Originally released in arcades, Haunted Castle has long been regarded as one of the worst Castlevania games, thanks in no small part to its stodgy controls and wildly unbalanced difficulty level. But what if Haunted Castle was…good? That’s the premise behind Haunted Castle Revisited, a bonus game included in the Castlevania Dominus Collection, which remakes the entire game from the ground up.
This remake was developed by M2, and so on a base level, it feels a lot like The Castlevania Adventure ReBirth, another Castlevania remake hailing from the WiiWare era. Here, the hero Simon Belmont moves and controls much as he should instead of the weirdly stiff brute he was in the arcade game, with character proportions much more in line with the console games. The weaponry system is slightly reimagined into the classic mold, ditching the odd sword weapon and instead giving you a standard upgradeable whip. After powering it up the first time, the second time gives it a snap of electricity, which lasts for several seconds or until you take a hit. The subweapons include the usual Castlevania dagger along with a non-cross-shaped boomerang, along with a crucifix that damages all enemies on the screen. It also uses a standard three-life system, and when falling, is kind enough to resurrect the hero nearby with some lost health, rather than losing a whole life.
The visual overhaul keeps the spirit of the original game while removing much of its ropiness. The hero here has a more barbarian-esque look than he does in the console Castlevania games, but here he’s been given a more proper looking walk cycle. Some sprites are completely redone, while others seem to have been imported from the arcade game and given a slight visual overhaul. Plenty of classic Castlevania enemies made an appearance in the original Haunted Castle but with different designs, and those have been mostly preserved here, like the gruesome zombies and large bouncing hunchbacks. Several fallen enemies release a ghost, though these are a little easier to avoid here. The harpies have been redrawn to look more fantastical, though, removing the nude torsos that likely wouldn’t fly with Japanese ratings boards.All of the music has been rearranged and all sounds excellent, with the high score theme being recycled as the interlevel map theme.
The levels keep the same basic color schemes while redrawing them with extra detail. Perhaps more importantly, the level designs themselves are also hugely reworked, using the arcade game as a baseline but expanding them to the length of a standard console Castlevania level. For all of its problems, Haunted Castle had a few inspiring sections which are mostly replicated here, albeit in different forms. The section where the graveyard wall dismantles itself and flings its brings at you has been replaced with a section where gravestones fall from the sky, but of course there’s still the part where a flame pedestal falls over and sets the ground on fire. When you kill the dragons in the second stage, their bodies turn to stone, allowing you to climb them upward. The clock tower stage includes an elevator, like so many beat-em-ups, including many of Konami’s own. Regrettably, the section in the third stage where you’re briefly warped to another dimension to fight some harpies has been removed, as perhaps it was a little too weird. The famous introduction, with Simon’s bride being kidnapped, is also slightly redone here in a way that makes it even goofier, particularly the way she falls over and the way Simon fumes after she’s been carried off.
The bosses have similarly all been redesigned. The dragon skeleton in the second stage hugely resembles the weaving dragons seen in other Konami games like Gradius III. The stained-glass knight in the third stage has several more attack patterns, while the rock monster in the fourth stage has similarly been given a huge overhaul. The final battle against Dracula benefits the most, as you face off against four enormous vampire heads, each with their own special attack.
In comparison to its arcade original, Haunted Castle Revisited is pretty easy, and longtime classic Castlevania fans will probably have no issue completing even the Hard difficulty mode. The game saves every checkpoint and allows you to resume almost anywhere, and also offers unlimited continues, though these can be disabled if you’d rather try for a one credit clear. This gentleness is almost definitely intentional though – anyone who’s cared about Haunted Castle over the years has undoubtedly already credit fed their way through the arcade original, so Revisited lets players see all of the upgrades with relatively minimal friction. The original arcade game is included for comparison’s sake too, with some tweaks to adjust the difficulty level and enemy damage.
Now that Haunted Castle has been salvaged, maybe someone can commission M2 to give us a revised version of the MSX2 Vampire Killer, one of the few classic Castlevania titles that hasn’t seen any type of reissue, but also contains some pretty unique elements that are worth salvaging.
Screenshot Comparisons
Arcade
Revisited
