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] |
| Series | Castlevania |
| Platform(s) | Family Computer Disk System, Famicom/NES, arcade, Commodore 64, Amiga, MS-DOS, mobile phone, Game Boy Advance, Windows |
| Release | September 26, 1986 |
| Genre(s) | Action, platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Arcade system | PlayChoice-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 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 for the Sharp X68000 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, while Nintendo Power and Game Informer both ranked it in their lists of the best video games ever made.
- ^ Konami staff. "Castlevania". Castlevania web portal. Konami. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
- ^ Konami staff. "Castlevania". Castlevania web portal. Konami. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
- ^ "Release dates of Castlevania related Japanese material". Jap-sai.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
- ^ a b Konami Industry Co., Ltd. (October 30, 1986). Vampire Killer. Konami Industry Co., Ltd. Scene: staff credits.
- ^ "Akumajou Dracula". Message Board. Kinuyo Yamashita (via WebCite). April 22, 2008. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Akumajō Dracula instruction manual (in Japanese). Konami. 1986. pp. 6–7. KDS-AKM.
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