The year is 1476, and Dracula’s shadow lies heavy over Wallachia. Konami’s third Castlevania, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System on December 22, 1989, follows Trevor Belmont as he takes up the whip against the count and his castle of the damned.

It is a platformer of branching paths and hard bargains, where Trevor may walk alone or take allies along the way: the pirate Grant DaNasty, the sorceress Sypha Belnades, and Dracula’s own son, Alucard. Known among the series’ most demanding and most beloved chapters, it is the game that gave the Belmont legacy its roots and its curse.