Haunted Castle (video game)

Haunted Castle[lower-alpha 1] is a side-scrolling platform game released by Konami for the arcades in 1988. The game serves as an adaptation or parody of the original Castlevania (hence the Japanese title), but was not marketed as part of the series outside Japan. Unlike VS. Castlevania (an earlier Vs. System version released in North America in 1987), it is not a direct port of the NES version, but rather it is a new game running on custom JAMMA-based hardware.

Haunted Castle
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Designer(s)	Masaaki Kukino[1]
Composer(s)	Kenichi Matsubara[2] Masahiro Ikariko "T"
Series	Castlevania
Platform(s)	Arcade, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam)
Release	Arcade JP: February 22, 1988[3] NA: December 26, 1987[4] EU: December 26, 1987[5] PlayStation 2 JP: May 25, 2006 PlayStation 4 JP: December 1, 2016[6] NA: September 14, 2017[7]
Genre(s)	Platforming
Mode(s)	Single-player
Cabinet	Upright
Sound	Yamaha YM3812, Konami K051649, Konami K007232
Display	Raster, 256 x 224, horizontal orientation

The game has the player controlling a blue-haired Simon Belmont, who embarks on a journey through a dilapidated manor to save his wife Serena from the clutches of Count Dracula. Simon must trek through six stages in order to reach the Count's lair.

Gameplay

Haunted Castle is a platform game with six stages, which are played through in a linear progression. The player controls the main character, whose primary weapon is a whip. He must fight various enemies which consist partially of skeletons, zombies, mermen, and hunchbacks. By destroying certain enemies, he can switch his weapon to a more powerful spiked morning star. In addition, various "sub-weapons" can be obtained which provide different means of attack which consist of bombs (powerful ground attack), boomerangs (straight attack), stopwatches (stop enemies), crosses (powerful straight attack), and torches (continuous ground attack). Hearts are collected to use the sub-weapons. The player can only carry one sub-weapon at a time.

Each of Haunted Castle's six levels conclude with a boss fight. Like in other games of the series, these bosses are generally taken from horror literature or legend, and include Medusa, Frankenstein's monster, and, being a series staple, Dracula.

Development

Audio

The soundtrack was composed in part by Kenichi Matsubara, who previously worked on the soundtrack of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. There are several music tracks in Haunted Castle that have been reused in other Castlevania games. "Bloody Tears", first heard in the previously released Castlevania II, is used as the theme for Stage 3. Another arcade piece, the Stage 1 theme "Cross Your Heart", was reused in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin under the title "Crucifix Held Close" and as an unlockable song in Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. It is part of the "Akumajo Dracula Medley" that appears in Konami's Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3 (originally appearing in the Japanese arcade and PlayStation 2 music game series Keyboardmania), along with "Bloody Tears". "Clockwork's Beat", which plays during Stage 5, was remixed in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow under the name "Underground Melodies" (actually the name of Haunted Castle's Stage 4 theme). Finally, "Don't Wait Until Night", played during Stage 6, which borrows hints of "The Silence of Daylight" (the town music from Castlevania II),, was remixed in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow for Julius' theme "Heart of Fire", though this particular song is actually a medley of the Haunted Castle tune and "Heart of Fire" from Stage 5 of the original Castlevania.

Releases

A PlayStation 2 port of Haunted Castle was released by game publisher Hamster in May 2006 as part of the Oretachi Gēsen Zoku series. This port was only released in Japan.[9]

In September 2017, Hamster released the game for the PlayStation 4 as part of their Arcade Archives line of digital releases. This version includes the option to play the Japanese, North American and European versions of the game.[7] Haunted Castle is also included in the Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection, released digitally on April 19, 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC (via Steam). Unlike the stand-alone Arcade Archives release, the version of the game included in the compilation varies depending on the region.[10]

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Haunted Castle on their April 1, 1988 issue as being the sixth most-successful table arcade unit of the year.[11]

Notes

1. Known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ, Akumajō Dorakyura, Demon Castle Dracula)[8]

References

1. Szczepaniak, John (4 August 2014). The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers. 1. SMG Szczepaniak. pp. 231–232, 235, 242–245. ISBN 978-0992926021.
2. Konami Game Music Collection Vol.1 (Media notes). King Records Co., Ltd. 1988. Archived from the original on 2009-06-13. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
3. "Haunted Castle - Official Konami page (JP)" (in Japanese). Retrieved July 24, 2020.
4. "Haunted Castle - Official Konami page (EN)". Retrieved July 24, 2020.
5. "Haunted Castle - Official Konami page (EU)". Retrieved July 24, 2020.
6. "PS4『アーケードアーカイブス　悪魔城ドラキュラ』12月1日配信決定！" (in Japanese). Famitsu. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2017-10-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. Konami (2010-08-04). 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.
9. "Haunted Castle". The Castlevania Dungeon. Archived from the original on 18 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2019-03-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 329. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 April 1988. p. 25.