I'm going to review Castlevania games!

     I'm a die hard Castlevania fan, it's like my third favorite series.  I'd only played the newer games and didn't dare to touch the older ones for their legendary difficulty.  Last night, I decided to beat Castlevania on an NES emulator with save states...  Okay not the authentic experience but I beat it and now I want to share my thoughts because even with save states, that game was ridiculous.

     People complain about the old Castlevania's having really crappy control.  The biggest complaints being the jumping and the knockback.  When you jump, if you don't hold a directional button, you're locked vertically.  When you do hold a directional button, you're locked in that direction.  When you get hit by ANYTHING you fly backwards and if you're near a pit that's instant death.  I'm going to agree with Egoraptor by saying the game is built around the clunky control.  You can't charge through it like Megaman or Super Mario Brothers, this is different.  In 1986 when the game came out there was the first Megaman and Super Mario Brothers, those were two games you could plow through (maybe not Megaman, it's hard).  Castlevania was different, there are certain sections where enemies remain stationary until you reach a particular pixel.  This was intended for you to plan your attack.  It wasn't going to come any closer until you did (I'm thinking about the Fleamen in the third level).  This is a great game and I found it incredibly difficult.

     I love the bosses in this game, it's an all star cast of horror icons, giant bats, mummies, Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, and Death himself.  There is also the Medusa relating to Greek mythology but that's only there because of the fu**ing Medusa Heads.  Each of these bosses is really fun to fight and require their own strategy.  That's what this game is about strategy.  Study each boss, and figure out how to adapt to the situation.  That's what makes this game deep.  The final showdown with Dracula is very satisfying but I won't spoil it.  What are my thoughts on the corridor before Death?  That was the single most maddening thing I've ever endured.  It isn't the knights that take 9 hits that are the problem, it's Medusa Heads coming from two different directions!  There is a pattern there, but it takes a lot of trial and error, that's all I'll say.  All in all, this is an NES classic and is well worth playing.