Castlevania (1986 video game)

Castlevania
North American NES box art
Developer(s)Konami
Publisher(s)Konami
Nintendo (arcade, GBA)
Director(s)Hitoshi Akamatsu
Producer(s)Akihiko Nagata
Designer(s)Akihiko Nagata
Programmer(s)Nobuhiro Matsuoka
Artist(s)Noriyasu Togakushi
Composer(s)Kinuyo Yamashita[4][5]
Satoe Terashima[4]
SeriesCastlevania
Platform(s)Family Computer Disk System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Arcade, C64, Amiga, MS-DOS, Mobile phone, Game Boy Advance, Windows
Release
September 26, 1986
  • Famicom Disk System
    • JP: September 26, 1986
    NES/Famicom
    Arcade
    C64, Amiga, MS-DOS
    • NA: 1990
    • PAL: 1990 (C64 only)
    Mobile phone
    Game Boy Advance
    • JP: August 10, 2004
    • NA: October 25, 2004
    • PAL: January 7, 2005
    • AU: November 24, 2005
Genre(s)Action, platform
Mode(s)Single-player
Arcade systemPlayChoice-10, Nintendo VS. System

Castlevania, known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula,[a][6] is a 1986 action-platform game developed and published by Konami. It was originally released in Japan for the Famicom Disk System in September 1986,[7] before being ported to cartridge format and released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in March 1987 and in Europe in 1988. It was also re-issued for the Family Computer in cartridge format in 1993. It is the first installment in the Castlevania series.

Players control Simon Belmont, descendant of a legendary vampire hunter, who enters the castle of Count Dracula to destroy him when he suddenly reappears 100 years after Simon's ancestor vanquished him.[8] Castlevania was developed in tandem with the MSX2 game Vampire Killer, which was released a month later and uses the same characters and setting, but features different gameplay mechanics. It was followed by a sequel, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and a prequel, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, both of which were also released for the NES. Super Castlevania IV was released in 1991 for the Super NES and follows the same story. A remake, Akumajō Dracula, for the Sharp X68000 home computer was released in 1993, and was later re-released for the PlayStation as Castlevania Chronicles in 2001.

Castlevania was a commercial success and received widespread acclaim. It is considered an NES classic by PC World,[citation needed] while Nintendo Power and Game Informer both ranked it in their lists of the best video games ever made.[citation needed]

  1. ^ "Castlevania (Registration Number PA0000335213)". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  2. ^ "Availability Update" (PDF). Computer Entertainer. February 1987. p. 14.
  3. ^ "Release dates of Castlevania related Japanese material". Jap-sai.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Konami Industry Co., Ltd. (October 30, 1986). Vampire Killer. Konami Industry Co., Ltd. Scene: staff credits.
  5. ^ "Akumajou Dracula". Message Board. Kinuyo Yamashita (via WebCite). April 22, 2008. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  6. ^ Konami (August 4, 2010). Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. Konami. Japanese: 歴代の「悪魔城ドラキュラ」シリーズから選ばれた登場キャラクターを操作して、仲間たちと悪魔城に乗り込み、宿敵ドラキュラ伯爵に立ち向かおう。 English translation: Take control of past protagonists from the Castlevania series to brave the Demon Castle alongside friends and defeat the ancient enemy Count Dracula.
  7. ^ Famitsu staff (October 31, 1986). "新作ゲームクロスレビュー" [New Game Cross Review]. Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). No. 10. ASCII Corporation. p. 9. Archived from the original on June 19, 2022.
  8. ^ Akumajō Dracula instruction manual (in Japanese). Konami. 1986. pp. 6–7. KDS-AKM.


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