Castlevania

THE BAD:
Simple graphics. High difficulty level.

SUMMARY:
The first entry in the legendary Castlevania series helped launch the still-popular horror game genre, now personnified through series like Resident Evil, but Castlevania did it first. The story focused on legendary Vampire Hunter Simon Belmont, whose mission was to rid Transylvania of Count Dracula himself, armed only with a whip and whatever items he found on his journey. The journey spanned 15 stages with a battle against a fearsome boss character every couple of stages.
The graphics are simple but effective, with backgrounds giving the castle a nice European flavor of sorts. Sounds and music are simple yet appropriate-the "whip attack" sound is quite good, as are the grunts when the player gets hurt or the sound of glass breaking when holy water's thrown. Controls are simple and responsive, but sometimes it takes...