Castlevania (NES, Famicom Disk System)

Castlevania is a whip-crackin' good NES game by Konami. Kill Dracula before he terrifies the world with his atrocious fashion sense!

Sub-Page#

Bugs

Unused Graphics#

Cross and Bible#

Graphics for two unused items can be found in the game: an alternate Cross and a Bible. (Similar items did appear in the MSX2 sister game Vampire Killer.)

Design documents included in Castlevania Anniversary Collection suggest what these items were for. The original item list called for two Cross items, Large and Small. In the final game, the Rosary performs the same function as what the Small Cross was planned for, possibly explaining why this item was cut. Notably, this graphic is not present in any of the FDS version's files.

The Bible would have made Simon invincible, which is effectively what the Potion does in the final game, making this item redundant. Its graphics are partially used as part of the gears in the background of Stage 17 (the clock tower).

Bonus Items#

Along with the standard crown, chest, and Konami™ brand moai head, some rather unusual bonus item graphics can be found in level 2's sprites. Is that a basket of...puppies?

Unused Subweapons#

There are three unused subweapon IDs in the game, though only one of them seems to have any unique code remaining. Change RAM address $15B to one of the following values to see the corresponding weapon in action:

• 0A: Subweapon variant of the Rosary item, which kills all on-screen enemies (excluding bosses). It acts exactly like the regular item version, but does not play a sound when used, and has unique code that prevents you from activating it again until the screen has stopped flashing. Rosary items that would normally drop from candles will turn into small hearts while this is held, much like any other subweapon. Requires five hearts to use.
• 0C: Alternate axe subweapon, which uses the regular axe's code, but skips Simon's wind-up animation. Appears as a red axe in the status bar, and a normal silver axe when thrown.
• 0E: Unknown subweapon. Appears as a red 1up item in the status bar, but points to the stopwatch's code and behaves accordingly. An alternate set of status bar graphics has an unused cross graphic in place of the 1up, which might hint at its intended purpose.

Unused File Select Music#

A short tune that plays on the file select screen in the Japanese Famicom Disk System version of the game (documented below). As this feature was removed from the cartridge versions, the track goes unused. The official OST, Akumajo Dracula Famicom Best (KICA-1005; reprint KICA-7901), has it titled "Underground", and it was reused for similar purposes in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Akumajou Dracula THE ARCADE. It also appeared in the Amiga port.

To re-enable this music in Castlevania US (PRG1) on the title screen, use Game Genie code TZTGZP.

Revisional Differences#

Several bugs were introduced or fixed between the various versions of the game; these are documented on the Bugs page.

FDS Versions#

Title Loading#

In version 1.0, there is no additional loading before the title screen appears. In versions 1.1 and 1.2, there is additional loading after the Disk System license text and before the title screen appears.

Loading#

In versions 1.0 and 1.1, you must switch to Side B after completing Stage 3 (Block 1-3) and later switch back to Side A before the end credits. In version 1.2, you instead switch to Side B to begin playing and back to Side A right before the confrontation with Dracula on Stage 18 (Block 6-3).

Regional and Version Differences#

The game was released in at least five different formats: the original Famicom Disk System version, a Nintendo Entertainment System cartridge version, a Famicom cartridge version (based on Revision 1 of the NES version), a VS. System version, and versions for the Famicom Mini and Classic NES Series on the Game Boy Advance (based on the Famicom Disk System and NES versions, respectively). Each one has its share of unique features and differences.

Several bugs were introduced or fixed between the various versions of the game; these are documented on the Bugs page.

Title Screen#

Japan (FDS)	US	Europe

Japan (Re-release)	Famicom Mini (GBA)	Classic NES Series (GBA)

Vs. System

The title screen was completely redone for Castlevania, although both have a filmstrip motif. Akumajou Dracula's title scrolls in from the left, as opposed to Castlevania's which simply appears. An animated bat was added to Castlevania's title, which flies out of the castle and flaps menacingly at the player until they push the start key or the opening demo starts. Speaking of which, there is no opening demo in Akumajou Dracula—the title screen simply disappears after a short time and scrolls in again.

The Famicom cartridge version enhances the logo slightly with some gray shading and offers difficulty selection. Since this new feature and the updated copyright text take more space, the title logo has been pushed up and the Konami logo has been removed. The title screen now fades in, instead of scrolling in like the FDS version, and the opening demo from Castlevania is present.

This Konami logo screen is shown before the title screen in the Famicom version, replacing the logo that was removed from the latter.

