Format: Original
Genre: Action platformer
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami

As one of the first games on the Game Boy, this Castlevania adaptation doesn't do much to push the hardware, and in fact its ponderous pace and background scrolling framerate, which seems to be higher than that of the sprite movement, makes for a disjointed experience. At the same time, the tile art is very well drawn, and on the later Game Boy Color the title's red hues lend an almost 3D appearance to the stages.

The Game Boy's sound chip wasn't miles behind the NES's, and the overall sound quality from this release stands up well compared to the first couple of Famicom Castlevania games. The compositions aren't nearly as memorable though, going for a more standard themed approach-- "here is a desert temple song!", for example. The title's white noise sound effects aren't much to write home about, but they get the job done.

The core movement feels very similar to the NES titles, but instead of subweapons the player upgrades his whip by collecting small circle powerups. The whip gets downgraded a notch if the player gets hit. The levels are incredibly inventive, such as one themed around moving spike walls coming from different directions. The title is a little too difficult for its own good though.

Even starting in these early days, handhelds are a great way for developers to experiment with variations of tried and true gameplay. This Game Boy Castlevania title is like what "Super Mario Land" was to "Super Mario Bros.": familiar, but with its own twists. Like a lot of old games, it's also much more enjoyable on modern-day emulators, with save state support. All-in-all, this is a solid title which original Game Boy owners probably enjoyed on their brand-new platform.