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Quick Tips

The original game was loaded with hidden treasures that required some fancy maneuvering to find. This idea was dropped for the later games, save for a few instances intended as a throwback, but, therein, it helped set Castlevania apart from the rest. Note that these may or may not work with other platform versions of this game; they certainly do not work with recreations like Akumajo Dracula X68000 or similar-looking titles like Vampire Killer.

The first secret is right at the beginning of the game. If you can somehow jump over the castle entrance without being pulled in, a money bag will pop up right on the other side. You'll have to jump back over the entrance doorway again to reach the bag. It's not too difficult once you know the trick: Make sure you don't step on the tiny blocks just to the right and left of the doorway.

The next secret lies in the underground portion of the first stage--where the fishmen lie. If you break the brick directly above Simon and then climb back up and walk off the ledge, right through the now-missing brick, a high-priced money bag will be your reward.

This next one is right at the start of the second stage. Simply walk up the first set of stairs, break the two bricks (right where Simon is standing in the picture), then simply walk into that area. A crown will pop up right under the stairway. You might want to take out the knight and bat that are waiting at the top portion of the room first.

Still on the second stage, you'll enter an area with Medusa Heads. On the elevated platform (where Simon is standing in the picture on the right), stand on the platform for five seconds without moving. When the five seconds are up, a treasure chest will emerge from the ground directly to your right.

Continuing along, you'll come to the Medusa Head-filled final hall of the stage. If you're somehow able to stand in between two such pillars--the two surrounding the fourth blue background opening--for five seconds without being hit, a money bag will pop up to the left, in the next opening between the pillars. (Contributed by Morgoth)

This one is located on the third stage. It's not too difficult to get, though it's easy to miss, due to all the ravens flying around. Simply walk off the edge of the platform located above and left of where Simon stands in the picture to the left. A money bag will pop up on the far left of the screen.

This one is also on the third stage. There are two out-of-place bricks right below the floor Simon is walking upon. It's kind of an indicator that there's a secret about. Just kneel right on the floor above those two bricks and a money bag will show up right near the leftmost edge.

This is an odd secret that doesn't hold much relevance to the game but is there to be seen in any event. Before shifting the screen over to fight the mummies, stand where Simon is in the image and push left. An uncollectable money bag will pop up below the entry platform. (Contributed by Morgoth)

Skipping over to fifth stage--the "stage 13" portion--you can find the next secret on the second level after fighting two bone-throwing skeletons. Push right against the wall, as Simon is doing in the image, to make a 1-Up (which I didn't even know was in this game until now) pop up below. (Contributed by Morgoth)

After passing through the room with two axe knights, you'll enter into the lab area of the dungeon. Go up and around, past the red skeletons, walk down the staircase and go into the little area where Simon stands in the image. Stand somewhere on the two center bricks of this small chamber to make a money bag pop up to the left. (Contributed by Morgoth)

This one is located on the game's fifth stage, just to the left of where the blood skeleton is within the picture--a staircase is just beyond. From the bricks atop that staircase, you can jump up to the brickset all the way at the top of the screen. From there, jump down to where Simon is standing and a money bag will emerge from underneath the platform.

The next secret is to the immediate left of the last one. Trying to avoid the pesky red skeleton, you must stand against the wall that rests to left of the staircase for the usual five seconds. If you can pull it off, a money bad will pop up right at the base of that stairway. (Contributed by Morgoth)

This final-stage secret is easy to activate but tough to negotiate. When you descend into the lower portion of the clock tower (the second of two gear-filled rooms) via a stairway, you'll have to immediately jump to the right, down onto the gear. Once there, crouch down on its right half to make a money bag pop up. (Contributed by Danny)

Second Quest Secrets

When you restart the game for the second quest, in that wood-surrounded entryway, you can begin activating secrets that weren't available in the original play-through. For this first one, duck by the second marble sculpture you pass to make a money bag pop up to the left, near a dead shrub. (Contributed by Morgoth)

The next one is located in the first hall after you enter into the castle. After climbing up two sets of stairs, a leopard will attack. After it's out of the way, stand directly on the platforms center brick to make another money bag pop up near the pillar to your immediate left. (Contributed by Morgoth)

Once you've passed the first hall and into the small connector area in between, you can activate another 1-Up by standing where Simon is in the image and by pushing left. Make sure you've first cleared away the bats, which are more numerous this time around. The 1-Up will pop up on the above platform. (Contributed by Morgoth)

