History VideoGame / HauntedCastle

** The 2019 Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection later confirmed in the in-game bonus book that the protagonist is indeed Simon [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Belmondo]], a "descendant of the Belmont clan and heir to the Vampire Killer whip."

Known as simply ''Akumajō Dracula'' (the same name as the original [[UsefulNotes/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:

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 UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, 2016 as part of the Arcade Archives series for UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, and 2019 as part of [[CompilationRerelease Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection]] for UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, [=PlayStation 4=], and UsefulNotes/XboxOne.

* WhipItGood: Subverted. Simon's third-tier primary weapon is a ''sword''.

* AbsenteeActor: One of the few ''Castlevania'' games where Death does not appear.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: One of Simon's oddest looks to date.

Known as simply ''Akumajō Dracula'' (the same name as the original [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom Disk System]] game) in Japan, ''Haunted Castle'' was the first 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:

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 released on UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, and UsefulNotes/XboxOne on 4/18/2019 in the [[CompilationRerelease Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection]].

* 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. It's functionally identical to the Holy Water but looks out of place in this series' setting.

** Instead of Holy Water, the CartoonBomb 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 pocketwatch]] costs only ''two'' hearts instead of the traditional five, making it less [[AwesomeButImpractical impractical]] to use.

* ShoutOut: The stained glass knight 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.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Simon's bride is either referred to as "Serena" by

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 released on Steam, [=PS4=], Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on 4/18/2019 in the Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection.

* AllThereInTheManual: A 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 [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Belmondo]], a "descendant of the Belmont clan and heir to the Vampire Killer whip."

Known as simply "Akumajo Dracula" (the same name as the original Famicom Disk System game) in Japan, it was the first arcade-only game in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series. The protagonist (confirmed by the Arcade Classics Collection to be Simon Belmont) 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:

* Simon is actually out to save his wife and DamselInDistress, Selena, 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 "Crucifix Held Close" (formerly labeled as "Cross Your Heart") in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', and two of the boss themes appearing in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheAdventureReBirth''. It was released on Steam, [=PS4=], Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on 4/18/2019 in the Anniversary Collection Arcade Classics.

* AllThereInTheManual: A video guide in the "Konami Best Selection" series names the bride "Selena" (as opposed to "Mina" from an earlier Japanese gamebook), and confirms that the player character is Simon (albeit not explicitly a Belmont).
** The "Arcade Classics Collection" later confirmed in the included eBook that the protagonist is indeed Simon Belmont.

* CanonDiscontinuity: 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). More often than not, it is simply left out, however.

* LohengrinAndMendelssohn: * At the start of the game, Mendelssohn plays over [[Franchise/{{Castlevania}} Simon Belmont]] heading out with his newly-married wife — only to veer off key when {{Dracula}} flies in and [[DamselInDistress whisks her away]].

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hauntedcastlecover_521.jpg]]

* LohengrinAndMendelssohn: Mendelssohn in the intro — but [[DamselInDistress not for long]].

Known as simply "Akumajo Dracula" (the same name as the original Famicom Disk System game) in Japan, it was the first arcade-only game in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series. The protagonist (presumably Simon Belmont[[note]]Unnamed here, but shares identical character art[[/note]]) 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:

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 "Crucifix Held Close" (formerly labeled as "Cross Your Heart") in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', and two of the boss themes appearing in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheAdventureReBirth''. It was released on Steam on 4/18/2019 in the Anniversary Collection Arcade Classics.

** Instead of Holy Water, the CartoonBomb is used in its place, with the same efect.

%%* WhenItRainsItPours

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 "Crucifix Held Close" (formerly labeled as "Cross Your Heart") in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', and two of the boss themes appearing in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheAdventureReBirth''.

* 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.

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 "Crucifix Held Close" (formerly labeled as "Cross Your Heart") in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'', and two of the boss themes appearing in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheAdventureReBirth''.

* NintendoHard: Oddly for both the ''Castlevania'' series ''and'' arcade games in general, this game has limited continues. 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.

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 double remix) in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow'', "Underground Melody" also known as "Den of Worship" in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'', and "Crucifix Held Close" (formerly labeled as "Cross Your Heart") in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'', and two of the boss themes appearing in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheAdventureReBirth''.

Known as simply "Akumajo Dracula" (the same name as the original Famicom Disk System game) in Japan, it was the first arcade-only game in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series. The protagonist (presumably Simon Belmont[[note]]Unnamed here, but shares identical character art[[/note]]) 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:

* WhenItRainsItPours