The Classic NES Series version on the Game Boy Advance has further changes: the TM icon was changed to an (R) icon, "PUSH START KEY" was changed to "START", and the copyright text was shortened. It also added the ability to save the player's progress by opening the emulator's menu (L+R) and choosing "Save", after which the "Continue" option in the title screen shows the last stage reached (every three in-game stages after Stage 1). The Famicom Mini version instead retains the original FDS version's save system.

Saving#

Unlike Castlevania and the cartridge version of Akumajou Dracula, which have to be completed in a single session, the FDS version allows players to save their progress. Up to three save files with a 7-digit player name can be managed on a very Zelda-esque screen, each tracking the last stage reached and the number of game overs. To save, the player must get a game over and select the "Save" option (replaced with "End" in other versions); unlike Zelda, the game does not save when creating or deleting a file. As mentioned above, the unused music track in the NES version is played on this screen.

Ending#

FDS	NES / FC Re-release

In the FDS version, your file name is displayed in the cast credits, which makes you the one starring the role of Simon (a nice little detail with the whole movie theme of the game). As the save feature was removed for the cartridge versions, this cast credit was adjusted.

Loading#

Of course, being on a disk comes with disadvantages. The game has to load twice between each level, displaying the castle map in between loads.

Easy Mode#

The cartridge version of Akumajou Dracula features an easy mode, which can be selected in the title screen. It features several changes that significantly reduce the difficulty of the game:

• The player starts with 30 hearts instead of 5, and 9 lives instead of 3.
• Damage taken is reduced to only 1 bar of health in Stages 1-6, and 2 bars from Stage 7 onward, compared to 2 in Stages 1-6, 3 in Stages 7-11, and 4 from Stage 12 onward.
• All bosses except the Giant Bat take twice as much damage, and Dracula's second form takes four times as much damage, effectively giving every boss the same amount of HP (dying in 8 hits of an upgraded whip).
• Simon does not get knocked back when taking damage, and is instead briefly frozen in place, much like when getting hit while on a staircase. This also causes a minor glitch where, if Simon is crouching when he loses all health, he does not die until he stops crouching.
• Subweapons and double/triple shot powerups are not lost upon death, though getting a game over still takes away the latter. The double/triple shot powerups are also retained when picking up a different subweapon (including the stopwatch, which they have no effect on).
• The stopwatch consumes only 3 hearts instead of 5.

Miscellaneous#

• In the cartridge version of Akumajou Dracula, the countdown of hearts at the end of each stage is faster than in other versions.

Vs. Castlevania#

Vs. Castlevania is largely similar to the NES version (and actually predated it by a month in the US), with some changes to increase the game's difficulty and better accommodate the arcade format:

• The arcade cabinet's DIP switches can modify how many credits are given per coin (1=1 by default), how many lives the player starts with (3 or 1), the amount of points given per second and heart when finishing a stage, and a "hard mode" flag to increase damage taken (separate from the second loop's increased difficulty).
• Continuing after a game over has a time limit and requires spending a credit.
• Damage taken is increased to 4 bars of health in Stages 1-6, 6 bars in Stages 7-18, and 8 throughout the second loop. Turning on hard mode increases these amounts to 8, 10, and 12, causing Simon to die in only two hits in every stage.
• In all other versions of the game, the player first earns an extra life when reaching 30000 points, then for every 50000 points (80000, 130000, and so on). Vs. Castlevania removes the initial threshold, so the first extra life is obtained at 80000 points.
• The first three stages (Stages 1-9 in-game) have a much tighter time limit of 170 seconds, instead of 300, 400, and 500 seconds respectively.
• The entrance to the castle in the first stage features bats in the second loop, rather than being free of enemies.

Alternate Product Code#

Taking a peek at the FDS version's filenames shows that they all have an interesting prefix: RC814. According to Konami's convention at the time, "RC8xx" is a catalog number for a Famicom cartridge, not a disk. Design documents included in Castlevania Anniversary Collection show the RC814 catalog number on a drawing of the game's map. Remarkably, this was scrubbed from the Japanese version of the scan (!), but it survives in the English translation.

Since Konami never released a game with catalog number RC814, this suggests that Akumajou Dracula was developed as a Famicom cartridge and then moved over to the Disk System as their debut for the platform. (The actual product code for Akumajou Dracula on FDS is KDS-AKM.)

If the FDS version is indeed a port, it could explain why an unused graphic ended up in the NES version but not the FDS version, or why the FDS version's music doesn't use the extra sound channel at all. (Amusingly, when the game eventually got a Famicom cartridge release, Konami apparently forgot about the original catalog number and assigned it a new one, RV003.)

See also Smash Ping Pong, another Konami FDS game with an unused cartridge product code hidden inside.

References#