Overview
Haunted Castle (known in Japan as Akumajou Dracula, loosely translated to "Demon Castle Dracula") is a horror-themed side-scrolling action- platformer developed and released by Konami for arcades in both North America and Europe on December 26, 1987, followed by a Japanese release on February 22, 1988.
A remake of the 1986-1987 NES game Castlevania, Haunted Castle follows whip-bearer Simon Belmont as he must rescue his bride Serena from the clutches of the evil Count Dracula. Similar to the original, Simon has access to a whip for short-ranged attacks (which can be upgraded to a morning star and, with skilled playthroughs, a sword) and numerous items (or "sub-weapons") for limited-use longer-ranged attacks (including bombs, boomerangs, and torches). It is notable for its increased arcade-style difficulty, reminiscent of Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins.
In Japan, the game was later ported to the PlayStation 2 by HAMSTER on May 25, 2006 as the 15th game in the Oretachi Geesen Zoku series. It was later digitally re-released for the PlayStation 4 in both Japan (on December 1, 2016) and North America (on September 14, 2017) as part of HAMSTER'S Arcade Archives series, and was also included in the Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection compilation for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC on April 2019.
The game's soundtrack is notable for having several of its tracks reused in later games in the Castlevania series (such as the first stage theme used in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, the fifth stage theme used in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, and the game over theme used as a stage theme in Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth). It is also known for using the Castlevania II: Simon's Quest theme "Bloody Tears" as the third stage theme.
Gameplay
The player controls Simon Belmont, who must rescue his bride, Serena, from the clutches of the evil Count Dracula using his whip and other weapons like a chain or sword at his disposal.
There are six levels(1.Graveyard / 2.Cave / 3.Banquet Room / 4.Basement / 5.Clocktower / 6.Vampire's Room) Simon Belmont has fight through to free his bride Serena. Each level has a levelboss and at the end of stage 6 Simon Belmont has to fight against Dracula.
Stages with their respective bosses:
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