Trivia / Haunted Castle

• Bad Export for You: The US version is far tougher than the Japanese one. It was the only option for anyone purchasing Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection outside Japan until a free update.
• Dummied Out: There are unused weapon graphics, including a Bible subweapon icon, what looks like the Holy Water (replaced by the Bomb), and a more typical version of the Cross (replaced by the Boomerang).
• Follow the Leader: While still identifiably a Castlevania game, the designers clearly took some inspiration from Ghosts 'n Goblins, most notably the fact that your character can generally only take two hits before dying (at default difficulty, anyway), along with some aspects of the level design and enemy selection, and the fact that the plot revolves around rescuing a Damsel in Distress who is abducted in the opening cutscene.
• What Could Have Been: According to Masaaki Kukino, Haunted Castle was not originally part of the Castlevania series during development. The change came about when the game's graphics were redrawn with Kukino's help mid-development.