Level 1: Graveyard in the Woods

Simon begins his quest fighting his way through a cursed graveyard. The everpresent "town to be terrored" is visible in the background. Speaking of backgrounds, they are not to be ignored! All throughout the backgrounds and foregrounds will play a part in the game. Here the background holds crumbling statues which will fall on you if you are not carefull, crumbling tombstones which will give way to open graves and the Zombies within. You travel to the right through the graveyard until a wall blocks your path, and suddenly the sky opens up and rain poors down hard on you. The wall in your way comes to life and brick by brick hurtles itself at you until it and the rain is gone.

Continue to the right to a mausoleum. Jump on the pedistals in the foreground to avoid a ground fire caused by a tumbling eternal flame. On to a patch of possesed trees who's bite is worse then their bark (sorry for the bad pun) and then over the river bridge. The stage concludes in a crypt filled with Vampire Bats and a battle against Medusa.

Level 2: Caverns

As the fog sets in Simon must make his way to the edge of the underground river, and then down to cross the river itself. It's straight to the left to the stairs that descend to the river crossing. On your way to the stairs you should find the mace whip. The river is in inside a cavern (and the sound effects echo to add to the effect). You will progress right over several moving platforms and other jumps, with Mermen, Bats, and falling rocks to try to knock you into the water below. At the opposite bank of the river a stair case will take you back to the surface to contend with several Mud Men. You then traverse right over tree stumps to the empty hollow. The hollow isn't empty long, for soon you will be attacked by a Giant Serpent. Hopefully you've found and kept the stopwatch from earlier in the level, making this guy a breeze.

Level 3: Inner Halls

After defeating the Giant Serpent, the drawbridge drops giving access to the castle. Inside this part of the castle is very elegant, but don't stop to admire, or else the Imps will wipe you out. On to the right, and beware of the moving chandeliers and the Armored Knights. You will continue on to a picture of Drac in the background and shortly after you'll be teleported away to fight the Dark Angels. Defeat them and find yourself teleported back to the hallway to face the attacking silverware and possesed turkey. You then climb up to face more danger and then back down to the first floor again. During the climb and then descent you should come across the Broad Sword. Traverse left and come to the Ball Room and face to face with a Knight of the Round. A bit of sword play with him should take him down.

Level 4: The Depths of the Castle

After the battle with the Knight of the Round, you exit the rear of the Ball Room and peer at the clock tower in the distance. You must make it to there, through this path, because your destiny awaits! This stage consists of a twisting path of rock. You'll travel in all directions; left, right, down, and with the help of stone lifts, up. Make your way past the Mummy Monsters (who almost always get in one hit before dying), and other enemies to reach the base of the clock tower. There's not much else to be said about this level, except that the boss is HUGE. Jump and attack to hit him in the head. Stay on him, and you should kill him before he kills you. The clock tower awaits!

Level 5: Clocktower

Level 6: The Bridge to Dracula's Chamber

As Frankie's flesh melts away, you kick open the door that leads to Dracula's chambers. They are a good distance away still, but there doesn't seem to be anything between you and him except this bridge. This is it - the final COUNTdown. Get it? HAHA. Yes. Onward and DOWNWARD! As soon as you step onto the bridge it starts to collapse. Your only chance is to keep moving forward (only stopping to kill a few bats - trust me) and hope that you make it to the other side. Bats will continously attack you, but fear not! You're as tough as nails, and besides, what's a few bat bites compared to falling to your death? If you stop to attack all the bats, you're dead for sure! Just hit a few, once in a while, and keep moving.

If you are lucky (like I am) you'll make it to the end with half of your energy left. Then comes Drac, who's surprisingly easy. Oh, he'll pop up, give you a menacing look, or possibly throw a few daggers at you (easy to dodge ones I might add). Then he'll turn into a gaggle (I guess) of bats, and fly to the opposite end of the room. Hit him enough, and his body will burn up in a cool looking crucifix, and his soul will zip off the screen. Then heads-up, 'cause a giant Dracula head (that was another bad pun) will scroll in to attack. Just use your whip or sword plus whatever special item you may have on him, and you can kiss him goodbye.

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Castlevania Games - Haunted Castle - HC Stages