I think calling Castlevania similar to Bram Stoker's Dracula, is like saying Twilight similar to Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Also, the guy has a whip. Now, there were attempts to make Indiana Jones as a video game, but rarely did it work. Castlevania, for some reason, actually got the whip right... It's a whip! You whip things with a whip! Because it's a whip!

[quote name='alnite' timestamp='1350858795' post='4992604']
I think calling Castlevania similar to Bram Stoker's Dracula, is like saying Twilight similar to Bram Stoker's Dracula.

I think you just gravely insulted Castlevania.
[/quote]
I didn't compare Castlevania to Twilight. I'm pointing out that Castlevania is very-remotely related to Bram Stoker's Dracula (which presumably is the origin of the popular vampire lore). Comparing them is like saying Twilight was the sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula -- which is far from it.

I have to pitch in, in an offtopic way, sorry(!), to say how important was Castlevania 2 Simon's Quest to me. I know English because of it.
I was stuck in the game, right before that part where you could ride a twister to another place, I didn't know what to do. So it pushed me to learn the language.
Thanks to my dad translating every now and then, and TV with subtitles I picked up the language quickly and beat the game and all the rest that needed reading to accomplish.

It was not my first game, but it unlike Mega Man or Mario, I needed to read to know more about it and what to do.

The game was great because it had monsters, different weapons, day and night system with different monsters and changes, it had "secret areas", and like puzzles and things that made it different than other games. It took quite awhile to beat and the music, it was nice!
I was maybe 6-7 years old when I remember playing it. To give you an idea of the mindset I had.