This secret is easy to activate but tough to gather. On what was the game's second level--now called "Stage 24"--a little shrunken-head-like object (a Konami symbol called a "Moaui Head," as the contributor tells me) will rise up from the ground when you jump onto the moving platform shown left. Just fall down to get it. (Contributed by Morgoth)

If you can make it past that area, after enduring an endless storm of Medusa Heads, you'll arrive in the dreaded piston room of this second stage. If you stand between the first two crushing spike pistons, from the right, for five seconds another 1-Up will appear. On a side note: I know for sure that this works on the first quest of the Amiga version. (Contributed by Morgoth)

On the third stage of this second quest, after passing through the first portion of this stage, you'll ascend up a pair of staircases--just before a raven onslaught. Simply crouch atop the staircase, where Simon is in the image to make another Moaui Head will pop up near the staircase's base. (Contributed by Morgoth)

Continuing along, you'll come to the "Stage 27" portion of this third stage. First fight your way through an endless stream of Medusa Heads and a bone-throwing skeleton. Once you've cleared space, simply push against the wall to make yet another Moaui Head pop up. (Contributed by Morgoth)

Breakable-Brick Treasures

These treasures and special items can be found by breaking bricks in certain places. They include the following:
Stage 1 (contributed by Morgoth)
Stage 1 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 1 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 2 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 2 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 2 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 2 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 3 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 3 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 4 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 4 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 5 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 5 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 5 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 5 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 6 (contributed by Danny)
Stage 6 (contributed by Danny)
Second Quest, Stage 2 (Contributed by Danny)
Second Quest, Stage 3 (contributed by Morgoth)
Second Quest, Stage 5 (contributed by by Danny)

Other Tips

The Holy Water Trick: It's not really fair to call this a trick or a "cheat," since it's very much a part of the game's mechanics. However, it's no secret that some of the bosses from this game are very difficult to defeat given Simon's lack of fighting range, and you may fall victim to their onslaughts time and time again. To cure this, collect holy water and use it repeatedly on enemies such as bone pillars and axe knights to quickly collect double- then triple-shot items. When you reach a boss (if you've managed to retain the item this far), telegraph where the boss is going to appear and begin chucking the holy water vials one after another. If done correctly, the boss will enter the battle area only to become trapped in the water's fiery net and thus defeated before it can even move. This works on every boss except Dracula's first form; though, his second form is very much vulnerable to this trick.

Get a Boost: Castlevania's mechanics dictate that whenever a grounded or airborne Simon takes damage, he's sent flying back with an upward arc. While this is intended to be an annoying setback, you can actually turn it around on the designers and find benefit in harm. Mainly, you can take advantage of a tactic known as "damage-boosting" and forgo traversing series of screens. What you want to do is jump up and make contact with an enemy at the exact same time your head is level with a platform placed above you--one that's five or six blocks higher and normally not accessible from Simon's current location. If your timing is correct, you'll be sent flying up through the platform and thereafter drop directly onto it. You can pull off this trick in stage-blocks 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 15 and 17. (Contributed by Mister Mattias.)

          

Additionally, there's a variant of this of technique called the "bat boost," using which you can boost off of a bat's back end and gain some extra horizontal air. It's applicable in two specific instances: In block 2 of Stage 1, you can use the bat boost to reach the center platform and therein bypass the entire fishman area. And in block 10 of Stage 2, you can use it to access the platforms that are concealed within that cavernous, low-hanging ceiling structure (you'll often see the fishmen walking across them); though, this one--the "Cave Skip," as they call it--is admittedly only beneficial to speedrunners who wish to save five or so seconds. Both can be more easily executed in the computer versions in which knockback range is increased.

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Super Belmont Brother: In this very difficult mission, points are your most important means for gaining lives (a 1-Up for reaching 20,000 points and then another 1-Up for every 50,000 points thereafter). In order to gain points more quickly, you can use your sub-weapons much in the same way Mario would use a turtle shell: You can eliminate more than one enemy with a single sub-weapon. You can do this simply enough with a boomerang or holy water, but you'll have to do a little work with the axe. To pull if off, simply position yourself on a staircase below a platform where multiple enemies are marching along; throw your weapon from that point to catch a single enemy on the axe's upward arc and another on its descent. The thousands of points will add up and quickly earn you multiple 1-Ups. (Contributed by Danny.)

Planned Triple Play: If you want to save some time in earning for yourself your next fully-powered sub-weapon, you can plan for it: Before unveiling the desired sub-weapon by whipping away the candelabra, first arrange for a double- or triple-shot to fall to the ground. Now collect a new sub-weapon and pick up the double- or triple-shot, which will immediately power up your new sub-weapon to that level without any of the entailed workings. (Contributed by Danny.)

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