Castlevania

悪魔城ドラキュラ (Akumajō Dracula)NES, Famicom Disk System, Arcade, Commodore 64 +91986

  1. JP1986
  2. NA1987
  3. EU1988
  4. RU—

In Japan Castlevania is called Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ); the arcade release in North America was VS. Castlevania. Today the easiest legal way to play it is Castlevania Anniversary Collection on Steam or Nintendo Switch, which includes the NES version and lets you pick the Japanese one.

Konami first released Castlevania in Japan as Akumajō Dracula for the Famicom Disk System on 26 September 1986. The game was directed by Hitoshi Akamatsu, with music by Kinuyo Yamashita and Satoe Terashima. Its hero, Simon Belmont, was called Peter Dante during development. The project was originally planned for a cartridge and moved to the Disk System mid-development, which is why the music does not use the Disk System sound chip.

Simon fights through 18 stages split into six blocks of three, each ending with a boss; beating Dracula unlocks a harder second loop. The NES version reached North America in 1987, followed by Nintendo's arcade VS. Castlevania. A separate MSX2 game, Vampire Killer, came out a month after the Disk System original and was the first game of the series released in Europe.

In 1993 Japan got a Famicom cartridge edition, and the original was later one of the 30 games built into the 2016 NES Classic Edition. The 2019 Anniversary Collection keeps it on sale for PC and Switch.12

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA VS. CastlevaniaNintendo VS. System arcade version Arcade April 1987 Nintendo 2
NA Castlevaniaen.wikipedia gives April 30, 1987; es.wikipedia says May 1987 NES 1987 Konami 2
NA Castlevaniaalso released in PAL regions in 1990; Amiga and MS-DOS versions followed in North America the same year Commodore 64 1990 — 2
NA Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania & Contra Windows 2002 Konami 2
NA Classic NES Series: CastlevaniaClassic NES Series Game Boy Advance Oct 25, 2004 — 2
JP 悪魔城ドラキュラAkumajō Dracula Famicom Disk System Sep 26, 1986 Konami 1
EU Castlevaniaen.wikipedia infobox gives November 1988; es.wikipedia says between December 1987 and January 1988 NES 1988 Konami 2
JP 悪魔城ドラキュラAkumajō DraculaFamicom ROM cartridge re-release NES Feb 5, 1993 Konami 1
JP 悪魔城ドラキュラAkumajō DraculaFamicom Mini: Disk System Selection Game Boy Advance Aug 10, 2004 Nintendo 1
JP 悪魔城ドラキュラVirtual Console; later also on 3DS (2012-10-17) and Wii U (2013-12-04) in Japan Wii Jul 17, 2007 Konami 1
WW Castlevania Anniversary Collectioncompilation; also on Nintendo Switch the same day Windows May 16, 2019 Konami 3
WW Castlevania Anniversary Collectioncompilation Switch May 16, 2019 Konami 4
WW Arcade Archives VS. CASTLEVANIAarcade VS. version; released the same day on PS4 Switch Oct 17, 2019 Hamster 2

Also known as: 悪魔城ドラキュラ JP1Akumajō Dracula JP2VS. Castlevania NA2

Box art by region

  • Castlevania box art, North America release
    NA Castlevania
  • Castlevania box art, Europe release
    EU Castlevania

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • GameplayFDS (JP)NESFamicom cartridge (1993)

    Only the Disk System original can save, with up to three slots. Every cartridge version dropped saving, so the castle must be finished in one sitting.5

  • DifficultyFamicom cartridge (1993)

    The 1993 Famicom cartridge adds an Easy mode: you start with 30 hearts instead of 5, take less damage and aren't knocked back when hit.1

  • TitleFDS (JP)NESFamicom cartridge (1993)

    Each version has its own title screen. On the Disk System the logo scrolls in from the left; the NES shows it at once with an animated bat; the 1993 cartridge fades it in with grey shading and skips the Konami logo screen.5

All differences (6)

Translations

  • English Official

    Konami1987NES · Japanese FDS versionReleased · complete

    Konami's official English release came out on the NES in North America in 1987 and later in Europe.2

Where to play legally today

  • Nintendo eShop Purchase

    Castlevania Anniversary Collection

    NES version

    Checked: 2026-10-134nintendo.com

  • Steam Purchase

    Castlevania Anniversary Collection

    NES version (Japanese version selectable)

    Checked: 2026-10-133store.steampowered.com

Reception

The game sold over 1 million units. Famitsu gave the Disk System original scores of 8, 8, 9 and 9. In 2008 Nintendo Power ranked it 14th among the best NES games, and IGN placed it 19th.2

In lists

Sources

  1. 1ja.wikipedia.org
  2. 2en.wikipedia.org
  3. 3store.steampowered.com
  4. 4nintendo.com
  5. 5tcrf.net
  6. 6ja.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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