Velcome to my castle, Mr. Simon Belmont. I am Count Dracula and once again, I have returned after 100 years yet again to seek revenge on vat your ancestors have done to me in the past. This time thing vill be different. HAHAHAHAHA!
 
OVERVIEW
 
Also known as Akumajo Dracula, your name is Simon Belmont, an up and coming vampire hunter who is the next in line of the Belmont family who goes against Dracula who resurrects every 100 years to unleash hell again and again. Before you can get to Dracula, you must go through his minions such as Grim Reaper, Frankenstein Monster, and a Vampire Bat to name a few. There are 18 levels to go through with each level split into three sections with a boss at the end of the third section.
 
GRAPHICS - B+
 
The graphics are fine for the most part as the characters and backgrounds are little detailed but based on what I have seen in later ports of the game, the graphics were a little held back by the NES's limitations as you can't even see Simon's facial features at all in this whole series. They could have at least given him some eyes and a mustache just like the Mario Bros whom had gotten those features initially to separate their noses from the rest of their faces but they were drawn proportionally in a well uniformed manner while Simon was drawn more realistic in a way that the head is many times smaller than the rest of the body. The developers actually threw more attention to detail to the enemy characters and bosses as with the best award going to the vampire bat who serves as the first boss and later on appears in the sixth section multiple times with the final boss, Dracula's second form coming in a close second. 
 
CONTROLS - B
 
The controls will take some time getting used to because this game is guaranteed to piss you of at some points of the story because you are trying to perform a certain functions such as climbing down the stairs and even just cracking your whip can be a chore in some points of the game because when you go to attack the foe, there is an extra frame showing Simon taking out of the whip before the attack actually comes out so you are almost guaranteed to get hit when in close quarters with the enemy if you are not careful. Another aspect of control that can hurt you is the jumping. You have to time your jumps just right or you may overshoot your jump and land in a pit to your death. This is especially dangerous when you are dealing with long jumps and moving platforms.
 
SOUND/MUSIC - A+
 
The music is very entertaining and can get stuck in you head very easily. The music is so special that the game's soundtrack is still on sale through Sony in Japan and apparently in the USA. Seriously, if you were to play this game and upload it on YouTube, you won't get a copyright strike but you will still get a notice from YouTube that prevents you from monetizing the video and that is such a buzzkill for YouTubers. However, what goes on YouTube has no effect on how well the music is. My favorite track in the game as well as the entire Castlevania series is every variation of Vampire Killer which is usually the track to the first section of the game. The other song I enjoyed the most was Wicked Child which is the second set of levels.
 
GAMEPLAY - B-
 
The game may not look too hard but there is one thing that will be a nightmare for the people playing this game. When you get hit, you do recoil back a bit like in most games but the recoil is just too ridiculous in this game. You can be very far away from the pit and when you get hit especially during a jump, you fly far back enough to land in it and die. The hit detection is awful at times. Sometimes a projectile won't even touch you and it will still register a hit and damage you. 
 
There are some high points of the game too. Throughout the levels you will see candles that yield all sorts of power ups with the most notable ones being hearts. These are necessary to make the sub weapons usable. The most common one is the knife but for the first three sets of levels and the first part of sixth set of levels, the most useful sub weapon is the stopwatch which freezes time momentarily and it also allows you to freeze the first three bosses into place and wail on them but they won't freeze after the third set of levels. The holy water does a little bit of fire damage and even freezes Dracula's 2nd form briefly if timed right. The holy water, however, became more of better use in the sequel Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. The stake acts just like a boomerang. If you throw it at the enemy, the projectile will come back and damage the enemy the 2nd time if the enemy didn't die the first time. The hammer is not thrown like the other sub weapons are. Instead they are lobbed and it is almost harder to hit enemies that way but you can easily hit lots of enemies just above you. The most important power ups of all are the chain extensions and the roman numerals. The chain extensions expand the range of your whip up to two times so you can do major damage at a distance. The roman numerals will increase the maximum number of some sub weapons you can use at the same time. the II symbol means you can use 2 of the same sub weapon at the same time like the boomerangs and the III obviously means you can use three at the same time. What matters the most is that you have enough hearts to use them.
 
REPLAYABILITY - A
 
This game is not as easy as it seems. If you manage to beat the game then you will still be able to go back and play it again just for a good old challenge because there are some hidden secrets throughout the game you would like to fine. I can name one right now and it is a major shortcut for level 5. If you time a jump where yo land on a bat, then you can vault yourself over the wall and complete the level in a hurry. If you played Castlevania 4 first which is a remake of this game, then towards the end don't try to walk down the invisible staircase as it is not there in this game. The bosses will keep you on your toes.
 
OVERALL - B+
 
Castlevania is one of the classics that will never die. While the sequel was much of a disappointment compare to this one, it did help pave the way for the term Metroidvania with much more exploration and puzzle solving as seen in Metroid and to a similar extent, Zelda II: The Adventures of Link. Castlevania is straightforward and linear and that's what  I like about it. Castlevania 4 takes this game up a notch. Even the other ports like the MSX one explores the game even further and they are worth giving a shot as well.

This is a very great review. I find it interesting that you decided to go with the A-F grading instead of going with the 1-10 score. As far as the rest of the review goes, you did a very good job with putting in plenty of detail and you explained your reasoning for why you felt the way you do for each category. I'm looking forward to seeing more reviews by you.

Evil laughters are supposed to be spelled MWAHAHAHA!!!

Otherwise this is a masterpiece review that easily deserves a 5. Just the introduction is enough to catch one's attention. I love your comparison to Mario, showing some shortcomings in the graphics. You also compare it to future games so people who want to go back and play this version know what they're in for.