Woooo!

I believe this to be the hardest game I've ever completed.

No emulators, no save states....just a straight-up NES gauntlet.

The hardest games are always the most satisfying.

I still haven't beaten Dracula in that game but I should totally go back and try. I was able to beat Castlevania 1 with 0 deaths so I know I can do it.

Congrats man that game is a gem and a good accomplishment among the NES library.

Yeah, that game is an asshole. Congrats on beating it.

Congrats man - it is a very tough game, SO rewarding to beat. When I was going thoough it, I kept swearing to myself that, once I beat it, it was going back on the shelf for a VERY long time, if not forever. The end was so rewarding, I played something else for only like 15 minutes the next night and knew whatever game it was wouldn't provide the same satisfaction. I put Castlevania 3 right back in. Such a quality game.

Hard to go wrong with most of the Konami silver box games.

Congrats on the win! It's definitely not an easy game to beat.

Nice dude! Yeah that game's a real pain, it took me forever to get though it

Congrats, you finished the best Castlevania game!

Bravo Dude!!

Zombi for the win! That's a tough one no doubt. That one is under my belt but I still have yet to beat the first Castlevania.

One of my favorite NES games of all time! I just threw it in again last night for another run through. It's NOT an easy game, but it always keeps me coming back for more. I've completed it from start to finish about 7-8 times now without an emulator, and it's just as rewarding the eighth time as it was on the first. Congrats on your epic accomplishment, my friend!

Were you using Alucard for that last section before Dracula? How long do you think it took you to finally complete this game?

Congrats, I've still haven't managed to beat this one. I can tear up some Castlevaina 1 of course I play it consistently when given the chance, I play III when the notion strikes.

Dude, kudos! Definitely an achievement. I've been beating my head against the first Castlevania on and off for the last few weeks. Urgh.

I see you had Sypha by your side? Now, to try it with Alucard or Grant, right? 

Awesome, I've beaten the first a few times and have a few hard NES games under my belt... not this one yet. Makes me want to give it a go again

Congrats! I still haven't beaten any of the original Castlevania trilogy yet, it's definitely a challenge!

Sorry, double posted on accident!

Hell yeah! Beating this game with Alucard was the easiest for me since you can transform into the bat, while Sypha's route was the toughest. Grant is somewhere in the middle, but he's my favorite by far. I've never done a Trevor only run through...Fighting the Doppelganger boss would be hard, since you can't morph between characters to delay the boss as a strategy.

I thought you were gonna say you finally broke a controller.

Anyway, congrats!

I used Trevor and Sypha the whole game.

I think it took me a few weeks on and off. I would only play for 10-30 minute spurts. Plus, if I would get frustrated on a level, I would just stop and not come back to it for a few days.

 

Excellent! That's a very solid strategy. It took me YEARS to be able to play the game for more than 30 minutes at a time. Now, I usually go for an hour or so until I get bored. I don't even take down my password most of the time unless I'm trying to complete it within the week or something. I just enjoy playing through, and getting as far as I can within an hour

Good on you for finishing the game, mate!  It's definitely a tough one and a slog at that, but so worth it.  Love this game.
 
The Doppelganger is definitely the worst boss in the game and the one that took me forever to beat the first time, but to beat him with just Trevor you'll want the holy water.  There's only ONE holy water pickup in that whole stage, and it's during the falling castle section.  It's in a candle on the far right side of the screen that you have to jump up and over quickly to go get.  But it's simply the most effective way of dealing with him if you're using Trevor.  I'm sure that's why they made it so tough to get.

Congrats! It's definitely a hard game, but it's the "good" kind of hard. The controls are solid, passwords are convenient, etc. It's not like tons of older NES games that were only really hard because they either had shotty controls, no password/save, no continue, etc. This game feels great start to finish, and remains one of my faves.

Also, I like how the ending changes slightly depending on who you beat it with. I've done some bead sprite canvas art based on this.
http://jandrem.deviantart.com/art...
http://jandrem.deviantart.com/art...

Well done. I'm not super familiar with anything past the first level with this game, so I can certainly respect your task. Castlevania has always been a tough one for me.

I also love finishing an NES game front to back. It's the best way to do it. Straight up. One go.

Nice job, my favorite game in the NES Castlevania series, so great but so hard! I've only ever beaten it once.

Congrats man! Definitely an awesome achievement. I finally beat it last year on Halloween, such a good (but hard!) game.

Big thanks for the tip! Might be about time to do a Trevor only run (Crazy how his name is Ralph in Japan). Making that Holy Water so tough to get has gotta be a dead giveaway for sure.