Vampire Killer
Released: 1986
Systems: MSX Personal Computer

Vampire Killer starts off with a familiar scene that depicts Simon Belmont as he slowly walks toward a set of gates and then turns to face the massive castle in front of him. From that moment on, it was easy to assume that Vampire Killer was going to be nothing but an earlier version of the first Castlevania released for the NES in 1987. After all, the two games essentially share the same types of character sprites, basic gameplay mechanics, and even music. But surprisingly, Vampire Killer actually has more in common with later Castlevania games, such as Dracula X: The Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, rather than the first NES Castlevania. Vampire Killer doesn't look horrible, but it isn't exactly a visual masterpiece either. Many of the sprites found in Vampire Killer are used in Castlevania for the NES, such as Simon Belmont himself, the bats, many of the ax knights, as well as the wonderfully annoying Igors that hop about the screen. There's a surprising amount of variation in the character designs, especially when you take into account that the seemingly underpowered MSX hardware can't handle much more than a few sprites onscreen at once. But while the character graphics are impressive, Vampire Killer's nearly monochromatic backdrops, which often make repeat appearances throughout a level, are not. There are about three or four backgrounds per level, and at least one or two of them repeat over again, but with different enemies or different item placement. Just like in Symphony of the Night and Circle of the Moon, backgrounds give an indication of where you are in a level, but since they repeat in Vampire Killer, it's pretty easy to lose your way and lose interest in the game.

	Seller Beware
	Believe it or not, it's possible to attack merchants in Vampire Killer even though there really isn't a point in performing such an act.