destroyed by the next area. Those damn flea men...
IT'S Vampire Hunting Season For Simon Belmont.
I confess that most of the appeal of this game, when I was young and it was new, was due to it's unique theme. The classic monster movie inspiration really agreed with me and it's where I started learning about all these old tropes and characters. But, the actual game too difficult and I never found it all that exciting compared to it's contemporaries to want to put in the effort to learn, which is funny because I actually preferred 8 Eyes to it. It was Simon's Quest that really got me into this series and Dracula's Curse that made me a fan for life. Today, I've come to appreciate it and can beat it pretty easily. And, for the record, as great a game as Symphony of the Night is, I much, much prefer this style of Castlevania to the increasingly stale open world type. I'd play those Curse of the Moon games a hundred times over before I replay Bloodstained.
Man this use to be so hard to beat the first time I played this. Yet one day I had finally beaten it and watched that castle sink to the ground towards my satisfaction. If you know it by heart like I did, you may already be knowing what enemies come your way, knowing your weaponry skills against them, and a figured out way to defeat the bosses in one go. Death and Dracula’s second form were by far the hardest bosses in the game. Try beating it with a grand total of points without continues if you dare because that’s the real challenge and that goes for the CV games that came after this. You actually keep the grand total of points after beating it the first time by doing a second attempt where enemies are in different, swapped up directions to make the stages unpredictable.
_Someone_ played a lot of Castlevania in their time. Nice job! 🙌
Excellent choice, great run.
I mean the frustration level of watching this and then trying it only everything possible to go wrong.
Early Nintendo games are living moving art the games gorgeous I love the colors
"Castlevania" is one of the best games from Konami and one of the best games on the Famicom/NES. I like all three parts, but I prefer the Japanese versions on FDS/Famicom. "Akumajou Densetsu" on Famicom with special chip Konami VRC6 - music and sound effects are on top. Of course, the first part of "Castlevania" is like first love. Thank you for a very beautiful and interesting walkthrough, I would like to see the rest of the parts on the Famicom/NES, as well as Super Famicom and SEGA.
The FDS version of CV1 had an additional track you don't hear anywhere else.
Yak spravy Dmitri? Slava Ukraini
@@rjcupid Hello! I'm doing well. Work home. Sorry, I can’t answer the Heroes of Glory to Glory to Ukraine, because, as I think, Shame on Ukraine. The Ukrainian people and citizens of this country, their own power and kills, a real genocide. This war is a fake. Oligarchs earn money on human lives.
Such an awesome classic
Just beat this today. Masterpiece!
Some would say this looks better than Part 3 which had a graphics chip installed
That was awesome! I love Castlevania!
Tyvm! I do too!
The issue you mentioned in the description is something that only exists on the first revision of the NES cartridge, and was introduced when converting the game from the FDS. Later US copies (with the oval Nintendo Seal of Quality) and the Japanese cartridge release fixed it.
That molotov cocktail seems to be the secret to defeating most of the ememy bosses.
That thumbnail you used always makes me laugh -- it's as if the tower is flipping Simon off.
Hahaha, I hadn't noticed before, but now that you point it out I can see it.
Lmaoo
Ahhh my childhood...getting hooked in the first level. Slight difficulty spike in block 3 of second level. Badass music, big difficulty spike of level 3. Gradually figuring out the varying challenges of level 4. Overcoming the seemingly impossible odds at the end of level 5. The last level was a breath of fresh air after the Reaper once you learned to just avoid the bats.😂
One of the best games ever? Ofc
I can not even begin to count the hours spent playing this game as a kid!
Seriously, hearing the music and seeing those sprites brings back so many memories!
Dracula: Ugh, another Belmont...
I hate these guys...
W reference 💀
Jump over the first door before you go into the castle- hidden item. Hit the last block after the last black panther. First room.
Ahh, the pink zombies in level one that looked like angry women in dresses to me as a kid. Those sounds bring back so many memories. Nice job on all the secrets! I love how old NES games had stuff like that.
Holy crap, your playing is inspiring! Going straight for the throat! I never saw the end screen, or anything past the forth level for that matter, so thank you for that!
Classic NES platformer - Fantastic visuals, amazing music, stomp-on-your-balls difficulty. But it's all worth it!
castle 1 looks better than Part 3 which supposedly has a graphics chip on the cartridge
it plays really well and has amazing music but it's got the shittiest graphics I've ever seen
@@TheDudeOfSteel87 It hurts my eyes, I actually had to turn down the brightness on my phone while i watched this. Amazing music though.
Vampire Killer is my phone ringtone.
Holy Water. Nuff said.
You can use the cross
@@mathewhorodner2000 I agree but Simon against the bosses is unbeatable with the holy water, they just freeze.
