Party down with the original vampire killer!

Poor Simon Belmont. You were once Castlevania fans' favorite protagonist. Then the series was "Metroidified" and you saw your popularity eclipsed by - of all people - the bastard child of your mortal enemy and a mop-top-wearing bishie named Soma. Fear not, though. You may yet reclaim your former glory as Wii owners can now download your very first NES adventure from the Virtual Console for the mere price of 500 Wii Points.

Although chronologically the fourth or fifth installment in the franchise, Castlevania was the first time gamers got a taste of wielding the Vampire Killer whip against the minions of Count Dracula. You control Simon Belmont as you jump and lash your way through multiple cleverly-designed stages within the big bat's castle. Your twice-upgradeable whip is always there to defeat the legions of undead, as well as break candles and walls to reveal hearts, gold and other goodies. You can also equip one of five heart-fueled sub-weapons (used by pressing Up and the attack button at the same time). Namely, the quick, but weak Dagger; strong, but inaccurate Axe; multi-hitting, but slow Boomerang; handy, but boss-immune Clock and pretty much useless Holy Water.

Castlevania is a short game technically, but compensates for this by demonstrating some of that old-school difficulty. Ironically, most of the challenge in this game stems from lackluster controls rather than the enemies or level design. Unlike Castlevania IV, (the first Castlevania game to get the Virtual Console treatment) the original Castlevania only lets you swing your whip in two directions, leaving you at the mercy of those relentless Medusa Heads. If that doesn't blow enough, Simon recoils roughly ten feet everytime he's hit. Needless to say, this lead me to plenty of cheap deaths while navigating narrow platforms along the castle walls.

The fact that Nintendo would release the original Castlevania on Virtual Console after the superior Castlevania IV almost proves that they're going after the hardcore "Vania" fans. Even so, Castlevania has managed to age a little more gracefully than most other NES games thanks to its top-tier visuals and audio. If anything, your 500 Wii Points will get you a challenging gothic platformer that'll keep you busy for a day or so (even if half of that day is spent trying to get past the Grim Reaper).