Castlevania is one of many well known games on the NES. It started a well known franchise,and the game is a blast to play.

GAMEPLAY A-: Beating the living crap out of things is what I like to do in video games when I am angry. That's what you do in Castlevania. Even though most enemies take only one hit of damage, its still satisfying to be able to step in a castle, defeat a bunch of different enemies and still have secrets, jumps, and cliffs. The only problem I have with the gameplay is the jump mechanic. In many games you feel freedom in jumping, you can control your jump. Not in this game though, once you jump you either jump straight up or the direction desired, you can't change while in the air. Still the gameplay is undeniably fun and entertaining. 

GRAPHICS B: The levels look very detailed and well polished. However the sprites are not as detailed or polished. They look quite a bit more basic. I also see some flickering and break up in the sprites occasionally.

SOUND A+: The music in this game, pushes the limits of the NES hardware. The soundtrack is complex and well sounding. It sounds like music you would hear from medieval times. The sound effects are quite good too.

ADDICTIVENESS B: Due to its insane difficulty the game is not quite the most addicting one ever made. However it will keep you entertained for a while I'm sure of that.

DEPTH D: Not that it really matters but the game only has 6 main levels. They are sort of long, but anybody can beat this game in one sitting. If they can conquer the extreme difficulty this game has.

DIFFICULTY HARD: In the beginning I though this game was easy. Then the second level started and I was using the save state button like a maniac. The game never seems to give you a break.

OVERALL RATING B:                                                                          Upcoming reviews
Super Mario Bros (NES)
Alex Kid in Shinobi World (SMS)
Shinobi (SMS)
Hydra (Atari Lynx)
and maybe road avenger on the Sega CD if I get enough Viz for the beta ticket.

I have no tips because I could not think of any. Just use the save states as much as possible. 

Nice review. I am terrible at Castlevania, almost as bad as I am at Zelda,maybe even worse. I can't even jump properly. Unlike most other games, this is one game I will have to pass on.

Castlevania, one of the very few games that I can't beat due to it difficulty. Great review as always, and I will be looking forward to your next game review.