@@omt4293 I use the cross against Medussa, too, instead of the stop watch
I love that that tower of the castle is flipping the bird. I hope you do more of the series this month! One of my favorite franchises ever
I'm so glad that I'm not the only person who sees that LMAO. It totally looks like it.
LMAO
My introduction to Castlevania was the Lords of Shadow duology to be honest, might play the original when I can assuming its on NSO
It is and you can buy 2 different Castlevania collections on there with this game and many others. The other coll. Is the GBA Castlevanias
_"Ah Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Ahh~!"_
*- Not The Simon Belmot We Wanted, But The Simon Belmont We DESERVE, Nintendonia, Videoland, Castlevania, 198x, Second Neural Matriarchal War, Colorized Posteriously.*
What a classic way to start off a series! Yep, time to dust off and play through my _Castlevania_ library again for the best month of the year!
Castlevania and Halloween are a perfect match!
What can I say about this game that hasn't already been said before? It's a classic game.
Just FYI - for all the lovers of the music, there is band called Bit Brigade which plays Castlevania and Zelda music live. Going to check them out.
I'm still playing this on the NES cartridge today.
I hope you will power through all of them until SotN!
I wonder if he'll play "Vampire Killer" again, this time in 60hz? He previously played it slowed-down in 50hz.
Surrelly one of best castelvania of the saga with the castelvania IV on SNES
This along with Ghosts and Goblins was one of the hardest NES games out there.
I remember playing this game at my cousin's house back in 2010, but I kept failing miserably😣
A personal favorite
My mo loved this game and all the castlevania game but she passed so I play them i in our honor.i even got the the nes vampire killer ring tone on my phone
Played that for years in 90s
Happy anniversary to a great monster game🎉
Masterpiece!!!
So nostalgicccc ❤
Would be cool to see you do the Vs version
Well done!
54:46 Yes, the Cookie Monster is the final boss of this awesome game
Whenever people bring up the best NES games, they usually are talking about SMB 1-3 or Legend of Zelda, but this is the one for me.
Not the best Castlevania game (IV and Symphony of the Night are still better) but goddamn, what an unforgettable classic.
It's worth reviewing a classic like castlevania marked my childhood😅🤩👍
I love this! I’ve gotten into Castlevania’s music since May. Happy October, NintendoComplete! Can we please see more Castlevania content? I love your gameplay here.
Fun Fact did you know in Castlevania Bloodlines stage 1 is a remake to Castlevania 1 Level 1?
Last Voyage of the Dameter now playing!
56 stanges This man is a legend 😊❤
Ive had this game on my 3ds for a while and i still have beaten the first level
Edit: legit right after typing this i beat it!
NES games were legit difficult to beat. People these days playing whatever latest COD have no idea.
Well done.
1:19:09 LMAO, what the hell, you're lucky on that one
the start area if you jump over the enterance at 30 secs in you can get a secret bag of money
Thanks I love it the nes is a very good console
The first throw-the-controller-through-the-wall frustrating games I ever played. And I didn't own an NES, my friends all did. So no such satisfaction for me.
The first castlevania game is brilliant. 😀👍🧛♂️🎮
Struggle to beat this one I did, but eventually I was able to do so. I enjoyed playing Vs Castlevania in arcades, and I saw the NES version was almost pretty much the same game (Vs CV has a shorter time limit per level, a little more color, and enemies damage you more), so when I saw it in a pawn shop, I snagged it. At one point, and once only, at my friend's house (the one who gave me CV3, and I watched him 1LC Shinobi 3), I managed to 1LC this game in front of him. Never was able to do it again, but did 2LC it a few times, Death tended to eat one of my lives. I tend not to use the Holy Water against him, but the boomerang cross with triple shot.
Where were those boomerang 🪃 things in the reaper boss fight? Is it cause of the holy water. I’ve always had them start forming as soon as the reaper appears.
Trying to make it from stage 23 to 26 on 3 lives is such a pain, those medusas are cruel!!
finally did it >:)
I remember the only way I could play this game was at my cousin's house, he was so much better than me when it came to Nintendo games
is the 3rd loop harder than the 2nd or just the same...?
i played this as akid in the 90s
happy 35th
How is playing??? Alex??? Man what a pro, Knowall, I never vish, more probaly i make a game like this then play like u Bro this is the hardest in my opinion.
Halloween special!
The medusa head is one of my hate enemies in this game untill now 😂😂😂
This game caused so much stress in my life. lol
My 1th one isnthe GB (played on gbc with 300+ cardgame from Paraguay(I live really close from py)
I literally still hum this song to myself as a 41 year old
I notice bgm music in this version are little slow than original version
Is there any way of choosing between throwing a knife and using the whip?