User Rating: 8.2 | Akumajou Dracula NES
Castlevania, this is the one that started it all. You play vampire hunter Simon Belmont, out to take down the forces of darkness. You take your trusty whip and go after dracula, fighting all the stereotypical gothic monsters along the way. The game was a complete success for Konami, spawning 2 more sequels on the NES and a complete legacy of games across almost every platform since. The gameplay is fairly straight-forward sidescroller material, you fight monsters, get powerups and extra weapons (holy water, boomerang cross, dagger, etc) from whipping torches scattered across the castle. It's terrific fun, and the story isn't bad either. This one is worth playing these days, if for nothing else than seeing where the series got it's start.
