Haunted Castle
1987 · Platform · Arcade
Overview
Haunted Castle (1987) is Konami's arcade Castlevania, in which Simon Belmont faces Dracula to rescue his wife Selena, with a difficulty Time Extension called brutal.
Deep Dive
Six linear stages each end with a boss, among them Medusa, Frankenstein's monster and Dracula. Simon's whip can be upgraded to a spiked morning star and then a sword, and hearts power one sub-weapon at a time: bombs, boomerangs, a stopwatch, crosses or torches. Several board versions exist, with Version M the hardest.
Developer Story
Masaaki Kukino designed it, and Konami released it in December 1987 in the West and in February 1988 in Japan, where it was called Akumajō Dracula. Time Extension ranked it last among the Castlevania games.
Did You Know?
- It was the second arcade Castlevania after VS. Castlevania, and the first not ported from a console.
- M2 remade it as Haunted Castle Revisited for the 2024 Castlevania Dominus Collection.
Sources & further reading
- Haunted Castle (video game) — Wikipedia
