[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/haunted_castle_1.png]]

Known as simply ''Akumajō Dracula'' (the same name as the original [[Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom Disk System]] game) in Japan, ''Haunted Castle'' was the first [[UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame arcade]]-only game in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series. The protagonist, Simon, has to save his bride from the reawakened {{Dracula}}. It is an original adventure, but there are quite a few unusual features in this game that never got reused:
* The subweapons are different.
* The main weapons are different; you don't keep your whip but rather you upgrade through two other weapons in the course of the game.
* Simon is actually out to save his wife and DamselInDistress, Serena, in this game, whereas he's just saving the world in general in the other versions of this story.

There's been a recent trend toward reusing the mostly unique music from this game in other ''Castlevania'' games--"Don't Wait Until Night" was featured (in a remixed mash-up with "Heart of Fire") in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow'', "Underground Melody" also known as "Den of Worship" in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'', and "Cross Your Heart" (also labeled as "Crucifix Held Close") in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', and two of the boss themes appearing in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheAdventureReBirth''. It was re-released in 2006 as part of the ''Oretachi Gēsen Zoku'' series for Platform/PlayStation2, 2016 as part of the Arcade Archives series for Platform/PlayStation4, and 2019 as part of [[CompilationRerelease Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection]] for Platform/NintendoSwitch, Platform/{{Steam}}, [=PlayStation 4=], and Platform/XboxOne.

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!! ''Haunted Castle'' provides examples of:
* AllThereInTheManual: A 1989 text guide in the Konami Best Selection video series names Simon's lover "Serena" (as opposed to "Mina" from an earlier Japanese gamebook), and confirms that the player character is Simon (albeit not explicitly a Belmont, though the reused FDS/NES and MSX artwork gives no reason for the player to believe that he isn't one).
** The 2019 Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection later confirmed in the in-game bonus book that the protagonist is indeed Simon [[InconsistentSpelling Belmondo]], a "descendant of the Belmont clan and heir to the Vampire Killer whip."
* AlternateContinuity: Nothing in the game or directly related materials indicates this, but some published series timelines consider ''Haunted Castle'' to be a mere retelling of Simon's first encounter with Dracula (similar to the MSX, SNES and X68000 editions). The addition of Serena changes the plot enough that it is simply left out more often than not.
* BalanceBuff: The stopwatch only costs two hearts to use in this game instead of five, making it much more efficient and useful.
* BarrageOfBats: The FinalBoss, Dracula himself, is fought in a two-phase battle: in the first phase, he towers over the player and, whenever he is hit, he turns into a swarm of bats that '''can''' hurt the player if it touches them.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: You can add to your LifeMeter by inserting additional credits, either at the start of the game or in mid-game. However, this can only be done up to three times, and you lose one continue (out of three) each time. This gives you more life to have before seeing the continue screen and having your score reset to 0 as a result, but a single {{Bottomless Pit|s}} is all it takes to lose all of the stored-up health.
* CartoonBomb: One of the subweapons.
* DamselInDistress: Simon's bride.
* DifficultyByRegion: There were three variants of the game's overseas release. Version M is the most difficult, where a single bone throw by the skeleton enemies in the first stage takes out half of the player's health gauge. Versions E and K, a later releases, fixed some of the cheapness from Version M, but is still considerably harder than the Japanese releases (Versions N and P).
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: For starters, subweapons appear far less frequently than any of the games that came before or after. Also, the first one you find is a [[CartoonBomb Bomb]]. It's functionally identical to the Holy Water but looks out of place in this series' setting.
* ExcusePlot: Why the DamselInDistress is there.
* FakeDifficulty: Moreso than most ''Castlevania'' games of the time. Very few gamers have the skill or patience needed for this game.
* HauntedCastle: Not the {{Trope Namer|s}}, but obviously an example of one. Though less of the ominous scary kind, and more of just a platformer filled with all manners of monsters.
* LohengrinAndMendelssohn: At the start of the game, Mendelssohn plays over [[Franchise/{{Castlevania}} Simon]] heading out with his newly-married wife — only to veer off key when {{Dracula}} flies in and [[DamselInDistress whisks her away]].
* LongSongShortScene: The high score table BGM, which is unlikely to play completely. It was finally remixed and used prominently in the UsefulNotes/WiiWare game ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheAdventureRebirth''.
* MakeMyMonsterGrow: Dracula's second form is to become so large that his head takes up a quarter of the screen. He doesn't even go OneWingedAngel while doing it.
* NintendoHard: Oddly for both the ''Castlevania'' series ''and'' arcade games in general, this game has limited continues in the original release. And that's without talking about the difficult-to-dodge obstacles and the frequent rate of death--the game is near-impossible without cheats or ''extreme'' patience. The [=PS4=] rerelease mitigates this by giving the player infinite continues.
* OddballInTheSeries: Hoo boy. It makes ''Videogame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest'' look perfectly normal:
** This is the only non-pachislot ''Castlevania'' game made specifically for arcades besides the later ''Castlevania: The Arcade''.
** Instead of Holy Water, the [[CartoonBomb Bomb]] is used in its place, with the same effect. There were plans to include Holy Water as a subweapon, but only the graphics remain in the rom.
** The [[TimeStandsStill Pocket Watch]] costs only ''two'' hearts instead of the traditional five, making it less [[AwesomeButImpractical impractical]] to use.
** The player gets only one life. On the plus side, the player can extend their only life by adding more credits, up to three times. However, each of those credits takes away one of your three continues, and if you fall into a pit with your quad-size lifebar, your game is done.
** Moreover, this and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'' are the only "classicvania" games to limit the number of continues allowed. At least ''Bloodlines'' has {{Password Save}}s.
** Simon can wield a ''sword'' instead of a whip in this game, making it the only ''Castlevania'' game in which a Belmont has something other than a whip for their main weapon.
* SaveThePrincess: Or in this case, save Simon's bride.
* ShoutOut: The Stained Glass Warrior boss is probably taken from the film ''Film/YoungSherlockHolmes'', where a character saw a knight come to life from a stained glass after being drugged.
* VisualPun: The third stage's BGM is "Bloody Tears". In the middle of the stage is a portrait of a woman crying [[TearsOfBlood bloody tears]].
* WhenItRainsItPours: Halfway into Stage 1, it starts raining hard, cutting out the music.
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