Haunted Castle

Haunted Castle
Also known as: Akumajou Dracula (JP) Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami Platform: Arcade (custom) Released in JP: February 22, 1988 Released in US: December 26, 1987 Released in EU: December 26, 1987 This game has unused graphics. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences.

Haunted Castle is one of the (previously) forgotten Castlevania titles, released for arcades without any explicit connection to the series (at least in America and Europe). It's also hella hard. Good music, though.

Interestingly, this game was remade as Haunted Castle Revisited and is included in the Castlevania Dominus Collection released in 2024.

To do: There's likely more revisional differences...and wasn't there some third version, too? Design doc and other random prerelease info featured in Konami's "Anniversary Collection Arcade Classics" collection from 2019. Check the Dominus Collection version from 2024 for differences and see which revision it uses.

Unused Graphics

A weapon icon for an unused book or Bible subweapon.

Graphics for what appears to be the Holy Water weapon used in other Castlevania games. A bomb is used instead.

Two sets of filler icons, used in different areas of the ROM. They both read "kara", which means "empty" in Japanese.

Another filler word. This one reads "ikeru", which means "to go".

More filler data: a beetle with "Danny" written underneath, and a smaller version of said beetle. The palette may be incorrect on both of these. "Danny" may be a mistransliteration of "Dummy".

Haunted Castle	Castlevania

A fancy 8x16 font, nearly identical to the one used in the cast roll in Castlevania. The final game has no staff roll or ending text whatsoever.

Version Differences

There are five versions of the game, present in MAME romset:

• akumajoun is the initial Japanese release, known as Version N.
• akumajou is the revised Japanese release which nerfs Simon's strength, known as Version P
• hcastlek is the initial North American version, based on the second Japanese release (aside for the bottomless pit penalty), known as Version K.
• hcastle is the revised North American version, which ramps up the difficulty to an absurd level, known as Version M.
• hcastlee is the European version, based on the first North American version and known as Version E.

Title Screen

Japanese	English

The title was respectively translated.

Difficulty

General

Versions P, K and E play the same as the original Version N, except for nerfing Simon's strength..

Version M instead makes various changes in order to make the game absurdly difficult:

• Enemies drop fewer items upon death.
• Enemies deal more damage, some of them easily taking half of Simon's health bar.
• Bats fly in a different trajectory, making them less predictable.

Bottomless Pit Penalty

In the Japanese versions, when Simon falls into a bottomless pit, he loses half of his current life and respawns at the last checkpoint. Subsequent falls will result in Simon returning to the last checkpoint without losing any life.

In the international versions, falling into a bottomless pit is an immediate Game Over.

(Source: Wikivania)